Xander looked at Xavier, "Wow thanks. Well it's a white feather and it's encased in an aqua crystal. I should be able to absorb it once I get it, problem is getting it. Last I saw, the pigeon had it in it's feet, so I assume it's still in the pigeons claws."
He got up from his seat as he stretched, "Gotta find that thing then, come on," he turned back before heading out, "And I appreciate the help."
[Dining Hall]
Christine was confused about what Asayu and Rachel was saying. Maybe she was a bodyguard... no wait, Virgil wouldn't want to hire a bodyguard. Hell, the only thing he would probably want to hire a woman for is... Oh.
"But," Christine answered. "My wallet doesn't contain any paper notes. Like I said, I've been staying with the Immortals these past few weeks... it would be pretty silly if they used American money. No, they use Gold."
[Beach]
"Well, that's most of them here." Kurako said, noticing that the beach was nearly empty of pigeons, except for those on the rental hut. Looking around, she saw that they still were flooding the pool, tennis courts, golf course, forest, roof, and parking lot. "Man, how many of these are there? Well, no time to waste - let's tackle this side next." she said, pointing to the pool and tennis courts area. She was now back in original form, but began teleporting around to catch the pigeons.
Shiko, who had been standing there silently while the conversation between Christine and Virgil took place, agreed with Kurako and walked with her to the area, again pointing at the pigeons as they vanished with a black flash.
Saliha pulled herself up off the stools to come to sit on top of the bar. She let her powerful legs dangle off the edge, swinging them out of time in apparent boredom. She intended to join the conversation but never found a point where she had anything to contribute. Most of the discussion was still far above her head, and she couldn’t help but feel she’d sound foolish if she tried to speak on them. She was probably right. So there she sat, up on the bar, swinging her legs back and forth and looking around the bar for something interesting.
yey[Dining]
"Study magic," Kat said as his Reuben arrived. He turned off the camera and dug into his sandwich with gusto. After a moment of chewing, he said, "It's a bit hard to explain to someone who can't use magic, but there are different kinds of... energies I use in magic. Say, heat, cold - yes, I know cold is technically the absence of heat, but there's cold energy - force, lightning, and more." He took another bite. "So I work in seeing what happens when they're combined in what ways. Or maybe try to discover more. It can get unpredictable at times."
[Dining]
"White feather, aqua crystal, claws," said Vincent. "Got it." He stood up and walked outside with Xander.
Xavier got up, but before he stepped outside, he turned to Saliha. "Sorry about talking about stuff that probably goes over your head," he said. He pointed outside. "Do you want to come out and help us catch this bird?"
Saliha looked up to Xavier. He had just spoke to her. Ah. “Well- n-no, no thanks.” She moved a hand up to rub the back of her neck, a mannerism she must have picked up from Wesley. “Knowing me, I’d probably try to eat it.” She gave a short laugh, but there was something about it that didn’t seem right. Like it wasn’t entirely sincere. Saliha had realized something, and evidently needed some time alone to think.
yeyXander headed into the massive flocking of pigeons, "It's time like these, that I wish I had some kind of ESP to get these things, but I don't due to the lack of an ESP artifact," he looked around the pigeons, trying not to step on them, "I think the pigeon was mostly black in color, so it should stand out a little more." he called toward the chimeras.
[Dining]
Riko and Nanami had their dishes served, and began eating.
No wonder none of what he said before made sense, they're working with some kind of magic... Riko thought, hearing Kat's explanation. Maybe someone else here knows more about the fundamentals than that.
Nanami was eating her dish with a rather pleased expression, before saying to Riko, "Hey, this is pretty good, you should try some!"
Riko tried a bit of it, gave an expression of surprise, and said "Good, yes. Explainable, no."
[Dining]
"Well," chuckled Xavier, "it's what the bird's got that we're after. You could go ahead and eat the bird if you wanted. Heck, eating it might save us the hassle of it grabbing the thingy and flying off again.
"But-" He squeezed her shoulder a little. "If you think it's better to stay inside, that's fine." He followed Vincent outside.
[Outside]
Vincent was looking through the mass of birds, trying to find a blackish one. It wasn't easy; there were a lot of variations in the greyness of the pigeons, but none of them appeared black. It was a little disorienting.
He cautiously reached out with his mind to see if he could sense the artifact's power. He felt a burst of it, large enough to briefly throw him off balance. He managed to stay on his feet, though, and got a good idea of where it might be. "Hey," he yelled to Xander, pointing to a certain group of pigeons, "I think it's over there."
Dining
Qrlil blinked. "I see. So you and Vincent are colleagues, then? I mean, I realize you are working together now, but do you work at the same place?"
She honestly didn't know what to make of his claims about magic, so left them unspoken-of for now. She'd certainly seen enough evidence that such things were possible here, but there didn't seem to be much point in discussing an aspect of his universe that could never exist in hers.
[Dining]
Asayu meant it as a general question to anybody listening.
Asayu, seeing no response to her question, casually walked over to Riko, Nanami, Kat, and Qrlil, and took a seat. First Asayu said, "ah, waiter! I could do with a salad! A proper one, with the mushrooms and the fruits and all!"
Rachel added, "yeah, that sounds good. A salad for me as well."
Then, for the people who had not yet met, she said, "I'm Asayu, that's Rachel, and she's Christine. So, what's up?"
Tell me if I missed anyone at the table.
Xander heard Vincent as he nodded toward him. He slowly crept toward the bird, inching every so lightly until he was within roughly a five feet of it. He extended his hand as he created a sphere of the time freezing stuff, trapping the birds. He slowly crept up toward a black one and removed it as he found the artifact, sliding it gently from the bird. He let the energy disperse as he absorbed the Angel's Flight, it disappearing in a bright flash, which scared some of the birds.
Xander breathed out as he walked toward Vincent, "Thank you so much," he looked at his hand, "Time to test this thing out." Xander jumped, going up a full twenty-five feet in the air and landing straight down, "Cool." He took another leap and glided around, the lack of feeling as he flew, showing how much it affected him, was evident as he landed a good few feet away. He breathed out again as he took another cigarette to light, "Nothing, no feeling."
Dining hall
Qrlil dipped her head to Rachel and Christine.
"Hello," she told them. "I am Qrlil, and I am pleased to meet you."
She wasn't clear on whether it would be proper for her to introduce the others or not, so she said nothing. Turning her eyes back to Asayu, slightly nervously, she continued "I am not certain - we have simply been talking."
No, that's everyone. Five authors in one conversation - this could be messy.
edited 1st Nov '11 5:21:06 PM by nrjxll
[Dining]
"Yeah," Kat nodded. "National DARPA Laysarium. Anvik, Alaska. We work for the government. A lot of our work has military or law enforcement applications. Some of it's simple, like guns with less recoil, but other parts are much more complicated, like cloaking an entire helicopter and making it run silently and stir up as little air as possible."
When the group came to the table, he said, "What's up is that we need more room for everyone." He stood up and pulled a group of table and chairs over, doubling the area available.
[Outside]
Vincent staggered back from the pulse of energy as Xander absorbed the crystal; it was large, complex, and confusing.
Xander's leaps were impressive, but the complete lack of feeling in him was evident. "I'm sorry," Vincent said to him. "But... at least you've got that artifact now, right?" He grinned.
Saliha put on a smile and waved at Xavier up until he departed. Then, her face fell and hand dropped to grip the edge of the bar top. “Well,” she murmured to herself, “at least he’s not the smothering type.” She lowered herself down off the bar and took a seat on a stool again. She sighed, then contemplated ordering another drink. She shook herself. No. It was far too early in the day for that, and she didn’t much miss the feeling she had when she woke up this morning.
Wesley began to shift under the covers of his bed. Just as he became aware of the fact he was now awake, an acute, splitting pain carved through his head. He moaned. This was a familiar feeling. He didn’t remember much from last night, mostly because not much had happened to remember, but nonetheless by this feeling alone he knew he must have been drinking. Again. Dragging himself out of bed, he stumbled to the floor as his torso and arms came down first. Grumbling, he lifted himself off the floor and dusted himself off. Looking over his weapons, he decided to leave them there. Walking over to the sink in the bathroom, he splashed some water in his face to dispel the lingering sleep from his mind. Then, grabbing his pack, he set out to the bar.
yeyDining hall
Qrlil tilted her head slightly. Christine certainly seemed more... excitable... then most humans.
"I am an ambassador," she said. I suppose I'll have to introduce them, then. "Kat - Katshal Berend - here is a magical researcher, and Nanami and Riko are... actually," she continued, turning to face them, "I am not certain exactly what you do." She left the sentence hanging slightly.
[Dining]
Rachel imitated the gesture Qrlil gave to her, hoping she understood its meaning properly.
"Just talking?" Asayu said with mock incredulity and a merry smile. "But I could have sworn I just walked into a massive unarmed combat free-for-all! How disappointing!"
Then, slightly more serious, she said, "well, I'll drop my two cents in if the topic catches my eye. Otherwise..." a pair of salads arrived, interrupting Asayu's words. Rachel's looked perfectly ordinary, and came with the usual utensils. But Asayu's hard far more mushrooms, in countless odd varieties, than you would expect from an ordinary salad. Eyes wide, she quietly said, "they really do serve everything here," and began to eagerly pick at it with her hands."
Rachel watched Asayu pick at her salad, then said, "I can't talk for her, but I think I'll let you guys talk tech, maybe ask some stupid questions and see if I absorb any of your smarts."
Dining hall
Qrlil smiled cautiously. "Well, you did miss an attempt at a trade of puns between myself and Kat," she said to Asayu, "although I do not think I came off well in the encounter."
She turned to Rachel. "Actually, I am getting a bit tired of 'tech talk' myself, no offense intended," she said. "It seems that most of the people I meet here want to talk about their jobs, a majority of which involve study of some kind. It does - no offense - tire one after a while."
[Dining]
It wasn't long that they were at the dining room that Virgil had entered, smoking another cigarette. Surely, that pack must have run out by now. Upon noticing, Christine's speech box seemed to close up, and she found herself not being able to say anything once again. Of course, Virgil wasn't interested in talking to Christine, instead, he grabbed a chair and set it down next to Asayu, saying to her;
"Now, you know what I'm going to say to you now, don't you?"
Asayu said "sure," and tossed her one of the less flavorful mushrooms — most were an acquired taste, and even the sample Asayu gave Nanami was comparable to a chili pepper. But she'd live.
Rachel returned Qrlil's smile and said, "true. There seems to be quite a few scientists around here."
"Scientists and warriors," Asayu added. "Drawn here like magnets. But no other courtesans or..." she paused, trying to recall exactly what it was Rachel had done as a job before they'd met, "actuaries."
It was then that Virgil took the seat — in response to his question, Asayu said, "yes, I know what you're going to say, and..." she stopped, an idea forming. "Hold on. What's the offer?"
[Dining]
Virgil smirked.
"What, the pleasure of my company isn't enough for you? Oh well..."
Virgil tossed the wallet towards Asayu, revealing it to be filled with gold coins.
"In there is enough gold to buy you a Mansion, and that includes the Utilities... frankly, Christine wasn't smart in giving me THAT much... I'm not actually sure how she even GOT it... but that's what I'm offering."

Qrlil rolled her eyes slightly. "That sounds... interesting," she said tactfully.
The maid brought her water, and she took a sip.
"So," she began, "what exactly do you do when not filming interuniversal travelers?"
Feel free to have your characters join in anytime, Sonzai.