exsiliumlogs | Cometh the Big Crying Wheel

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Cometh the Big Crying Wheel

Date & Time: Sept 15th
Location: A refurbished castle on the outskirts of Exsilium.
Characters: Anyone at the party!
Summary: Vanadi hosts a party that goes very poorly.
Warnings: Violence, probably! Let a mod know if we should update this.

It’s a lovely night for a party!

The venue at the outskirts of town is, unfortunately, a bit drafty — and actually rather sparsely furnished, as well. In fact, party goers are encouraged to mingle, drink, and enjoy themselves in the courtyard, as the castle itself wasn’t able to be renovated in time, and has proven to be a little bit architecturally unsound. Any explorative guests might find a small hail of dust and pebbles on their heads if they venture too far in — and who knows what else, if they continue on.

But the drinks and snacks both are plentiful and delicious, and the large canvas set up from castle wall to castle wall keeps off the sprinkling rain. The weather could even be described as warmish and pleasant, if one were feeling generous. A group of Exiles plays classic instruments in one corner of the courtyard, having been paid enough to even smile at any Transports that wander near.

All in all, it’s shaping up to be a good night. Until about 10 PM, that is. Come 10 PM, the Misery rolls into town, tearing down the canvas, nullifying powers, and crying corrosive blood everywhere. That’s the cue for all hell to break loose, as the final wave of mind-controlled characters snag their victims and make for the hills — or at least for the UE. The mind-controlled characters will also have the backup of a squadron of 20 of the Masked, the UE's special ops force. The Masked's main goal is to grab those on their list and get away, but they're certainly not above shooting to kill at anyone that gets in their way. They're also highly trained in hand-to-hand combat and physically enhanced by their suits, so they're a good bunch to try to avoid.

But do have a wonderful time until then, won’t you?

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[ He'll offer her a hand to bridge the gap between ledge and, well, him, should she choose to clamber up onto him. How strange it must be to see, whenever he lets whatever random animal form she's in hop up on him. Not that anyone is around to wonder at it right now, but the thought pulls an amused sound out of him.

The laughter, that playful edge to her thoughts, it's a little contagious. ]

As long as you aren't going to pass out over it. [ Then he won't bother worrying. ] Though I also thought you'd be content with showing your dress off all night long.

< Steph called me gorgeous. >

( She says, accepting his hand as a bridge, careful not to pinch his skin with her talons. She's ever careful with handling herself, no matter the form. Unless she's supposed to be causing damage.

Which, admittedly, has its own attached thrill.

Her statement comes across almost smug, though it's more for show than anything else. )

< It is nice to get to wear something like it again, though. >

( She toddles carefully across him to nestle down where-ever looks most comfortable on him at the moment. Her feathers fluff out, and habitually, without thinking, she falls into grooming a few on her chest as she thinks. )

< I didn't think people would still know Indian styles hundreds of years after India stopped being India! >

Culture dies with the people, not the name.

[ Though considering the gap in time! Actually, it doesn't surprise him that much, seeing how fashion in Exsilium doesn't seem to have evolved all that much over time, not when compared to the United Earth.

Anyway, he shrugs and watches the owl for a bit before his gaze wanders back out the window and down to the canvas blocking the party from sight. ]

It's a nice dress. [ He won't go on to use a word like 'gorgeous', as Stephanie's already covered that, so... Although, thinking about Stephanie, he ends up recalling his little conversation with Ellie. ] Did you know she and Ellie are together?

[ Okay, he's not one for gossip, but seriously, did everyone else know and not him?! ]

( From what she understood, much of the people as an identity had died out not long after the name. Exsilium was the disparate parts of the world all attempting to gather an identity together. It's an interesting sort of place.

She moves her head 'round, looking up at him with eyes that catch the moonlight, otherwise deep and dark as they tended to be in this form. )

< You like it? > ( she asks, curious; more teasingly, she continues... ) < Or do you like me in it? >

( Her feathers, which have settled back against her body as she relaxed, puff up all at once again as she bursts out laughing. )

< Wait! Yes! Hahaha, sorry, when did they get together officially? Ellie's been in love with Steph for months, since before April, and I knew it was kind of unofficial... I mean, I kept telling her she needed to talk with Steph. I guess they did! >

( Not the last, Caesar. Not at all. Collette just never bothered her head with specifics about proper labeling or anything of the sort! )

I said it's nice. [ He isn't committing to anything here! ] I suppose that annoying lawyer could pull it off alright, but it suits you best.

[ And no, he does not mean Saul. Don't even.

The sensation he's since connected to laughter from her draws his attention back from the hidden party below and he raises an eyebrow at her. Well, at least he wasn't the last after all. There's that. ]

When? How should I know? I didn't ask. You made me bring them along know about it, though? What a mess that could have been! I don't need unrequited love stories out on a mission with me.

[ Even though that's long since passed and nothing too bad came of it. ]

Edited 2013-09-16 07:17 (UTC)

( Only not having met Sofia means her first thought is -- )

< Saul? >

( If that's not enough to make her laugh, his next statement is. Collette finds it a helpless enough laughter that she even opens her beak, as if that will relieve the sudden pressure of amusement from her chest and mind. )

< Like you didn't have one of those already? >

( the helpless laughter continues, enough to have her closing her eyes, though it was hardly like she could cry laughing as a bird. She can tuck her head into her wing and attempt to regain control of herself, but it's so blasted funny! )

[ Is this owl going to keel over and die or...?

Caesar can't help but huff, a little ruffled by all this laughing! ]

No! The other one! There's two now! Why would I ever think Saul would look good in that dress?!

[ NO HE IS IMAGINING IT NOW, IT IS HORRIBLE and he grimaces. ]

And that was different. Unlike other people, I don't get stupid over that sort of thing!

( That sense of amusement and laughter continues to radiate from Collette's Thought Speak, even if she manages to calm her feathers back down into order. )

< Oh, I see! So there's a pretty lady lawyer around now. And you noticed! Caesar, I didn't know you were into older women! >

( It's a teasing statement as she pulls her head back out from under her wing, one black eye open and looking up at his face. It's almost coy, if coy or flirtatious could be applied to a diminuitive owl. )

< Sure, sure, but aren't those two way risks? >

( She points out mildly, more enjoying that he's emphaticly denying anything at the moment than concerned he knew how to handle her that well. )

< Were you just that confident you could handle me? >

[ Words he doesn't want to hear from a bird, even if she isn't really a bird! ]

I only said she'd be able to pull the same dress off well. Don't go putting words in my mouth.

[ Maybe he really should have let her believe he meant Saul after all... ]

And of course I was. I'd already declined several times before, even on missions, so why would anything have changed there? The worst you would've done is whine about it.

( She pulls her head completely free of her wing. )

< Only 'cause you shoved your hand in my face if I even thought of kissing you! >

( More amusement, though she really did wish she could morph without it taking the minute it required. If she had her watch with her -- the image is so clearly in mind she can even imagine having it in talon, pressing down on the knob -- )

Click!

( There was a heavy coldness under her feet, suddenly and startlingly. The deafening silence of her time stopping being active had her flapping her wings. No motion from Caesar (she hadn't been thinking about him, too) meant she was alone to squawk and wonder, What happened?

Only she felt unnerved, staring at the stopwatch now on Caesar's lap.

Collette demorphed, desperately wanting hands and to reassert some sense of normalcy. It was far from an elegant process -- but she was clothed, albeit barely hanging on to the sill around Caesar at the end. And she had to reach them to grab her stopwatch and hit the dial to restart time when she'd pushed herself off him once more.

Thus time reasserts itself, and Caesar is down a lap-owl, and up one Collette holding on to the sill around by his shoulder and by his leg. It's a lot of unexpected kilos to be on him suddenly, her legs pushed out the window, her upper body tense with how she's holding on and bracing as if expecting the worst. )

Um. Caesar?

( She's torn between smiling and shaking. )

Like you have any right to complain. It isn't polite to ambush someone who's already turned you d--

[ And then he has a human Collette in his lap instead of an owl one. Time never paused for him, so there is no strange pause to the world, only a sudden weigh and so much less space than before. His immediate reaction is to throw an arm out, alongside the inside of the second floor castle hall whose window they're now perched uncertainly on, hoping to anchor them in place for the time being.

Second to that is to wrap the other arm around the girl now existing where she hadn't before!

Third, staring at Collette like she's mad! ]

What... what're you doing? What did you do that for? We might fall!

[ As if she had done this on purpose! Only he's sure she didn't have the watch! ]

Edited 2013-09-17 04:30 (UTC)

( Collette keeps her hold on the inside wall of the sill, eyes wide and blinking. He's right, he's so right, but this is weird and the shivering and the smiling has reached a kind of stalemate where she looks more frozen for the instant before she moves than she looks like this was a planned endeavor. With his arm around her, and her sense of balance currently in balance, she's not so afraid of them falling.

What the heck just happened?

Her laughter finally comes, a break in the frozen landscape, bubbling over and spilling out near breathlessly. There are a lot of details she doesn't notice: how chill it really is, how secure or insecure Caesar's perch is, that she doesn't have her skirt on because she hasn't yet figured out how to morph loose bottoms like she can manage tops. That the links of the chain in her hand are both cold and warm, and she's dragging them down and resting them against the side of Caesar's face when she leans in and presses her lips to his, stopping the laughter for a moment.

It's all a heady sensation of confusion and disconcernment and giddiness that has her drawing back and dropping her head down to the nape of his neck, breathing in and trying to stave off the near-hysterical giggles that end up taking over. )

Caesar, what the heck's even going on anymore?

[ He should honestly be scandalized, but by now he's so used to Collette and her bizarre behavior.

However, that doesn't keep it from being irritating and she can likely tell he isn't happy with this by the way he simple purses his lips and remains unmoved during the kiss. For all any other boy might welcome a cute girl who forgot her skirt sitting in his lap, Caesar does not, not right now. The laughter is the opposite of the infectious sort they had shared only a moment before, alien and hair-raising instead of warm.

How can she laugh at this? Was it intended?

No. Probably not. If this had been a gambit to prove him wrong about whether or not he was in control (which had been his first worry, really), it would have been a lot more obvious.

This, this is just irritating. Irritating and a bit scary. ]

You'd have to tell me, because I have no idea. Are you drunk again?

[ There's little more he can do aside from make sure he really isn't going to topple over the side now, pinned between keeping her in place and keeping himself in place that he is. ]

And you couldn't have at least remembered pants...?

Edited 2013-09-17 05:53 (UTC)

( She doesn't move her head from where it's resting, concentrating on controlling the laughter that isn't precisely laughter. Or is, but not the kind she enjoys. When she's got it down to hiccups, she asks -- )

I don't have my skirt?

( As it hadn't occurred to her. She doesn't shift to look -- Caesar doesn't lie, or when he does, it's partly in -- something else. There's a word she wants but can't find in this moment. )

Oh. Right. I left it with my -- stopwatch...

( The one still in her hand, now held between their bodies. This is the scary and exhilarating thing. )

Caesar... what are they evolving us into?

( Her voice is quiet in the aftermath of the hysterical giggles. She feels a shiver run through her, doesn't bother differentiating the cause from the environment. )

People talk all about the United Earth, or why they don't trust the Initiative. But we're changing more than we realize.

( She's scared. Scared, and deeply, desperately homesick. )

I was thinking about my stopwatch, and -- and kind of a joke you could play, like a daydream, or something dumb like that, but then it's here and it's not supposed to be, Caesar, and I already knew they follow you around if you go too far away but this is like it's acting on its own --

( She's babbling and she refuses to look up, knowing how awkward this is for positioning, and the rest. )

[ The stopwatch.

It had been left behind? But...

Caesar looks down at it, considering the odd trinket it is with mild curiosity. So that's what happened. ]

It's only the tool that's changing, Collette. If people don't pay attention to them, of course they're bound to surprise them. [ Overall, they're meant to be sentient, but he thinks of them more in the sense of a slightly smarter rune than the typical kind. Only a tool. Only a thing. Hopefully nothing close to the other kinds of runes. ] So it realized you wanted it and it showed up.

Here. Hang on to me.

[ Because he's about to let go of her, moving his arm away to try and weasel in to pick up the watch between them. ]

( She falls quiet, listening to him; shifting her hold on the wall in order to obey when he tells her to hang on. The fabric of Oz's jacket is strange to feel as a barrier between herself and Caesar's heat. She realizes she's distracting herself, closing her eyes and breathing in deeply, out slowly. Letting Caesar pick up the weight of the watch between them.

He's the one who's good at thinking. Even when he doesn't mean to, and she knows often that ends up being the case, he helps her think things through, or put worries to rest.

Maybe it helps when you're from a world with magic. The rules have to be different there. )

Are you sure? It's not doing anything to -- to -- but what about Kate? The people who make themselves their weapons?

They made their decision. Let them handle it. [ He always did think those people, the ones who chose themselves, to be fairly foolish. ] But you could ask them, if it bothers you so much.

[ Watch in hand, he balances it in hand, checking the weight a bit, and looks it over. Huh. So much trouble over such a mundane object. ]

And don't close your eyes. Watch. In about two seconds, I want you to really think about wanting this back in your hand, got it?

[ Because nearly right after he says that, he's going to chuck the damn thing out over the party's canvas roof! ]

Edited (werds) 2013-09-17 22:59 (UTC)

Think about my waaaaah--

( Well, Caesar's done it. He strikes her dumb as he lobs her watch out over the party's canvas room. Collette blinks, comprehension crashing down on the heels of a completely different emotion.

She doesn't follow what he says immediately, shifting to press a kiss to his cheek. She laughs, and it's softer now, genuinely amused, actually making it to her eyes. )

Hold on to me, think about the watch in your hand, those are kind of conflicting things, you know? I can't believe you just did that!

( Only she does, and she seems pleased, untangling her fingers from his shirt to hold her hand, palm up, next to his side. She does take his suggestion now, though the watch has long since hit the canvas, bounced and slid off to the side, partly resting in a puddle.

Concentrates on the watch. Holds on to him with her other hand, watching his face, and not the watch, not the outside. She keeps her eyes open. His fault for not specifying what she's supposed to be looking at. )

Just concentrate on the watch, huh?

( Her hand grows heavy with a sudden weight, cold and dripping water. She doesn't look to her hand, fingers slowly curling around the watch she's so certain now is there.

Goodness, but this still scares her. It didn't do that before. But watching Caesar and studying his face under the moonlight keeps her calm, and keeps the quickening beat of her heart in a nicer place than it would be otherwise. )

Edited (meanwhile the checks bounce OH YEAH) 2013-09-18 03:46 (UTC)

[ No, no, he said watch the watch, not kiss him! Geez, Collette, what even-- oh. He supposes those really were conflicting orders, a realization that brings some color to his face (much more obvious on his than it ever is on hers, how unfair). ]

W-well! No, it still would have worked, it just would've just... I don't know... Made space between the coat and hand.

[ He's sure! Maybe? Okay, he has no way of knowing. It's just as possible it would've ignored her until she moved her hand.

Anyway, at first he tries to look away, to keep an eye on the watch, but the way she keeps her own eyes on him is distracting, distracting to the point of flustering. This leaves him going between looking down at the canvas roof and looking at her. It goes on for a short while, back and forth, two, maybe three times, but inevitably he settles on watching her right back.

Did it always feel this warm out? He's sure it was chillier up here just a moment before, but now...

When he does finally look away again, it's to glance down and away, sheepishly biting his lip as he does, then immediately turning his attention back to her hand. There! ]

Uh. Yeah. See? [ Yes. Let's all look at the watch. ] There it is.

[ He reaches out to take her hand now that she's holding it again. ]

Just a tool you have to learn to control. That's nothing to be frightened of.

( She agrees. It didn't feel half as cold now as it had when she'd first started to shed the shock caused by the unexpected stopwatch. It also appears to be somewhat difficult to breathe, if the hitch in hers is any indication when he bites his lip and looks down to her hand. )

Promise?

( She asks, aiming for light and teasing. It comes off as something huskier, which for once makes her blush. It's a little more telling than she strictly likes.

His hand with hers, holding the stopwatch, sends a not all that unpleasant shiver along her spine. She feels the hairs of her arms stand on end: gooseflesh responding to the temperature and everything else.

Her eyes drop down to his lips. Her mouth opens, just a little, and she leans in, slower and more hesitant than before. She stops with her head canted just so, close, but not yet touching. There's no less spontaneous a desire to kiss him now than it has been. She doesn't want it to be one sided, that's all. )

Caesar, ( she asks, eyes flicking back up to his as she still talks in that huskier tone, convinced in some part of her brain that she has to sound so stupid right now: )

Will you kiss me, please?

Promise? I can't really...

[ He can't exactly promise anything towards what the weapons may or may not do, even if he is convinced hers, at least, won't harm her. All of which he would have said if he hadn't turned back to looking at her instead of the stopwatch, but that is a mistake he makes, head turning at the new edge to her voice.

Was it really new, though? No. The situation, that's it. This is different. Exciting. That's a word he could use for it, as they're perched up on an uncertain castle window sill, just out of view of who knows how many people, discovering something new and frightening and strange. He doesn't give an answer right away, frozen on trying to decide what to do, but then he sighs and some part of him, the one that's always held him back, always saying how inappropriate this all is, gives up for the time being. It's pointless, isn't it? Didn't he already admit defeat to her months ago?

He sighs and then, her answer doesn't come in words, but an action. He keeps hold of her hand, only sliding his grip down to her wrist instead, and he lets go of the wall with his other, moving it to replace where the previous one had left off around her waist. Pulling her close (as if there was any space between them in the first place!) and leaning in to kiss her, all in a rushed way, like he's in a hurry to get somewhere, just not actually as in a place, so to speak, but...

Whatever it is, it's a far cry from the lazy way he's always acted towards her advances before. Unfortunately, it also sets them off balance, as he's no longer hanging onto an edge around the window.

Sadly, this kiss is about to be a very short one, but look on the bright side! At least they've ended up leaning into the hall rather than out into the empty space! ]

( Her heart doesn't skip a beat or anything like that. It certainly beats faster when Caesar moves like he does, the word he's alighted on -- exciting -- echoing through her as a physical sensation. This is exciting, environment, situation, and company included; it sweeps away the last of the fear for the moment, and Collette doesn't miss it leaving at all.

She'd be greedy with this if she could; greedy that the concern she'd mentioned to Lenalee when Lenalee had thought boy talk meant talking about boy's feelings is being laid to rest.

He does want her. He might be the more passive force, but it's not a lack of interest. It's complications or whatever else runs through his head, and right now, it doesn't matter. They kiss and she feels lightheaded and giddy and a mess of complicated, warm things in her belly, and then, almost as easily, as if a sense of vertigo is impending.

Oh, no, wait -- that's just the moment she realizes they're falling. Her eyes widen and adrenaline kicks in where desire and all the other messy things have been coursing through her. There's barely much time to reach, her fingers about to spasm around the stopwatch even as she registers they're falling in, not out. In they'd survive. Out she'd have to hope she lived through and morphed through fast enough to catch him before he crashes down.

Maybe it's vestigial from that protective, almost amusing concern, but as they tumble inside, her legs offering only an awkward drag and direction to their fall, Collette does what she can to protect him from the impact. Only his arm's still around her waist, and so when they hit ground, she'll be trapping it there. And if she succeeds in bringing him down on top of her, the whuff of air from landing so securely and totally on her back, his weight on top of hers, will leave her breathless and stunned for a few seconds. When she does speak, it'll be with breathy laughter (she can't produce anything deeper yet, and even this sounds strained, fighting for air); )

Points for enthusiasm! 2 out of 10 on the landing.

[ And it's a kiss that makes him wonder why he's so avoidant the rest of the time, up until the point he realizes they're falling and then the lightheaded warmth turns into a vertigo-driven shock of fear as they twist around and right off the sill. Right. This, this is probably why. The fear is short-lived, thankfully, once the impact with the floor proves that they fell in, not out.

Not that he should be all that thankful for his arm being mildly crushed between a body and stone. There will be a few bruises tomorrow and he won't even be able to complain about them!

He lays prone on her for only as long as it takes to recover enough sense to struggle and try and push himself up. With only one arm free, though, he doesn't get far and he's left to sag back down against her, where he seems to give up and let his head rest against her shoulder for now. ]

Well, you can't say I didn't try. [ Oh well. ] I think this may be a sign that we should go back down to the party.

Edited (omfg i am using 'he sighs' too much this this thread /flips out the window anyway) 2013-09-19 01:20 (UTC)

( She grunts when he levers up at first, exhales in a soft snort when he comes back down. Recovering air enough to speak without sounding breathy on accident feels nice. The contrast of him, warm, and the stone, cold, is also nice, in a strange way.

The adrenaline and everything else in her system is... intriguing. But she laughs, back to breathy, and runs her braceleted hand over his hair. Over for once, and not through. )

Yeah, you're probably right. ( She allows with a smile. ) Although... think I can get one more for the road?

( Or the flight, since how she leaves will be very different, and somewhat ahead of Caesar. She has a skirt to get back into downstairs! Such as it is, she hopes he'll say yes. In her very esteemed and very not so experienced opinion, that short kiss had been far too short to be completely satisfying.

Had she mentioned that greedy earlier, in the privacy of her own mind? )

Seriously? After that mess up?

[ Really, really greedy, but first he works on wiggling his arm free. She'll have to wait for him to finish with that and then to push himself up again, properly this time. ]

Fine. [ And she does get a kiss! A peck of one on her cheek, a sad follow-up to the other one. ] There. That one should break anything further.

[ He'll roll over and off of her now, to free her up to make her own departure, planning on waiting for her to go on ahead before he makes his own slow, lazy way back down. So much for hiding away up here for the whole ordeal... ]

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crocodilesmiles - 2013-09-19 04:55 (UTC) - Expand

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Cometh the Big Crying Wheel

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takes this ride to funkytown

omg don't break the world

it's the only way to make it grow back stronger captain

Re: it's the only way to make it grow back stronger captain

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