Overlap [IC/PG-16/Accepting]

yui · April 24, 2021

The evening came and went, and eventually turned into night, during which time Morgan laid claim to her own room. She had to go with her second choice of room however, as her first pick had been scooped up by that quiet girl while Morgan was downstairs. No matter. One room over wasn't the end of the world. While the zombie's cozy sleep did raise the question of if the living dead can have dreams at night, as well as if or why someone lacking life functions needed to sleep at all, those were questions reserved for the greatest minds of Lemuria and Prana. Incredible Hunter though she may have been, Morgan was not one such mind. And so it was that the night passed quickly, and became morning. A morning which started with a notification from Morgan's trusty new watch.

SOMEONE IS AT THE FRONT DOOR.

Well, it wouldn't do to leave a visitor standing awkwardly outside. Morgan had every intention of greeting the mystery guest herself, but before that, there was a very important thing to do. Morning stretches! Just as no breakfast was complete without toast, no morning was complete if it didn't start with some stretches to keep her body limber. It was routine, and Morgan wasn't about to throw her routine out the window just because she was doing the same stuff in a different world. While she was doing that, however, it seemed somebody else had already taken care of the door, indicated by the check mark on the watch's notification. That meant Morgan didn't have to rush herself, at least.

After concluding her morning stretches, Morgan stepped out of her room, and started down the stairs. She wasn't the first one of course, but it seemed she wasn't second, either. That Trevor guy with the talking book that had asked about her hands, the quiet girl who had beaten Morgan to her first room of choice, and the girl who didn't understand how kitchen appliances worked. All three of them - plus that lady who showed everyone to this building in the first place, as well as some new face lady with a sword - were all down here. And with food!

As Morgan waved and greeted everyone with a cheery "Good morning," she looked over the plates of food that had been laid out for everyone to dig in to. Surely, among all this was... yes! Toast! Morgan trotted on over to the chair nearest the toast, and picked up two slices off the plate. "There sure is a lot of food," she commented, chomping into the first slice of toast. She'd need something else to go with this stuff for it to be a full meal. But she could worry about that in just a second. Right now, there was something else bugging her.

Moving her gaze between the other girls in the room, Morgan realized she actually had no idea who anyone was, and she certainly didn't know anyone's names. Trevor, Masaru, and Aduain were the only ones who had given her a name. Were girls in Prana just not good at giving out their names? "So, who are the rest of you, anyway? I only know Trevor's name here. I'm Morgan, in case you forgot or missed it yesterday!"

radio414 · April 26, 2021

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
-Acts 2:42 (NIV)

Melissa returned Natasha’s smile, though hers felt a little more like a “nice to meet you” grin and nod than Natasha’s seemingly entirely open and warm smile, which was probably why Natasha quickly shifted her focus away from her and towards Fen, who had just come down the stairs. That didn’t mean it didn’t hurt, of course, but it was understandable, or, at least, that was what she told herself as she returned her attention back to what Salvo had said to her.

It was a little unexpected, so it took some time to process. Realistically, it was probably only a few seconds, but her brain made that time stretch out. After all, she’d been conditioned to downplay the proselytizing part of her belief, given the public’s general attitude towards such efforts (not that she was very good at it (though hadn’t she just tried to explain what an ophan was to a child just yesterday?)). That was something Father Gregory had told her -- she could always focus on doing right by herself and leading by example that way. Salvo, though, was asking for it. What was she supposed to say?

When the words did come, they came tumbling out of her mouth. “Sure, I guess. Um, mine has a lot of names, some of which I don’t want to repeat in such a mundane setting over breakfast, but-”

She was cut off by the zombie girl, Morgan, making her presence known to everyone downstairs, first with a simple “Good morning,” and then by remarking on the abundance of food set before everyone. Unlike Fen or Melissa, she didn’t seem to have the same compunctions about eating before everyone else had arrived, and, in the “which is worse” social calculation between staring at Morgan as she ate and mumbling good mornings to everyone with an already stuffed mouth, breaking her fast came out ahead.

“You should probably make sure everyone at least knows there’s food here,” Melissa told Salvo. “I know you said it the first time but I don’t think I would have heard that if I was still asleep. I wouldn’t want them to come downstairs to cold food.”

Her attention shifted back to Morgan, who, between mouthfuls, had asked for a reintroduction. Either she had forgotten the names she’d been given or Melissa had forgotten to provide, Melissa wasn’t sure which, though it was probably the latter. Even after their talk in the kitchen the night before, she’d forgotten!

“I’m Melissa Ashforth,” she said. “I know Trevor introduced himself with a fancy title but I don’t have anything like that. Just Melissa.”

Chaos Sonic · April 28, 2021

"Well aren't you a little homebody; I'm sure the ladies love these handy little tricks don't they?"

Trevor gave a bit of a smile, his chest seeming to puff out slightly. "But of course, my dear Salvo. After all...what young lady wouldn't be fascinated by the wonders of what can be done with a little magic?" he said proudly...and yet some of this proud bravado was quickly dispelled...by his grimoire.

"Young madame, I hate to inform you, but young Masters here has yet to deal with any lady. In his life or his afterlife..."

His puffed out chest quickly deflated as he grumbled and proceeded to yank the Cabanomicon by it's chain back to his hand. "...and no one asked a backseat book...I preferred it when you weren't talking when we got here." Trevor said through grit teeth.

"It's always proper to speak the truth, Masters. A great sorcerer should never have to lie about what they do."

"...." Trevor said nothing, but simply closed the book and had the chains return to wrapping around it. "...let's give you a bit to think about your actions." Luckily all the food was on the table now so keeping his grimoire in it's closed and bound state didn't mess with anything specific. "In any case...I suppose-..."

"There should be more of you; d'ya want me to go up and get them?"

The young sorcerer looked at Salvo and gave her a nod. "By all means, I'm sure you can definitely wake them from their slumber if the smell of food hasn't roused them." As he took his seat at the table, Morgan, Fen and Melissa seemed to be conversing with one another...and he just got to the end of at least some of it.

“I know Trevor introduced himself with a fancy title but I don’t have anything like that. Just Melissa.”

"Well, it truly isn't a fancy title, Miss Ashforth." Trevor smiled. "...it's just something I was taught to do. My master always introduced himself with the little title and tag of being sorcerer of the 777th degree...and being simply his apprentice, I figure I adopt that tag in honor of him." This did, however make him pause for a moment. He was alive again...but yet wasn't able to go home...meaning for all he knew, Balthazar still thought him dead. ...I'll have to try and get some word to him...I'm unsure how but I feel as if it can happen some way.

Skaia · May 3, 2021

Fen looked over to the armored woman as she made her way over, seeming to need to say something to Fen. Though, she didn't really say anything. Fen blinked, a bit curious about what was to come next, only for the woman to then point to herself and then the food, and then to Fen herself. The girl cocked her head to the side, a bit confused at first, only to then be surprised as words popped up out from the woman's watch. Getting over her initial surprise at the message, she read it before having a smile cross her face. Looking up to the woman's face, the girl nodded her head. " would love that. The faster I can learn all of this the better, and," the girl looked over to the food before turning her head back to the woman, smiling and figuring that the woman was probably from a world not too dissimilar to her own. "You seem to have a really good handle on all of it already, so I'm looking forward to it."

The girl then froze in place briefly as the familiar slowly spoken voice of the zombie girl, Morgan, had entered the room. Yesterday had proven that Morgan wasn't actually immediately threatening like most undead she had known of - though her methodology of repairing was still a bit unsettling - she still couldn't help but feel nervous around the girl. All the same, she relaxed herself a bit as the topic came to just giving out greetings to each other. Though, she couldn't help but look as Morgan already had gone to pick out her food and begin eating away. Though Fen found this to be a breach of her own manners, her mind wondered two things at this juncture. One, perhaps it was the normal etiquette from wherever Morgan was from, making the notion of "common sense" suddenly seem like a much more abstract and difficult to grapple with beast. Secondly, Morgan was a zombie. What did she need food - specifically bread - for?

The girl figured it would be rude to ask, especially being presented with a question herself, so she simply silently stewed on the topic as Melissa gave her introduction and Trevor gave the explanation for the title that he bore. Looking to Morgan she followed with, "oh, sorry for not saying so yesterday, but I'm Fen. Fen Yi." The girl paused for a moment. Thinking back to Trevor's explanation, she considered herself the apprentice of her parents. Though, she would most certainly be lying if she were to bare their title and introduce herself as the owner and head chef of her parent's restaurant, so adding such a title felt wrong. And she had no idea who she would consider herself apprentice to in Cherry Heart either. So, being unable to properly sort her thoughts out, the girl simply decided that the most suitable fancy title to add was, "and I'm a uh, Chef Adventurer...uhh, yeah."

After having stammered that out, the girl quickly cleared her throat, and looked to Salvo saying, "that would be appreciated yes, thank you."

LordCowCow · May 4, 2021

Salvo couldn't help but laugh at what Morgan said. "Dang introductions the morning after? Ah that brings me back...anyway, one order of wake-me-up coming pronto!" she declared and moved with confidence towards the stairs. It seemed where she lived must have at least a similar layout because she didn't ask for any directions to get to the second floor.

It wasn't long before she was up among the rooms. Looking around at the nameplates and figuring out which were of those not at the table she moved up to each individually and began to bang on them with all her might. "Oooooiiiiiiiii!" she called out. "Come downstairs and get some food why don't ya, there's more than enough for all of you but if you don't hurry the living dead girl is gonna eat it all on you!"

From this she was able to alert any of them who intended to go downstairs and were still in their rooms. She'd also be able to figure out of any of them were elsewhere or didn't want to join the rest. Once she had delivered her message and ascertained the status of the remaining members she bounded down the stairs to return to the kitchen. "I can't stay long, gonna go patrol a bit. Not something that y'all need to worry about but we like to do it now and then." She noticed Natasha over by Fen and added "Course I can do it myself if Natasha wants to stick around." She moved over to the table and searched a bit before grabbing up a couple pieces of toast and bacon.

-

"that would be appreciated yes, thank you."

Natasha looked delighted at Fen's answer and gave her a determined nod. It seemed that she was ready to get started right away explaining everything but hesitated a moment as she looked at the food. Gesturing to it and pointing at Fen she gave a motion with her hands to mime eating with a spoon and bowl, though there wasn't any food of the sort on the table, Natasha silently told Fen to start eating now. She then gave an exaggerated shiver which was meant to imply a "before it got cold." She would watch each of the group as they started to eat and started to examine their reactions intently. Clearly wanting to know what they thought.

radio414 · May 10, 2021

This is why it is said:
“Wake up, sleeper,
rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”
-Ephesians 5:14 (NIV)

Melissa could hear Salvo even from the dining room on the first floor and counted her blessings that she didn’t have to deal with that at close range. Blessing number two, of course, was reserved for the food and the hands that prepared it -- so went the prayer she muttered into her full plate just before digging in. “This is very good,” she said. “Thank you, Natasha.” It was very good, she hadn’t been exaggerating. Outside of seldomly cooking for herself and even more seldomly eating out, she’d spent most of the last eighteen months her time living off of dorm food, and that got same-y real fast. There was obviously care here, a home-ness, and that was just… nice.

There wasn’t a lot of conversation going on as everyone else started to dig in as well, so enraptured were they by the food. Not that Melissa minded, of course, it just gave her more time to think through what she was going to do next. Well, she could do that between anxieties, at least, whether that was worrying about Trevor’s response being a reprimand or not (was she supposed to have a title?) or, now that her brain was hosting additional beings, if she was supposed to be eating more “brain food” (or, as an anxious aside, what “brain food” even meant).

She eventually managed to focus on one point. Her bedroom came with options to improve or modify it, but certain aspects were going to have to be done outside the panel on her wall. According to her watch, she didn’t have a lot of money, but she had enough, and, whether it was because of breakfast or just something rising up within her, she willed herself into breaking the silence. “I was thinking of shopping for some more clothes today, um, where would be the best place to do that?” she asked Natasha. “The mall we were at yesterday, or, um, somewhere else?”

Skaia · May 12, 2021

Fen's eyes followed Salvo as she bolted to the second floor, then able to hear the woman's call for breakfast from the floor below. Fen couldn't help but smile at the woman's enthusiasm and vigor, and was made more curious by her having to go to patrol the city. It wasn't as though as adventurers Fen had no experience with doing patrols, but they were hardly something routine here. That was usually reserved for actual guards, both private and police. So in that regard, Fen wondered if she should start to think of herself more as a member of the police here. As the girl mulled over what, once more, her proper title here should be, her attention was brought back by Natasha gesturing to the food.

Regardless of how much it was that she wanted to respect the others and wait for them to come down, Fen knew it would be equally if not more so rude to deny eating and enjoying a chef's hot meal in front of them. As such, the girl got her own plate and sat down before digging into her meal. A smile lit up across her face as she mirrored Melissa's sentiment. "This is delicious." Pleased with her meal, Fen started to mutter to herself all the different things she noticed about the dish that the woman had prepared, eating between thoughts.

Eventually her train of thought on the food was broken, though, as Melissa had brought up a very important matter. "Oh, that's a great idea. I hadn't thought about it much, but uh, I don't think we had any luggage come with us. So well, if you don't mind, I'd love to come along with you."

Chaos Sonic · May 13, 2021

“I was thinking of shopping for some more clothes today, um, where would be the best place to do that? The mall we were at yesterday, or, um, somewhere else?”
"Oh, that's a great idea. I hadn't thought about it much, but uh, I don't think we had any luggage come with us. So well, if you don't mind, I'd love to come along with you."

Trevor mused this idea some, whilst finishing off what he could on his plate. Once he was done, he let his grimoire take his things and put them at the kitchen sink to be dealt with later. "A very good meal...I haven't had one like that in quite some time..." he said with a smile, watching the Cabanomicon returning to his side.

"But you would be correct...none of us had any sort of luggage or the like in our arrival here, so doing something like that would be beneficial." Trevor nodded in agreeance with both Melissa and Fen. "However, I believe there will be a slight issue with this idea...namely due to our possible lack of the proper funds to purchase said items and articles of clothing."

"That is to say, it's not a good idea...in fact it happens to be a fantastic idea." he added, before finally standing up and stretching slightly. "I however, may not tag along. A shopping trip, while may sound enticing, I do recall yesterday I requested that I might be able to speak with our illustrious hostess. I'm not guaranteeing that today and now may be when she can speak with me, but there's always the possibility. If not..." Trevor paused a moment, rubbing his chin slightly. "...if not then I'm not sure what I'll do. Perhaps I'll roam around Prana just to get a feel and vibe of it..."

Doggo · May 17, 2021

Aduain awoke early the next morning to the sound of running water. Rubbing at his eyes a bit he quickly realized he'd spent the night in the shower he'd started taking. His skin certainly wasn't complaining and the water hadn't ever stopped so no harm done really. But as he soon found it was too early to be truly up and at it so he turned off the water after its hours long run and meandered back into his room, the profuse dripping leaving a damp trail from the showers to his room across the floor. From here there was little to do but flop onto his bed to resume his sleep which he did. At about the time the rest of the group began waking up Aduain awoke for the second time that morning, but this time not not on his own.

There was a knock at the door. Or so he thought but as the young fish opened his door with an enthusiastic, though still half-asleep, hello there was no one to be found. Confused he looked up and down the halls to see if someone was playing a prank but if they were they had moved too fast and were no longer visible from this vantage point. The hunter had half a mind to go pursue when before he even closed the door he heard the knocking again, this time distinctly from one of the walls of his room. He had to confirm quickly that it wasn't simply his neighbor messing with him but found he had no neighbor along the wall he heard the knock from. It sounded a few more times allowing the boy to pinpoint it before he ultimately knocked back and placed an ear on the wall to try and get a grasp of things.

"Hello!" he shouted at the wall as if it might answer him. To Aduain's astonishment a door appeared where he knocked though it looked nothing like the door to the apartment. It was distinctly wooden and looked timeworn. There wasn't even a door knob, instead an iron ring that seemed to be meant to function like one. The fish tapped at the ring several times, uncertain what any of this meant, before tugging on it. The door didn't just look like a door but was in fact a door and it started giving way and opening. There appeared to be a room on the other side of the wall but the details were difficult to make out. It looked pitch black more than anything. Ever curious, Aduain shouted another hello into the void and as before this received no reply. Though something definitely seemed to be moving in the darkness. It was almost like the darkness itself had moved. Now that he looked again he thought he could make out the shape of a room and several tables some distance across from this entrance he stood at the step of.

"Well, you knocked first so don't mind if I come in." Aduain said casually as he braved the unknown. More details were coming into place. Stone walls and floor formed the room with a single small window. The limited view suggested this to be in a tower of sorts, one you read about but never went to. The idea that a castle might be connected to his apartment was incredible given he hadn't seen any sign of it from outside the complex. Though the fish did have to wonder if his eyes were okay. Everything seemed blurry. He hadn't been awake very long but it didn't take him this long to get over being sleepy, especially not with a discovery like this ahead of him.

At one table a figure finally came into view. A human girl sitting in a chair, looking dejectedly at several piles of books she had laid out around her. Nearby a muffled voice came from someone Aduain couldn't see.

"I've read all of these books myself. And I didn't have anyone telling me to do so."

"Yeah, well, I bet you can't even lift all these books." the girl responded to the voice. Aduain could understand not wanting to read a lot of boring books just becuase someone was telling you to so he was inclined to take the girl's side of things in this argument he knew nothing about in this place that confused him endlessly.

"Perhaps. But I dont have to. Knowledge is much more powerful than strength anyway." the voice without a source replied. The girl rolled her eyes as the voice began again before suddenly stopping. "Who'se there?" they said and Aduain felt the strange sensation of a hand passing through his body back and forth.

"Hey, cut that out!" Aduain shouted as he tried to wave away the hand he wasn't able to see. He could hear the voice at least so maybe he could talk to it. "I'm Aduain and you knocked on my room's wall so I should be asking the questions here." He tried to assert his hunter authority with his tone, not much caring for if anyone in Prana recognized it.

"Are you going senile on me or something?" The girl asked.

"How old do you think I am? Can you not sense that? Hear that?" the distinctly male voice asked back. He seemed greatly distraught about Aduain's being there. Something a fair bit bigger than a hand moved through the young hunter as suddenly the source of the second voice came into his view. A man with long white hair and robes was looking around. "I do not know where you came from, spirit, but be wared I am the court mage of the King of Celta and I will not have intruders in my study." He said with more authority than Aduain had been able to muster. That had to be addressed at him Aduain thought but then he wasn't a spirit. The people in front of him were more like spirits than him surely. He could poke himself and not pass through his arm while they simply moved through him. At the least now that he could see both people present, the fish tried waving to get attention before speaking.

"I dunno what to say to make you believe me, but I'm not a spirit and I was invited here to... Celta? Never heard of that place. And I guess it was less invited and more someone from Celta felt like playing a prank on me." Aduain began, the longer his own voice carried on the more it served to confuse him. "Aaaaanyway, all this to sasy I wasn't trying to intrude on anything, just trying to figure out what's going on." he concluded. Yet the man didn't seem to address him directly despite this explanation.

"It seems to be too chatty for a spirit... then what, a spy? this place should be protected from such things... Miranda, we can pick this up later, go on." he said, dismissing the girl.

"Fine by me." Miranda said as she jumped to her feet. She passed through Aduain as the older man had before, and shuddered as she did so before leaving. Only after she was gone did the man speak again.

"If you are here to interfere with my plans, I will not hesitate to exorcise you. You know not what you are dealing with here." he said before crossing the room and unveiling what appeared to be a simple mirror. Aduain wanted to try and explain himself again but felt a paradoxical sensation. He was being pulled toward the mirror but also back through the door he had come through at the same time. Trying to assert some will in this situation, he tried walking toward the mirror.

"I don't wanna mess up anything you're doing I just wanna know who was trying to get my attention!" he called out while trying to fight the sensations.

"If something brought you here then either you are a threat... or you are an energy source." the man spoke ominously. Looking again to the mirror Aduain now saw a face in it, entirely burned and missing both its eyes. Yet in the scorched empty sockets glowed a dark energy. The pulling sensation only grew. Curiosity was one thing, but the shiver that went down his spine while looking at the face in the mirror was more than enough for the hunter to want to call it quits. The boy began backflipping his way right on back through the door to his apartment, landing back inside and falling over his bed. Another knock sounded, this one a lot more aggressive and with some accompanied shouting, but from his actual door not the wall. In fact, now that he looked again the door in his wall was gone entirely and no one was knocking from the other side of it. Beyond confused at the turn of events, there was nothing to do but answer the door.

On the other side was Salvo, the lady who had helped them fight off the sharks. Apparently she'd brought food for the group and Aduain's adventure into Celta had kept him from joining everyone else in a timely manner. Apologizing for keeping people waiting, Aduain grabbed his trident, slapped on the watch-like device he'd been given and walked out of his apartment to join Salvo on her way back down. Still confused and curious he felt he may as well take a shot in the dark.

"You ever heard of a place called Celta?" Aduain asked the woman.

"Is that where you're from? Sounds magic-y." she replied. "It does have a familiar ring to it though, but can't really put my finger on it."

"No, it's a place i wandered into when a door appeared on the side of my room after I heard some knocking. Was wondering if all the apartments did that." Aduain asked without batting an eye. Salvo laughed in response.

"Oh, man, this place never fails to come up with something new. Never know what's gonna happen next." she said. That was a definitive no to that. So it seemed Aduain's apartment sometimes connected to another world. As long as they didn't wake him up with the knocking or try any magic stuff on him that was probably fine. He'd wanna try to talk to that Miranda girl if it ever happened again though as she seemed a fair bit nicer than the old man.

None of that was going to get the boy's empty stomach any fuller though and Aduain descended to the provided breakfast, just as some of the others were gearing up to get going about their day. Not wanting to miss out on anything exciting, the fish began stuffing his face with far too much food and approximately zero table manners. He tried to ask Melissa, Fen and Trevor to wait up but with his mouth full it sounded like a language unknown in all of Lemuria, Prana or Celta for that matter. With some manic chewing, swallowing, gasping for air and chugging of water to clear up his throat for the finessed task of speaking, Aduain thanked Salvo and Natasha, motioned excitedly to Morgan his fellow hunter and followed after the others.

"What's the cool plan for today guys?!" he almost shouted, trying to act like he hadn't been late.

radio414 · May 18, 2021

I told them, “If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it.” So they paid me thirty pieces of silver.
-Zechariah 11:12 (NIV)

“We, um, we do have a little money, though,” Melissa said, addressing Trevor while Natasha typed up a response to her query. She raised up her watch and mentally braced herself for another conversation about how technology worked, “I noticed this when fiddling with it yesterday. It’s not- it’s a bit hard to find if you don’t know where it is on here, but…” A few deft swipes and points later and she pulled the number up, a meager sum, but definitely spendable if room and board were already taken care of. Besides, some necessities had been left for them in their rooms, but clothes were necessities too, right?

She looked back at Natasha, who was nodding next to a typed-up “There are some specialty shops elsewhere, though. Like for costumes!” onto her screen. In an instant, Melissa was transported back in time, first to her first meeting at Blue Yonder’s entertainment duelist club, where she first imagined herself as the Archangel Lailah, inspiring awe in the crowd as someone who was almost-but-not-quite just like her. Then, a week later, Sai Kamezooka showed her a sketch he had drawn up, and so vivid was it that she could immediately imagine herself in those garments, using them for as long as she dared enter the arena, even way past her tenure at the school if she so chose. In that vision was a whole life, potentially gone to her now.

...And then Aduain snapped her out of it. It wasn’t intentional on his part, surely, but barging into the room, making a mess shoveling food that only mostly went into his mouth, and asking slash shouting “What’s the cool plan today, guys?!” was bound to grab anyone’s attention and Melissa was no exception.

Melissa’s answer was spontaneous, as it had to be if there was any hope of her answering at all. “I think we’re sorting the cool plans out right now,” she said. “Fen and I are going to the mall to shop if you want to come with.”

Aduain’s response was a lot to take in, especially with how bouncy he was the entire time. “Oooooo, that could be fun! What for?” he said. “I hope it's something huge. But then getting it through the doors here would be hard. Oh well, worry about it when we get to it ya know?”

Again, she somehow managed to keep up. “Clothes first, though if that mall is as big as it looked from the parking lot, we’ll probably find some other stuff too.”

“Clothes huh…” Aduain started as he looked himself over. Then, a sudden realization hit him and his hands jumped to his head. “Oh right, I forgot my hat Mauvache gave me! Should probably buy some more so I always have one on me. Wouldn’t want to be rude. Shopping it is! Oh, a mirror might be neat too if Celta ever opens back up.”

“Okay, that’s three,” Melissa said, now dealing with Aduain by ignoring the parts she didn't understand. It occurred to her that she was being rather chill about inviting what were still basically strangers to follow her around, but then again, she had shared a battlefield with them already (two if you counted that fight in the park) so maybe that counted for something in her mind. “I mean, we should probably wash our plates and stuff first, so I’m not going to say we leave right away, but you all know where to find us if you decide to join later.”

Grand Prana Mall was not just “as large as it looked from the parking lot,” it was bigger. It was seven stories in all, eight if you counted the underground level which, from an overlooking balcony just near the entrance, Melissa could see had its walls lined with stalls selling all manner of foods (most of which she recognized, though many she did not) and its floor peppered with chairs and tables and a large fountain in the center.

In fact, each floor seemed to have its own theme. The ground floor, besides featuring a directory to everything else the mall had to offer, was where all the larger chain stores seemed to be, though just an elevator ride away (though these elevators were more like floating platforms, something that creeped Melissa out until she saw a child using one press their hands against the force field keeping everyone on) was a level that was basically several little alcoves, each themselves containing dozens of little shops with all kinds of things. After that, according to the directory, was the electronics level, which was still cramped in terms of density of stores, though not quite as so as the floor beneath it. After that was an arcade space, a theater, and up and up and up. There was even a petting zoo somewhere.

The most surprising thing about the mall, though, was what was missing. Specifically, despite the battle she, Fen, and Aduain had all participated in just yesterday, there was nary a spot of damage to be found, nor were there any of the precautionary measures she would have expected like increased security. Despite the grandeur of it all, every passer-by Melissa saw was treating it as as normal as normal could be.

Welcome to Grand Prana Mall! The robotic voice brought Melissa down from her wonder and back to reality. In front of her now was a small flying saucer hovering at just about eye-level and carrying a tray with three small plastic cups underneath it. On behalf of Azure Dahlia IncorporatedTM, might I offer each of you a complimentary sample of our new, cool, refreshing beverage?

Melissa took a cup and, with probably less suspicion than she should have had at a strange robot offering something for free, gave it a sip. “This is water,” she said.

The coolest, most refreshing water in all of Prana! the robot chirped.

The pit of Melissa’s stomach started to ache as she realized just what was going on, but she bit her lip and managed to keep it in check until it faded when the robot flew away again. “Alright,” she said, turning to her companions. She gestured at her nun outfit. “So, I don’t actually wear this all the time, actually, wearing it’s a habit I have, but it’s not that sort of habit.” She smirked at her own little joke. “I guess that means we’re starting at this floor and working our way up?” She pointed across the mall to an outlet with dressed-up mannequins on display behind every window. “That seems like a good place to start, I think.”

yui · May 18, 2021

“I’m Melissa Ashforth. I know Trevor introduced himself with a fancy title but I don’t have anything like that. Just Melissa.”

"Well, it truly isn't a fancy title, Miss Ashforth."

Was that a fact? At least to Morgan, "sorcerer apprentice of Balthazar Blake, sorcerer of the 777th degree" sounded pretty darn fancy. Morgan's was just "Hunter." The zombie girl kept her ears open as more names got tossed around.

"Oh, sorry for not saying so yesterday, but I'm Fen. Fen Yi. And I'm a uh, Chef Adventurer...uhh, yeah."

Chef Adventurer? What a combination of jobs! Morgan was willing to bet she made good food. She couldn't wait to get to try some. Speaking of food, was it just her, or was she getting funny looks at first when she started eating? Oh well. Probably just her imagination. As Morgan thought about what sorts of food someone from some magical not-Lemuria world could specialize in, as well as what sorts of dishes may have existed in that world that weren't present in Morgan's world, the very quiet girl proposed a great idea! Her name was Melissa, unless Morgan had misheard her.

“I was thinking of shopping for some more clothes today, um, where would be the best place to do that? The mall we were at yesterday, or, um, somewhere else?”

As she finished the last bites of her humble breakfast of toast and one singular banana, Morgan turned her attention to Melissa, eyes widened in anticipation. Hell yes! Getting some new clothes had been on Morgan's to-do list for quite some time now, and arriving in a new world was just as good a time as any! Especially with how sudden coming here had been, given Morgan had effectively shown up with nothing more than the clothes on her back. And Aduain was coming too!

“Okay, that’s three.”

"Make it four," Morgan smiled. She wouldn't miss this for the world!

Grand Prana Mall. That was the name of the place. And oh man, it was big! The size was a bit intimidating, actually. This looked like the kind of place someone could totally get lost in. As the group entered, everyone was offered a free sample of a drink. How kind! However, Morgan quietly and politely rejected the offer. Beverages were not good for her zombie body. That was one of the first things she and her master learned in the lab. Something about moisture and the process of how corpses decayed and stuff. In short, dry good, wet bad, and water was just about the wettest stuff there was. Hopefully Melissa enjoyed her free sample.

“Alright. So, I don’t actually wear this all the time, actually, wearing it’s a habit I have, but it’s not that sort of habit. I guess that means we’re starting at this floor and working our way up?” She pointed across the mall to an outlet with dressed-up mannequins on display behind every window. “That seems like a good place to start, I think.”

A nice little clothes store? A promising start indeed! Leading the way with a spring in her step, and taking care not to rush too far ahead of everyone else, Morgan agreed "It looks nice in there." Surely they had something cute in there for her to pick up. Something... blue! With flowers. That would be perfect, provided it was in her size. And the only way to know what was in stock was to go there. And as Morgan entered the store, she found that the place was...

Skaia · May 20, 2021

Getting ready to tag along with Melissa to the mall, and now Aduain as well, after finishing her meal and cleaning up the girl gave another bow to the knight lady. "Thank you again Natasha, and I can't wait to see you again." While the girl's spirits were lifted, both due to going on a trip to own more than a singular outfit as well as the prospect of having a new cooking teacher, she was given some degree of pause as Morgan said that she had wanted to come along as well. Fen should have figured such a thing would happen, and once more it wasn't as though she actually had a problem spending time with the zombie girl, yet she still couldn't help but feel a bit of reluctance at their fourth joining. All the same, she walked alongside her fellow friends and workers, getting to the mall they had protected yesterday.

Fen didn't seem to be any bit bothered by the fact that no one was any bit bothered by yesterday's brawl in the streets. She did find it curious that there wasn't a hint of destruction there, but chalked that up to Mauvache herself either being or having the service of a skill mage who had some form of repairing magic. What did seem to take her aback, though, was the sheer size and scope of the mall. Though every building in this city was larger than what she was used to, she felt there something to be even more imposing about the expansive mall before her. Perhaps because she was actively looking to enter and search the building that she felt this way, only coupled by the array of options each floor seemed to offer. While the girl's eyes lit up at the food court underneath them, though knowing their original mission and funds available had to swallow the bitter pill of being unable to go there. For now.

After taking a refreshing drink of water the quartet of clothing shoppers found themselves at their destination. A clothing store. The store itself, while not particularly large, was certainly not strapped for product. Neatly labeled sections contained stacks of clothing, all of which was relatively plain looking with the only major distinctive features on some of them being one or two words or different kind of strange symbols. Sometimes both. Fen herself wasn't looking for anything flashy, and while she did enjoy her skirts and dresses she knew that her job here would involve her fighting a lot. So, the girl was looking for more practical things. Picking out what could only be seen to others as a drab outfit consisting of gray t-shirts and similarly gray shorts Fen smiled pleased with herself saying, "perfect."

Blake · May 24, 2021

By the time morning came, Devin had barely slept a wink. They simply sat where they had been crying the rest of the time, holding their knees tight... So tight, in fact, their body had started to fuse together in the spots where it touched itself. By the time the sun had come up, people had begun to stir, and so did the shifter. Their ears grew out and pressed against the wall and floor, becoming similar to stethoscopes as they tried to listen out... To see when it would be safe to go out. Granted, they didn't expect Salvo's loudness, causing them to reel a bit, but the rest was... simple. They didn't want anyone to see them after yesterday, so they would just wait until no one was around to get whatever leftovers remained. That was the plan, at least.

“I was thinking of shopping for some more clothes today, um, where would be the best place to do that? The mall we were at yesterday, or, um, somewhere else?”
"Oh, that's a great idea. I hadn't thought about it much, but uh, I don't think we had any luggage come with us. So well, if you don't mind, I'd love to come along with you."

Oh. They didn't know if being here totally alone was actually better than tagging along at that point. If they were more used to the room, they would probably say yes, but... they didn't know anything. This place could be a trap. What would they do if it was? With a panic, they looked about to try and figure out what to do, before their eyes managed to land on the window. They weren't sure they felt comfortable being with the group, but... Perhaps...

----

Welcome to Grand Prana Mall! On behalf of Azure Dahlia IncorporatedTM, might I offer each of you a complimentary sample of our new, cool, refreshing beverage?

“This is water,”

The coolest, most refreshing water in all of Prana!

The man cocked a brow as he heard the robot speaking to the small nun girl, walking past them as nonchalantly as possible. You know, as nonchalantly as a 6'4" behemoth in red and yellow could. What were they thinking? Sure they looked so different that they would never be recognized, but they ended up standing out anyway! And the disguise was already deployed, so there was no going back until they could find a restroom. They would just... hang around and wait. After all, they were only there to escape being stuck in the dorms by themselves. That was, at least, until their nose caught a hint of... something. Turning towards the smell and following it, their stomach growling loudly. Maybe skipping breakfast wasn't a good idea... But it wasn't exactly new to them. And there were scary people there!

And then they found the food court, sprawling with all types of cuisines and offerings... Even some that they had never even heard of! Losing sight of their objective completely, the shifter quickly wound up in front of a Lemming Fried Chicken, claiming to have the best fried chicken available. Not to mention how good the other places looked... McMisteree's, Cherrybees, Cucuy's Southwest Grill, Skies over Sicily... Wait, how did they know what Sicily was?

Next thing they knew, the shifter had visited every last stall, ordering their signature items and carrying them to a table to sit down with the massive stack... plus a few extra breadsticks. Unhinged jaw for the burger, earning fewer stares than one would expect, slurping up spaghetti like a vacuum, eating the chicken bone and all... They were in heaven and oblivious to the world... Especially as they savored the breadsticks. Everything else could wait... Being able to eat like this was a dream come true.

Chaos Sonic · May 25, 2021

“We, um, we do have a little money, though. I noticed this when fiddling with it yesterday. It’s not- it’s a bit hard to find if you don’t know where it is on here, but…”

Trevor was actually surprised at this, noticing it after Melissa had made mention of it. It wasn't a lot, but surprisingly...they were paid. Quite a shocking revelation. "Huh...fancy that." he nodded intrigued at this, while the group that consisted of Melissa, Morgan, Fen, Aduian and Devin left off for their shopping trip. "I suppose before I leave, I'll take care of these..." he smiled, clapping his hands a few times as his grimoire came to life once more and floated around the containers and dishes that had the food...having them come to life as well.

One Dish Washing Time Later

A new morning arises here on Prana, thusly a new day to perhaps to garner a new perspective of this location I find myself in. Perhaps get another step closer to returning to Arcana Cabana. While some of the group I've been associated with as of yesterday have gone off to deal with some shopping in the city, I plan to make good on my promise to meet with the esteemed benefactor that summoned us here to Prana and Rama-Indri: the mysterious Mauvache. Traveling to the Arena could be the best option for me thus far, as that may be a location she would feel is fitting for me to meet her at... However, while I head that direction, I'll make it a note to keep an eye open to my surroundings. I need a feel and vibe of this world, much like I needed for those past in the Ever. The more I learn about a world, the better for me to make sure the World Order is kept... If all else fails, perhaps that room in our apartment and it's mystery can be explored further...only time will tell.

Trevor headed in the direction of the Arena that they made their way towards the day prior, all the while having his newest journal entry be written. It's first portion highlighting his events and plans thus far. Once this was out of the way, the Cabanomicon rested itself on the sorcerer's hip in it's chain bound form. He made sure he paid extra close attention to the path they took towards the Arena the first time, lest he end up getting lost in a world he knew nothing about.

Perhaps the World Order for this is different than any other world I've visited...after all, she spoke that this isn't like any other universe anyone is originally from. So perhaps...just perhaps...the same rules that apply within my own world and the worlds surrounding it...that they don't apply here. he pondered, nodding slowly to himself. "Fascinating..."

Regardless, as someone who was told back in Fairbright Town, he needed to make sure the World Order was kept in order to maintain a balance of separation. And to that end, he needed some information about how Rama-Indri and it's city of Prana functioned in the grand scheme of things. Hopefully he'd get the answers that he sought...

radio414 · May 30, 2021

I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;
I refused my heart no pleasure.
My heart took delight in all my labor,
and this was the reward for all my toil.
-Ecclesiastes 2:10 (NIV)

This wasn’t the first time Melissa had gone clothes shopping, obviously, nor was it the first time she’d gone without someone else like a parent paying for it, but it was the first time she’d had to pick out a whole wardrobe for herself, and, like a lot of new experiences, the whole process was pretty overwhelming. For starters, there were just so many! The store had pants, shorts, breeches, bell bottoms, overalls, dresses and skirts of various lengths from the ultra-modest to the downright blasphemous, more garments that Melissa didn’t even recognize or know the names of, and that was all just clothing meant to cover the waist down!

Her companions were having a better time with it. Fen had already picked out at least one outfit; Melissa caught her coming out of a dressing room with a plain but comfortable-looking grey getup. “Looks good,” Melissa said as she walked by. As she turned away to go back down one of the aisles, though, a particular dress caught her eye and she immediately knew that, if it fit, it was at least the start of something she could work with. “I might need to sneak past you to go next, Fen.”

She didn’t know what season it was on Prana, or even if Prana had seasons, really, but it felt like it was well into Spring, and the dress was definitely meant for that sort of weather. Though it extended past her knees, the fabric was light enough, and if that wasn’t enough, it had a floral pattern that, while prominent, wasn’t gaudy, so it was definitely in-season. And, examining it even closer, Melissa found it even had pockets! So basically, it was perfect.

Well, was it? A worry crept into Melissa’s mind: if she could spot it so easily out of racks upon racks of dresses and other clothes, wouldn’t it stand to reason that she would stick out when wearing it? It was something she tolerated when in her nun habit for (too silly to even explain) reasons, but for normal clothes, like, why would she want to stand out? Or even take that risk? Of course, now she was looking stupid just staring at a piece of fabric, especially after she’d said something to Fen. This was taking too long, wasn’t it?

You want it, though, don’t you? One of the angels in her head -- Zadkiel, if she had to guess? -- decided to voice an unprompted opinion, which was not something Melissa expected, to the point that she visibly flinched. Apologies. Perhaps that was spoken out of turn.

“No, it’s alright,” Melissa mumbled. It was, actually, managing to pull her out of the spiral of indecision. “I do want it, actually.” She said it again, not just to answer the question to the voice, but to herself as well. “I do want it.”

Melissa looked up and blinked away whatever stupor standing and staring had brought upon her. Then she said, “Probably should get a few more things, though, just to be efficient trying things on…” and started taking a few more clothes off of racks.

Edited March 19, 2022 by radio414

LordCowCow · June 1, 2021

Trevor

As the magician made his way downtown he would soon find his progress stopped. Seven men came out of a nearby alley and surrounded him. They were dressed in torn up jackets, wraparound sunglasses, and looked incredibly similar in build and face. Their hair was neon green and spiked up Each of them had different number of spikes. From one to seven.

The young man with the seven spikes spoke up first. "Hey, fancy-pants, what're you think you're doing here?" He gestured at the thug with six spikes and said "Six here says a friend of yours messed with my little brothers here. Some kind of shape changing freakazoid."

"Yeah, a freaking freakazoid." the others echoed.

"I don't like people messing with my brothers you know? So I think, since they messed with some of ours, only fair we mess with one of theirs right? Unless you wanna get on your knees and beg for forgiveness of course." He sneered. "Maybe I'll let ya off if you sound sorry enough."

Devin

The shapeshifter would realize after a while that they were being watched. While most people seemed to be not giving them more than a passing glance but there was one person who seemed to have taken an interest. A short man with a rat-like face kept stealing glances his way. Eventually they made their way over to Devin and put on what they must have thought was a charming smile. Though really it had all the charm of a seasick crocodile. "Yo, big guy. You sure can wolf it don't can't ya? If you're interested I got something that'd be perfect for you. There's an eating contest going on soon. I had someone lined up for it but he ran off...er, he felt under the weather so he couldn't make it. So there's a spot open and I think you got a good chance to win it. See where I'm going? I could pull some strings and get you in there in his place. Free of charge."

Melissa and the shopping crew

Melissa was having a relatively calm time looking through the clothing. No one was bothering her. The only employees seemed much more concerned with hovering near Morgan. Trying not to be too obvious but clearly fretting about the rather unusual customer. As though they expected parts to start falling off at any time.

However her peaceful trip would soon be interrupted. Two blonde women with short hair and sunglasses at the top of their head went up to her and cleared their throats to get her attention. The two woman seemed to be upset about something. They both started to talk at the same time, drowning each other out, and then glared at each other.

Both of them had their hands on a shirt which they were holding in a death grip. After a brief glare-down one of them rolled her eyes and the other turned to Melissa. "Hello." she said. Though the word usually was meant to be a pleasantry to introduce oneself the woman managed to make it sound rude. She continued on in a voice that made it seem she was about to ask for the manager. "I'm Katherine. This is Kasey. We need a third opinion."

The other woman, Kasey, jumped in here. "She thinks this shirt would look better on her. But clearly it's meant for me."

"So what do you think? Me or her?"

This question, already an awkward one, was made even more difficult by one fact.

These two appeared to be identical twins.

Spoiler

One of my few joys in life is messing with Melissa. That said the others could still overhear, and Fen and Morgan both could notice the workers hovering around Morgan. So while I didn't directly give Fen a thing she could respond to either, both, or neither, situation.

Basically the last part is for all three currently in the store if they want.

Also anyone can not take the hooks if they don't want I don't mind just stuff that came to mind.

Chaos Sonic · June 2, 2021

Now how did he find himself in such a predicament? ...oh right, that's how: he literally just walked here. And now he found himself in quite the predicament with some strange gang. How lovely and quaint...

"Hey, fancy-pants, what're you think you're doing here? Six here says a friend of yours messed with my little brothers here. Some kind of shape changing freakazoid."

Shapeshifting...ah, he must be referring to our dear Devin... he thought, pondered this for a moment. This must've been around the time they left with Melissa from the park yesterday. Who knew that the pairing of them would get into such trouble? If anything, he expected the purple dressed demon and that eye-patch with the hammer to be the two trouble-makers of the group.

"I don't like people messing with my brothers you know? So I think, since they messed with some of ours, only fair we mess with one of theirs right? Unless you wanna get on your knees and beg for forgiveness of course. Maybe I'll let ya off if you sound sorry enough."

"Oh so that's what's going on right now." Trevor nodded, a sly smile showing on his face slightly. "Apologies my good sir, I originally thought that you and your...friends...family...were simply here to either mug me or perhaps welcome a fellow individual from out of town to this illustrious city you happen to call your home." He shrugged slightly, moving the hair out of his face for a moment or two. "But I can't help but wonder...if you've chosen a bad plan of action by doing this?"

He held up his left index finger in front of him, his sly smile remaining. "I, myself, may not be our dear Devin and their intriguing ability to shape-shift...who seems to have caused you some trouble...I can't help but think that you deserved it." he chuckled lightly. "After all, with the appearance and the air I'm getting from you and your friends here...it's pretty rough. Now again, you may think that I'm some simple fancy dressed young man...that I may just be easy pickings for you to simply walk all over like a floor mat...but I am more than just that..." Suddenly, the red gemmed ring began to glow and the tip of his index finger began to balance a swift igniting flame.

"Now then, while I'm not one to cause trouble...especially with me simply being from out of town...I'll ask this once." Trevor's tone became a bit more sterner now. "You simply walk away...bother not my allies nor myself...and we'll forget this ever happened. Oooooor...you could possibly see first hand my magic...perhaps even bear witness to a creature I keep locked in my grimoire as my Summon." Of course, the young sorcerer was simply bluffing at the Summon part of this, only due to the fact that the Cabanomicon had no available Summons for him to utilize at this point. But then again, these ruffians didn't need to know this. "So...what do you say to my parley?"

yui · June 3, 2021

The clothing store was just about everything Morgan had hoped for! True to the title, it was indeed, a store full of clothes. At first, Morgan's main concern was if there would even be anything in her size, but she soon realized that was a ridiculous thing to worry about. It wasn't like she was freakishly tall or small, but of course, some of her favorite things she'd seen briefly glancing around were a couple sizes too small. That pink shirt with a 3D sunflower on it, this hat that wasn't special in any way but she just liked the vibe of it, and those shoes that lit up when the wearer walked. Morgan had tried to squeeze her feet into the shoes anyway, and while she was technically able to pull it off, they were way too small to be worn with any amount of comfort.

Perhaps if she left her toes behind whenever she planned on wearing them? Ah, but that was a lesson she quickly learned during her travels in Lemuria. People generally didn't respond well when somebody maimed themselves at random, even if they were totally fine and could just put the toes back on anyway.

Maybe if I ask nicely, I can check the morgues for smaller feet.

She'd come back to those shoes later. For now, there were two other matters grabbing her attention. Firstly, the employees here had been paying really close attention to her this whole time. More so than the other customers. That was also something she quickly learned when she first became a Hunter; being dead and all, Morgan tended to be a bit of an attention magnet whenever she was in the room. There wasn't really much that could be done about that, so rather than trying to get everyone to leave her be, Morgan simply turned and gave her audience a smile and a wave, before going back to her perusing of nearby wares.

And then she found it. The very item she dreamed this store might have! A light and soft sundress. With a rose print on the bottom-left of the thing. Even better, it came in two different colors! One was blue with white roses, and the other was black with red roses. Both were really nice... but it wasn't like Morgan needed two of the same dress. Not on her rather limited budget. She needed a second opinion. And as it so happened, the closest second opinion that she was on a first-name basis with was... Melissa. Turning to face her friend of small stature and smaller voice, Morgan held up the two dresses.

"Quick question. Which one do you think is nicer?"

radio414 · June 7, 2021

The lot is cast into the lap,
but its every decision is from the Lord.
-Proverbs 16:33 (NIV)

Melissa had managed a pretty good haul for herself, all things considered. Obviously, she wasn’t going to buy everything that she had picked out, especially since she’d deliberately chosen a few different sizes just in case, but even with that, she planned to walk out of the dressing room (thankfully there were still some open -- she’d kept a close eye on that) with at least a handful of outfits -- enough to last a week or so, anyway. If it didn’t, well, pyjamas and other miscellanea would probably take another pass through the whole store at least so she could definitely pull some more stuff out, especially once she’d learned Prana’s sizing system, which, while similar to the one she was used to, was just off enough to cause worry. But it was only a little worry -- even for someone like her, she could brush it off to concentrate on the matter at-

“I’m Katherine. This is Kasey. We need a third opinion.”

Oh no.

There were a lot of things wrong at once, actually. The first was that these women were approaching her, a complete stranger, out of the blue which was something she’d never do (outside of when she first met Elizabeth at CoffeeCards but that was different!), but even more wrong was the question they were now posing to her. Who would wear it better? Ignoring the fact that the question was, by definition, vainglorious (and Melissa still had a habit on -- they really should have known better), they had to have known that the question would put stress on any third party in such a situation, let alone her. Even if they weren’t twins (oh, and by the way, the two women were identical twins (why oh why oh why did they also have to be twins?)), to answer at all was to invite the scorn of the one she didn’t choose. And, of course, she’d already turned their way, so it wasn’t like she could act like she couldn’t hear them, either. This was the sort of thing she had nightmares about.

And just as beads of sweat started to form on Melissa’s forehead, just as her breath started to quicken and her stomach started to tie itself into knots, a new, additional zombie-shaped development appeared from out of nowhere. “Quick question,” Morgan said, holding up a pair of dresses. “Which one do you think is nicer?”

It was basically the opposite question, though thankfully Morgan had the good sense to find two things that looked different to each other. If she wasn’t in her current state, Melissa thought, she might have actually been able to help her. As she was, though, any additional demand of her was just noise on top of noise, radio static amplified by three different (okay, two similar and one very different) stares all bearing down on her. Answering any of it was not an escape. In fact, quite the opposite was true -- escape was the only answer.

“Sorry, um,” Melissa tried her hardest to keep her words steady, even though she was very nearly shaking out of her shoes. “I will answer your questions, I promise, but the dressing rooms have been filling up and --” they hadn’t, but a white lie was low on the list of problems at the moment “-- and I’d really like to snag one that just opened up so, uh, be right back?” She didn’t wait for a response, she just walked as fast as she could without breaking into an outright sprint over to the booths, ignoring everything and everyone in the way of her destination.

How long had it been since she’d had a good scream? She’d huddled up in bathrooms and similar spaces all the time, sure, but an actual scream? The last one she could remember was weeks ago, way back during her first day of sophomore year, after Connor had yelled at her for not learning Jun’s name right away. That scream had lasted what, fifteen seconds? Even if the one she let out as soon as she’d drawn the dressing room curtain was shorter than that (and that was a pretty big if!), whether because of recency or because of the severity of the situation, it certainly felt like it was, at the very least, equivalent to that in length. It was certainly more satisfying, anyway, definitely the type of scream that immediately got her calming back down.

Not everyone was convinced, though. Are you well? Sandalphon asked.

“No.” Melissa couldn’t help but be honest with her own head. “But I think I’ll be alright.”

She didn’t bother continuing the facade of changing clothes, she walked back out to face her querents with a clarity of purpose that surprised even her, and addressed them each in reverse order of their approach. “Morgan, I think they both look great, but the white and blue one definitely works better as long as you’re careful around liquids, um.” She didn’t really have a way to continue that particular piece of advice, so she instead simply turned to face the twins and mustered up her best King Solomon impression.

“There’s really only one way to settle this, I think,” she said. “You have to cut the shirt in half.”

Skaia · June 10, 2021

With one outfit down, Fen went on to consider what else it was she could get. After all she now had a proper work attire and a proper casual attire, which while the bare essentials was quite sad for a wardrobe and quite obnoxious to wash for. The most simple solution to Fen was to buy a few more sets of the same outfit she had just picked out, but thinking of a wardrobe of nothing but gray with one bright blue outfit seemed even worse to her. With a renewed fervor to search around the shop for the proper outfit, Fen looked over to Melissa as the commented on needing the dressing room soon, saying, "oh feel free to use it, I have much more browsing to get done." With that, the girl began her hunt for clothing once more. As she started to look at skirts, pants and shirts of various colors, she looked over to see that Morgan had something of a gathering around her.

The zombie herself didn't seem to mind as the employees all seemed to turn their gaze to her and as far as Fen could tell she wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary. Yet still, she couldn't help but feel some apprehension from them, and she didn't want to be kicked out of the first store she had decided to shop in on this new world. So she decided to see what, if any, cause for concern there was and walk over to them. "Excuse me, um but well is she," the girl gestured over to Morgan, "causing any trouble, or something?"

The employees for their part seemed to firstly be surprised that their stares had been found out, and rather than answer Fen about it opted to ignore having been asked and simply continue on with what they were doing. One of them, however, kept looking over to Fen before finally whispering, "she looks like...she's going to fall apart on the merchandise."

"Ah...ahaha..." Fen gave out a nervous laugh as she spoke her concerns. "well, I can't say I know her very well but from what I've seen she seems...well put together...so there's probably no need to worry." The comment would, normally, sound a bit ridiculous but Fen couldn't help but think their fears were somewhat validated, looking at the patchwork undead that Morgan was. Of course, the zombie was here to fight great extraplanar threats like the rest of them so she had to think she was somewhat sturdy...unless she fought by throwing parts of her body around. Fen briefly furrowed her brow at the thought but quickly tried to switch back to a look of assurance to the workers.

"T-truth be told, an inspection is supposed to happen today...if they see a f-finger laying around..." the employees turned pale.

A troubled expression crossed Fen's face as well as she suddenly understood the gravity of the situation. As a group of chefs the Yi family was no stranger to sanitary inspectors and as one that dealt in the cooking and preparing of monsters they had their own methods of doing things that were not often understood by government officials. As such, she knew what a huge bane one could be to a store, and so she nodded to them. "That...that would be very bad, yes." Looking back to Morgan, and then back to the employees, a serious expression crossed her face. Nodding again, the girl said, "Don't worry. I'll make sure to keep her from...falling apart, and if she does then I'll handle the clean up before anyone notices."

The employees seemed to be hesitant to accept her offer, one still seeming nauseous, but all the same left the matter in Fen's hands. With that settled, Fen looked to them saying, "oh, and one more question. What color do you think would look best on me?"

With her mission set, Fen started to trail behind Morgan and Melissa. While she could just move along with them normally, the girl saw the two wrapped up in a conversation with two other ladies. Thinking it rude to just interrupt whatever was going on, Fen simply continued to look as though she were browsing more clothes, though continuing to keep an eye on Morgan as she did.

LordCowCow · June 14, 2021

"Teen" Girl Squad

Because of Fen's intervention the workers moved on to other jobs. Though there were still the occasional nervous glances sent Morgan's way. Especially when the girl did something more on the energetic side of things. Though they also seemed to avoid them when they noticed the twins that Morgan was now near.

The two women, when Melissa left, turned towards Morgan. Blaming her for the girl running off like she did and demanding an explanation. The two of them spoke at the same time so it was hard to make out what exactly they were complaining about. Only that they were unhappy with the zombie girl.

When Melissa got back they completely turned their attention away from her and demanded a response this time. Which Melissa gave.

“There’s really only one way to settle this, I think,” she said. “You have to cut the shirt in half.”

The two women stared blankly at Melissa for a few solid moments. Then at each other for a few more. They then looked at Melissa and, together, said. "That's....brilliant!" They started excitedly figure out which of them had a pair of scissors and when one took a pair out the other held the shirt out and told the other to start cutting from the top.

Which was when they were suddenly swarmed with employees.

Trevor

"So...what do you say to my parley?"

"What the freak do herbs have anything to do with this?" the thug questioned. He looked around at his group and they all shrugged at him.

One of them spoke up "I think he's makin' fun of us with all those weird words of his."

"Freaking out of town he says."

"Freaking trying to come in here and take over."

"Freak him, man."

The first thug pointed at Trevor and said "Yeah, freak you!" He nodded and one of the thugs came up behind Trevor with a pipe and hit the mage in the back of the head. "Freak him up boys!" The rest started to advance at the apparent leaders behest.

Spoiler

To remind you, Chaos, given that every PC have their "stats" enhanced so to speak the pipe to the back of the head won't knock him out as it would a normal person (But it isn't something to easily shrug off like Superman)

Chaos Sonic · June 15, 2021

Silence fell over him and this gang of brothers, which most likely was good for Trevor...oooooooor maybe not...

"What the freak do herbs have anything to do with this?"

"...that would be PARSLEY..." Trevor sighed heavily, using his free hand to rub the bridge between his nose. "A parley is a-..."

"I think he's makin' fun of us with all those weird words of his."

"...oh for the love of-..."

"Yeah, freak you! Freak him up boys!"

The immediate hit with a pipe was not something he saw coming. In truth, he really should've learned how to work with that foresight spell or something along those lines. It didn't knock him down and leave him unconscious, not at all...but oh it hurt like the dickens. It made him stumble a bit, but he remained standing the best he could. Though he was now trying to nurse the massive headache he was now having to deal with. Nevertheless, at him being struck, the Cabanomicon sprung to life and into action, unhinging itself from Trevor's hip and now floating in front of him.

"N-Ngh...sneak attack? How droll..." Trevor groaned, still holding the back of his head as he proceeded to cast Fire, launching the small fire ball on his index finger right at some of the feet of the Spike Brothers. "But if you lot won't act civilized, then I suppose I'll have to take the brutish approach. Blizzard!" he said, pointing his hand at the ground beneath those behind him and his blue gemmed ring began to glow, now coating the ground in an icy film, most likely to cause them to slip in whatever comedic fashion they'd find themselves in.

"Cabanomicon, Offensive Spell - Balloon!" Trevor said, watching his grimoire flip open to the Offensive Spells and glow brightly. Like the time he used it yesterday, Trevor removed his hat and unlike yesterday, this time tossed it upwards into the air, letting the balloons pour out of his hat and begin to surround him. "If you feel lucky, by all means, pop one of them...I'll warn you, however...these balloons may be a tad bit touchy." He simply smirked, the hat landing back on his head as his grimoire landed in his open left hand. "Not too late to agree to my terms of surrender." Trevor winced a bit in pain, still dealing with the bit of a massive headache that the pipe to his skull left...he could've healed it with Cure, sure...but right now, he doubted that defeating this lot would be easy. Why waste a healing spell now when things were bound to be possibly worse?

Blake · June 15, 2021

"Yo, big guy. You sure can wolf it don't can't ya? If you're interested I got something that'd be perfect for you. There's an eating contest going on soon. I had someone lined up for it but he ran off...er, he felt under the weather so he couldn't make it. So there's a spot open and I think you got a good chance to win it. See where I'm going? I could pull some strings and get you in there in his place. Free of charge."

The shifter continued to eat as they looked at the man with a skeptical look, mulling it over as they chewed dramatically. Of course this would get them nowhere good, but at the same time... They were used to grifts like this. It's not like poison would do much to them, they couldn't be effectively contained, but going along with it seemed like a bad idea.

Wait... they were used to grifts like this? The shifter paused for a moment and had to shake their head, swallowing the food in their mouth at that moment. Maybe, just maybe... This could help them sort things out. But they had to play it cool, looking too desperate was a way to be taken advantage of, even with the knowledge of what they were getting into.

"Eh... I guess," the shifter crossed their arms at looked at the man with the strongest gaze they could muster, "What's in it for me other than food?"

yui · June 17, 2021

“Sorry, um, I will answer your questions, I promise, but the dressing rooms have been filling up and -- and I’d really like to snag one that just opened up so, uh, be right back?”

Morgan nodded and gave Melissa the best thumbs-up she could manage for only having four fingers per hand and having each hand filled with a cute dress at the moment. While Melissa went to try things out in the dressing room, Morgan spent the brief moment pondering over the two dresses in her hand. There was that thing... what was it called, color theory? This would have been a lot easier if that was among the things Morgan had been taught in the lab. Not that she was complaining, of course! Having read a few books about creatures like herself before, Morgan liked to think that as far as patchwork life forms created in some scientist's laboratory went, she pretty much had it made.

“Morgan, I think they both look great, but the white and blue one definitely works better as long as you’re careful around liquids, um.”

The zombie girl pondered upon it for a moment. When Melissa put it that way, she did have a point. And it wasn't like Morgan was planning on jumping into a lake or something anytime soon, anyway! As Melissa advised the twins to cut the shirt in half, Morgan turned briefly to hang up the red and black dress. Even still, she could hear a group of employees rushing to the scene as the girls whipped out a pair of scissors. Oh no. She'd seen this kind of thing before! Morgan had to intervene, before something terrible happened.

"Wait wait wait!" Morgan said, nearly dropping her nice new dress in her rush to stop the twins from doing something they'd regret. "You can't just slice it like that!"

"Why not? Then we both could have it."

"Which one of you is the older twin?"

They both pointed at themselves, and said "I am" and then start bickering.

"Okay okay, um..." She'd have to pick one at random. In theory she could have done a spin-the-bottle type thing with her head, but this was already a scene as it was, and that would make her incredibly dizzy. "Eeny meeny miney... you." Morgan's free hand pointed at the twin to her left. "You get to cut the shirt. And you..." Moving her finger to the other twin, Morgan concluded "You get to choose which half you want first."

radio414 · June 20, 2021

She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.
-Proverbs 31:25 (NIV)

Okay, so admittedly the suggestion to bifurcate the shirt had could have inspired a lot of interpretations, from just how to go about that (who carried fabric scissors with them at all times anyway?) to the direction of the cut to who got to wear which half, but even in her most open-minded reflection on the events that had just transpired, Melissa couldn’t find a way to exclude “buy the shirt” from the order of operations. What? The store employees were in the right to swarm at them to keep from damaging the merchandise, and even before that happened Melissa was already ducking away, leaving the conversation where it was.

She was glad Morgan valued her advice, though. Now that the stress had blown over (or at least blown over enough) she could feel good about that. Of course, that just meant Melissa’s mind went back to all the clothes she’d left in the fitting room -- she probably had to take care of that now, didn’t she? It wasn’t like anyone was paying attention to her now (thankfully), she might as well.

Melissa still didn’t understand Prana’s sizing system even after trying on a few different sizes of a few different clothes, but the act of trying things on meant she didn’t really have to anymore, did she? Now she could just point to the number(s) or letter(s) on the tag (or both! Sometimes it was both!) and ask for more of that, whatever her size turned out to be. Thankfully, too, the dress she’d picked out that had started the whole process was the right fit. That definitely would have soured her mood again. Now, she almost wanted to go through the checkout and walk out of the store wearing it. Wait, how was buying things going to work, anyway?

Even that lingering unknown only dampened things a little. “What do you think?” she said.

It took a moment for her to get a response -- she could almost hear the little gears turning, or the servos whirring or whatever was going on up there. Who are you asking? The manifestations are not tied to the fabrics you wear. Can your opinion be swayed even still?

“I don’t know,” Melissa said. “I mean, we’re sharing my body, I thought you might have some insight.”

Another long wait. If you like them you should purchase them, the voices said, which was a true enough aphorism for Melissa to appreciate it, but it wasn’t what she was looking for. No, maybe it was simple vanity to be thinking like this, and she’d definitely be worried about that later, like, when she couldn’t sleep that night or whenever her brain decided to remind her about it, but she just wanted to be reassured she was making the right decisions. Sure the right gait and affect could save anything -- that was what she had been told, anyway -- but she just wanted a little validation that she was making the right choices before any of that. In the grand scheme of things, she could manage the later-stress better than the now-stress.

When she exited the fitting room for the second time, Morgan was trying to teach the twins the proper way to cut things and most of the store employees were still urging them to at least buy the thing first before they defaced it, which left either approaching one of the other shoppers (obviously not) or, well, or Fen.

Melissa took a deep breath, approached, and gave a little twirl. “Alright, Fen, your turn,” she said. “How does this look?”

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Overlap [IC/PG-16/Accepting]

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