#atefirom

"Why not an alternative such as... oh! Salutations crustaceans."

"Oh, hey Panette! What's popping, carrot topping?" ...not her best, but she keeps smiling on.

The mention of a question makes her skin crawl. She can feel her shoulders tensing, but she keeps the smile cheerfully in place as she waits to hear it. It's fine. It's fine! She's already cleared this up with Panette in the past, so there's no way that anything she asks could be-

"Huh?" Yunaka blinks. Why...papaya? A snort morphs quickly into laughter, which she hides behind her hand as she bends over. "Oh, is that all? Geez, I thought you might've been coming to swing with something heavy."

Why hiya papaya though... "I dunno...I guess I just thought it sounded fun!" It was harmless, and not anything that could be tied back to the old her. More importantly, it was weird. Whenever she said it, she could tell it put people on the back foot and distracted them, even if it was only for the first few times she spoke to them. But anything that kept them from asking too many questions was good.

But alternatives?

"Oh, that's a good one!" Yunaka giggles a little. Salutations, crustaceans. She'll need to remember that one. "Hang on, I can do more, let me cook."

pocky day | accepting

Yunaka can't stop herself from giggling a bit when she first catches sight of Panette with the biscuit perched daintily in her mouth. "You look cute!" Somehow, the biscuit feels less out of place sitting there than her posh attitude does. She's not sure how much the retainer would appreciate it if she explained what she meant, though.

Still giggling to herself, Yunaka brings her hands up to gently cup Panette's face. She tilts Panette's head just a little, so she can get a better angle for the game. She flashes her a quick grin. "I've gotten pretty good at this, just so you know. Try not to be too heartbroken when I win."

She's pretty sure the taste of chocolate is going to linger in the back of her mouth for days after all of these games. It's worth it, though. She's gotten better at not breaking it and not getting flustered either as she gets closer and closer and - Panette has really pretty eyes - to the other person.

Snap! Right at the end, right before either of them reached the middle, the cookie snapped. Yunaka blinks owlishly. It's...a little hard to tell who won just from the little part still sticking out of both of their mouths...

She catches up with Pandreo to shove him in the arm, in a normal sibling fashion. Not hard enough to break his bones, but with enough force to hopefully knock him off his feet a little. 

“Though I am not that surprised, I suppose I could say I’m glad to see you regardless of the reason,” her eyes flicker to his attire briefly, expression neutral. “But how did you manage to slip past my notice when leaving Elyos I wonder… Unless! You’re not my brother, but one of the corrupted? Only one way to find out…”

She thrusts forward a jar of pickled peppers packed with flavor and extra spice. No need to ask where she retrieved the jar from, she has her ways. She shakes the jar a little with a mischievous grin. “Go on, prove you’re the real one.”

she could've been nicer about it. learned habits send pandreo stumbling to the side when she shoves him, hissing all the while in pain. priest, retainer, older brother—clutches at his upper arm as he squints back at his would-be assailant, pantomiming agony for a beat of sympathy. maybe he shouldn't be surprised that she doesn't take much acknowledgment of it, charging on in the conversation as she's oft to. so, he continues on too with a thump of his index finger to her forehead: "i don't see merrin around, do you?"

he's glad to see her, at least:

it's not been that long since he left elyos. her either, he assumes but—when you'd finally gotten used to seeing your little sister again, who wasn't so little anymore, nearly every day only for the two of you go to your separate ways even though the two of you literally served the same royal family ... his thoughts are interrupted as she presents him with a jar of hellfire incarnate, pandreo only able to quirk up an eyebrow in exasperated reply. was she serious? he'd just get all red and blotchy and start crying and, "no chance, but." he does unscrew the cap.

"Griss, was it?" Panette approaches the strangest man without immediate hostility, but always on guard. If anything she had her fists if something were to happen.

Despite this she is feeling oddly generous today. In her hands, she presents a jar that houses a spider with the softest looking fur and fetching eyes. She is almost jealous of him to receive a fine specimen.

"I heard it is your birthday, so consider this as a... truce or something akin to that. Introducing the prettiest lady on campus. Her eyes just sparkle marvelously, especially in this light. Do be careful with her."

Birthday asks (Happy 29th)

Griss hated bugs. He didn't know why, and he didn't care why, but he liked them better as black and brown smears on some hard surface than intact. With all their little legs. And their little feelers. And their many many eyes. This spider is lucky that there's glass between her and his hands, otherwise she'd be just a smear across his palms five seconds ago. The grimace he wears makes his thoughts plain as day.

"What the hell kinda truce is this?!" He jerks the jar back out at arm's length, knocking the spider from one side to the other despite the warning to be careful with her. She starts to skitter around the jostled leaves and fallen twigs, clearly agitated, but Griss couldn't care less. Eyes snap up, confused. Smiley fought alongside the Divine One, he remembers that much (how could he forget her, after all, when she'd been dressed head-to-toe like every day was a day to celebrate the dead), but that was where their acquaintance began and ended.

What was her angle? He looks at the jar, bringing it close again. Studies it for a moment. The thought of someone going out of their way to gift him something for free and for his birthday is nearly incomprehensible.

"Look, Smiley, if ya want me to kill someone for ya, just say so! What does everyone say? 'When in doubt, give gold?' Yeah!" No, not even close. "Just toss a purse at me next time."

He gives the jar another shake, this time an intentional one. "Unless this guy's poisonous. Then maybe I'll forgive ya."

As much as he hated bugs, he'd never turn down anything he got for free. A smile suddenly snakes across his lips. Wouldn't this little gal love a romp across a backdrop of stars.

"Greetings Princess Celine!" Panette approaches with the plate of colorful cookies in hand. "You see, I am in a bit of a quandary, I have this whole plate of cookies, but I am absolutely stuffed fuller than a lucky bandit's loot bag. Could you help me finish them?"

Firene's princess eyes widen at the sight of the sweet-filled plate within Panette's grasp, bringing her own hand atop her mouth in surprise: "Goodness, you do seem to be tasked with quite a number of sweets." Céline leans slightly closer, if only to observe the cookies in itself. There are more than even she herself could have, but the image does spark an idea within her mind.

Thus, she repositions herself upright and offers a petite nod. She reaches her free hand towards the tray to grab one of the cookies and brings it closer to her eye level as she continues. Curiously, her head tilts. Brief, in ponderance.

five senses | Accepting!

It was...kind of weird. Not the question itself, no, that's the sort of thing that Yunaka is pretty sure it's a normal thing that people who care about each other do for them with it being total normal and not weird.

It's someone asking to do it for Yunaka that's weird.

And at first, she thinks it won't be that bad. She's convinced of it, up until the moment she sits in the chair and grins at Panette through the mirror in her room. It's weird, but it's fine.

The first star pulls on her hair a little when Panette takes it out. The sound of it's clip hitting the desk echos in her ears, and the first rock sinking into her stomach is when she finally realizes that it's not good at all.

She manages to stay in the chair as star after star is plucked from the sky. The task keeps eyes from noticing the white knuckled grip Yunaka's hands cling tightly to the seat of her chair. Her gaze drops lower with every star until she's staring at her feet and remembering to breathe. When the last one comes out - and she knows exactly how many there are, without Panette needing to tell her - Yunaka raises her head.

She stares back at her. The star on their cheek looks stupid when it's hers. She opens her mouth.

Okay so, she’s never seen a ghost, but this may come close. Panette stops in her tracks. Blinks. This, this is real, right? To be sure, it is not an “a real live emblem is here” kind of awestruck but more of a…

“What the hell are you doing here?!” Her voice bounces off the stone and across the hallway, sure to garner some looks in her direction. Remembering where and how she tries to present herself, she clears her throat and places both hands clasped in front of her in a more docile manner. Schooling her tone back to neutral to draw attention off her, she says, “Ahem. That is what I heard that… that bandit say when I encountered him again. Small town.”

She wears content now with a satisfied and pleasant smile as people shook their heads and moved along. That expression quickly falls as she strides toward the gaudy bowed freak. 

“I don’t know what kind of trick you have going on here but…!” She begins, but fails to finish what she started. A rare occurrence indeed. Is there a real reason to be upset with her being here? Maybe, maybe not.

Admittedly, she did feel a twinge of pity for the girl in front of her, maybe even empathy, moments before she.. Well. But that doesn’t explain why she’s here. Panette releases an annoyed huff of air and crosses her arms. “Hmph… I guess it’s ain’t none of my business really… Carry on.”

She hears the girl far before she sees her. Marni is no stranger to being sworn at and generally speaking, she tended to deserve it. There's not really much of a point in pulling punches with someone who isn't going to do the same. What is strange is hearing someone trying to soften their words after swearing at her. Most didn't bother.

This girl… wasn't she one of Solm's royal knights? The one with the goofy outfit and the weird face paint? Marni had threatened to kill their queen and splatter her blood all over the palace, so the yelling definitely tracked. This one was, indeed, totally on her. She did do that and only felt a little bad.

Marni rests her knuckles on her hips, all bravado and conceit.

"Surprised? Guess I'm harder to kill than everyone thought!" Marni grins, leaning forward. "If you want me dead, you gotta try way harder than that!"

(That's not true. She remembers how that knife felt in her gut. She remembers getting lightheaded as blood gushed out of her wound. She understands just as little as everyone else how she might still be alive.)

This isn't the island Marni had been on for a whole month. She's back on monastery grounds now, which means she can no longer act as recklessly as she had. The walls here have eyes and ears; she can be sure that if she steps out of line here, everyone and their mother will know about it.

So instead of taunting further, she steps back.

"I'm not gonna get into any fights where Lady Veyle can see, so as long as you mind your business, I'll mind mine."

"Greetings Faye." Panette hands a cup of cider to her former teammate before taking a sip herself. "I must say, you put up quite the fight out there. I'm certain your deadly skills could send your opponents away and afeard, if they are not already."

Faye instinctively takes the cup of yellow-ish liquid that is offered by the other's hands, initially nervous to speak of her past failure. However, even though she was unable to protect her fellow student in battle and unable to avenge her afterwards, Panette was...not angry? Faye could see herself fuming if in the same position as her, falling due to an ally's slip-up. And yet...

"Thanks, Panette," Faye glady speaks from her initial pause, the warmth of the beverage in her hand pushing back physical and metaphorical chills. "But you were super good out there too! I could never imagine lugging around an axe and using my fists at the same time! I could learn from you, if you uh...don't mind."