The Room where it happens (open catch all!)

[weirdnecro]

Who: Sokie and you!
When: All month
Where: All over the city and on the outskirts
What: Open starters for Sokie as she tries to be productive!
Warnings: TBA



I: Parliament

[There was a lot of listening on Sokie's part, which may have seemed unusual for those who Kew her. Usually she was chatty, filled with charm and wit- but in Parliament, she dressed in a formal business suit and took notes (and also doodled). In exiting a meeting, she paused outside of the building and took a few moments to stretch. Her butt felt sore for sitting still so long.]

My butt hurts. I guess this is why I've always turned down a desk job.

[She needed to do some yoga and have a run. And a bath.]

II: Radio Hour

[Anyone and everyone could call or text in, but Sokie would stay on voice since...well, she was on the morning hour with her radio advice show. Which was on right now, live.]

Hello dear listener, welcome to An Undertaking with Undertown. What question can I answer today?

III: Teaching Magic

[She left a notice on te boards again. It wasn't good last month, by this time...maybe She could help some of the newbies learn their magic or how to counter it.

She asked them to meet at the entry of Haven, and after some introductions, things would move on from there. Well. She got to the point really.]

So, what do you want to learn today?

IV: A different kind of practice

[It was true she had a baton, but it was the kidnapping and speaking to Sephiroth that was a wake up call. Heck, she might have even been denying it, since the snow storm.

But she found a smithy and was going through the weapons, one by one, trying to find which would suit her best. So far, nothing really caught her eye but...she found one, and lightly twirled tin in one hand.]

It feels nicer but I think I need to put this through its paces.

...hey. You wouldn't mind going for a round, right?

[Sorry curious customer and or passerby. Sokie wants a smol fite.]

V: A moment of quiet

[She was in a corner of a cafe, or maybe just in Diplomatea. As usual, there were books around her, papers of various formulae, but she seemed more interested in her tea or coffee then she was in her work. Seeing someone nearby, she made a beckoning motion with her hand.]

Don't worry, I can move my stuff. Why don't you come sit?

VI: Wildcard

All other options, including hunting outside of the city can be done here! Any questions, comments, can be directed to my discord or at my plurk!

Comments

IV - :D

[whomthebelltolls]

[The truth was, Maria didn't actually need to be at the smithy. Nothing was wrong with her sword, and she had Percy to take care of her Evelyn, but... sometimes she just liked to step in.

To step in and to daydream of a different future. Not one where she was buying any of these finely-made weapons, no, but the day she handed her Rakuyo over to the smith... and he handed back a tidy sum of money, and she never saw the thing again.

Of course, that isn't how it's going today, because of... recent events, and, in fact, Maria is more armed than usual, for she also has taken to stashing the dagger Fugo got her on her person against her back. Just in case. She wouldn't let herself, or anyone she could protect be taken by surprise a second time.

Familiar faces in the shop aren't that uncommon, and seeing one that turns to ask her being Sokie of all people... well, it doesn't matter.] We'd break the shelves if we did anything in here.

[Archer voice in the background: Hey, is no one doing "Phrasing" anymore?]

Giant wooooooman

[weirdnecro]

[What is phrasing, what is being aware of innuendo. And boy oh boy, is someone armed too the teeth.

Maria could kill hee in five seconds huh? That was...mm. Interesting.]

You're right. Think it'd be better if we did it outside? Might be more interesting for everyone if we did.

[Welp.]

700 feet tall and made of knives

[whomthebelltolls]

Yes, if they'll let you step out for something like this. Perhaps near the alley. Have you ever used a weapon like that before?

[Just a precaution: She isn't actually going to try to kill Sokie in five seconds, despite the fact she might enjoy getting a couple extra hard hits in as penance for earlier "being a shit"-ery. She steps back toward the door.]

IV.

[selfishwish]

...Are you allowed to?

[Alright, he's mostly smol and not much fite. So, Momiji may not be the first person that Sokie's picked out from the crowd for a sparring partner. But he is, by chance, in the same smithy, and the familiar face and flash of metal sends him popping around a display of polearms he was ooh'ing over to see what's up!

To be honest, he's not really sure what he came in looking for. Or if he's looking for anything! He'd sort of like not to be? But--it's hard not to have noticed that his Bondmate's transformation gets just a little fiercer than his own! And, meanwhile, they live in the nice city in Geargadas, and it turns out it has secret torture dungeons. These are things that can lead a boy to poking at swords on his lunch break.

Or, for now, just admiring someone else's choices.]

That one looks like it's sharp for real--[Yes, that is the idea here.]

[weirdnecro]

Just for a quick test to see if it works for me.

[It can't be that bad, and she won't know if it suits if she doesn't get a feel for it.

But also, smol puca, likes shiny things. Gently, she lifted the sword away from the blond's fingers.]

Momiji dear, it is real. The show swords are down the street.

[And down comes the hand, ruffling his hair.]

They have glass gems too, and gilt. Very chic.

[selfishwish]

No-o, I knowww--[He snickers and rolls his eyes but doesn't squirm away from the hand mussing his hair.] I mean, it's kinda dangerous then, right?

[And he's pretty sure they do have blunted practice blades somewhere around here, too! Maybe that would defeat the purpose, though, if you're shopping for a specific one? Like how people poke at fruit in the grocery store.

Still, he adds with carefully-studied seriousness:]

Prob'ly if you stab somebody by accident, you have to buy it.

I - Was going to do IV but you have that covered

[stopfen]

[Well the full moon had been an experience. Even if it had passed she still wanted to be outside. The air was too still inside. There was too little to look at.

So she was wandering when she didn't have to be inside for work. That's when she passes by. In her new coat, a plain, olive green thing that had been made for someone with broader shoulders than her.]

Oh... You have a job?

[Guess that explains why she had money. ]

Psh, all can do any prompt they want

[weirdnecro]

As this and on the radio. What, you thought I was someone's mistress?

[More like domme or blackmailer. She's not going to admit her ability to do nefarious things. Well, more then usual.]

We'll do both then👀

[stopfen]

I'm not sure what that is...

[She blinks at the unfamiliar word. Starting to walk, slower than before, not trying to rush away this time. Not yet anyway.]

...you're touchy enough to be.

[Just sayin'. But Mikasa avoids looking at her when she says that. ]

IV oops

[inlikethebrume]

[It's different from the usual shops she visits but call Mira curious. But...did someone just suggest a fight? To her? The lady with a very large sword strapped to her back?]

You...are speaking to me, yes?

[Hey, wasn't this lady familiar?]

[weirdnecro]

That I am.

[She flashed a smile, leaning on a spear slightly. Ah yes, the stubborn witch from the Coven. And she had a huge sword too.]

Just a friendly spar to see if I should go with this or not.

[inlikethebrume]

[Big sword do damage, what can we say. Dark Knights just be like that.]

We may need to take it outside lest any damage to the store occurs. Friendly spar or not, I doubt the shopkeep would be thrilled to see their wares destroyed.

III - help please

[slayvega]

[ When Chise had seen the notice for magic lessons on the board she jumped at the chance. Still being new and relatively unfamiliar with the majority of the people here, she wasn't sure who to turn to just yet but the redhead knew she was going to need help. She had always had a teacher back home after all.

So here she is. Ready to learn and not one hundred percent sure she knows what she's doing but that's okay this is a learning experience with just a little over a week of studying under her belt at the moment. She was focusing on alchemy on her own but the other subject she was testing out definitely needed guidance. ]

I wanted to learn how to use counter spells, at least to start. It's something I'm a little familiar with from home.

[ But of course this wasn't home. So she was really hoping to find a tutor of sorts. ]

[weirdnecro]

[Ah. Interesting request. She'd hoped someone would nibble, and she ended up with this lovely young woman, with bright green eyes like hers.

But not quite the same green.]

I have to ask why. Not to bar you from anything-far from it-but so I can teach you what you want.

If we misunderstand, this may be a frustrating journey.

[slayvega]

[ Chise paused for a moment as she thought about her question. It made sense of course, but she still she had lapsed into silence long enough for her to settle on an answer that felt right to her. ]

I want to be able to take protect myself if something ever happens. I had promised someone important to me that I would be less reckless. And magic like counter spells and barriers would be the best way for me to keep that promise.

v-v-v-day wildcard!

[mirshikar]

[ Like any morning, Asura rises from their shared bed before dawn; he sets coffee to steep on the kitchen counter which is Sokie's customary stop after waking, and he takes his leave of their home to begin the day with a shift at the magitech shop. But unlike any morning, there is something left in Asura's wake, a paper-wrapped box which resides next to the counter-top coffee press, keeping it company until a certain necromancer might happen across the both of them. Beneath the surprise, there is a note addressed to Sokie herself, one penned in Italian: you will find the key in a place that has a million stories but cannot tell them.

So Asura's gone and left Sokie with a riddle, then— now what's this, about a key? Upon divesting the box of its twine and paper trappings, Sokie will discover the answer swaddled in a handkerchief of crimson silk: a heart-shaped padlock, one of burnished gold, its embossed surface depicting a dragon (whoever could that be?) encircling an amaranth flower (for someone immortal and unfading) with the whole of its body. C u r i o u s.

The riddle itself is easy (and meant to be so), it points to the libraries and bookshops of the city— establishments filled with stories and no voices to tell them, and in Aefenglom, there are plenty. So, when Sokie should embark upon her (lengthy) quest for the padlock's key, frequenting all manners of book repositories, she'll find...! No key at all at the first business she tries, though instead she'll receive twin parcels of Lucky Charms cereal (the best recreation in all of Talam!) from the shop-owner, the elderly gentleman who presses the gift into her hands commenting that he can't imagine how something so garishly-colored can possibly be edible, but he's happy to help the charming, roguish lad who requested the delivery.

And at the second place Sokie tries her hand at? Again, she'll find no key, but will instead be gifted with a screen printed shirt, styled like a piece of true band paraphernalia. "It's quite catchy, isn't it?" the business-owner remarks about the lyric, asking "but who are the 'Killers', exactly?" And finally, at the third....! The librarian who greets Sokie will do so with an armful of romance novels (some familiar, some new), each dog-earred to particular pages denoting quotes, some ridiculous ("his body was hard— not like that of a strongman, but hard like the marble on your shower floor, when you fall and bang your knee"), and others less-so:

"There was no pausing on the brink; no looking down, or looking back; I was gone, headlong, before I had sense to say a word to her.”

"When you fall for someone, it is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake, and then it subsides."

"He sweeps her hair back from her ears; he swings her above his head. He says she is his wonderment. He says he will never leave her, not in a million years."

Tucked away, inside the last novel in Sokie's grasp, is an envelope containing two things: the first, a key of gold filigree (at long last!), and a final sentiment from Asura, penned again in his wild and free-flowing script—

Are you familiar with Lucchetti dell'Amore? If you want to know more, meet me on the bridge between the West and East.

When Sokie arrives there, on the bridge spanning the river Temese, Asura will be waiting. Fresh out of the magitech shop, his coat of red brocade is somewhat disheveled, and there may or may not be a smudge of residual grease upon his cheek, but damn if he doesn't look picturesque standing there in his casual, playboy lean against the rail, the ever-curling strands of his hair tousled in the winter breeze. ]

So you found me, Sokie.

[ The strength of Asura's grin in the here and now, where he and Sokie might as well be the only two occupants of the bridge? Yeah, you bet it's the thing responsible for thawing Winter into Spring. But it wouldn't be there, not without her: Sokie Undertown who's fresh off a wild goose chase treasure hunt. And sure, he'll likely get an earful for it later, but... being light of heart right here, right now, comes first. ]

[weirdnecro]

[It's a funny chase. At least she knew when she felt the warmth leave their bed this morning that he wasn't getting into trouble.

Nope, he already made trouble for her specifically. Guess it was her fault for leaving him alone.

And it was a series of sappy messages, one after the other, and her having to explain to the various shoppkeepers that yes it was somehow edible, it's a band from their world and her bae is the sappiest, veinest, corniest man in all of Talam. And she was followed by laughter, some soft chuckles, some far louder.

And there he was. His color was better, though...she thought maybe she could sink him another pressure bath, just to be sure.]

I did. Seems you're usually the one trying to find me, mm?

[She managed to conjure a bag for all of the prizes, but still.

Her fist came back, and she punched him in the butt.

Not too hard. She wasn't actually mad.]

Is this because you couldn't bear the idea of giving me candy? I would have shared.

[mirshikar]

[ A butt-punch? C'mon, Sokie, now that's underhanded, a r e a l low blow. But maybe, Asura can understand it— he is leaning over, after all, and the swell of his ass (in leather pants, no less!) is ostentatiously on display, and lo: when Sokie's fist connects, she'll be pleased to find her target impeccably toned. Because while Asura isn't yet fully recovered, and he may be in need of just one more pressure-cooker bath, he's been training at a breakneck pace every day to bulk right back up to his fit-as-fuck status.

In any case, Asura? He's just going to laugh, shaking his head as a guffaw settles upon him, because true to form, Sokie Undertown can't just segue into saying "Asura, you shouldn't have", and that's one of the things he likes most about her: how contrary she could be, for the simple sake of it. ]

If that was a prelude to the events of this evening, got to say, I can't wait for the show. [ —a laugh still upon his lips, his eyes fall to half-mast as he looks to her through the fall of his windswept curls, and...! He reaches out, hoping to loop his arm about her waist and reel her right in, close and sweet. ]

Wouldn't it have been a bit too blasé, if you'd woken up to a parcel of half-melted chocolates next to you on your pillow? [ Melted, because of the body heat she's helped him to regain, his internal temperature more or less back to its perfectly molten normal. ] Thought you'd enjoy more of a wild, literary ride so to speak.

[ And here, there's a languid cant of his head, one coupled with a wink. ] How did it treat you, by the way?

[ Because oh yes, he does see that conjured souvenir bag. ]

I

[kuroi_taiyo]

[ That's not who he expected to see come out. Huh. Then again, no one's really expecting Judar to go around there, given that he's been relying on crutches to get anywhere. That and he doesn't work for Parliament- though he was referring to them before the whole Thing happened on access to some information. ]

I never imagined you taking a desk job, or anything in politics.

[ More a 'go your own way' type of person. ]

[weirdnecro]

Only under extreme circumstances.

[She rubbed the back of her neck, taking him in. Huh. She had missed him in her checking the tent hospital. Likely due to blood loss and magic deprivation.]

And considering some of the people being hot heads, this is babysitting.

[kuroi_taiyo]

[ Oh, there were a lot of things going on with him. Plenty of things that were listed during the trial, when he went up to testify. Because spite makes for a great memory holder. ]

So this babysitting is an extreme circumstance now, huh? Keeping an eye out for the vulnerables?

[ Judar, given how you are right now, you're in that group of 'vulnerables' ]

IV

[judgementor]

[He knows her, and glances to the weapon in her hand when she asks the question. Red Wine had only been browsing, to be truthful - he's more than happy with his own weapon but it never hurts to have a backup option.]

Hm. [The inside of a smithy isn't the most appropriate place for a sparring session. He tilts his head towards the proprietor.]

Assuming the smith is amenable, and there's somewhere to give us some more space.

[weirdnecro]

[Honestly, she had no idea if he was capable of using one, but hey. She was all for learning new things about other people, always.]

Oh sure. So long as I don't damage their stuff.

I gave them a little something for their trouble.

[She smiled, and motioned for him to take the lead.]

You have something to use or...?

II - around the 20th

[spaghettimonster]

[Radio advice shows aren't something Papyrus has a lot of experience with. Watches are a rare technology in Aefenglom, and there's no more mundane radio as competition... And back home, the internet had taken on a similar niche.

So he's a little uncertain when he calls in, about how much to say and when.]

Hello, Undertown? I have a question about Bonds, and... I'd like to hear your thoughts!

[weirdnecro]

Ah yes, welcome to the show! Hello fellow Undertaker.

Every person coming from the other side has questions about Bonds. Ask away!