Aguril catchall

[stopfen]

Who: Mikasa and open with some closed prompts
When: Throughtout the month
Where: Mainly in Aefenglom
What: Full moon things and quests plus some investigating
Warnings: Some body horror for the full moon and some casual parital nudity, will add more if needed

Comments

Quests

[stopfen]

Hazzard at the Harbour - cw - child labour things? Because both AoT and the victorian era are baaaad
Closed to Sougo - Earlier in the month
[Once the heat of the pixies arrival had died down and things had patched up, Sougo would find a message on his watch. It was a pretty simple(read: short message). Just one that said she was planning on heading to the waterfront, when, whereabouts she'd be, if he wanted to meet her or not?

For now, she'd be waiting in a small cafe in the shopping district. Right on the border between it and the harbour district. Having a rare treat. Munching some kind of bread with bits of chocolate in. Either he'd show up, or message her to say no and she'd go off exploring on her own.

Regardless she had gotten something tasty out of the day.]

A. It begins...
[Mikasa initially hadn't thought much of the children workers. It made sense. Everyone had to eat, so everyone should help if they could. But she was someone from a place where that was normal. To the point, she didn't even think anything strange of it or had any restraint from mentioning it her own past.

When her parents had been alive, she'd helped on the farm. Gotten water from the well. Then after with the Jaegers, she'd done less only helping with the housework. Then two years of labour after the wall fell, joining cadets...That had been her life.

But then she sees some of the grim faces, hears some tales.

That's when she comes to the conclusion that while she had worked as a child. She'd not enjoyed it, she had when she was little helping in the house but that hadn't felt like work. Then it had become something she needed to do or she'd have died for not pulling her weight. This place was softer than home. These children deserved to be playing instead.

So she played. Maybe it was an awkward game of tag where she walked while the children ran, got to keep it fair. Anyone she recognised as a Mirrorbound was getting a wave. Come join in! The children couldn't be scolded if the adults were encouraging it right? ]

b. pick on someone your own size
[It was a matter of time really. Until someone important came out. In this case a human man, much larger than the children, larger than the fae even. Wearing fine clothes compared to their torn and dirty ones. Yelling so loud that the children flinch and pale-

Oh...

Mikasa just decked him from the air and knocked him to the cobbles...

...That sure is an awkward silence as that registers.]

c. Factory fun
[Fae were...beings of chaos. At the root of it and while Mikasa didn't know much about machines, most of her knowledge was from mandatory gear maintenance. You didn't need to know something to damage it. Especially not when all the children had stayed out. Refusing to work.

Maybe the new mirror bound was a helper, or someone asked to deal with the fae running rampant in the rafters, loudly running along suspended metal walkways that were built to handle the weight of someone much lighter than her. It was inevitable really, that someone throwing their weight around up there would eventually bring a part of it down. The bolts holding the flooring on the beams just give way, the panel of floor sliding off.

It was fortunate that the fae had wings. Her flight was awkward, but she's able to hold herself aloft for a moment. Buzz on other to another section and keep moving on her destructive path.]

d.put that back - end of the month
[By this point the factory owner might have relented. Or given up...

Not that it mattered at this exact moment of time. The workday for the children was over, time to head back to the orphanage...Except for two of them. The fae wasn't flying anywhere because there was one child riding piggyback on her folded down wings, arms wrapped around her neck. Another happily being carried along. Did they even realise that they were being taken to the wrong place?

Fae...]

[timenace]

[ The very idea that Sougo would blow her off is almost unthinkable to him. It would take something pretty big for him to put a friend on the back burner like this, and he'd been meaning to ask her something anyway.

A calm stroll through the manufacturing area of the city seemed as good a time as any, though that is because Sougo has absolutely no idea what's waiting for them once they arrive.

It's starting off calmly enough at least, as Sougo walks at a brisk pace to the café Mikasa mentioned, knocking on the window while all but pressing his face against the glass instead of opting to come inside. It may disturb a couple of the other people trying to enjoy a drink or a meal, but he at least looks very upbeat as he waves to her.

A lot better than he was looking in the Underground. ]

[stopfen]

[The knocking gets him a stare. Not by Mikasa though she does look up for a second. She doesn't scoff her snack, but she does start downing her drink. Give her a moment for that...He might find that he was being stared at by someone else. A fuzzy faced puca was just there, frozen, staring wide-eyed at the window where the face had suddenly appeared.

Not that Mikasa notices at all. She's already getting up. Dropping her cup off at the counter(That gets a stare that she doesn't pay attention to, the waitress was supposed to get that) then the fae is out giving him a nod as she shuts the door.]

Did you find here okay? This district is a bit of a maze...

[Luckily the one time she'd gone. Her one instruction was that the place she had to go was right on the port. Which made things a lot more simple.]

[timenace]

[ He wasn't looking to disturb anyone's meal while trying to flag down his friend, so when the puca turns to stare at him Sougo does his best to still look friendly. The smile doesn't waver for a second as he keeps waving at the shocked looking Monster.

Though his attention does lapse when Mikasa finally walks out of the café, and he straightens up so he can turn to face her. ]

It took me a little bit, but it wasn't that bad. I've got a pretty good sense of direction.

[ Or at the very least, it's not bad. That's good enough sometimes. ]

[stopfen]

[They don't look away. Not until he till he stops staring. What if he was to suddenly attack the moment they took their focus away an-]

That's good. Apparently there's a map on the watches, but I've not managed to use it. [Technology. She's worked out voice and text, video...She knew how to take it but wasn't keen on it. It was weird seeing herself as it recorded.] Is there anything you want to look at? There's a strange smell closer to the wall... [Which when she thought about it, was probably the poorer area. Like the towns closer to the southern wall was back home. Closer to the danger, so the richer people lived far away from it.]

[timenace]

[ He is probably the least threatening looking potential threat in the world, but then again he did blow up a couple of months ago and take out a building with him.

At her comment Sougo hums in agreement, pulling out his own watch to easily bring the map up. Not only is he just fine at technology being a smart phone owner (previously), he's also very familiar with watches that aren't exactly watches. It's a whole thing back in his world.

He'll even zoom into the map of the area they're about to head into, looking at it with a small smile. ]

Ah... I don't think I had anything in particular? I was just kind of curious to see how things worked there.

[ He looks up from his watch though. ]

Was it a bad strange smell?

[stopfen]

[Oh...She's peering over at that for a moment. Then grabbing her own watch and much slower than him...Found it. Just silently turning to look back at him. Not quite smiling, but nearly.

She's learning how to tech. Though she frowns when he asks about the smell.]

...Yeah... It was like paint and burning. There was more smoke too.

[And other gross factory smells like stale water.]

[timenace]

[ She might not quite manage a smile, but Sougo is doing it just fine. Then again, Sougo rarely has trouble smiling about things. Though along with her shift in expression, his own face falls at the mention of the smell.

That's definitely a bad one. ]

Maybe some kind of chemical plant? Though that should probably be happening outside of the city, I think...

[ He's not an expert though. ]

[stopfen]

[She wasn't sure if she'd ever seen a chemical plant...A bit beyond her homeland. But she could guess what it was from the name, though that makes her nose wrinkle. Cause it really didn't smell pleasant.]

Maybe it's worth too much to have it outside? The water smells bad too...I fell in last month and couldn't get the smell out.

[The dog guy who fell in must have had it worse with it soaking in his fur. But she looks away, checking the map again.] This path- [Points!] Seems to go in a straight line for awhile.

[Hard to get lost that way.]

[timenace]

[ That should be nice and easy to follow then, especially because Sougo is now staring at Mikasa with some deep concern after she mentioned falling into foul smelling water. In all likelihood if she wasn't sick by now she's probably fine, but... ]

When you fell in nothing weird happened, right?

[ He's not a huge comic book reader or anything, but he does know some. He watched super hero shows and movies as a kid, and radioactive or chemically water seems like super powers 101. Who knows what happens when you add magic to the mix?

Or more likely there was nothing in the water at all that would cause this, and he's just leaped to his own conclusions, but that's another matter entirely. ]

[stopfen]

[What? The concern just gets a slow blink as she tries to work out the why, but she shrugs giving up.]

No. Someone teleported me there as a prank, my clothes stank for a week... [She'd had to wash them so many times. But she was the lucky one, she didn't have fur for it to soak into.] Why? Did something happen?

[Please don't tell her the dragged a body out or something. She wasn't squimish but still.]

[timenace]

[ If she thought he looked concerned before, that's nothing compared to the alarm on his face now. ]

Eh? As a prank?

[ What kind of prank puts your friend's life in danger? Is this normal for some people. He shakes his head slightly as he tries to put it all together for for himself. ]

I wouldn't know... Nothing did happen after that, right?

[ She's the one that got dumped in questionable water. ]

You didn't get sick or anything?

[stopfen]

Yes. During that festival, we went into a maze... I think we ran out of time to find a way out... [She honestly didn't know. She'd thought it had just been a simple find your way from one side to the exit. But the maze had constantly shifted. They'd watch it make a dead-end right in front of them.

Then they'd heard a giggle and found themselves above the harbor's water.]

No. We were both fine after that...Would the water be that dangerous if merror swim in it?

[...Though they'd been cleaning it a few months ago...Um...]

b

[glitzandglamour]

[There's Mikasa, being herself. It's charming, and Mettaton feels like the tittering Fae himself for quietly watching over her from atop a building, amusing himself over her antics. And then she swoops in to deck one of the emerging lords. What danger she invites... Mettaton loves it!

Really, Mettaton's morals are questionable. Child labor?? That's fine! As long as they're being given all things humans need, such as food, sleep, and proper entertainment, what's the big deal if some rich people employ them? But clearly, the kids are Not Properly Entertained if they want more hours off the clock, so siding with Mikasa on the end of punching some lords suits Mettaton's whimsy just fine.

When the lord recovers (barely) from Mikasa's punch, his face is red with fury. Spits something about how the Mirrorbound "should've been taken care of back when—"

And Mettaton descends from above, landing behind him with a thud with enough impact to rattle the very ground they stand on. The tall robotic Puca looms over him, eclipsing the sky.]

OH MY. I DISLIKE YOUR ATTITUDE... AND YOUR IDEA OF LABOR ENFORCEMENT. ARE ANY OF THESE CHILDREN EVEN BOUND BY CONTRACT??? NO?? I DIDN'T THINK SO!! WHAT A SHAME, THAT YOU DIDN'T THINK TO DRAFT UP AN EXHAUSTING BILL OF EMPLOYMENT BEFORE HIRING A GAGGLE OF KIDS. THIS IS AN ENTIRELY AT-WILL WORK SITUATION! WITHOUT A CONTRACT, THEY'RE AS GOOD AS FREELANCE!

[Mettaton, focusing on the important things. He looks at Mikasa.]

Surely, that's what you're upset about...? The kids.

[stopfen]

[That was a good solid punch too. Mikasa was kind of impressed he got up from it, though it'd leave a good mark. Leaving a slight outline where each segment of her exoskeleton covered fingers had touched.

The chitin wasn't just for show. It was more solid than her fists. Even if her strength hadn't changed as it had for some monsters. The layer was stronger than skin, it's main purpose was protection, but it was still a hard layer. The fae didn't even have to check to see if her knuckles were bruised from the impact, she'd hardly felt it.

The only thing the lord got was a cocked chin as she looked down on him, and a roll of her shoulders. Ready to throw down again.

The puca's entrance hardly got a response from the fae. Only earning a small buzz of her wings as the stone paving rocked. She doesn't even look, keeping her eyes focused on the lord.]

What else would I be upset about? [Her voice was hard, like those times when Mettaton had tried to push something she didn't want to talk about. Giving no room.] They don't deserve to be treated so poorly.

[glitzandglamour]

Well. If he values them so much, he'll change his tune... Oooor, we could just take them. Right?

[A flick of his tail, which nobody can see, since Mettaton's not turned away from either of them. The lord protests too much, flapping his gums about how the orphanage will want them back later this evening, they're his responsibility right now, yadda yadda.

Mettaton mimes his care for his protest by making a sort of beak shape with his thumb and fingers as if he's not listening, miming to the tune of his voice.]

Great idea!! We'll take them, and then return them to their rightful place this evening. [Not at all what he was saying.] Give you the day to contemplate the, ah, appropriate concessions for their return... Such as better pay, or union organization, or even breaks!

[stopfen]

[The man's spluttering just earns him a sharp breathy hiss as the fae's wings spread out behind her. Making the relatively small fae look a lot bigger. Appearance-wise the wings probably weren't that impressive though, white and pink with almost see-through parts of the membrane between the veins that ran along them.

...But they did have that fairy dust.

Mettaton does get her attention with that though. Along with the glare. What was he-? Ah...That makes her face soften. Offering a small hum. Then a nod.] And learning...They should be taught how to read.

[They had no choice in where to work or what to do. It was unfair, the lords were taking advantage of them.]

[glitzandglamour]

[Well... Education IS an important part of growing up. And it aligns with Mettaton's belief system well. Yes, kids need nutrients, entertainment, water, sleep, and education! How could he forget!

(If Mettaton ran a country, education would be put on the backburner. That's why.)

He nods along with Mikasa's decision and claps his hands together.]

Then it's settled. Yes, you ought to guarantee education so that they can take flight in their future pursuits as full-fledged members of society. Haven't you ever heard about making your business competitive?? [tsk tsk. Mettaton wags a finger at him.] Well! We'll let you iron out the details...

[Mettaton joins Mikasa at her side, leaving the glaring, sputtering noble to do more of his glaring and sputtering. These damn Mirrorbound are robbing him of an entire workday! (Not like the kids are doing anything but slacking off.) And unless the lord has any more protests, he turns to her.]

Well? Have any ideas on how to round up a bunch of kids?

[Monster and human alike, there are quite a few. But Mettaton's taken to noticing that Mikasa has an affinity for them... The way she has an affinity for small animals. The robot considers that if Mikasa has no ideas, he'll just yell for them to come with them. Where they'll go, what they'll do? Who knows, who cares! They'll figure it out.]

[stopfen]

[If it was any consolation. Mikasa's idea of education was probably lacking compared to most people in the city. The curriculum was reading, writing and basic maths...that was it. Those were things they needed.

But not teaching the children...That was another knock against the lord, wasn't it. He was trapping them. Leaving them with only the skills that benefited him. Mettaton right. They wouldn't be able to take flight like this.

It makes her own wings give a little flicker. Yeah, she'd been grounded for so long. It wasn't fair to trap them like that.

At the question of how to gather the kids. She just glances back at the strikers, they'd been playing before. Several hiding behind her before she'd took to the air. She just gives a wave, beckoning a few braver ones over. The others were still nervous about being in trouble. Then back to Mettaton with a small frown.]

Do you know somewhere we can take them...That's safe?

[Because there wasn't enough space at the cottage.]

[glitzandglamour]

[Mettaton stretches, even though he doesn't have muscles to stretch, rocking onto the tips of his boots before landing back on thin heels. He keeps his arms raised above his head while he examines the sky in thought.]

Well... The Coven's pretty safe. Isn't it? And they have our backs, as Mirrorbound. [Mettaton is a lot more trusting of the Coven than some Mirrorbound are. Then again, Mettaton's more trusting of anyone in general. That's a trait of a monster.] They have plenty of outdoor space: courtyards, gardens... Maybe we could even take them to see inside! Who knows? Some of these may be future Witches.

[It's not the worst idea Mettaton could generate, but the biggest problem is that the Coven's at the north end of the city, while the Harbor District - where they're at presently - is at the completely southern end. It would be quite a walk for all of these little feet. Mettaton (the machine, the Puca) doesn't seem to be considering this.]

[stopfen]

Is it? [Mikasa was one of the more skeptical mirrorbound there. Given what some of the others had said about the coven possibly being responsible for their arrival. Along with how oddly trusting they'd been of mirrorbound. Allowing them to move freely, giving them rooms.

...Too nice, so there had to be a catch.

Though Mikasa wasn't going to press it.] That's too far. They have worn shoes... [Worn shoes might have been okay for some of the dirt paths in the harbor. But the moment they got to a main road that was paved it'd blister.] They wouldn't be able to stay the night either... [A place to stay, a place.]

The barracks would be good if they weren't so far... [There was plenty of rooms there. But like the Coven, it was too far.]

[glitzandglamour]

[Mettaton frowns at their shoes, worn in as they are. Scandalous! Shoes for children are cheap enough, right? Mettaton may be an absurd, self-absorbed moneymaking monstrosity, but he has a hearty stroke of generosity in him, and given an aspect to focus on, he wants to make that right if they're going to be watching after these kids.

(Watching after them. He doesn't think for a second about how this is an ill-advised endeavor, in the long run. Everything always works out, for him.)

Mettaton contemplates this further. Then, he snaps his fingers.]

Mikasa, darling! Did you know... that since the banning of theater, some of the older buildings have been converted into housing? [Let's not talk about how sometimes, some shadier people occupy the theaters. The Entertainment District in general has some darker corners, after all. Mettaton is good at dealing with people of all walks, so he doesn't see it as a problem.] Theater may be legal now, but some of the theaters are still in disuse. We could use one of them for shelter!

[And since Mettaton is so familiar with the area, he can think of a few theaters left unoccupied still, though some of them are occasionally used when a small-time performer wants to dip their toes in the slowly-reviving scene. Mettaton reaches down to place his hand upon one of the kid's heads, one of the bold who has decided to investigate Mettaton's odd splendor.]

What do you think of that idea? It's just beyond the Shopping District.

[stopfen]

[Given that what the kids were striking for, Mikasa had the feeling they couldn't afford shoes. Not that she knew how much they'd cost here. She still wore her boots. The only other shoes she'd gotten had been a gift.

The comment gets a small tilt of the head because...]

What else would they do with the buildings? [Shops, houses or more factories. The buildings would have been converted or it'd be a waste.] And even then the building is empty? [Did the people the buildings were converted for move out? The theater would be pretty noisy, maybe that scared them off.

The child Mettaton pats just pulled a sour little face at the head pats. Excuse you they were a brave and fierce little faun investigating the strange. Gonna headbutt and push the hand back.

Mikasa meanwhile shrugs, shuffling the puca child that was clinging to her leg. Hiding behind...]

Is it like this district? Full of smog? [Her nose wrinkles at that. Because it was very easy to get used to the stench, the salt of the sweat and harbor water. It'd be nice to get the kids away from that for a bit.]

[glitzandglamour]

[A lot of comments. Mettaton laughs, not at all minding the kid who has shied away from his attentions as he places a hand upon Mikasa's shoulder. ...Where she's wearing fabric, a conscious decision.]

Oh, Mika-darling. [MIKASA HATH EARNED A NICKNAME.] You worry too much! Like their very own guardian...

[And he lists off answers to her queries on his fingers:]

Some of them have been converted to housing, but plenty have been left vacant! [Next:] Some of the buildings are, yes, empty. [Finally:] And it's as smoggy as you might expect the Haven or the Residential districts to be... Which is less than this one. All positive answers, I'm sure.

[Since that meant there would be a clean-aired theater for a gaggle of children. The worst of it would be securing the theater at night so that weird people didn't come in while they were using it, but Mettaton's sure that won't be much trouble, so he doesn't mention it.]

They'll like it, I think! You will, too. It's spacious. We just have to block off access to the rafters... unless those lovely wings of yours are working. Ha-ha.

[stopfen]

[It was a good job they'd stop walking to plan, she might have tripped over the clingy little puca. The new name gets a blink. But it's not the first time someone's just called her Mika, and Mettaton had called her darling so many times now, that it gets no response. Just that unimpressed stare... Was he trying to butter her up?

The little calf faun just gives a huff of warm air, large ears flapping and stomping his hooves. Sulking on the spot, bottom lip sticking out, but listening. Like Mikasa was, once Mettaton was done she gave a small nod. Wings stretching out and giving the smallest flicker.]

I can fly...Why would they need blocking? [She hadn't said it out loud. But asking that question was answer enough. She was warming to the idea. As long as it seemed okay when she could see it in person.]