middaeg | ( open ) juril quests & catch-all

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( open ) juril quests & catch-all

Who: Karin Koenig & you!
When: Early Juril
Where: Various
What: Quest shenanigans for the month.
Warnings: None so far, will update as needed.

a. a new look

[Part-time work seemed to be just the thing to occupy herself with while trying to settle in properly, and it also seemed like a great way to learn more about both the city and its culture. It’s been fascinating, really, to watch new trends spring up based on what citizens have seen the Mirrorbound wearing, and Karin swears she’d seen an almost exact copy of her own skirt in one shop’s window at some point, although when she had doubled back to make sure, it had already vanished.

So far, she’s spent most of her time consulting, but with a number of new hybrid designs having been completed throughout the week, the tailor running this particular shop has rounded up all of the current volunteers and part-time employees and asked them to model, expecting them to sort out what to wear amongst themselves. Picking through a number of items that have been laid out for the models to choose from in the shop’s backroom, she grabs hold of a cropped jacket made of bright orange tweed and holds it up to whoever happens to be closest to her, a smile pulling at one side of her mouth.]

This one is just your color. Really brings out your eyes, I think.

[She may be being facetious.]

b. alchemical apprentices

[It’s been interesting to see what standard supplies for alchemy look like in this place. While she’s vaguely familiar with alchemy itself through Roger’s expertise in it, she’s never really seen it in-progress or up close, which has made this job a learning experience.

Some of the gruntwork comes easily to her, like neatly slicing open toads and other prep work that requires deft hands and precision, but some is a little more challenging.]

This is— [She grunts, squinting one eye closed as she continues to try and grind down some dragon scales using a mortar and pestle. She’s not weak by any means, which makes the struggle all the more frustrating.] —really tough! They’re taking forever to break down. What are these made of?

[Well.

Other than ‘dragon,’ obviously.]

c. gathering samples (wilde)

[The opposing weather conditions out in the Wilde are going to take some getting used to, but Karin has prepared herself well for this venture and taken care to dress for the weather before heading out. Having encountered Shades in the Wilde before, she goes armed and prepared to defend herself, but in looking for samples, doesn’t head out too far— at least not to start with. She has to wonder how the cold weather will affect some of the necessary samples, but considering the list had been put out by an expert, she supposes she should trust that they knew exactly what they were looking for. It’s her responsibility to bring what she can back in good shape.

She raises the handwritten list she’d copied from the job posting as she walks through the trees at a steady pace, each item followed by a rough physical description so that she can identify them.]

Live branch from an Orapple tree, live Silphin roots…

[She exhales, looking up at her surroundings.]

Time to get searching. No better place to start than here, I guess.

[Talking to herself makes the Wilde feel just a little bit less empty, although her own footsteps moving through the brush are just loud enough to cover the fact that there’s rustling coming from somewhere in the trees behind her, proof that the Wilde is anything but. Whether it’s a potential friend or foe, for now, it escapes her notice as she drops down into a low crouch to examine and identify a bush.]

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[ Kai's clothing tends to suffer a high mortality rate, and since he only came with the clothes on his back it's probably in his best interest to get another outfit or two. That doesn't mean putting up with wearing clothes that he definitely doesn't belong in.

Kai's got deep purple eyes shot through with blue, an effect the humans on his world haven't managed to match in contacts. Other than that he's got pointed ears, one of which is pierced.

He snorts at the orange jacket. ]

Like fuck it does.

[She's hoping Karin's being facetious. Orange was far from her best color, though a more muted Autumnal shade would be flattering during the evening in a room full of candles. This, however, is not appealing, even if she had the coin to pay for it...

...which she doesn't.]

I have nothing to pay with. [She at least had a new dress, but it was the last of the charity available to her.] How are you managing in this trade?

[He isn’t much of a gatherer. That is a talent for others, those who might know something about what grows into the loam of the earth, what shapes of leaves to seek from the rest, what will allow itself to be stolen from nature and what will root itself into the ground, hardy and stubborn, and refuse to give. Sephiroth is a man from Midgar, a city of upper and lower halves, a place so crowded with steel and light and paved streets that there’s hardly any room for nature to thrive. He simply isn’t suited for it.

So he leaves the matter of plant life — of ingredient-gathering — to others. He can play another part with far more ease: the eyes and ears to keep them safe, which is the secondary role paired with any task that would have Mirrorbound or natives alike roaming the Wilde.

He pushes through the underbrush, relatively quiet for a man of his size, twigs and leaves and low-hanging branches parting for him when he sweeps the latter aside. In the distance, he spots a familiar frame crouched next to a bush. Likely picking away at whatever is required of her.

Masamune’s steel gleams in the light, though he does not hold it at ready, only at rest — following the line of his back just behind him. Sephiroth chooses to speak when he draws near enough to do so.]

If I had been a Shade, that would have been problematic.

[Hello, this is how we greet people.]

[Her smile pulls just a bit wider before she laughs and lets the piece fall back to the table, starting to rummage again.]

Hmm, maybe something with cooler tones— that would bring out your eyes, I think.

[They don't particularly need much help with that, but that's how people usually pick colors that flatter them, right?]

In all seriousness, whatever you're looking for here, I bet you can find it. They've really gone crazy with all these new designs...

It's going well enough so far. The tailor has offered to let us keep one or two of the pieces we model, plus we're getting paid to wear some of these designs.

[But she'd been kidding about this particular jacket, in this case.]

But— maybe not that one.

[Even if Karin herself doesn't look terrible in orange, she doesn't think the jacket would be a good fit for her, either, and she lets it fall back to the table.]

[Jasper isn't lingering in the shop to work or browse. His fingers are flicking through rack after rack of clothes because this industry is fascinating. Colours and textures, weaves and styles. They offer distraction from worries of home and a busy mind. People listen to him and flatter his appearance. They offer him clothes and adulation but he continues declining modelling offers.

And their latest tactic of sending in someone familiar is met with disdain. Her latest suggestion eliciting feelings of disgust and revulsion; positively curdling his pale skin.]

Yes, it renders them blind.

[If she wants him to model she can forget it!]

[She hates that he actually manages to startle her. The short, curtailed yelp that she lets out is hardly fitting of a military woman, ex- or otherwise, and drops her list in the process of jumping to her feet and reaching for her sword, only to let her hand drop to her side halfway when his voice registers, a fraction of a second before she actually lays eyes on him.

Well. Second impression, potentially worse than the first. She sighs, but as composed as she tries to appear, her cheeks are burning red.]

You're right.

[She can't deny that, at least.]

I should have been paying more attention to my surroundings. I'm glad that you weren't.

[Though with that imposing figure and the sword he carries, he could easily be more fearsome than any Shade. She stoops down long enough to reclaim her list, pressing her lips into a thin line as she reaches to smooth her ponytail down with one hand in an attempt to come off as more 'together' than she actually is. Success: moderate, at best.]

In my defense, you are surprisingly quiet.

[His response is so blunt that she can't help laughing openly, lowering the jacket and immediately writing it off as an option. Clearly, he's not afraid to speak his mind.]

I find your honesty very refreshing. It is hideous, isn't it?

[She may have been baiting a reaction.]

I hear you've been playing hard to get. I was asked to try and convince the 'handsome fellow over there' into helping with modeling, but I don't think they believed me when I said you would be a hard sell.

[Really hard. Impossible sounded closer to the truth.]

[ When Zack had decided that he wanted to be a mercenary, this sort of job isn't exactly what he had in mind. It's a lot more like gardening than anything else, at least to someone like him who's never had much interest in plants. Really, it's a job better suited to Aerith and he probably should have brought her along, but the idea of bringing her into danger is still something foreign to him.

He understands now that she's been through a lot since the last time they interacted back home. She's grown up, traveled the world, and fought her own battles. She's more than capable of a trip into the Wilde. Yet here he is, by himself.

That being said, he's a lot more prepared than the last time he came to the Wilde. Wearing the long-sleeved jumper that Cloud gifted to him means that his arms aren't exposed, and he's got a sword this time, also lent to him by Cloud. Zack intends to buy his own once he's got the money for it, but until then, Organics will definitely do the trick.

It's as he's searching through the area, attempting to find plants that match the descriptions that have been written out, that hears a voice from not too far away. Based on what the voice is saying, he can assume whoever he's stumbled on is here for the same reason as him.

All he has to do is circle around a few wide trees to find the owner of the voice, a redheaded woman who's staring down at her own piece of paper. ]

Oh. Hey. [ He puts both hands up to make sure she knows he comes in peace. Organics is strapped to his back, so there's no immediate sign of hostility on his end. ] I think we might be out here for the same reason.

[Eyes skip between his new friend and the rear of the boutique. His voice fortunately not loud enough to reach behind the door.]

Oh, so that was your design in coming over here? And here I thought we were getting along so well.

[He passes answering for a further ten seconds. Until one of her customers has left the store.]

You better run along and tell them this handsome fellow is not for sale.

[He sounds like he would love watching their hopes break.]

Something cheap and preferably in black? And jeans, definitely jeans.

[ A shrug. ]

I'm not a man of no taste, but mine are simple ones.

[ And he doesn't think he wants to bring out his eyes, necessarily. ]

[She shakes her head, putting both of her hands up as if to show that she means no harm, the jacket having been discarded on the nearby table.]

Please. I'd like to think I know better than that. This really doesn't seem like your scene, but if I didn't at least come over here, they would have kept asking.

[Which is to say that her own hopes aren't high in the least, but her temporary employers, however...]

I told them you couldn't be bought, even if the pay is pretty good for how easy the work itself is. They'll be awfully disappointed.

[There's a coy note in her voice; she's enjoying this entirely too much. From his own tone of voice, she gets the feeling that the more disappointed they are, the better.]

Do the jeans have to be black, too?

[She's only partially kidding on that one.]

I'm sure we can find something to fit the bill, although a lot of what the local tailors have been putting out lately has been a little more...

[She gestures broadly with one hand as she searches for the word. Hm.]

Eye-catching? They're really into Mirrorbound fashion, though, so there has to be something close to what you're used to sitting around somewhere.

[She startles slightly, but his approach and greeting are both steady enough that it quickly subsides, and she looks up from where she remains crouched on the ground, offering a faint smile in reply. While she doesn't recognize him, his sword being on his back rather than in his hand— and the handwritten list there instead— is proof enough that he means no harm.

Drawing back up to her full height, she brushes a few stray leaves off of the coat she'd acquired before heading out into the Wilde, holding up her own list as confirmation.]

I think you may be right. Any idea what a lunerberry bush is supposed to look like?

[Because even with the description she has written down, most shrubs look the same to her...]

[Given that he does modelling fairly often back home as part of his job, Momo's picked up this job a few hours a week between his primary radio work. Already having experience with it means he's had a pretty easy time with the designers, and his illusion abilities mean he's been able to make some pretty wild suggestions he didn't necessarily have on his person. But right now, looking through the clothing options, he's wearing the modern outfit he arrived in just to support the initiative.

Which means when Karin offers that coat to him, he's actually already wearing bright orange. Just in the form of a horror movie style hoodie, and balanced out by literally everything else in the outfit being black, from undershirt to jeans to lace-up boots. Considering his eyes are hot pink, it's also not entirely incorrect to say that another screamingly bright colour would help.

Even if he's pretty sure it was in jest, he grins easily, looking the coat over properly from back to front.] I think I prefer the version of it I'm already wearing, but let's see here...

[After he gets a good idea of the shape and cut of the jacket, he steps back and seems to "flick" his fingers at his upper half, a few sparks of magic emerging like glitter - this style of illusion is the only one he's so far confident enough in to do non-verbally since he's been doing it the entire time he's been here. His hoodie disappears and is replaced with the coat, open to reveal the tight-fitting black turtleneck he's wearing underneath that clings to quite a few more lines of his toned body than it entirely needs to. As far as ways a coat that loud could be worn, it's definitely one of the more flattering ones.]

What do you think? I kinda like it, if I'm being honest. [He makes a more model-worthy pose, chest out to draw more focus to it and red nails of one hand held over his lower face to provide an extra point of contrast to both his eyes and the coat.]

[It is something of a surprise to most, that Sephiroth should move so cat-quiet in a place overburdened with the fallen detritus of the treetops. Perhaps even more so with those large wings pressed to his back, the too-long flight feathers that nearly tread the ground, but he has managed it, somehow — one might chalk it up to years’ worth of training, or just the innate instinct of a man bred to be a war machine. There are often two brands of destruction, after all: the kind that leaves wreckage in its wake, and the quiet, deadly sort that ends with a blade in the back.

Thankfully, neither appeals to him. The (ex-)SOLDIER is here for the sake of defense, not the other way around.

He doesn’t so much as move when Karin leaps to her feet. Cat-eyes flicker to the hilt of her blade, following her hand pulled to it, but that’s mere instinct and little more — much as her own reaction had been.]

How else was I supposed to startle you?

[So dry, so devoid of intonation that it’s difficult to see that for the wry remark that it is.]

Credit where it’s due. At least you came armed.

[Blessedly, he gives her a moment to regain her composure, guiding the conversation to the plants below, nodding in its direction.]

What are you gathering today?

[Jasper's gaze refuses to leave the jacket for a long while. It bores through the table with the hope the offending article might well spontaneously combust.]

Good. Perhaps it might teach them not to pin their hopes on the backs of others.

[Figuratively and literally, given the clothing in question. He refuses to settle for them simply being disappointed. Heartbroken would be more acceptable.]

[The look he's giving that jacket makes her truly, sincerely hope that she never offends him in the way it seems to have— he would bore holes right through her without even trying.]

At least I'll be able to tell them I tried my best.

[She didn't actually try very hard at all, but they don't need to know that.]

It sounds like all the tailor shops are looking for models and consultants these days, though, so if you're planning to browse, you might want to be careful. Wear a hood, maybe?

[She huffs softly, a faint smile pulling at one side of her mouth. Is he actually joking? It's hard to tell, given his tone, his bearing, his everything, but she thinks he just might be.]

A fair point. I'll gladly take that credit, as well.

[She wouldn't have dared to wander outside the city walls without her sword— honestly, she doesn't even go many places within the city without it.]

I like to be prepared, even if my situational awareness could apparently use some work.

[As for his question, she holds up her list, though she knows he won't be able to read it from such a distance.]

I'm looking for plant cuttings and roots for a client's experiments. I think there are supposed to be Silphin plants around here somewhere...? This isn't exactly my area of expertise, but work is work.

I have no desire to dress inconspicuously and skulk around like a rat.

[He hardly sounds pleased about it. Skulking around in the dark? Where's the honour in that?

Her advice is swiftly discarded in favour of a furious glance at the backroom. None of his potential tormentors have surfaced. Too afraid to do their own dirty work, he supposes.]

[That furious scowl is so pronounced that she can't help but find it comical, though she claps a gloved hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter as best she can. She's met with moderate success, at least, but she clears her throat before letting her hand fall away, regaining her composure.]

Well, if you don't feel like going undercover, I don't know if I can be of any help to you in other stores, but as long as you're in my company here, you should be safe. Since they sent me to do their bidding, I don't think they'll bother you as long as we're talking.

[Jury's out on whether or not this is actually the better option, but—]

You must have come in for a reason, though, right? Any way I can be of assistance?

[Her laughter becomes more noticable, bordering on offensive. Jasper moves his hands. Crossed palms move from his stomach to grasp his hips. Firm, tense, tight. He no longer cares about the scowl on his face and grinds his teeth for good measure.]

Yes, that is if you can help.

[His words are almost spat out.]

Hairties. Where are they?

[The proper kind, tailored from cloth. He expects only the best.]

[She didn't mean to offend his sense of dignity, but it was impossible to resist. She does manage to keep a lid on it this time, though her smile makes it perfectly clear that she's not the least bit troubled by his sour expression or the obvious tension running through him.]

I can absolutely help with that.

[Confidence and cheer in the face of his apparent doubt in her ability to do so. She starts to walk towards a corner of the shop that has a number of different accessories on display, motioning for him to follow.]

I saw some over this way earlier, I'm sure we can find something that will suit your needs. By the way, clenching your jaw like that is terrible for your teeth.

[She has to wonder if her employers would consider him quite so handsome if they could see him like this up close— it's almost cartoonish, in her opinion.]

[The entire thing is a pretty interesting display— Karin has never seen magic used in quite this way. On the whole, it's different than what she might encounter back home, but seeing magic used for an everyday task like trying on a new jacket is charming in its own way. Her smile pulls to one side, and she folds her arms in front of her as she takes a step back, looking him over thoroughly.]

I like it, too. On anyone else, it might look silly— I could never pull it off, for one— but bright colors suit you. You really do wear it well.

[It helps that he knows how to show it off, too, and she bites back a laugh as he poses.]

It seems like this isn't your first modeling gig, either.

[Momo drops his hand and grins when she concedes he pulled it off, showing his overlong canines. He's modelled some pretty bizarre stuff in his time, so honestly this isn't all that bad compared to some of that.]

Yeah, I'm an idol, so my partner and I do modelling jobs pretty often. I usually get the cute poses rather than the sexy ones, but sometimes people decide they want the "mature" side of me instead.

[He offers a wry little wink before letting the illusion dispel and relaxing his pose, tucking his hands into the front pocket of his reappeared hoodie.] I've done a bit of it here as well, but I've mostly been doing radio, so it's nice to have a more consistent opportunity for this kind of work! I'm not that used to doing just one job since being an idol is basically a bunch of them at once, so I like to branch out.

[Radio is the kind of thing where you're probably not going to be on all day, too, so even though it pays well considering the skillset is fairly rare here, he's been doing modelling and acting on the side quite a bit.]

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it's like this prompt was accidentally made for him, I love it

when i saw bright orange i was like It's Time