Ante and Fold were surprised to find themselves nearly running right into the door of the room they'd just left; Fold jumped ahead of the princess just in time, stopping Ante from slamming into the door in her rush to reach Dare. The black-dressed lady let her princess in first, holding the door politely, then entered in second. "Miss Zennocracy, I know you're our employer and the manager of the house, but you must understand that my dear friend, Miss Dare, has been left alone with a very dangerous man! This is not the time for slowly walking and talking!" Ante exclaimed, holding out one palm towards the door. Zennocracy wasn't going to do that, though; she had more words for Fold.
The bodyguard found herself wilting a bit under Zennocracy's glare, but kept her back straight regardless. "Miss Dare is fine. We'll walk," she responded, not wanting to anger the hostess further at the moment, especially considering she wanted Zenny nice and calm for when she saw Dare threatening to cut off the junk of one of the special guests she'd asked them to take care of. It turned out that walking wasn't in the plans, however; instead, Zennocracy simply teleported them to the destination. Fold wasn't happy about this, because she'd wanted some time to brace Ante for what was going on as well.
Indeed, it turned out that the princess was taking it the worst of all of them. "Miss Dare! What's happening here?!" Ante asked, half covering her eyes with her hands and turning red. She clearly hadn't seen a lot of penises before. She wasn't the only high-class lady freaking out, though; Zennocracy was staring daggers to begin with, and MyofybrilMan's explanation was just making things worse. Ante turned her head to see Fold cover her face with her palm. Apparently, that hadn't been how the bodyguard was hoping to see this play out at all. "No, I did not have any alcohol! I'm terribly confused about all of this," she responded to her friend in a quiet, miserable voice.
Fold wanted to explain, but it appeared that just about everyone, herself included, was getting tired of hearing her give people the runaround. Instead, she held her tongue and let Dare explain as Zenny asked. Ante would probably have some questions of exactly what kind of funning around Dare, Drisco, and Saija did, but that was hardly important right now and the thought would be tabled for later. Other than the specifics of that incident, none of Dare's knowledge of the night's proceedings was left out, including all the dirty details of how PianoMan had been involved in the beat down and how a lot of the broken cars could probably be attributed to his outburst. Fold felt guilty for not being able to protect him in this, seeing as she was one-hundred percent behind his drawn-out revenge beating. Once the explanations were over, however, Dare ended up doing the exact same thing Fold had, trying to bend the truth to protect the innocent.
Sighing, Fold shook her head and held up one palm to indicate "stop." "Thank you, Miss Dare, but you don't need to cover for me and if we're going to stop lying, we should try to stop completely. Most of what she said just now was the truth; I know it and MyofybrilMan here knows it. I kept quiet about PianoMan's role in this because I thought he didn't deserve to suffer the consequences of his actions. However, Miss Dare herself entered the room only after the events were done, when I held my blade to MyofybrilMan's genitals. I concocted the cover-up, I threatened MyofybrilMan, and in the end, without much knowledge of the situation, which was explained to her in messages later, Miss Dare here swapped places with me to keep MyofybrilMan down until we returned with you," Fold straightened the story up. "Also, MyofybrilMan tarnished his own tuxedo and destroyed it. I'm not certain why he make such a big deal out of wearing one here if he intended to simply flex and rip it apart," she scolded their adversary. "Perhaps he thought it was 'sexy' to do so. I'll let him answer that."
After crossing her arms and closing her eyes, she wrapped things up as best she could. "In the end, Ante did her job, Dare did her job, and neither were really a party to what has happened here. It may have been questionable judgment, but I just wanted to see MyofybrilMan punished and PianoMan safe in all of this, and also to protect milady from knowing everything that was happening if possible. If I wasn't transparent, it was only because I wanted to see the best possible outcome, with the guilty being served their due," she finished. "I've never been a very good liar, though, sadly," the bodyguard sighed, opening her eyes to stare at Zennocracy's feet. "That's the whole truth." Despite her words, even now, there were still a few things Zennocracy didn't know: Fold's plan to help Duey ruin her, for instance. Ante's activities in the greenhouse with Hoodwink. The secret mission Hoodwink had given them. Still, Fold desperately hoped the party hostess wouldn't try to dig any deeper into those events, or she'd start to question just how bad of a liar she was, that people could apparently pick out omissions from stories that she had intentionally avoided offering up.
She'd also found herself feeling some empathy for Zennocracy now in spite of herself. After all, she was a victim in all of this herself, having had to play host to a lout like MyofybrilMan and having so many of her possessions destroyed, and also being kept in the dark about so much tonight. Still, how she ultimately felt about her boss might depend on how she decided to clean up the current situation and none of it would mean that she wasn't suspicious for the reasons Duey already helped Fold understand.
The Scotsdale Virtual Estate
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Amidst the broken wreckage of the vehicle collection, Ante seemed distressed while her two companions explained the mess, and wore their best repentantly guilty faces. If they were expecting a further outburst from Zennocracy for the revelation of their deceit however, they were to be surprised. Her features betrayed nothing of note as Dare's story unfolded; she already knew, or had guessed at much of it, and if her lip twitched slightly at the blunt admittance that Dare had ended up fooling around with two of her future business partners, that was the only slip she gave.
Strangely enough, as she learned that PianoMan had, in fact, been there, it seemed to relieve the woman, at least a little, though a little bit more relieved, from her current position, was still a long way from happy. Once Fold took over to correct the few final details, Zennocracy folded her arms and looked back and forth between them, unimpressed. After a long silence she closed her eyes and, as Dare had suggested, took along breath. When she looked up again, it was towards Dare.
"I don't know how exactly you inserted yourself into those two's little tea party so deeply, and frankly, I don't care. Apparently they both wanted to bed you hard enough to stick their necks out for you, to me, and that's saying something. So whatever disgusting things you go up to with them, I'm not going to touch with a stick, and I'm just going to leave it that. They've both gone home, and it sounds like they were... happy." Her expression here clearly showed that she believed Dare had truly gone for the full distance and dedication with both of them, and she didn't want to even think about it.
"For the rest... I warned you both not to lie to me. If you'd spoke plainly from the outset, a lot of this shouting might have been avoided. I do so hate shouting." If she hated shouting, others apparently hated it more, given the reactions her threats of force seemed to elicit. Even so, she seemed to acknowledge that some level of explanation was necessary, though she did press two fingers to the bridge of her nose as she went on.
"PianoMan has been a retainer to the Scotsdale family for as long as I have. Moreso than any of the mansion guards, he is our strongest asset in terms of grounds security and keeping the undesirables at bay. I will have an answer for why he saw fit to cause this level of destruction, but he is the one person on my entire staff that I cannot simply fire. I'm still concerned that he is unreachable at the moment, but I think I see what has happened, at least." Her voice darkened again as she pronounced this conclusion, however, and she turned on her heel, storming back towards where MyofibrilMan was trying to sit up at least. She stomped one heel into his chest and slammed him back down roughly.
"Tell me you haven't gone and put me in a difficult position, you lout. I will not accept seeing one of my business partners brought up on sexual assault charges, do you hear me? I will not—" She cut off suddenly, her eyes flicking up.
"Good, I can finally get the rest of this debacle laid out. Where?" Another slight pause. "Harmonia's rooms? I think not. Override Grade One. Staff Profiles. PianoMan.Exe, Harmonia.Exe. Summon." A pause, then. "Priority Override. Immediate Summon." It would be the first time any of the others heard her say it, or saw the processes dart up the length of the small holographic screen that appeared before her, but the same effect as before took place.
This time it was PianoMan who appeared in a flourish of virtual Zenny, grabbed by the boss's whim. He was hugging another navi close to his person, presumably the missing Harmonia. It was hard to see much detail on the shorter woman; her face was buried tightly against her lover's chest as she clutched onto him, though long auburn hair ran in gentle waves down to the middle of her back, and shook as the woman apparently wept. Elsewise she was dressed in a uniform similar to those that Ante would have seen on the other Scotsdale band members, though she wasn't wearing any shoes at the moment.
If she had been about to snap a curt command to either of them, Zennocracy found herself abruptly cut off by a glare from PianoMan himself. He was still holding Harmonia close, but his look gave the other woman pause long enough to still the words she had been planning.
"No! No, Zennocracy! This is too much, and too far!" Yep, he was still quite furious, underneath the thick layer of concern for his lover. "I would have come to speak with you, once I was calmer and Harmonia recovered, but if you're going to force me to it, then you'll hear what I have to say now." He turned his face down and raised Harmonia's briefly, meeting her eyes. His voice gentled. "Harmonia, dearest... Jack out now. You do not need to be exposed to any more of this. Wake your operator. She will understand. Go and stay with Resonance for now; you should not be alone, but I must deal with matters here. I will come as soon as I am able." When she heard this, Zennocracy clicked her teeth.
"I have to talk to her to get this straightened out, PianoMan. She isn't going anywhere."
"Yes. She is." They held one another's glare for many moments longer, but in the mean-time, PianoMan hugged his lover more tightly for a moment, and stroked her hair with a hand, then shifted so that he was standing between the two women. A second later, Harmonia disappeared in a simple beam of light, and Zennocracy ground her teeth. There was enough raw ire in the air between the two Scotsdale elders to start a house fire, but after a few more seconds, Zenny threw up her hands.
"Then you tell me! You're supposed to prevent messes like this, not cause them! What exactly did he do?" About this point, the forceful argument between Zennocracy and her retainer was clearly only going to escalate, and it would be fair enough for Ante, Dare, or Fold to wonder exactly how they could simply get out of this battlefield, which clearly wasn't their fight any more... and still get paid. The three had been at least partially forgotten in the heat of the moment as the shouting continued.
"You know what he did, Zennocracy, and what he did is inexcusable! Are you going to stand there and try to excuse it? He raped Harmonia!" At this, MyofibrilMan raised a hand as though he wanted to object, but Zennocracy lifted one heel and stepped down again, digging the stiletto in and shutting him up, save for a pained whimper, without so much as glancing his was.
"Did he!? Did he really!? Because last I checked, it's my standing, very public order that no-one on my grounds need let themselves be mishandled, PianoMan. If she was unwilling, then why didn't the girl report the incident to me right away, and prevent it!?"
"You know damn well why not!!" The line was shouted with far more vehemence than the last, and it was probably a good thing that his lover wasn't present; the raised voices would likely not have helped her.
It was a strange answer to give, though, but curiously, it did seem to line up with certain other unrelated facts. Zennocracy had stressed that same rule to each of the three women witnessing this meltdown, right from the beginning of the night, but here they each were: Dare had found herself doing things with another woman that she'd most certainly never done before, and hadn't seemed particularly comfortable about doing, but she hadn't backed out, or reported it. Ante had let a charming prince get away with far more than she'd ever allowed anyone to take from from her before tonight. Fold had been on the receiving end directly of MyofibrilMan's unwanted sexual advances, but despite Zenny's explicit instruction to report such misbehaviour to her... she hadn't done so.
All were completely explicable, and unrelated facts, of course... but what then to make of PianoMan's answer? He wasn't leaving them time to mull it over too much, however.
"This is too much, and too callous, even for you, Zennocracy. What would Zenith say, if she knew what you were tyring to cover up here, tonight? What would Maxwell have said, if he saw you now, Zenny!? Tell me that!?" That seemed to hit something of a nerve, at least, because the businesswoman visibly flinched back from the challenge. Her fingers clenched into fists, then relaxed again.
"You leave Maxwell out of this. Everything I do, I do for the good of the Scotsdale estate. It isn't your job to question how I do mine. You're out of line, PianoMan." Unlike the rest of her words, these ones were much more quiet, and tightly restrained. The musician seemed to take some sort of cue from this, and his tone dropped to a more suitable volume as well.
"I have let much pass, in the name of the family, Zennocracy. I have done much, in the name of the family. This will not pass. I will abandon the family and leave, if I must, to make sure that this is not allowed to pass." The wrecked garage and everyone in it truly seemed to have slipped from both of their awareness while they had it out. For her part Zennocracy raised her eyebrows and her expression shifted to something colder and harder.
"We were born into this family. Twenty-eight years of life serving them. I might believe that you would turn your back on that, over this, PianoMan, but you would make an enemy of me if you did, and you are smarter than that." When he didn't answer, Zenny folded her arms. "Harmonia will not press charges. Even if she did, they would not stand up. I'm giving her two months fully paid leave, if she wishes for it, and she may choose to return and play with the other performers if she wants to at any time. This is the end of the matter. Are we clear?" Across from her, PianoMan seethed coldly, and his slender form trembled with the effort of holding himself back from further outburst. Eventually, his shoulders fell.
"We're clear." The musician disappeared in his wholly inappropriate-for-the-situation musical jack-out beam a moment later.
This left the apparently victorious business woman looking right at the trio of women who had, until now, been left hanging. She blinked. Yes, apparently she had in fact completely forgotten about them. MyofibrilMan tried to sit up again and Zennocracy pressed down with her heel, keeping him flat.
"I'm sorry you had to see all of that. I should not have discussed personal family affairs in front of you." She took an extra moment to compose herself, then shook her head. "I'm not particularly pleased with the events of tonight, ladies... but I cannot lay all of that at your feet." She glanced to Ante and began laying out the events as she saw them; much of it was more or less what she'd said a few minutes ago, but this time she sounded far more like she was weighing maths in her head.
"I warned you against associating with that man on my property... but I also have to accept that he really gave you very little choice in the matter. That aside, you entertained the other guests and saw to one of those I directed you to. Those things you did well." Next her eyes moved to Fold. "If Due was searching my books for something, and you took him away from that, then you have my thanks. I can't really judge you on the rest of this mess. It's not entirely your fault." Lastly, her attention moved to Dare. "Let's just not go there, shall we? Those two left happy, and they didn't talk business." Zenny frowned and flicked her eyes between each of them again.
"I'm very displeased that you tried to lie to me... but I'm not surprised that this worthless bag of meat ended up causing problems, and I suppose I cannot lay blame to you for making it up as you went. You're not professionals after all. I'm satisfied you all did was well as you could, all things considered, so I'll be generous. 3000 for the night. Hm, and you and your SP wanted fragments, was it? Very well, 80 BugFrags. A reliable source informs me these are particularly potent." Without any further ceremony, the lady produced a pair of small, glowing, data packets and held one out in each hand, offered towards Dare and Ante. Sometimes an employer might leave some time or room to negotiate or haggle with them over the final payment. Tonight was not one of those nights. "Now, I've still got one servant missing, and I've got a mess to clean up. Goodnight to you, ladies." It was quite clearly a dismissal, this time. Zennocracy stomped the stiletto heel of her fancy shoe down hard on MyofibrilMan's chest, causing a brief exclamation of pain, followed by the bright beam of an EJO that was probably more of a relief to the victim than any in recent history, before she too disappeared in her signature maelstrom of virtual zenny.
This left the three women both alone, and together, for the first time since the beginning of the evening, and while Zenny probably expected them to be leaving her grounds soon, they still had ample time to see to any other plans that they might decide to follow up.
Strangely enough, as she learned that PianoMan had, in fact, been there, it seemed to relieve the woman, at least a little, though a little bit more relieved, from her current position, was still a long way from happy. Once Fold took over to correct the few final details, Zennocracy folded her arms and looked back and forth between them, unimpressed. After a long silence she closed her eyes and, as Dare had suggested, took along breath. When she looked up again, it was towards Dare.
"I don't know how exactly you inserted yourself into those two's little tea party so deeply, and frankly, I don't care. Apparently they both wanted to bed you hard enough to stick their necks out for you, to me, and that's saying something. So whatever disgusting things you go up to with them, I'm not going to touch with a stick, and I'm just going to leave it that. They've both gone home, and it sounds like they were... happy." Her expression here clearly showed that she believed Dare had truly gone for the full distance and dedication with both of them, and she didn't want to even think about it.
"For the rest... I warned you both not to lie to me. If you'd spoke plainly from the outset, a lot of this shouting might have been avoided. I do so hate shouting." If she hated shouting, others apparently hated it more, given the reactions her threats of force seemed to elicit. Even so, she seemed to acknowledge that some level of explanation was necessary, though she did press two fingers to the bridge of her nose as she went on.
"PianoMan has been a retainer to the Scotsdale family for as long as I have. Moreso than any of the mansion guards, he is our strongest asset in terms of grounds security and keeping the undesirables at bay. I will have an answer for why he saw fit to cause this level of destruction, but he is the one person on my entire staff that I cannot simply fire. I'm still concerned that he is unreachable at the moment, but I think I see what has happened, at least." Her voice darkened again as she pronounced this conclusion, however, and she turned on her heel, storming back towards where MyofibrilMan was trying to sit up at least. She stomped one heel into his chest and slammed him back down roughly.
"Tell me you haven't gone and put me in a difficult position, you lout. I will not accept seeing one of my business partners brought up on sexual assault charges, do you hear me? I will not—" She cut off suddenly, her eyes flicking up.
"Good, I can finally get the rest of this debacle laid out. Where?" Another slight pause. "Harmonia's rooms? I think not. Override Grade One. Staff Profiles. PianoMan.Exe, Harmonia.Exe. Summon." A pause, then. "Priority Override. Immediate Summon." It would be the first time any of the others heard her say it, or saw the processes dart up the length of the small holographic screen that appeared before her, but the same effect as before took place.
This time it was PianoMan who appeared in a flourish of virtual Zenny, grabbed by the boss's whim. He was hugging another navi close to his person, presumably the missing Harmonia. It was hard to see much detail on the shorter woman; her face was buried tightly against her lover's chest as she clutched onto him, though long auburn hair ran in gentle waves down to the middle of her back, and shook as the woman apparently wept. Elsewise she was dressed in a uniform similar to those that Ante would have seen on the other Scotsdale band members, though she wasn't wearing any shoes at the moment.
If she had been about to snap a curt command to either of them, Zennocracy found herself abruptly cut off by a glare from PianoMan himself. He was still holding Harmonia close, but his look gave the other woman pause long enough to still the words she had been planning.
"No! No, Zennocracy! This is too much, and too far!" Yep, he was still quite furious, underneath the thick layer of concern for his lover. "I would have come to speak with you, once I was calmer and Harmonia recovered, but if you're going to force me to it, then you'll hear what I have to say now." He turned his face down and raised Harmonia's briefly, meeting her eyes. His voice gentled. "Harmonia, dearest... Jack out now. You do not need to be exposed to any more of this. Wake your operator. She will understand. Go and stay with Resonance for now; you should not be alone, but I must deal with matters here. I will come as soon as I am able." When she heard this, Zennocracy clicked her teeth.
"I have to talk to her to get this straightened out, PianoMan. She isn't going anywhere."
"Yes. She is." They held one another's glare for many moments longer, but in the mean-time, PianoMan hugged his lover more tightly for a moment, and stroked her hair with a hand, then shifted so that he was standing between the two women. A second later, Harmonia disappeared in a simple beam of light, and Zennocracy ground her teeth. There was enough raw ire in the air between the two Scotsdale elders to start a house fire, but after a few more seconds, Zenny threw up her hands.
"Then you tell me! You're supposed to prevent messes like this, not cause them! What exactly did he do?" About this point, the forceful argument between Zennocracy and her retainer was clearly only going to escalate, and it would be fair enough for Ante, Dare, or Fold to wonder exactly how they could simply get out of this battlefield, which clearly wasn't their fight any more... and still get paid. The three had been at least partially forgotten in the heat of the moment as the shouting continued.
"You know what he did, Zennocracy, and what he did is inexcusable! Are you going to stand there and try to excuse it? He raped Harmonia!" At this, MyofibrilMan raised a hand as though he wanted to object, but Zennocracy lifted one heel and stepped down again, digging the stiletto in and shutting him up, save for a pained whimper, without so much as glancing his was.
"Did he!? Did he really!? Because last I checked, it's my standing, very public order that no-one on my grounds need let themselves be mishandled, PianoMan. If she was unwilling, then why didn't the girl report the incident to me right away, and prevent it!?"
"You know damn well why not!!" The line was shouted with far more vehemence than the last, and it was probably a good thing that his lover wasn't present; the raised voices would likely not have helped her.
It was a strange answer to give, though, but curiously, it did seem to line up with certain other unrelated facts. Zennocracy had stressed that same rule to each of the three women witnessing this meltdown, right from the beginning of the night, but here they each were: Dare had found herself doing things with another woman that she'd most certainly never done before, and hadn't seemed particularly comfortable about doing, but she hadn't backed out, or reported it. Ante had let a charming prince get away with far more than she'd ever allowed anyone to take from from her before tonight. Fold had been on the receiving end directly of MyofibrilMan's unwanted sexual advances, but despite Zenny's explicit instruction to report such misbehaviour to her... she hadn't done so.
All were completely explicable, and unrelated facts, of course... but what then to make of PianoMan's answer? He wasn't leaving them time to mull it over too much, however.
"This is too much, and too callous, even for you, Zennocracy. What would Zenith say, if she knew what you were tyring to cover up here, tonight? What would Maxwell have said, if he saw you now, Zenny!? Tell me that!?" That seemed to hit something of a nerve, at least, because the businesswoman visibly flinched back from the challenge. Her fingers clenched into fists, then relaxed again.
"You leave Maxwell out of this. Everything I do, I do for the good of the Scotsdale estate. It isn't your job to question how I do mine. You're out of line, PianoMan." Unlike the rest of her words, these ones were much more quiet, and tightly restrained. The musician seemed to take some sort of cue from this, and his tone dropped to a more suitable volume as well.
"I have let much pass, in the name of the family, Zennocracy. I have done much, in the name of the family. This will not pass. I will abandon the family and leave, if I must, to make sure that this is not allowed to pass." The wrecked garage and everyone in it truly seemed to have slipped from both of their awareness while they had it out. For her part Zennocracy raised her eyebrows and her expression shifted to something colder and harder.
"We were born into this family. Twenty-eight years of life serving them. I might believe that you would turn your back on that, over this, PianoMan, but you would make an enemy of me if you did, and you are smarter than that." When he didn't answer, Zenny folded her arms. "Harmonia will not press charges. Even if she did, they would not stand up. I'm giving her two months fully paid leave, if she wishes for it, and she may choose to return and play with the other performers if she wants to at any time. This is the end of the matter. Are we clear?" Across from her, PianoMan seethed coldly, and his slender form trembled with the effort of holding himself back from further outburst. Eventually, his shoulders fell.
"We're clear." The musician disappeared in his wholly inappropriate-for-the-situation musical jack-out beam a moment later.
This left the apparently victorious business woman looking right at the trio of women who had, until now, been left hanging. She blinked. Yes, apparently she had in fact completely forgotten about them. MyofibrilMan tried to sit up again and Zennocracy pressed down with her heel, keeping him flat.
"I'm sorry you had to see all of that. I should not have discussed personal family affairs in front of you." She took an extra moment to compose herself, then shook her head. "I'm not particularly pleased with the events of tonight, ladies... but I cannot lay all of that at your feet." She glanced to Ante and began laying out the events as she saw them; much of it was more or less what she'd said a few minutes ago, but this time she sounded far more like she was weighing maths in her head.
"I warned you against associating with that man on my property... but I also have to accept that he really gave you very little choice in the matter. That aside, you entertained the other guests and saw to one of those I directed you to. Those things you did well." Next her eyes moved to Fold. "If Due was searching my books for something, and you took him away from that, then you have my thanks. I can't really judge you on the rest of this mess. It's not entirely your fault." Lastly, her attention moved to Dare. "Let's just not go there, shall we? Those two left happy, and they didn't talk business." Zenny frowned and flicked her eyes between each of them again.
"I'm very displeased that you tried to lie to me... but I'm not surprised that this worthless bag of meat ended up causing problems, and I suppose I cannot lay blame to you for making it up as you went. You're not professionals after all. I'm satisfied you all did was well as you could, all things considered, so I'll be generous. 3000 for the night. Hm, and you and your SP wanted fragments, was it? Very well, 80 BugFrags. A reliable source informs me these are particularly potent." Without any further ceremony, the lady produced a pair of small, glowing, data packets and held one out in each hand, offered towards Dare and Ante. Sometimes an employer might leave some time or room to negotiate or haggle with them over the final payment. Tonight was not one of those nights. "Now, I've still got one servant missing, and I've got a mess to clean up. Goodnight to you, ladies." It was quite clearly a dismissal, this time. Zennocracy stomped the stiletto heel of her fancy shoe down hard on MyofibrilMan's chest, causing a brief exclamation of pain, followed by the bright beam of an EJO that was probably more of a relief to the victim than any in recent history, before she too disappeared in her signature maelstrom of virtual zenny.
This left the three women both alone, and together, for the first time since the beginning of the evening, and while Zenny probably expected them to be leaving her grounds soon, they still had ample time to see to any other plans that they might decide to follow up.
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Dare let out a breath and relaxed a bit, seeing that Zenny... well, it wouldn't be fair to say she had calmed down, but she had perhaps redirected her frustration to other parties. Seeing their hostess summon back PianoMan so easily, Dare suddenly found herself wondering why she had just assumed Zenny didn't have cameras everywhere as a basis for her escapades tonight. Her personal security protocols seemed to be the real deal, even if her overall security seemed to leave a lot of blind spots.
Again, the Navi felt more or less a spectator to the huge amount of tension between the hostess and her employees, and found herself resisting an impulse to reach for popcorn. In the end, though, Dare found she was pretty drained of attention for things that didn't directly interest her... she found her eyes straying to Ante more often than not, and found herself wondering what she had gotten up to during the evening. She had a scratching suspicion that something had thrown her composure...
Finding she'd been staring perhaps a bit too long and obviously, Dare turned back to Zenny and accepted the begrudging acknowledgement that she'd done her job. "3,000 zenny sounds plenty fair, thank you, ma'am." The Navi accepted it and gave the client a two fingered salute from the top of her head in a tipsy gesture of gratitude. "Hope we can help you again some time." Dare wasn't at all sure Zenny would be taking them up on that offer any time soon, but might as well put it out there.
Soon enough, Zenny and her unfortunate business partner had disappeared, and Dare finally got to turn her attention back to Ante (as she had seemed quite eager to do for the past ten minutes). "Ante! I wanna hear all about your night, but first, don't you think it'd be a good idea for us to take a midnight stroll in the garden...?" The Navi really had no idea what time it was (what time is it ever on the Net, anyway?), but the point was moreso to remind Ante of their engagement with Hoodwink. Grinning widely, the Navi produced a cufflink from her pocket and removed the flower pin from her hair.
Pausing, she seemed to consider a moment longer. "Now that I think about it... you probably wanna hear about my night too, right? Well... maybe I'll fill you in on the final details later, but let me at least say this much-"
Dare suddenly threw her arms around Ante, still grinning ear-to-ear. "I'm saving myself for you, rival!" Just as soon as she'd initiated, the Navi broke off, taking a step backward. "Woah, sorry! That was kinda weird, wasn't it? Uh, nevermind... why don't we just go on out?" Assuming Fold and Ante didn't see any burning need to stick around the garage, the Navi would make her drunken way to where the group had agreed to meet Hoodwink earlier.
Again, the Navi felt more or less a spectator to the huge amount of tension between the hostess and her employees, and found herself resisting an impulse to reach for popcorn. In the end, though, Dare found she was pretty drained of attention for things that didn't directly interest her... she found her eyes straying to Ante more often than not, and found herself wondering what she had gotten up to during the evening. She had a scratching suspicion that something had thrown her composure...
Finding she'd been staring perhaps a bit too long and obviously, Dare turned back to Zenny and accepted the begrudging acknowledgement that she'd done her job. "3,000 zenny sounds plenty fair, thank you, ma'am." The Navi accepted it and gave the client a two fingered salute from the top of her head in a tipsy gesture of gratitude. "Hope we can help you again some time." Dare wasn't at all sure Zenny would be taking them up on that offer any time soon, but might as well put it out there.
Soon enough, Zenny and her unfortunate business partner had disappeared, and Dare finally got to turn her attention back to Ante (as she had seemed quite eager to do for the past ten minutes). "Ante! I wanna hear all about your night, but first, don't you think it'd be a good idea for us to take a midnight stroll in the garden...?" The Navi really had no idea what time it was (what time is it ever on the Net, anyway?), but the point was moreso to remind Ante of their engagement with Hoodwink. Grinning widely, the Navi produced a cufflink from her pocket and removed the flower pin from her hair.
Pausing, she seemed to consider a moment longer. "Now that I think about it... you probably wanna hear about my night too, right? Well... maybe I'll fill you in on the final details later, but let me at least say this much-"
Dare suddenly threw her arms around Ante, still grinning ear-to-ear. "I'm saving myself for you, rival!" Just as soon as she'd initiated, the Navi broke off, taking a step backward. "Woah, sorry! That was kinda weird, wasn't it? Uh, nevermind... why don't we just go on out?" Assuming Fold and Ante didn't see any burning need to stick around the garage, the Navi would make her drunken way to where the group had agreed to meet Hoodwink earlier.
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Ante began to feel her problems of being stolen from her kingdom and afflicted with an embarrassing, permanent glitch that had forced her to modify her lifestyle were small in the face of the kind of drama she could instead be saddled with, watching Zennocracy and PianoMan lash out at each other. From what little she knew, she certainly agreed that Harmonia shouldn't have been left alone with MyofybrilMan (really, no woman should be, she imagined), but she also didn't understand why PianoMan was so vehement that Zennocracy had some hand in orchestrating the outcome. She especially wanted an explanation as to why it would be unsafe for Harmonia to have reported the issue, any further than the obvious problem of breaking away from MyofybrilMan's clutches in the first place. Even more than that, she and Fold both felt outraged that Zennocracy would see fit to chastise PianoMan for his role in this and to threaten him with consequences if he chose to retaliate against the injustice committed upon his girlfriend. Ante began to step forward as if to say something, while Zennocracy's back was still turned, but Fold placed one hand around her wrist and shook her head.
After all, Fold knew that several cogs were already in motion to do more damage to Zennocracy than the woman likely realized. Making a scene here wouldn't fix anything, as the boss had made it clear she only listened to one thing: money. That meant that, as the wealthiest individual present, she only listened to her own voice, it seemed.
On that note, Ante and Fold quietly accepted their payment and offered no further resistance. They were just happy when Zenny and MyofybrilMan left, both of the two worst figures of the night exiting their sight at once. "Well, Miss Fold, Miss Dare... I apologize that you two had the brunt of the difficult work tonight," Ante spoke up, shaking her head in a subdued show of regret.
"Perhaps, but that's the duty of a bodyguard, at least," Fold reminded the princess. "I'm simply relieved that you managed to enjoy yourself tonight, at least."
Dare gave a suggestion of her own, reminding Ante of Hoodwink, who she'd almost forgotten in the mess of the rest of the night. "Oh! That's right. I collected a token from Sir Mordenite as well."
"I've got a bit of MyofybrilMan's suit and a bell from Duey," Fold added, producing first the bell and then, distastefully, the scrap of cloth that used to be a part of MyofybrilMan's slacks. "And no, not because I tore the suit off of him."
"I'll tell you the details of my night, although I'm certain mine are not so terribly important," Ante further responded, playing with a curl of hair that poked from beneath her hood. "Let's walk and talk, though, if you please?" Her face went a bit red when Dare mentioned her own night. "Th-That's quite alright, I'm certain you did what you needed to in order to achieve the mission. Besides, I can hardly judge..." she muttered cryptically, thinking of her own kiss in the greenhouse. Red continud to spread her face, reaching critical crimson when Dare hugged her and made a startling announcement. "M-Miss Dare! Please, don't tease me," she sighed, clutching both hands at her chest. Her eyebrows lowered critically as she gave her friend a small, no-fun-at-all frown. "Forgive me for saying this, but you smell rather strongly of alcohol. Just how much have you had?" she asked.
Fold chuckled, smiling at her new friend. She reasoned that Ante could probably use someone like Dare around, to stop her from being too stuffy. "I agree. Let's meet Mister Hoodwink and wrap this up," she concurred, grabbing Ante's right hand and Dare's left and leading them back outside of the room.
Ante would explain her evening to the two on the way down, omitting every saucy detail involving Hoodwink, of course. A part of her really wanted to get advice regarding how she ought to ask upon meeting him again, as she was certain she'd be flustered, but she didn't want to reveal anything she didn't have to. A part of her also wished she could ask the other two to let her meet Hoodwink alone... Realizing that she'd had that thought caused her to blush again; she closed her eyes and allowed Fold to lead her while she regained her composure on the way to the meeting spot.
After all, Fold knew that several cogs were already in motion to do more damage to Zennocracy than the woman likely realized. Making a scene here wouldn't fix anything, as the boss had made it clear she only listened to one thing: money. That meant that, as the wealthiest individual present, she only listened to her own voice, it seemed.
On that note, Ante and Fold quietly accepted their payment and offered no further resistance. They were just happy when Zenny and MyofybrilMan left, both of the two worst figures of the night exiting their sight at once. "Well, Miss Fold, Miss Dare... I apologize that you two had the brunt of the difficult work tonight," Ante spoke up, shaking her head in a subdued show of regret.
"Perhaps, but that's the duty of a bodyguard, at least," Fold reminded the princess. "I'm simply relieved that you managed to enjoy yourself tonight, at least."
Dare gave a suggestion of her own, reminding Ante of Hoodwink, who she'd almost forgotten in the mess of the rest of the night. "Oh! That's right. I collected a token from Sir Mordenite as well."
"I've got a bit of MyofybrilMan's suit and a bell from Duey," Fold added, producing first the bell and then, distastefully, the scrap of cloth that used to be a part of MyofybrilMan's slacks. "And no, not because I tore the suit off of him."
"I'll tell you the details of my night, although I'm certain mine are not so terribly important," Ante further responded, playing with a curl of hair that poked from beneath her hood. "Let's walk and talk, though, if you please?" Her face went a bit red when Dare mentioned her own night. "Th-That's quite alright, I'm certain you did what you needed to in order to achieve the mission. Besides, I can hardly judge..." she muttered cryptically, thinking of her own kiss in the greenhouse. Red continud to spread her face, reaching critical crimson when Dare hugged her and made a startling announcement. "M-Miss Dare! Please, don't tease me," she sighed, clutching both hands at her chest. Her eyebrows lowered critically as she gave her friend a small, no-fun-at-all frown. "Forgive me for saying this, but you smell rather strongly of alcohol. Just how much have you had?" she asked.
Fold chuckled, smiling at her new friend. She reasoned that Ante could probably use someone like Dare around, to stop her from being too stuffy. "I agree. Let's meet Mister Hoodwink and wrap this up," she concurred, grabbing Ante's right hand and Dare's left and leading them back outside of the room.
Ante would explain her evening to the two on the way down, omitting every saucy detail involving Hoodwink, of course. A part of her really wanted to get advice regarding how she ought to ask upon meeting him again, as she was certain she'd be flustered, but she didn't want to reveal anything she didn't have to. A part of her also wished she could ask the other two to let her meet Hoodwink alone... Realizing that she'd had that thought caused her to blush again; she closed her eyes and allowed Fold to lead her while she regained her composure on the way to the meeting spot.
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((Ante & Fold Receive 80BugFrags, Dare Receive 3000z))
Finally free of their mission mistress, Ante, Fold and Dare had a chance at last to catch up and swap stories s they made their way out of the mansion and back down the exterior garden pathways. The night was still and the air was surprisingly chill, now. The moon was out and the stars were bright, and it certainly felt much later in the night, but though cold the weather was fine, even if such things were ephemeral online.
The crunching of the gravel under their feet was the only other sound to be heard as they made their way back to the maze pavilion now; the mansion itself had gone silent, though most of the lights were still on. There was ample time for the trio to discuss their nights in more detail and share their stories, though depending on how much of her escapades with Hoodwink she choose to omit, there was the amusing possibility of Fold catching her queen out; she might have missed the juiciest bit, but she'd seen a good deal of the lead-up.
One sound did begin to drift softly across the silence of the grounds as they walked: a slow piece of music, which sounded like it was coming from the now open balcony doors of the ball-room. Though it was unlikely any but Ante would recognise the significance of this, a trained ear would indeed pick out all six instruments being played. Whatever else came, apparently, some things were important.
Eventually, the trio of ladies reached the maze pavilion again, and they would find Hoodwink waiting for them, leaning gently on on of the pavilion supports with his hands behind his back, under his cloak. He was dressed once again as they had first met, and in the only way that Dare, at least had seen him; roguish darks that helped him blend in with the low-light setting. As before, though, the hood of his cloak was thrown back, leaving his head and face clear and visible in the moonlight.
His eyes flickered first to Ante, and his gaze dropped for a second, almost as an apology for appearing to her again dressed in his rougher appearance. It seemed he was interpreting her wishes for secrecy quite seriously, however, and not wishing to reveal any deeper familiarity that they might have shared in front of the other two women. Instead he stood forward and bowed low to the trio, one leg forward and sweeping a hand wide.
"Good evening again, my ladies. I am glad to see that each of you have decided to return. I hope you have each enjoyed a pleasant ball this evening, and that Zennocracy's tasks for you were not too arduous. If you have come, then I take it you decided to play my game. I'm very pleased." He smiled broadly, showing his teeth for a moment, then inclined his head to ante more directly, one hand over his chest. "Ante has already provided me with a truly marvellous token from an important guest this evening... How did you each fare?" The question was mostly directed towards Fold and Dare, and he grinned as he glanced between them.
Finally free of their mission mistress, Ante, Fold and Dare had a chance at last to catch up and swap stories s they made their way out of the mansion and back down the exterior garden pathways. The night was still and the air was surprisingly chill, now. The moon was out and the stars were bright, and it certainly felt much later in the night, but though cold the weather was fine, even if such things were ephemeral online.
The crunching of the gravel under their feet was the only other sound to be heard as they made their way back to the maze pavilion now; the mansion itself had gone silent, though most of the lights were still on. There was ample time for the trio to discuss their nights in more detail and share their stories, though depending on how much of her escapades with Hoodwink she choose to omit, there was the amusing possibility of Fold catching her queen out; she might have missed the juiciest bit, but she'd seen a good deal of the lead-up.
One sound did begin to drift softly across the silence of the grounds as they walked: a slow piece of music, which sounded like it was coming from the now open balcony doors of the ball-room. Though it was unlikely any but Ante would recognise the significance of this, a trained ear would indeed pick out all six instruments being played. Whatever else came, apparently, some things were important.
Eventually, the trio of ladies reached the maze pavilion again, and they would find Hoodwink waiting for them, leaning gently on on of the pavilion supports with his hands behind his back, under his cloak. He was dressed once again as they had first met, and in the only way that Dare, at least had seen him; roguish darks that helped him blend in with the low-light setting. As before, though, the hood of his cloak was thrown back, leaving his head and face clear and visible in the moonlight.
His eyes flickered first to Ante, and his gaze dropped for a second, almost as an apology for appearing to her again dressed in his rougher appearance. It seemed he was interpreting her wishes for secrecy quite seriously, however, and not wishing to reveal any deeper familiarity that they might have shared in front of the other two women. Instead he stood forward and bowed low to the trio, one leg forward and sweeping a hand wide.
"Good evening again, my ladies. I am glad to see that each of you have decided to return. I hope you have each enjoyed a pleasant ball this evening, and that Zennocracy's tasks for you were not too arduous. If you have come, then I take it you decided to play my game. I'm very pleased." He smiled broadly, showing his teeth for a moment, then inclined his head to ante more directly, one hand over his chest. "Ante has already provided me with a truly marvellous token from an important guest this evening... How did you each fare?" The question was mostly directed towards Fold and Dare, and he grinned as he glanced between them.
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Dare simply grinned in response to Ante's chiding. "I think the problem here is you haven't had enough! If we hadn't had such a full night already, you and I would be bar-hopping when we left here. I gotta find out how Fold holds her drink at some point too... Hey, you know what I just thought about? 'Fold' is kind of an ominous name, isn't it? I assume it's like, folding in cards when you have a bad hand... seems like it'd be bad luck." The Navi paused, putting a finger to her lip and looking pensive. Finally, she perked up again, raising that finger in the air. "But you know, you've gotta look at the big picture! If you fold at the right time instead of raising like an idiot, you cut your losses and save up for another round, right? So folding is a 'winning' strategy in the long run! You fold and then raise with a better hand... so is Raise a better name? I dunno." It more or less sounded like Dare was just talking to herself, the sauce she'd been on finally catching up to her. She seemed to have completely forgotten about any plans to describe her own night... in any case, she'd more or less done so when Zenny had pressed her earlier.
"Anyway, I'm glad you ladies got your trophies. I was freaking out a little when I realized I forgot to get anything from MuscleheadMan... then again, there wasn't really much left I could take from him. And I'm glad Ante got to do her piano and play her dance... it's gotta be tough when you go from being a princess to all the crazy hijinks we've gotten into. Must have been nostalgic, I guess." At this point, while Dare felt fairly certain more had gone on in Ante's night, and very likely something more interesting than what she'd described on the ballroom, the Navi's mind really wasn't focused enough to home in on what that might be.
Such as it was, the rather telegraphed tension between Hoodwink and Ante went unnoticed as the Navis met. "Good to see you again, too, Hoodie! Yeah, the tasks I was involved with got pretty ardorous," she responded. "I mean arduous! Well, actually, they stopped before they got arduous... you know, I'll just shut up. Anyhow, here's your stuff," she said, handing over the two items readily. "I always do what I set out to do. I win every race! I hit every target. I..."
Dare really seemed to be dragging off, looking more and more like she wanted a bed. At the end of the comment, she had turned to Ante, but she finally turned to nobody in particular, rubbing her eyes and yawning. "Aaaah... hrm... now that I think about it, you helped out Ante earlier when she was ill, right? Thanks for that. I guess she gave you her thing from Myofib... uh, Mordenite."
"Anyway, I'm glad you ladies got your trophies. I was freaking out a little when I realized I forgot to get anything from MuscleheadMan... then again, there wasn't really much left I could take from him. And I'm glad Ante got to do her piano and play her dance... it's gotta be tough when you go from being a princess to all the crazy hijinks we've gotten into. Must have been nostalgic, I guess." At this point, while Dare felt fairly certain more had gone on in Ante's night, and very likely something more interesting than what she'd described on the ballroom, the Navi's mind really wasn't focused enough to home in on what that might be.
Such as it was, the rather telegraphed tension between Hoodwink and Ante went unnoticed as the Navis met. "Good to see you again, too, Hoodie! Yeah, the tasks I was involved with got pretty ardorous," she responded. "I mean arduous! Well, actually, they stopped before they got arduous... you know, I'll just shut up. Anyhow, here's your stuff," she said, handing over the two items readily. "I always do what I set out to do. I win every race! I hit every target. I..."
Dare really seemed to be dragging off, looking more and more like she wanted a bed. At the end of the comment, she had turned to Ante, but she finally turned to nobody in particular, rubbing her eyes and yawning. "Aaaah... hrm... now that I think about it, you helped out Ante earlier when she was ill, right? Thanks for that. I guess she gave you her thing from Myofib... uh, Mordenite."
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"I'll be happy to join you next time, Miss Dare! But it may, perhaps, be best to allow the princess to keep to what she's comfortable with," Fold chuckled, replying to Dare's invitation while beckoning her to come a bit closer so they could speak with her privately. "Between you and I, she gets a little silly under the influence." That would probably only increase Dare's curiosity. Dare also offered a few other insights on Fold's names, these which caused the bodyguard to freeze up and respond more rigidly. "I suppose we'll never know my creator's thoughts or why they chose the name, but I can only assume it refers to making one's opponent fold, right? As in, 'Fold is such an unbreakable and stalwart wall of support that when it comes to threatening her princess, I simply must fold!' My name is therefore like a set of instructions," the bodyguard reasoned, sounding like she was trying to convince herself more than anyone. "O-Or what you said! That's also good," she nodded enthusiastically, yielding to the wisdom of a confessed drunkard.
Rejoining the conversation, Ante smiled and clapped her hands together at her chest. "Absolutely! Oh, the music, the dancing, the sights and sounds... all of it was so romantic," she sighed wistfully. "I-I mean, nostalgic! That's the word you used, wasn't it?" she giggled, waving her misstep off as a silly mistake. "I'd love to know how you acquired your trophies as well, Miss Dare, although I imagine you'd simply charm the pants right off of anyone you had a chance to speak to at any length," Ante reasoned, more trying to switch the topic of conversation than anything.
The conversation was interrupted as they ran out of building to traverse, finding themselves back out at the maze pavilion. If either Hoodwink or Dare remembered the earlier part of the night, they might find a marked difference between Ante and Fold's current treatment of Hoodwink and their behavior back then. Where once Ante had been suspicious of a rogue hanging around outside the lavish mansion, she now held a look of eagerness, almost bashfulness, as she extended a small curtsy. Similarly, where Fold had once appeared suspicious and ready to hold the man to a rigid metric of scrutiny, she now seemed accepting, her greedy eyes darting back and forth between the princess and him to see what sort of chemistry existed between the two. "I'm pleased to find you waiting here, as promised! I wished to come out sooner, seeing as the party has been over for quite some time, but the business with Miss Zennocracy held us a bit over," Ante explained. "I hope the rest of the party was enjoyable for you and that you haven't been waiting out here all night. Oh, and... thank you for your caring for me, earlier, yes," she coughed, looking aside in a guilty way as Dare mentioned the time the two had spent together earlier, supposedly doing nothing more than recovering from a dizzy spell.
"I've brought a couple of scraps of that bastard, MyofybrilMan's, pants," Fold sighed, again frowning as the memory resurfaced. She handed those over eagerly. "Also, this bell from DueAccountabilityMan, one of many he wore upon his outfit. We were fast friends, so he was happy to part with it," she chuckled, bringing that out as well. She'd already retrieved the data from inside of it, so the item Hoodwink was receiving would be only a bell and nothing more.
"I don't believe anything we've collected tonight will be missed, which is something of a relief. After all, I hate to think of us tricking anyone, hiding unscrupulous motivations, making fools out of other people without their knowing, or any of that rot! With the exception of MyofybrilMan, everyone parted on good terms," the princess sighed, sounding a bit worn out by the night regardless.
"I'd prefer not to explain why I have scraps of his pants," Fold murmured, with a grim, menacing expression of malice.
Rejoining the conversation, Ante smiled and clapped her hands together at her chest. "Absolutely! Oh, the music, the dancing, the sights and sounds... all of it was so romantic," she sighed wistfully. "I-I mean, nostalgic! That's the word you used, wasn't it?" she giggled, waving her misstep off as a silly mistake. "I'd love to know how you acquired your trophies as well, Miss Dare, although I imagine you'd simply charm the pants right off of anyone you had a chance to speak to at any length," Ante reasoned, more trying to switch the topic of conversation than anything.
The conversation was interrupted as they ran out of building to traverse, finding themselves back out at the maze pavilion. If either Hoodwink or Dare remembered the earlier part of the night, they might find a marked difference between Ante and Fold's current treatment of Hoodwink and their behavior back then. Where once Ante had been suspicious of a rogue hanging around outside the lavish mansion, she now held a look of eagerness, almost bashfulness, as she extended a small curtsy. Similarly, where Fold had once appeared suspicious and ready to hold the man to a rigid metric of scrutiny, she now seemed accepting, her greedy eyes darting back and forth between the princess and him to see what sort of chemistry existed between the two. "I'm pleased to find you waiting here, as promised! I wished to come out sooner, seeing as the party has been over for quite some time, but the business with Miss Zennocracy held us a bit over," Ante explained. "I hope the rest of the party was enjoyable for you and that you haven't been waiting out here all night. Oh, and... thank you for your caring for me, earlier, yes," she coughed, looking aside in a guilty way as Dare mentioned the time the two had spent together earlier, supposedly doing nothing more than recovering from a dizzy spell.
"I've brought a couple of scraps of that bastard, MyofybrilMan's, pants," Fold sighed, again frowning as the memory resurfaced. She handed those over eagerly. "Also, this bell from DueAccountabilityMan, one of many he wore upon his outfit. We were fast friends, so he was happy to part with it," she chuckled, bringing that out as well. She'd already retrieved the data from inside of it, so the item Hoodwink was receiving would be only a bell and nothing more.
"I don't believe anything we've collected tonight will be missed, which is something of a relief. After all, I hate to think of us tricking anyone, hiding unscrupulous motivations, making fools out of other people without their knowing, or any of that rot! With the exception of MyofybrilMan, everyone parted on good terms," the princess sighed, sounding a bit worn out by the night regardless.
"I'd prefer not to explain why I have scraps of his pants," Fold murmured, with a grim, menacing expression of malice.
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Drink-spurred loquaciousness, and fluster parapraxis aside, the partied-out trio swapped some stories and hinted at more, by the time hey reached their shadow employer for the night. He nodded to the amiable words from Dare with something of a small twinkle in his eye, and an equal, though slightly more serious, nod of gratitude for Fold, for her own offerings. Along with the gifts from Fold and Dare, the rogue also produced the beautiful crystal spray that Ante had given him, pausing again to marvel at it in particular. Holding all five carefully in his hands, he looked up again to the three women before him.
"Five highly influential guests to Zennocracy's ball, and five little trophies in my hands, small things given freely or else not missed. I am very pleased. Thank you each." He inclined his head once more, though holding the items as carefully as he was, it didn't leave him any freedom to bow properly. When he looked up again, it was with a slightly apologetic smile, however.
"I would not doubt any one of you, of course, my ladies, and it pains me to have to do a confirmation of any sort, when you've all played my game so wonderfully, but I'm afraid my personal hang-ups must insist on it. It will be an itch under my skin if I do not.... Please, this will only take the briefest of moments."
Shuffling the handful of baubles to one palm, Hoodwink held his other palm open and flat, then softly transferred one item to it at a time. The first one to slip over was the bell, from Duey. When it hit Hoodwink's other palm, a circle of green light flashed about his hand, and then threw up a small view-screen that was mostly opaque, facing Hoodwink. It was hard to see much, save a brief scroll of scanning data and became a brighter green glow when it matched the composition to being fragment .GMO data from DueAccountabilityMan. Hoodwink glanced up with a grin and winked at Fold, clearly pleased.
The second object was Saija's feather, and it went through the same process, identifying as fragment .GMO data from SaijaTsun. Next was the Cuff-link, and another green light as it came up as fragment .GMO data from DisgolokoMan, though he looked to Dare and raised one eyebrow in amusement as it also reported trace elements of direct entity data belonging to SaijaTsun.
The scrap of fabric was next, and the scan took longer reading the fragment. Hoodwink's brows knit as he followed the date read-out, but even thought the screen went an ominous shade of red instead, he looked up towards Fold still grinning.
"Looks like this one is from a generic purchased suit, rather than a personal .GMO, or anything like that. Nothing to mark it as personal to him, but don't worry; the purchase number trace shows his name as the buyer, and that's enough confirmation for me, lady Fold. Besides... this one more than makes up for any lack of personal closeness in the others..." Here he held up the spray of crystal again. The man seemed re-entranced by its beauty, or perhaps by what it represented, each time he looked at it, but the effect was fleeting and he set it on his palm with cast of his eyes to Ante, and slow, respectful incline of his head.
The scan showed this piece as legacy entity data from Mordenite, and though it was hard to see through the inverted and mostly opaqued screen, the green-lit display also showed a reference picture along with it. The image looked vaguely like a tall fortress structure of some sort, partially destroyed, partially crystallised, and rent with giant spikes of solid diamond-like crystals, and at its base a figure that Ante might be able to recognise as Mordenite, though possibly not: reversed and opaqued picture aside, the figure was standing to his full very impressive height, and had his wings unfurled wide, and his entire form much resembled the transparent crystal of the image, and indeed, of the small spray that Ante had kept.
Hoodwink's eyebrows jumped up for a moment, and he removed the crystal from his palm, shutting the scanning program down.
"Not a man to anger, by the look of that..." He murmured, mostly to himself. He was distracted only for a moment, however, and turned his focus back to the women before him. "These are wonderful, ladies. They are exactly what I asked, and again, I'm sorry to have to confirm it like that. I don't think for a moment that any of you would think of trying to cheat; it's merely a personal hang-up of my own. The scanning program is one a colleague of mine crated especially for me, because he knows I have this self-verifying tick." With a brief shake of his head he now extended his hands, holding the trinkets, to the trio.
"Now.... these are mostly tokens won, or gifts given, or favours bequeathed. What mattered to me, was that I wanted them; now that I have them I am very pleased so, if any of you would like to have any of these back, to keep for yourselves, you are most welcome to them." For all his enthusiasm for the game, and his eagerness to acquire the simple little baubles, the man seemed quite willing to return them to the ladies now, seeing as none of them were items that the original owners were going to want back. When each of them had taken back whatever they wished to keep, Hoodwink would whisk the remainder away up one sleeve and out of sight, before putting a leg forward and bowing low to the women. His eyes would linger a moment longer on the spray of crystal if Ante opted to reclaim the souvenir of her night for her own, but there would be no hesitation in his giving it back to her, if she wanted it.
"Since you've all played admirably with me, what did I promise? Twice over Zennocracy's fee to you each, was it? I'll pay it and gladly. How much did she decide to reward you? I admit, I'm curious to see how far her generosity went."
Throughout the formal business part of their meeting, Hoodwink had been unable to keep his eyes occasionally flicking in Ante's direction, for brief glances. It seemed like there was more he wished to say to her personally, but was trying to find the right moment, or opportunity to do so. Perhaps the right opportunity would come up once all the business was out of the way.
"Five highly influential guests to Zennocracy's ball, and five little trophies in my hands, small things given freely or else not missed. I am very pleased. Thank you each." He inclined his head once more, though holding the items as carefully as he was, it didn't leave him any freedom to bow properly. When he looked up again, it was with a slightly apologetic smile, however.
"I would not doubt any one of you, of course, my ladies, and it pains me to have to do a confirmation of any sort, when you've all played my game so wonderfully, but I'm afraid my personal hang-ups must insist on it. It will be an itch under my skin if I do not.... Please, this will only take the briefest of moments."
Shuffling the handful of baubles to one palm, Hoodwink held his other palm open and flat, then softly transferred one item to it at a time. The first one to slip over was the bell, from Duey. When it hit Hoodwink's other palm, a circle of green light flashed about his hand, and then threw up a small view-screen that was mostly opaque, facing Hoodwink. It was hard to see much, save a brief scroll of scanning data and became a brighter green glow when it matched the composition to being fragment .GMO data from DueAccountabilityMan. Hoodwink glanced up with a grin and winked at Fold, clearly pleased.
The second object was Saija's feather, and it went through the same process, identifying as fragment .GMO data from SaijaTsun. Next was the Cuff-link, and another green light as it came up as fragment .GMO data from DisgolokoMan, though he looked to Dare and raised one eyebrow in amusement as it also reported trace elements of direct entity data belonging to SaijaTsun.
The scrap of fabric was next, and the scan took longer reading the fragment. Hoodwink's brows knit as he followed the date read-out, but even thought the screen went an ominous shade of red instead, he looked up towards Fold still grinning.
"Looks like this one is from a generic purchased suit, rather than a personal .GMO, or anything like that. Nothing to mark it as personal to him, but don't worry; the purchase number trace shows his name as the buyer, and that's enough confirmation for me, lady Fold. Besides... this one more than makes up for any lack of personal closeness in the others..." Here he held up the spray of crystal again. The man seemed re-entranced by its beauty, or perhaps by what it represented, each time he looked at it, but the effect was fleeting and he set it on his palm with cast of his eyes to Ante, and slow, respectful incline of his head.
The scan showed this piece as legacy entity data from Mordenite, and though it was hard to see through the inverted and mostly opaqued screen, the green-lit display also showed a reference picture along with it. The image looked vaguely like a tall fortress structure of some sort, partially destroyed, partially crystallised, and rent with giant spikes of solid diamond-like crystals, and at its base a figure that Ante might be able to recognise as Mordenite, though possibly not: reversed and opaqued picture aside, the figure was standing to his full very impressive height, and had his wings unfurled wide, and his entire form much resembled the transparent crystal of the image, and indeed, of the small spray that Ante had kept.
Hoodwink's eyebrows jumped up for a moment, and he removed the crystal from his palm, shutting the scanning program down.
"Not a man to anger, by the look of that..." He murmured, mostly to himself. He was distracted only for a moment, however, and turned his focus back to the women before him. "These are wonderful, ladies. They are exactly what I asked, and again, I'm sorry to have to confirm it like that. I don't think for a moment that any of you would think of trying to cheat; it's merely a personal hang-up of my own. The scanning program is one a colleague of mine crated especially for me, because he knows I have this self-verifying tick." With a brief shake of his head he now extended his hands, holding the trinkets, to the trio.
"Now.... these are mostly tokens won, or gifts given, or favours bequeathed. What mattered to me, was that I wanted them; now that I have them I am very pleased so, if any of you would like to have any of these back, to keep for yourselves, you are most welcome to them." For all his enthusiasm for the game, and his eagerness to acquire the simple little baubles, the man seemed quite willing to return them to the ladies now, seeing as none of them were items that the original owners were going to want back. When each of them had taken back whatever they wished to keep, Hoodwink would whisk the remainder away up one sleeve and out of sight, before putting a leg forward and bowing low to the women. His eyes would linger a moment longer on the spray of crystal if Ante opted to reclaim the souvenir of her night for her own, but there would be no hesitation in his giving it back to her, if she wanted it.
"Since you've all played admirably with me, what did I promise? Twice over Zennocracy's fee to you each, was it? I'll pay it and gladly. How much did she decide to reward you? I admit, I'm curious to see how far her generosity went."
Throughout the formal business part of their meeting, Hoodwink had been unable to keep his eyes occasionally flicking in Ante's direction, for brief glances. It seemed like there was more he wished to say to her personally, but was trying to find the right moment, or opportunity to do so. Perhaps the right opportunity would come up once all the business was out of the way.
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Ante and Fold were about exhausted with doubting everyone's intentions for one night, but, even without speaking, they both found themselves sharing a brief worry over whether Hoodwink was, indeed, verifying the data of the individuals, or whether he was capable of garnering more than they wanted to share from the items they'd given out. If the bell could be tied to Duey through some unseen historical link, it could just as well have some remnant of the data it carried inside, or even simply the fact that it had once held sensitive data. If he was gathering any such information though, he was good at hiding it, to the point where after three or four scans, the two no longer felt worried that he was peering at anything other than information he already had on hand in a database. "Well, Mister Hoodwink, there was only one other item that I considered separating from MyofybrilMan, and without going into gross detail, you'll be glad I didn't choose to bring you it despite how much he values it and deserves to lose it," Fold responded, shaking her head with an irritable frown, just from having the memory resurface.
Neither Fold nor Ante had any reason to take back their trinkets. One of Fold's she'd been happy to toss aside and the other had already served its purpose. Ante, on the other hand, had already gained a present and an acknowledgement from Mordenite that made any physical memorabilia insignificant by comparison. "Zennocracy paid Miss Dare three-thousand zenny and myself eighty bugfrags, as I recall," Ante responded, with a simple smile. "All things considered... the fact that we crossed her a number of times throughout the evening and failed to prevent much of the ruination to some of her more expensive seeming property... I suppose if she short-changed us, I wouldn't blame her."
"But! We are hardly eager to turn down your generous offer," Fold added, placing one hand upon Ante's shoulder and peeking her eyes over; she was a bit taller, which allowed her to do so. It was fairly clear that she really wanted the extra bugfrags, though, to be fair, seemingly for reasons of devotion to the princess and wanting to protect her better.
Ante laughed awkwardly, then slowly opened her eyes again. When she did, she happened to notice Hoodwink glancing at her, specifically, now; this caused red to spread over her face again, despite her best attempts to be discrete. "Ah, Mister Hoodwink and I had actually been having a riveting private discussion out in the garden, but ran short on time to finish it. If it's alright with you, Miss Fold, Miss Dare," she began, turning to make sure that Miss Dare was, in fact, still on her feet and conscious, "would you mind leaving the two of us to speak for a moment? Worry not, I shan't be long and will be back in Teruko's PET within a moment's time."
Although her first instinct was to frown at being left out, Fold quickly brightened up after realizing that might mean the princess was going to enjoy a little more romantic one-on-one time with their gentlemanly and seemingly very wealthy new acquaintance. "I certainly don't mind. It's been good to make your acquaintance," Fold finished, removing her hat for a moment and placing it to her breast, while grabbing Dare's hand in her free palm. She led Dare in a small bow, although it would be frankly amazing if her partner-in-gesture went along with the motion. "I'll head on out." Fold vanished in a slew of black poker chips, which fell down from the sky in a long tunnel, before disappearing into the ground.
Giving Hoodwink another shy smile, Ante fiddled with the silver, spade-shaped zipper on the front of her choker. "We can meet back up shortly, Miss Dare. Please, if you would?" she requested again.
Neither Fold nor Ante had any reason to take back their trinkets. One of Fold's she'd been happy to toss aside and the other had already served its purpose. Ante, on the other hand, had already gained a present and an acknowledgement from Mordenite that made any physical memorabilia insignificant by comparison. "Zennocracy paid Miss Dare three-thousand zenny and myself eighty bugfrags, as I recall," Ante responded, with a simple smile. "All things considered... the fact that we crossed her a number of times throughout the evening and failed to prevent much of the ruination to some of her more expensive seeming property... I suppose if she short-changed us, I wouldn't blame her."
"But! We are hardly eager to turn down your generous offer," Fold added, placing one hand upon Ante's shoulder and peeking her eyes over; she was a bit taller, which allowed her to do so. It was fairly clear that she really wanted the extra bugfrags, though, to be fair, seemingly for reasons of devotion to the princess and wanting to protect her better.
Ante laughed awkwardly, then slowly opened her eyes again. When she did, she happened to notice Hoodwink glancing at her, specifically, now; this caused red to spread over her face again, despite her best attempts to be discrete. "Ah, Mister Hoodwink and I had actually been having a riveting private discussion out in the garden, but ran short on time to finish it. If it's alright with you, Miss Fold, Miss Dare," she began, turning to make sure that Miss Dare was, in fact, still on her feet and conscious, "would you mind leaving the two of us to speak for a moment? Worry not, I shan't be long and will be back in Teruko's PET within a moment's time."
Although her first instinct was to frown at being left out, Fold quickly brightened up after realizing that might mean the princess was going to enjoy a little more romantic one-on-one time with their gentlemanly and seemingly very wealthy new acquaintance. "I certainly don't mind. It's been good to make your acquaintance," Fold finished, removing her hat for a moment and placing it to her breast, while grabbing Dare's hand in her free palm. She led Dare in a small bow, although it would be frankly amazing if her partner-in-gesture went along with the motion. "I'll head on out." Fold vanished in a slew of black poker chips, which fell down from the sky in a long tunnel, before disappearing into the ground.
Giving Hoodwink another shy smile, Ante fiddled with the silver, spade-shaped zipper on the front of her choker. "We can meet back up shortly, Miss Dare. Please, if you would?" she requested again.
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Dare continued smiling with her usual confidence (but not with her usual steadiness, and more of her as-of-late tipsiness) as Hoodwink ran his verifications. She probably wouldn't have been able to tell the finer details of his process even at her finest, but it looked like his device was, at least, not firing off siren alarms or anything. "I'm pretty sure they're all legit. They'd better be! I had to jump through some hoops to get those..."
The Navi was happy to see he was happy, and was also unexpectedly pleased to have the opportunity to take her trophies back. "Cool, thanks, Hoodie! I've been trying to hang on to trophies and souvenirs from all my contests, conquests, and adventures." The Navi took back Saija's hair ornament and (a bit more gingerly) Drisco's defiled cufflink, trying to make a mental note to give the latter a good scrubbing at some point in the future. With soap.
The Navi still wasn't picking up on the vibes Ante and Hoodwink were sending out for each other, but her frown at being explicitly left out of whatever Ante wanted to discuss didn't fade like Fold's. She looked a little swept up as Fold took her hand and led her in a fancy exit gesture that she wasn't really prepared to take part in. Before the Navi could protest, the SP had already disappeared, as if to say "What are you waiting for?" and hurry Dare to beat it as well.
Dare scratched the back of her head, looking between her rival and her shady client, trying to decipher the mystery of what was going on. Finally, her eyes caught on the uncharacteristically shy and girlish way Ante was playing with her clothes, and she realized she was being asked to leave until later, explicitly...
"Is... is Ante hitting on me?" Dare thought, looking a bit slack-jawed momentarily. "Like, 'meet up again later'... and then her clothes... Woah! Woah woah, woah, no. I've got something wrong here, and my head hurts too much to think about it." The Navi decided she'd leave the adults to their conversation, while she left to cool her head and hit the bed. "Y-yeah, okay. I'll hit the road when Hoodie gives me my reward. Don't the two of you talk about anything you wouldn't share with your rival, okay?" Dare gave Ante a friendly wink, still holding her hand out to receive whatever Hoodwink might give her. Assuming she got it, she would give Hoodwink a quick goodbye and vanish in a blur of flames and engine's roar.
The Navi was happy to see he was happy, and was also unexpectedly pleased to have the opportunity to take her trophies back. "Cool, thanks, Hoodie! I've been trying to hang on to trophies and souvenirs from all my contests, conquests, and adventures." The Navi took back Saija's hair ornament and (a bit more gingerly) Drisco's defiled cufflink, trying to make a mental note to give the latter a good scrubbing at some point in the future. With soap.
The Navi still wasn't picking up on the vibes Ante and Hoodwink were sending out for each other, but her frown at being explicitly left out of whatever Ante wanted to discuss didn't fade like Fold's. She looked a little swept up as Fold took her hand and led her in a fancy exit gesture that she wasn't really prepared to take part in. Before the Navi could protest, the SP had already disappeared, as if to say "What are you waiting for?" and hurry Dare to beat it as well.
Dare scratched the back of her head, looking between her rival and her shady client, trying to decipher the mystery of what was going on. Finally, her eyes caught on the uncharacteristically shy and girlish way Ante was playing with her clothes, and she realized she was being asked to leave until later, explicitly...
"Is... is Ante hitting on me?" Dare thought, looking a bit slack-jawed momentarily. "Like, 'meet up again later'... and then her clothes... Woah! Woah woah, woah, no. I've got something wrong here, and my head hurts too much to think about it." The Navi decided she'd leave the adults to their conversation, while she left to cool her head and hit the bed. "Y-yeah, okay. I'll hit the road when Hoodie gives me my reward. Don't the two of you talk about anything you wouldn't share with your rival, okay?" Dare gave Ante a friendly wink, still holding her hand out to receive whatever Hoodwink might give her. Assuming she got it, she would give Hoodwink a quick goodbye and vanish in a blur of flames and engine's roar.
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Whether hoodwink was getting more than he implied for the brief check or not would have to remain a mystery for now. The moment passed and once he had handed the two trophies back to Dare, and swiftly squirrelled the others away, the time had arrived for him to uphold his end of their challenge. Fold's response in particular made the questionably dichotomic navi raise an eyebrow, but he opted not to draw her any further on the topic of severed 'trophies'.
He arched that same single eyebrow when they reported their earnings from Zennocracy, then sighed and shook his head. When he raised his eyes again, he was grinning, and made small flourish with his hands, crossing them over one another like a street magician. When they came apart again, he was holding two small green prisms that looked like miniaturised mystery data crystals. He held out out each to Ante, and to Dare.
"I am sorry that you caught Zenny in such a foul mood. Please, it's my pleasure to make your evenings feel a little bit more worthwhile. For you, Miss Dare, six thousand, double to Zenny's payment." His eyes moved over to Ante. "And for you, my lady, an additional hundred and sixty fragments." He held onto the crystal a moment longer as he handed it to her, and his fingers brushed hers for a moment. "A connected business colleague of both Zennocracy and I makes these, and he'd have me warn anyone that they are particularly potent. I hope they serve you, and Miss Fold very well."
Almost as soon as the business end of matters was concluded, Ante made sure not to leave their second employer hanging, although his smile was soft, almost shy and he lowered his eyes, stepping back a moment to allow Ante to beg away from her friends without standing over them directly. He might have been intending to make a similar request himself, but was content to let Ante herself do the talking now that she was. There was enough time, barely, for a polite exchange for farewells, which Hoodwink returned with a smooth lowering of his head and one hand over his chest, before he and Ante were alone again.
The cold night air would only serve to make anyone feeling unusually warm or flushed, all the more aware of the fact, but as Hoodwink stepped forward again to lift Ante's hands in his own, the moonlight illuminated smooth features and calm, contented eyes.
"Thankyou for seeing me again Ante. I do regret coming before dressed like this again, but I hope you can understand. Nights like this are moments snatched from fonder memories, for me, and the life I lead cannot be so grand, most of the time. Nevertheless; I had thought simply to find some amusement in setting a challenge for Zenny's associates, and maybe reminisce on a lifestyle I rarely touch these days, and instead you have made my night magical." As he spoke, his eyes rested mostly on hers, though they also traced the other features of her face in between. In particular his gaze lingered on her lips once or twice, and it wouldn't be hard to imagine where his memories lingered. He made no move to try for a repeat performance, however, and instead just watched her in appreciating silence for a moment, before continuing.
"I... Ante, I know it is over-bold of me, but I should very much like to meet you again, in the future, and again after that, if you will allow, and again after that, if you still find my presence pleasing. My life does not leave me great amounts of time to myself, I admit, but if you are willing, I would very much like to spend more of it with you..." Again he paused, looking down towards where he held her hands between them. "Until then, Ante... have you considered my request any further? It would mean much to me, for something to have to remind me of you, and this evening, until we might meet again." At the last, he seemed shy to be asking again, but even as his gaze flicked down in what looked very much like bashfulness, his fingers squeezed her hands gently.
((Also, Ante gets a further 160 BugFrags, Dare gets a further 6000z))
He arched that same single eyebrow when they reported their earnings from Zennocracy, then sighed and shook his head. When he raised his eyes again, he was grinning, and made small flourish with his hands, crossing them over one another like a street magician. When they came apart again, he was holding two small green prisms that looked like miniaturised mystery data crystals. He held out out each to Ante, and to Dare.
"I am sorry that you caught Zenny in such a foul mood. Please, it's my pleasure to make your evenings feel a little bit more worthwhile. For you, Miss Dare, six thousand, double to Zenny's payment." His eyes moved over to Ante. "And for you, my lady, an additional hundred and sixty fragments." He held onto the crystal a moment longer as he handed it to her, and his fingers brushed hers for a moment. "A connected business colleague of both Zennocracy and I makes these, and he'd have me warn anyone that they are particularly potent. I hope they serve you, and Miss Fold very well."
Almost as soon as the business end of matters was concluded, Ante made sure not to leave their second employer hanging, although his smile was soft, almost shy and he lowered his eyes, stepping back a moment to allow Ante to beg away from her friends without standing over them directly. He might have been intending to make a similar request himself, but was content to let Ante herself do the talking now that she was. There was enough time, barely, for a polite exchange for farewells, which Hoodwink returned with a smooth lowering of his head and one hand over his chest, before he and Ante were alone again.
The cold night air would only serve to make anyone feeling unusually warm or flushed, all the more aware of the fact, but as Hoodwink stepped forward again to lift Ante's hands in his own, the moonlight illuminated smooth features and calm, contented eyes.
"Thankyou for seeing me again Ante. I do regret coming before dressed like this again, but I hope you can understand. Nights like this are moments snatched from fonder memories, for me, and the life I lead cannot be so grand, most of the time. Nevertheless; I had thought simply to find some amusement in setting a challenge for Zenny's associates, and maybe reminisce on a lifestyle I rarely touch these days, and instead you have made my night magical." As he spoke, his eyes rested mostly on hers, though they also traced the other features of her face in between. In particular his gaze lingered on her lips once or twice, and it wouldn't be hard to imagine where his memories lingered. He made no move to try for a repeat performance, however, and instead just watched her in appreciating silence for a moment, before continuing.
"I... Ante, I know it is over-bold of me, but I should very much like to meet you again, in the future, and again after that, if you will allow, and again after that, if you still find my presence pleasing. My life does not leave me great amounts of time to myself, I admit, but if you are willing, I would very much like to spend more of it with you..." Again he paused, looking down towards where he held her hands between them. "Until then, Ante... have you considered my request any further? It would mean much to me, for something to have to remind me of you, and this evening, until we might meet again." At the last, he seemed shy to be asking again, but even as his gaze flicked down in what looked very much like bashfulness, his fingers squeezed her hands gently.
((Also, Ante gets a further 160 BugFrags, Dare gets a further 6000
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"So long as they will help restore Fold's power somewhat, we're quite happy to accept and to use them. Thank you again, Mister Hoodwink," Ante smiled, accepting the bugfrags. Dare was ready to leave, so Ante gave her a small wave. "Oh! Oh... No need to worry, Miss Dare, I've nothing scandalous in mind. Nothing of the sort," Ante answered, clutching the silver accessory at her neck more tightly as a tidal wave of guilt washed over her. She hoped Teruko wouldn't turn her attention back to the PET soon and see that she was still flirting with Hoodwink despite her assurances otherwise to her friend.
"Well, it would be a bit hypocritical of me to criticize anyone's state of dress when I'm still missing a few pieces of my own," Ante murmured jokingly, still staring down at her hands with a bashful smile. His words continued to make her more uncertain of herself and more curious to know the depths of Hoodwink's affection, whether it was normal for him to be so affectionate with a relative stranger, and whether he was genuine in his admiration. "Of course, I would be happy to meet you again in the future. You've been nothing but charitable to me. On that note," she continued using the excuse to break her hands away from his, "I'd like to give you a token, as you asked. Please, although it isn't much, accept my neck piece. I don't believe it's worth anything and it holds no special value, but I believe it would be the on-... er, an appropriate gift to give." Truth be told, it was about the only item on her person she could give away without consequence at this point, as parting with any other article would be a bit risque, seeing as she'd lost her hat and some other articles earlier.
She grasped the tiny, silver, spade-shaped buckle at the center of her neck, just beneath her chin, and pulled it down, unzipping the choker at her neck so that it fell into one long band. The electricity in the air still made the action seem somehow sexual, despite her attempts to be proper. The princess presented it to him spread long over both of her hands. "Is that an alright gift?" she asked, turning her eyes up to look into his own, finally. Her breaths were becoming quick again and she felt there was nothing she could do to slow them down.
"Well, it would be a bit hypocritical of me to criticize anyone's state of dress when I'm still missing a few pieces of my own," Ante murmured jokingly, still staring down at her hands with a bashful smile. His words continued to make her more uncertain of herself and more curious to know the depths of Hoodwink's affection, whether it was normal for him to be so affectionate with a relative stranger, and whether he was genuine in his admiration. "Of course, I would be happy to meet you again in the future. You've been nothing but charitable to me. On that note," she continued using the excuse to break her hands away from his, "I'd like to give you a token, as you asked. Please, although it isn't much, accept my neck piece. I don't believe it's worth anything and it holds no special value, but I believe it would be the on-... er, an appropriate gift to give." Truth be told, it was about the only item on her person she could give away without consequence at this point, as parting with any other article would be a bit risque, seeing as she'd lost her hat and some other articles earlier.
She grasped the tiny, silver, spade-shaped buckle at the center of her neck, just beneath her chin, and pulled it down, unzipping the choker at her neck so that it fell into one long band. The electricity in the air still made the action seem somehow sexual, despite her attempts to be proper. The princess presented it to him spread long over both of her hands. "Is that an alright gift?" she asked, turning her eyes up to look into his own, finally. Her breaths were becoming quick again and she felt there was nothing she could do to slow them down.
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Having received her reward, Dare gave Hoodwink her tipsy two-fingered salute that had become her night's favorite and vanished in a roar of flames. She wouldn't be around to hear or see Ante getting rid of some of her clothes of her own volition, for once.
((JACKED OUT))
((JACKED OUT))
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While Ante seemed a little bashful about the whole situation, Hoodwink was doing his best to reassure; a soft, warm smile and a gentle squeeze to her hands as he held them in both of his, between them. When she raised her hands to the clasp at her neck, Hoodwink's hands didn't chase, though his eyes followed closely.
As he watched her unfasten the clasp, a faint rose formed in tiny spots on his cheeks; intended or not, Ante wasn't the only one who was finding even that simple action mildly erotic, or so it seemed. Either way, he drank the action in with his eyes, before accepting the offering with both hands. He looked down from Ante to the choker, appreciating it a a thing of beauty, then held it briefly to his chest.
"As a favour from you, Ante, I will treasure it, and think of you whenever I look on it, until we next meet." By holding the gift to his chest, a space had been crated between them, and Hoodwink stepped in closer to fill it, such that they were almost standing chest to chest again. There was a moment of silence, where Hoodwink found Ante's eyes, and only her short, rapid breaths gave any movement to the scene. He seemed unsure in these last few moments, however close they were standing; the man had made as clear a request to court Ante as he could, and seemingly she had shown a willingness to this... but it was still their first meeting, and if the rogue in him yearned one way, he knew enough of higher refinement to know that some bounds shouldn't be pressed, at least not this soon.
After the moment stretched long, he craned his neck slightly and leaned in, but it was only to brush his cheek against hers and bring his lips close to her ear. She would likely be able to feel a quickening of his pulse as well.
"I cannot stay, but I am glad you came. I will think of you fondly, and often, until we can meet again. I hope that it might be soon." The words were a soft whisper, and when he stood back, the faint spots of colour in his cheeks had grown more visible. With his free hand, he lifted one of hers again, and, provided she allowed the gesture, raised the back of it to his lips in a slow, chaste kiss.
With another step backwards, he bowed to her again, hand over heart and making a neat leg. When he raised his head again, it was to meet her eyes.
"Until then, dear Ante, Farewell." As before, he smiled for her, and closed his eyes, before his image simply faded away into the moonlight and shadows.
((Mission concluded! FXP tallies coming as soon as I can do them))
As he watched her unfasten the clasp, a faint rose formed in tiny spots on his cheeks; intended or not, Ante wasn't the only one who was finding even that simple action mildly erotic, or so it seemed. Either way, he drank the action in with his eyes, before accepting the offering with both hands. He looked down from Ante to the choker, appreciating it a a thing of beauty, then held it briefly to his chest.
"As a favour from you, Ante, I will treasure it, and think of you whenever I look on it, until we next meet." By holding the gift to his chest, a space had been crated between them, and Hoodwink stepped in closer to fill it, such that they were almost standing chest to chest again. There was a moment of silence, where Hoodwink found Ante's eyes, and only her short, rapid breaths gave any movement to the scene. He seemed unsure in these last few moments, however close they were standing; the man had made as clear a request to court Ante as he could, and seemingly she had shown a willingness to this... but it was still their first meeting, and if the rogue in him yearned one way, he knew enough of higher refinement to know that some bounds shouldn't be pressed, at least not this soon.
After the moment stretched long, he craned his neck slightly and leaned in, but it was only to brush his cheek against hers and bring his lips close to her ear. She would likely be able to feel a quickening of his pulse as well.
"I cannot stay, but I am glad you came. I will think of you fondly, and often, until we can meet again. I hope that it might be soon." The words were a soft whisper, and when he stood back, the faint spots of colour in his cheeks had grown more visible. With his free hand, he lifted one of hers again, and, provided she allowed the gesture, raised the back of it to his lips in a slow, chaste kiss.
With another step backwards, he bowed to her again, hand over heart and making a neat leg. When he raised his head again, it was to meet her eyes.
"Until then, dear Ante, Farewell." As before, he smiled for her, and closed his eyes, before his image simply faded away into the moonlight and shadows.
((Mission concluded! FXP tallies coming as soon as I can do them))
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"Yes, of course. Until we meet again," Ante responded to the princely charmer, slowly raising her eyes from the garment pressed to his chest up to his face. She closed her eyes and shuddered in spite of herself as his cheek brushed her own, betraying more of her desire for intimacy than she would have by choice. "Y-yes... Soon," she murmured, squeezing her hands into the folds of the skirt at her hips. She was certain to release the grip in time not to embarrass herself as Hoodwink reached for her hand, grabbed it, and planted another gentlemanly kiss atop it. "Farewell..." she finished, bringing up one hand in a slow, mesmerized wave to bid Hoodwink goodbye before he disappeared.
Once he left, she found herself standing at some length, staring at the spot where he'd stood earlier, wondering if maybe she should have gone for one more hidden, legitimate kiss herself before he disappeared. "He was... flirting much too strongly, for our first engagement," she thought to herself, looking for someone to blame her restlessness upon... but, in truth, the only thing she really regretted was that she hadn't encouraged him on a bit further. She wished she'd given him more of an inch; he'd teach her the parts of romance she'd never known, stimulate her in ways she never had been, perhaps engage in other verbs that were more embarrassing to think about for her. "Well... There is always next time. We won't be such strangers then, and then, a little familiarity between the two of us will be right and proper," she reassured herself, smiling into the empty night and glowing red with giddiness and anticipation. She clutched both hands to her chest to quiet her beating heart down a bit before she returned to her PET, to rejoin Teruko and Bruce's train-wreck in progress.
((Jacking out))
Once he left, she found herself standing at some length, staring at the spot where he'd stood earlier, wondering if maybe she should have gone for one more hidden, legitimate kiss herself before he disappeared. "He was... flirting much too strongly, for our first engagement," she thought to herself, looking for someone to blame her restlessness upon... but, in truth, the only thing she really regretted was that she hadn't encouraged him on a bit further. She wished she'd given him more of an inch; he'd teach her the parts of romance she'd never known, stimulate her in ways she never had been, perhaps engage in other verbs that were more embarrassing to think about for her. "Well... There is always next time. We won't be such strangers then, and then, a little familiarity between the two of us will be right and proper," she reassured herself, smiling into the empty night and glowing red with giddiness and anticipation. She clutched both hands to her chest to quiet her beating heart down a bit before she returned to her PET, to rejoin Teruko and Bruce's train-wreck in progress.
((Jacking out))
last edited by
((Players may keep and record whichever totals interest them, and leave anything else))
Dare and Ante Get 15 mutual FXP
Additionally,
Dare gets: 2 Hoodwink FXP, 2 Zennocracy FXP, 10 SaijaTsun FXP, 10 DisgolokoMan FXP
Ante gets: 1 PianoMan FXP, 2 Melodia FXP, 5 Mordenite FXP, 5 DueAccountabilityMan FXP, 2 Zennocracy FXP, and 6 Hoodwink FXP... Wait, only 6!?
EDIT (30/01/2018): FXP for Hoodwink was originally handed out at a reduced scale, as part of a character specific oddity. I've since decided that this is unfair, and have been doing his FXP much closer to normally. To that end, Ante's FXP Hoodwink for this thread should rightly be 15 (+9 on the amount given), and Dare's with Hoodwink should be 5 (+3 on the amount given)
Dare and Ante Get 15 mutual FXP
Additionally,
Dare gets: 2 Hoodwink FXP, 2 Zennocracy FXP, 10 SaijaTsun FXP, 10 DisgolokoMan FXP
Ante gets: 1 PianoMan FXP, 2 Melodia FXP, 5 Mordenite FXP, 5 DueAccountabilityMan FXP, 2 Zennocracy FXP, and 6 Hoodwink FXP... Wait, only 6!?
EDIT (30/01/2018): FXP for Hoodwink was originally handed out at a reduced scale, as part of a character specific oddity. I've since decided that this is unfair, and have been doing his FXP much closer to normally. To that end, Ante's FXP Hoodwink for this thread should rightly be 15 (+9 on the amount given), and Dare's with Hoodwink should be 5 (+3 on the amount given)