#askrena

Riding +1 || Puppy Time @askrena

Alfonse was stoic, certainly. He was stoic and often unyielding emotionally, much as his father before him had been. He was not, however, heartless, for better or for worse. Oftentimes, it felt like it was for worse; more than a few times, his heart had been his weakness, it seemed, with threats to the Summoner's life often making him act rashly.

This was not one of those times. When Sharena told him of the adorable wolf pups tumbling around the fields of the monastery, Alfonse had been predictably hesitant to indulge her whims. He needed the time to study and to find other her-- other students to speak to so that he could learn as much as he could while he was at Garreg Mach. Sharena, however, knew well Alfonse's weaknesses, and that she was chief among them.

A few pleading looks from his sister were all it took to make Alfonse cave, and soon enough the two were knee-deep in tumbling little fluffballs that yapped excitedly at anything in view. Even he couldn't maintain a sour expression in the midst of all of this. The only real difficulty was the little daggers in their mouths and just how willing they were to nibble on anything within reach. He might need new socks after this was over.

"Sharena, you did come here to work with the pups, right?" Alfonse sighed. "To train them? Not to just play with them, right?"

It’s your turn on cooking duty, and you know exactly what you want to make: delicious pizzas! The kitchens are well stocked today; *too* well-stocked, in fact, because there are way too many choices for toppings, with everything you can imagine from meat to veggies to more unorthodox choices like chocolate or mapo tofu. Will you and your cooking partner come up with a brilliant new recipe, or spend the entire time arguing over whether or not that pineapple belongs on the pizza? [Grants Authority +1]

     Andrei had thought that one of the very few perks of being banished to the dark, ignoble depths of the Abyss was not being expected to participate in certain academy responsibilities as cooking duty. But the return of so many students and staff had the kitchens in a frenzy lately, and no hands were spared.

     (At least this means, for the time being, that he would be less out of place, attract less suspicion in these halls... until they next change their minds, that is.)

     But that did present a different issue — namely, as he stared blankly at the menu for the day, that he had very little clue with what he was supposed to do. The extent of ‘cooking’ he’d had to do was searing meat over an open flame on hunting trips, a far cry from being in a well-stocked kitchen and expected to produce something for a whole dining hall of people to enjoy. The line ‘Pizza — any toppings’, written in a flourished cursive, seemed to mock him. What even was a pizza?

     He was spared his apprehension by the arrival of another through the kitchen’s doors — an unfamiliar face, but no matter what, the efforts of two could hardly be worse than if he made an attempt on his own, and besides, she didn’t look like a denizen of the depths. It’s likely she knew what she was doing. Hiding his relief behind a practiced, smooth expression, Andrei held out the menu placard towards the other. “Our assignment for the day,” he said curtly, projecting an authoritative air that he did not at all feel in the moment, “I trust you’re aware of the necessary steps?”

Taking point isn't usually Python's shtick, but he finds himself itching to get away from the crowds by the forest's edge. The threat of demons hangs heavily in the air, but at least he could deal with those by sticking 'em full of arrows. It'd be a refreshingly straightforward altercation compared to the nonsense he'd been dealing with for the past couple of weeks. He grips his bow, straining to listen for signs of life in the trees over the footfall and the flapping wings of Anabelle's mount (After that magic show she gave earlier, it's a bit of a shock to see her wielding a bow. Girl's a jack of all trades, apparently).

Movement: E15 → E13

A rustle in the bushes—Python raises his bow, but he's too slow. Tendrils of dark magic descend on him, the amorphous shapes raking at his skin like beastly fangs.

Demon D attacks Python w/ Devour: Hit (8): -2 HP (Python: 8/10)

"Shit—Folks!" He calls out, fingers finding his bowstring, "Looks like we're getting hunted right back!" Python looses his arrows, one after the other.

Python counters w/ Brave Bow: Barely Hit (5) + Hit (11): -3 HP (Demon D: 0.5/3.5)

The beast reels back with an unholy screech, bloodied and writhing but clearly still alive. Its companions descend on the group, seeking their own targets. Python can only hope that they're ready. He turns his attention back to the injured creature, feathering it with another quick volley. 

 Python attacks Demon D w/ Brave Bow: Hit (6) + Hit (16): -4 HP (Demon D: 0/3.5) Demon D is defeated!

It lurches from the blow, falling on its side and twitching pathetically. Python wrinkles his nose at the sight. He’s felled his share of monsters in his time, but the way they move never fails to make his skin crawl. Creepy little shits.

Though she and the others seem to have retained the ability to recognize people where natives of this fairytale have not, it does little and less to mitigate the mystery afforded by their masks. In combing over the crowd with her eyes, Maria’s gaze catches not on a face, but on sun-spun locks twisted into lovely braids and cute bunches of fluff -- she recognizes that hair! Though she’d only seen it in passing when she’d gone to say hello to Python, cute as it was, she’d marked the hairstyle in her mind. Perhaps she would style Michalis’ hair like that when next she saw him... 

The thought springs a smile to her face that endures as she slips through the crowd, eyes sparkling as she keeps the girl in sight. There is a sort of vivaciousness to her that sets her apart from the rest, bright and sparkling... but that makes sense of one who fights alongside the hero of the empire, does it not? 

“Hello!” Maria chirps, popping out from the frayed edges of the crowd with a merry little wave. “You were at the Hunt, weren’t you? With Lady de Vaux? Hee hee, it’s really nice to meet you! I’m glad to see you’re alright!” 

event starter for @askrena !!

The scene before him now was an unfamiliar one. A tea party that he did not remember accepting any invitations to, nor even thinking of attending. Not to mention, he only recognized one of the girls sitting beside him. Hadn’t he just moments ago been trapped in that storybook? Ah, wait right. They were being thrown from world to world - all assumedly inside books - wildly without a way to get out... and the Projectionist had offered a way out... hopefully. Though... when she had said written into the books, this wasn’t exactly what he had thought that she meant.

All right. This was fine. At least they hadn’t been thrown into any kind of weird battle or anything. He could handle this. He’d been raised within Goldoa’s walls, forced to attend parties and social events that he hadn’t wished to as a young boy. This was surely a simple task. Though he felt as though he was supposed to know the young lady sitting before him. Ah, all of this travelling between the worlds of books was starting to make his head spin. How was he supposed to keep the plot of all of them straight?

He calmly took a sip of the tea that had been sitting before him, trying to act the role of a calm and composed friend of the young lady. Hopefully that would be enough to convince that he belonged here. He was quite good at acting like he belonged in places that he exactly didn’t, after all. A talent that he’d had to learn, that came in especially useful around the beorcs of the Officers Academy.

Unscripted starter for @askrena

Roy was... not good with horses. In fact, the last debacle he’d had in the presence of an equine may have motivated Lady Meaghan, when she’d recovered from laughing after Roy had tried to mount Dimitri’s horse and then simply fallen into a river, to have a few ponies at her birthday party, stationed in a little fenced padlock and waiting for riders. It seemed to mainly be children who were riding them, and Roy supposed that by some standards he might just barely count, but he still felt a bit old to request a pony ride.

However, he couldn’t spot many people free to talk so he’d figured he may as well get better at riding. Roy looked down at his outfit nervously— pastel blue and pristine white, and very vulnerable to dirt and grass stains. He approached the handler standing by the ponies, grateful his blue feathered mask obscured his anxious expression.

“May I ride one of the ponies, please?”

The handler nodded with a smile. “Of course, let me know if you need help getting on.”

Roy let himself into the little field and approached a cream colored pony, watching the pony calmly eat grass and swish its tail. “Hello.” He gave the pony a pat on the neck, and then another, just to make sure. The height of the saddle was perfect for him to swing up with ease into and he sighed, relaxing into his seat and keeping his feet in the stirrups, sitting with perfect posture, reigns in hand.

It felt quite nice, actually. He gently urged the pony into a walk and felt himself smile. It was so easy, had all this trouble been from full sized horses being too tall?

He looked around, still hoping to make some difference at the party. Lady Meaghan’s curse weighed in the back of his mind. He brightened back up when he spotted Sharena just outside the little field and he waved while walking around the perimeter.

“Maybe once or twice but some have gotten out of hand...So i dont try to do them anymore.”

“also I am not allowed in the kitchen unattended.”