middaeg | [open] i see you softly smile through the glass

Entry tags:

[open] i see you softly smile through the glass

Who: Momo and you!
When: First half of Iuneril.
Where: Berry farms, the red light district, the partially-healed area of Wilde, and at the under-construction new outposts near Dorchacht.
What: Berry Picking, Sew N Sews, Silent Forest and Outpost Progress quest stuff (but also open to Bond Counselling if anyone wants to plot for that!)
Warnings: Potential for some rather nasty self-hate related stuff in Berry Picking depending on how honest Momo gets. Also obviously questionable themes for the Sew N Sews quest.

[a: such sweet sorrow (berry picking)]

[Momo has done a whole host of odd jobs in his life, so when he finds out there's berries to be picked while their very short season is here, he figures it can't hurt. He's curious about what makes them so sought-after in the first place, but also, having solid and regular work here doesn't mean he's not still prepared to pick up a little extra money here and there. It's nowhere near as bad as all the jobs he was running when he and Yuki started out and were flat broke.

On one hand, he's resistant enough to drunkenness that that aspect of the berries pretty much rolls off him. On the other...he's not very honest at all, and the lack of obvious side-effects from the berries to start with means he's not about to notice that until he talks to someone.

And what do you know, there's other people in the berry patch, and Momo's generally the type to take company where he can get it. So he sidles around his bush to whoever's picking nearby, offering a cheery grin.]

How's it going? If you're getting tired, Momo-chan can always take over for you. [A cheeky wink. Clearly the great motivator here is making sure someone else doesn't make berry bank before them.]

--

[b: dress-up dolls (sew n sews, 18+ characters only)]

[As an idol, Momo has worn some ridiculous things in his life. And has also worn very little for sexy photoshoots. Putting those two skillsets together, he feels like he can be at least somewhat helpful when the red light district calls for costume help.

For anyone doing the sewing, he's quite cooperative and polite, waiting for word from them or the staff before he strips down enough for measurements and they can figure out what's closest to his fit. Outside of being buried in his usual loose clothes, he's very toned, and there's the very faint tint of a flower-shaped spell tattoo on his spine just below the nape of the neck. The colours are shifted only slightly from his skin tone, as if someone had pressed some kind of translucent pink material to it, and the lines trail up towards his head before disappearing. He seems fairly comfortable with the situation, standing with his weight mostly on one leg and grinning cheerfully at whoever's doing the measuring.]

You can start whenever, I don't mind how long you take. [It is, actually, a professional point - he's used to drawn-out photoshoots where he's half-naked.

Anyone trying on costumes as well might be approached by him, too - second opinions are always helpful, and he practically bounces over to tug on sleeves and get people to face him so he can take a look. For his part, at the moment he's wearing...basically a harness with straps crossing over his chest and up to his neck, and down a little onto his legs like a garter. It at least has enough solid-colour fabric to cover his privates, because that part needs paying for, but besides that the rest of the fabric is just a lot of fancy pink arm drapes and a long, narrow panel from the front and back of the belt that trail very prettily but are extremely sheer and cover approximately nothing.]

Come on, show Momo-chan your look! I promise I won't judge you if you're new to this stuff. [Probably.

Also, there's a non-zero chance he might just swipe in the occasional adult passer-by who looks like they're wondering what's going on inside. Prepare to get walked into the brothel like this is business as usual.]

So, how do you feel about playing dress up for a little while? It pays well! [For the very small amount of work it is, at least.]

--

[c: hello darkness my old friend (silent forest)]

[Momo definitely wants to check back in on the forest healing, since that was the first mission he actually went out on after arriving here, but he ends up going with a larger part-Wilder part-Mirrorbound group rather than forming a smaller group of his own. His Bonding was pretty recent, and he does at least want to try and not do anything too dangerous this month considering what he was asked in the process. But that isn't going to stop him taking the safety-in-numbers route and going out with a sizeable enough group to hopefully reduce the risk.

He has vastly better control over his magic now considering he's been here months rather than the whole two weeks he'd been here last time, and his magical stamina has certainly improved too. But that just means he's putting all the more into it, trying to make his effort proportional to how much he's improved since then.

For much of his time infusing magic, he can be found very close to a thriving patch of flowers that look an awful lot like peach blossoms, except not on a tree as they should be. He's keeping his own eye on what's going on around him, but if any other Witches or Monsters approach, he'll free up a hand to wave them over.]

Can I keep you for a minute? I keep hearing something coming from that way and I could at least use some backup to go take care of it. [He points across into the trees with one painted nail, sounding almost apologetic that he can't just get up and deal with whatever it is himself despite the outpouring of magic he's visibly pushing into the leyline right now. Hell, it sounds like he kind of is planning to get up and deal with it now that there's someone else here and clearly nobody can roast him for being reckless now.]

--

[d: "what's that in your hand" "a knife!!" (outpost progress)]

[Momo likes Dorchacht and he likes the outposts for providing safe places to observe the Wilde, so of course he's up for helping Dorchacht's Wilders start to set up their own outposts. That, and he helped with the recent Aefenglom ones too, and sometimes it's good to just take a long day of manual work and wear yourself out for a good cause.

When he needs to break from the manual labour part, he switches onto the protection and scouting team, wearing a pair of gloves and covering clothing to help limit bare skin exposure to Shades. His clothing is also quite loose, and while he doesn't have a weapon out yet, when he moves the right way there's an odd outline visible for brief moments at a time that looks an awful lot like a weapon holster against his upper arm.

For now, he has one hand casually in a pocket and the other out, held in a very particular position like he's about to finalise a spell as he walks with whoever he's scouting with.]

So what've you got up your sleeve? Besides weapons, I like to have some idea of what people are gonna be throwing around when a Shade turns up. [His tone is cheerful enough, but he's still keeping a close eye out around them. He'll dampen the mood again when something comes at them.]
--

[e: wildcard]

[[Feel free to hit me up at

reviseleviathan or on the CR meme for potential other stuff! I'm pretty interested in Bond Counselling but feel like that would work better with a tiny bit of advance plotting, and for any CR who visit or have a chance of catching him asleep, I'd be open to plotting Silent Forest aftermath wherein someone didn't learn his lesson from last time and gives himself magic backlash induced nightmares again.]]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ It wasn't bad, not perfect though pretty damn close. ]

The position of your hand - [ He holds the blade up so he can see it at a profile. ] - keep it angled and comfortable. Your angling it a little too much.

[ He quickly sheathes the knife and goes to hold Momo's hand and points out the muscles on his wrist by pressing down on them lightly. ]

Feel that? It's a little too tense. When you're bringing the blade down or up, there's a big chance of resistance. Bone, sinew, armor, you get the idea. You want the blade to glide and slide across easily rather then get stuck, don't worry about depth or other stuff like that. The good thing about blades is that it does damage even with little effort.

[ Should he really be teaching an idol these things? Well, maybe it'll be fine. It's just basics. ]

[He's already sent people to the hospital with his bare hands, it's probably fine.

As it is, Momo understands the logic well enough - he hasn't had that particular problem before considering how he usually ends up fighting here, but getting the weapon stuck in a more prolonged fight would definitely screw someone over. So he eases the grip a little bit, testing a few subtle loosening and tightening differences until he finds something that feels like a good balance between comfortable and not going to lose the knife if he hits some resistance.]

Is that better? It feels more natural like that, though I guess this would be one of those things that's a little different for everyone.

[If it's about a comfortable angle while also keeping a good grip on the knife, he can't imagine this is a one-size-fits-all kind of detail.]

Good eye.

[ He said nodding while examining his wrist. ]

Hold the blade at an angle that feels natural, only you'll be able to tell that but...yeah, this muscle feels more relaxed already. Make sure you remember this feeling.

[ He checks the rest of the scouting party. ]

Okay, looks like we still got a little time. Let's move to some drills.

[ He took his knife and took a position next to Momo this time around. ]

I'm going to show you simple but effective moves when engaging in a fight. Follow with me, then as we start to get into the motion we'll speed up. Ready?

[ He starts right after the affirmation, stopping for Momo to follow after each step and instructing him on various points. 'Elbows in', 'offhand here', 'draw strength from your legs and hips' he instructed between each stance as he started to move faster and faster. ]

[Momo nods, noting it as something to roll into his daily exercise routines later. He's already been doing more hand-to-hand type things since he got here, since that's more familiar to him, but even if he'll remember this he knows he needs to come back to it regularly to get it to be a natural reflex to hold the knife in that position.]

Always ready. [It's a casual sort of remark - if it's a physical thing, it's rare to catch Momo in a position where he'll do anything but jump straight into it. Like before, he mirrors the movements well and makes corrections where he needs to and the movements just don't quite have the right edge to them from lack of experience, though notably when he's told to draw strength from his lower body, his movements get considerably more powerful. Momo's upper half isn't lacking in strength, but he's spent basically his entire life training his lower body, so the addition of that to the mix definitely makes a noticeable difference.

He keeps up well with the increase in speed, too, the movements becoming more familiar as they go. It's something he wants to retain well enough to be able to replicate and train himself into properly beyond today, so his gaze is still flicking back to Bishop to ensure he's made and maintained the right corrections and isn't going to lock himself into bad form by repeating a mistake later on.]

[ He nods with approval with each correction and improvement he made in such a short amount of time. Looks like his view that idols were all glitz and glamour needs to be amended. ]

Alright, that's good. Keep going for another two minutes.

[ It might not seem that difficult but he's gauging Momo's stamina at this point. Skill is no good if he tires himself out too quickly. ]

[Momo's physical stamina is literally the only thing about himself he'll offer as a point of pride, which is saying something considering his abysmal self-esteem. So he has no trouble keeping up the drills for another two minutes - he's the kind of person who generally has to be jumped through a ridiculous amount of hoops to even begin getting tired, and while fighting is a different beast to sport, stamina is one thing that carries across pretty directly between the two.

He won't stop or even slow down until Bishop gives some kind of signal that they're done, because that's pretty much the kind of person he is. If he's learning something from someone, then he'll follow as closely as he can in all aspects, because he's always been set into that attitude of respecting higher skill at something like a player following a coach.]

Alright, at ease!

[ He says once he's satisfied(partially) with the way Momo conducted himself. ]

Not bad for a neophyte. Take a breather, rotate you wrist and relax your muscles.

[ Bishop had barely broken a sweat as his daily regiment was a lot more intense. Swords were heavier and practicing several different sword forms before dawn takes a lot of a person. ]

Do you need water or maybe a snack? [ He says reaching into his back pouch and taking a small pack filled with some kind of biscuit. ] Here. This won't fill your stomach but it'll help with the energy you just spent. I made it myself so I can guarantee the taste.

[ The biscuit is light, airy, and maple in taste. It's solid enough to hold without crumbling but not so dry that you'd need water. It's essentially Calorie Mate. ]

[Momo's already expecting the relaxation and rotation when Bishop says it, because he's used to recovering from physical activities and while a lot of that has been his legs, he does a lot more high-impact activities with his upper body than he used to. He doesn't seem particularly affected in the stamina department, either, which is why he's halfway to turning down the offer of food or water when Bishop makes it.]

I'm fi-- [And then Bishop takes out the food anyway, and at that point Momo figures it's ruder to turn it down, so he takes it after a moment's hesitation. He takes more care of his physical needs than most other things about himself, but he's still gone through periods where he had to practically starve himself and so knows how little he can run himself on if he needs to and if he wants to avoid "imposing" on someone else.]

Thanks. [He is actually grateful despite the initial move to turn it down, and the consistency of the biscuit is pretty familiar from home once he starts to eat it. Momo doesn't always have time in his day for proper meals, so portable high-energy foods can be handy.] Definitely better than the convenience store stuff from back home, though usually if I'm eating that I don't have time to care about the taste.

[There's a particular humour to that which says he doesn't consider being that busy to be a bad thing.]

Convenience store food in Japan is better than most places I've been to at least. Though still about as unhealthy.

[ Have you ever eaten a sandwich that taste and feels like eating cardboard? He has. He hated it. He surveyed the group once more and notes how they look like they're just about ready to move. ]

Alright, take one more for the road then put your knife away. Looks like we're almost ready but there's a few things I have to tell you first.

Remember, while the things I taught you were just the basics it's more than enough to harm and even kill a man so I cannot stress this enough. Be. Careful. Don't take any risks unless you have no other option, and don't try to be a hero. If you're out matched, run. Don't worry about me. I don't need anot-

[ He paused. ]

I don't need or want to have to report we lost someone. Okay?

[Momo doesn't need him to finish that sentence because it's obvious what he's stopping himself from saying even at the point he cuts himself off, and as he's putting his knife away and pulling at his gloves to make absolutely sure there's no gap between them and his sleeves, he offers a reassuring smile.]

It's fine, I learnt defensive magic so I could protect myself and others without having to do anything stupid. [Though the not doing anything stupid may go entirely out the window if someone is in real and immediate danger, because Momo is very much that kind of person. He doesn't specifically remark on the harming part because...well. Suffice it to say he knows how easy it is to harm a person in a lasting way already.] I've been on these kinds of scouting trips before, so don't pay any more mind to me than you would any other team member. I wouldn't want someone else getting hurt on my account.

[Momo has learnt the hard way before that even a second of distraction in a real fight can ruin the hell out of everything, so he doesn't want any extra consideration in the actual field.]

Can't have that kind of mindset, but then again you are a civ.

[ He sometimes forgets that some folk here aren't fighters like he is. ]

Either way, what I said still stands but just to make sure I'll take point. I'd take command but - [ He jabs a thumb at the scruffy looking puca addressing the troops. ] - that guy has their respect and I'm not gonna challenge that.

[ Well, take control without killing anyone in their sleep or public death match that is. ]

Also, stick with me for this. That way I can keep an eye on you.

[Momo is chill enough about most of this, but his brows do arch considerably at the mention of taking command if there wasn't someone who had established respect. That strikes him as a bit much since the Wilders seem to be the most experienced in dealing with situations in the Wilde, but he doesn't actually remark on it.]

Sure, I don't mind partnering up. [Momo is only really a go it alone kind of guy if he's not with a bunch of people who've all volunteered to put themselves in danger. He's well aware that trying to be the protector or put too much on himself is just likely to put others in danger in a situation like this, so ostensibly the safest thing to do it slot in and be an effective part of the team.] Are we good to go, then? I don't want to get left behind, that just seems like a bad idea.

[Safety in numbers and so on. And even if he's been out here before often enough in the building of the Northern Outpost that he knows the area, the Wilders still likely know it better.]

Yeah, I think the rest are about ready too. C'mon, I think the one in charge wants to brief us.

[ Securing his knife and snacks in their respective places, he leads Momo to the large group where the aforementioned puca gave the group their general order along with passing out maps with locations assigned for each group or pair. Bishop stepped up and received the map and orders along with some other notes about the area they'll be going to. ]

Alright, by the looks of things we'll be heading north by northeast. There's been some sightings of some kind of aggressive animal in the area but no signs of it being infected.

[ He says while standing next to his partner for this expedition so he can examine it too. ]

I'm not too familiar with that area, I was mostly put on the western side of the outpost. Do you know anything?

[Momo leans in to look at the map, particularly eying out whether it's a familiar area. It's definitely one he's been through on previous scouting instances, since he just generally lends himself wherever extra people are needed, so he nods in answer to Bishop's question.]

They've done a fair bit of clearing in that direction, so wherever they've burnt isn't gonna be hard to get through. If we get far enough out we'll be bordering forest again, so that'll make visibility harder for us. And if it's been hanging out further than that it could've picked up an infection since the sightings, but that's only if it doesn't think rocks and caves are good enough cover.

[Likely not one that's gotten bad enough to turn it into a Shade this quickly, but it's a possibility that Momo figures is worth pointing out when a good deal of the surrounding area has been cleared out. Still, hopefully it's as the sightings say and if it is infected, it's not severe enough to be a problem.]

[ He hums in thought as he takes those bits of information and forms a picture to puzzle of the situation. ]

Then this mysterious creature of ours could be appearing because we burned it's home, food sources, or are getting closer to its territory. That certainly would make it aggressive.

[ He ponders whether or not they should go after the creature. It sounds dangerous but not an immediate threat. ]

Well, whatever the case. We'll just do as the quest says and scout the area. If we see the creature in question, lets leave it alone unless it comes after us. I don't want to take any unnecessary risks. Agreed?

[Momo nods slightly in agreement, though he does wonder how it escaped infection if it was living here prior to the burning out. They have a hard enough time avoiding Cwyld themselves heading this far out with all the protections they use.

Regardless, it's a question for later.] Sounds good to me. I'm not going to gun for something that's minding its own business, that's just cruel.

[If the Wilders decide they need to remove it, that's on them, but he imagines chasing it off would probably take priority if it actually is miraculously not infected.]

Right, and now that that's settled, let's roll.

[ He folds up the map with the details note stuffed inside and tucks it inside his back pocket before starting the trek towards their assigned location. He didn't slow down for Momo, after what he saw he knows the idol shouldn't have any problem keeping pace but that's not to say he moved like he was with a fellow soldier.

He stopped at certain points to do a quick survey of the area, instructing Momo to search the immediate perimeter and horizon for a few minutes before proceeding. He was certain that there'd be nothing to report but it was always better to be safe than sorry.

When they finally reached the point they're to survey it was, as Momo had described, cleared out. The edge of the forest before them which still showed some small signs of the burning. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small collapsible telescope and began his survey, though a few minutes in he sighed as he gazed towards a tree that fell a top some thick bushes. ]

Goddammit. Of course it had to turn up, right? Momo. There.

[ He says passing the scope to him while pointing at the shrubbery where, behind the foliage, were pair of bright glowing white eyes staring right at them. ]

I guess the report needs to be changed.

[Momo keeps up quite easily, as expected, and keeps a good eye out to cover any potential blind spots as they go. He searches when he's asked to, smoothly enough to support his previous remarks on having done this with the Wilders before, and despite his usual manner he keeps himself quiet besides when he needs to mention something important. He still looks rather upbeat generally, but he's clearly taking it seriously despite that.

While Bishop surveys with the telescope, Momo does a visual inspection of the more immediate area just to make sure they don't miss the forest for the trees (so to speak), not moving too far but checking among the burnt-out stumps and charred remnants of leaf litter for signs of anything having come through recently. He comes back around to take the telescope when Bishop reacts, though, looking where he points and catching the glowing eyes just about immediately.

He draws a sharp breath.] Yeah, I was wondering how the hell it could've not been infected if it was hanging around the forest here. Might've just not spread far enough when it was last seen, but it definitely has now.

[He passes the scope back, but continues keeping an eye on the spot now that he knows where it is. If he needs to make a barrier on short notice, it'd be best to have both his hands free.] Question is whether it's far gone enough to come for us through almost open ground.

[Momo does have a particular means he uses of luring Shades out in conditions like this, but if it tries to jump them he may not need it.]

[ He takes another look through the scope to see if the infected creature has moved. ]

I...I don't think it has. If it has then it would have already attacked us, unless it's an ambush predator or something and waiting for us to drop our guard.

[ He watches for a few more minutes trying to determine what sort of creature it is but the thick foliage made that difficult without alarming it. ]

I don't want to needlessly engage in combat when we don't need to, but I don't want to go back empty handed when something like this has turned up. Let's see if can, at least, identify this beast. From what I could tell it's some kind of four legged predator like a wolf or a mountain lion. How keen are your eyes?

I've seen an ambush predator Shade pull this kind of thing before, so I wouldn't count on it. They can still think that much. [It was actually just last month he had that particular issue. But in his world, glowing eyes does not indicate anything not some kind of monster, and it's so characteristic of Shades here that he's very predisposed to doubt that it's not infected at all.

That said, Momo isn't going to go over there and find out close-up whether it's infected or not, so distance identification it is for the moment.] Sharp enough. This isn't usually the kind of thing I have to identify, but I am used to having to pick out small details if that's what you're after.

[Movements, body language and tells more than general physical characteristics, but it'll translate well enough.]

Good. Keep a spell ready and get ready to run just in case. I'm gonna try and flush it out, you get a good look at it.

[ He puts the scope away and bounces on his heel to hype himself. ]

On your mark.

[ He says as he lowers into a running stance, hands free, as he locks his gaze to the creature in the distance. ]

Alright. [Momo's not likely to run if it goes for Bishop, but the spell he draws on his wrist to hold is a shield spell - it either buys someone extra time to run if necessary or buys extra time to retaliate. And he does put himself in a position he can move easily from on short notice, because regardless of how things go he'll probably need to move somewhere.]

Go ahead. [He keeps his eyes on where the creature is hidden in the bushland, not intending to waste whatever opportunity Bishop creates to actually ID whatever this is.]

[ He runs at the signal and the infected beast reacts immediately but doesn't move from it's spot, only twitched at Bishops sudden burst. Even more surprising than that was how he leapt into the air coated in blue light and starts to change to something smaller but wider as wings appears along with feathers and a large pair of taloned feet.

An eagle owl is what he turned into, a fairly big one, and Bishop soared into the air and circled the trees above the beast. He dived at the beast urging and taunting it out of it's hiding spot but it would only growl at him, at least only until Bishop started to gather and compress gusts of wind and fired them into the bush like some vacuum missile.

It must have hit because all after his last shot, a giant half shadowy wolf leapt out of the bush and snapped at Bishop. He squawked as he reeled back, wings glowing blue that sent powerful gusts to push the beast away and give him more altitude and lift. The wolf is in the middle of the change with most of it's body already almost as large as a bear, save it's hind legs which were still regular wolf sized. It's mouth has extra jagged teeth jutting out in odd spots while it's front paws has long protruding claws.

It fell backwards the gales rushed it and it scurried off into the forest, leaving Bishop to circle the sky above Momo for a moment before gliding down next to him. ]

[Momo has to resist the urge to throw a shield when the creature snaps at the feet of Bishop's owl form, but he forces himself to hold it in lest he burn it before it's really necessary. Thankfully, the creature flees quickly enough, and Momo's tunnel vision in cases of people around him in danger actually comes in very useful here, because it means he remembers just about every detail of the wolf Shade.

Before discussing that, though, Momo looks over to Bishop as he comes to land, as if double-checking him. Momo himself is held quite tense at the moment - he had to literally physically force himself not to interfere, considering what he can be like about this sort of thing.] It didn't get you, did it? That one's probably going to need a team to take it down, especially if it changes all the way.

[It's almost more Cwyldtid than Shade, with the size and deadly accoutrements. Nobody needs to be running foul of that unprepared.]

[ He quickly changes as Momo approached while processing and arranging the his side of the encounter. ]

That it might. Now. Let's compare notes. That wolf is roughly bear sized from my view, front heavy. The tail was a bit off so there might be some kind of mutation there but it's biggest mutation was in it's mouth. It has about three layers of teeth leading in and a long barbed tongue. It was coiled in its throat so, I suspect it can shoot that out to pierce it's prey.

[ He sighs. ]

A real mean piece of work.

[open] i see you softly smile through the glass

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