"Ignore that idiot"
Honestly, Rex hadn't expected much from Ben but trying to start a fight out of the blue was a new low. He would probably have to deal with a lot of insults and a speech about how he was doing something stupid by even trying to get this challenge going. And the worst part is Rex wouldn't exactly disagree.
"He's here to help me with... a thing. You guys keep enjoying your calls. Pretend I'm not here" Rex walked towards Signh'ere while making his damnedest to draw attention away from the thing he needed help with "Five, looking good. You should share your secrets with Four" that would keep the two sisters busy—and by extension everyone else too. Rean had called home too and whoever that girl he was talking with left "Bad luck with your girlfriend, huh?"
Once he was close enough to the Director's assistant to look at the card he was holding, Rex wasted no time making his concerns clear. He needed to get this over with fast.
"So... can you do actually do something or are you here just to repeat what your boss already said?"
THE SLORG!
"Yeah, big fan of your show; it's hilarious" Tset said to Caboose, before turning his attention to the approaching Ben. "Hey, Ben Tennyson! I... Uh..." the man trailed off, looking mainly just disappointed as Ben had his moment before walking off.
"Jeez, that's no way to treat a fan" Tset muttered, then turned his attention to Rex. "Well, that depends on you, but, mainly just here to repeat their stance, yeah" the man mentioned honestly.
"Ben, are you okay?" Louie asked as he followed Ben away from the scene. "... Hey, you know, I think I have a way to teach that guy a lesson without having to hurt him" the trainer then suggested after a moment of thought, grabbing one of his pokeballs.
At the central desks, while Miss Tairee #1 kept typing away on the keyboard, Miss Tairee #2 turned her attention to Garrett. "Very well... It seems he's currently in a library. Would you like to speak with him face to face, or take the less jarring route of writing a letter that he would receive?" Miss Tairee #2 asked for clarification.
Meanwhile at the big call, nobody else had really heard Makoto, but Silanea had, and after glancing at the phantom thief briefly, Silanea raised up a bit. "H-hey, you heard the king! The deal that was agreed upon was that we would be equal to you humans!" Silanea said, trying to keep a confident and bold tone.
This seemed to cause a bit of a stir in the court, especially as the military commander looked at Silanea with a scowl. "Even if you are equal, you are merely a commoner! You have no place speaking in this court!" the military commander yelled back at her.
"Restrain yourselves" the king then said, his tone level but firm, carrying an extreme authority to it. The court slowly settled back down. "These are special circumstances; Akyaliha and her daughter are allowed to speak. I thought I had made this clear already" he continued, slowly turning his head to look over at the military commander with an expression that managed to be both blank and a, 'I fucking dare you to start shit again, just try me'.
It seemed to work, as the military commander clenched his jaw a bit. "... I'm simply trying to inform you of problems that are sure to come up, my lord" the military commander said after a pause.
"Well if there weren't going to be any problems, then I wouldn't have need of you, would I?" the king responded in a fairly neutral tone.
Things went quiet briefly, until a noblewoman spoke up. "Ahem, well my lord, with the lamias being equal as subjects of the kingdom and our laws, then there is another matter to discuss. You titled the Western forest to me, and while I have no qualms with them staying there- so long as they properly pay tithes- there is the issue of them poaching animals there" the noblewoman said.
"Hold on, we need to hunt those animals!" Akyaliha spoke up, placing her hands on the table.
"There is plenty of other food in the forests" the noblewoman responded.
"No, you don't understand!" Akyaliha responded insistently. "We lamia aren't like you humans when it comes to eating; the only thing we can have is meat. If we try to eat anything else, we could become sick. We're hardly making by as it is"" the lamia continued.
"So I am supposed to give you an exception to the law and let you hunt illegally on my land? That wouldn't be very equal to my human subjects" the noblewoman answered.
Edited by FirockFinion on Jan 15th 2019 at 2:03:04 AM
You are reading this.
Dark Sun, what choices have I...?
...In any case, something had him suddenly catapulting up with a...cheap pikachu doll? Either way he was gone now. Were they not going to do it, then...? I didn't know what to make of the whole thing except that it sucked on a very personal note wait he left of course it was so obvious i didn't need to be here anyway except to get the thing
The chair dragged awkwardly from my neglecting to let go of it, not that I noticed or cared between trying to find and shamble like a zombie to the least occupied-looking librarian in the immediate vicinity and tuning out the unending loathing 'oh i'm attracted to this chick but i'm too coward and spiteful to actually stand up for her so instead let's torch everything and count on the whole thing to cover itself' wait not now to stay focused and not immediately run over and make a futile attempt to kick him in the balls.
"...You know who it's gonna be." I faced her, twitching and wide-eyed like a goddamn lunatic, and in the middle of this a dumb petty idea of a middle finger shrouded itself in seven layers of irony and then needled forth. "...And give the edgy genocide man some hammed-ass Romeo and Juliet recording."
Edited by Oceanstuck on Jan 15th 2019 at 2:54:39 AM
i guess you can watch me shitpost i guess
Gon, now in a bar:
Gon went inside a bar that was being staffed by books.
Floating books on the head level.
That's interesting. Gon went for the nearest bar stool to sit down.
He was asked by one of the books on what he wants to drink.
"Just a beer."
THE SLORG!
Miss Tairee #8 watched Lewis approach, given the dragging of the chair, one eyebrow raised. After Lewis made his requests, Miss Tairee blinked a couple times in visible confusion. "Pardon?" Miss Tairee #8 asked simply.
You are reading this.
For the Horde!
As Ben started to storm down the stairs, Hercules gently scolded the boy and told him he was making a scene.
"Well yeah I'm making a scene," Ben stated bluntly. "It's the only way the 10 dimensional jerks will notice. They like drama, don't they? It's all they like and it's all they care about. I'm speaking their language," he sarcastically and spitefully stated. "I'm treating those things like they've been treating us."
After that, he sat on a couch near the side of the first floor and slumped angrily.
"The sooner Eve gets here the better, so I can get out of this stupid library," he grumbled. He then continued to stew, before Louie approached and offered a way to get back.
"I'm listening," Ben said, raising an eyebrow. "Although I really want to hurt them."
Edited by AllHailThrall on Jan 15th 2019 at 9:17:16 AM
I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither.
Library
"I need a face-to-face conversation, like last time," Garrett clarified in response to Tairee's question.
Edited by Korodzik on Jan 15th 2019 at 5:04:04 PM
Shocked by Ben's response, Hercules then looked at him sternly: "Ben, that's enough. Your letting your emotions get the better of you, you can't just attack him just because he's associated with the Writer. You didn't even know who he was once he appeared. It's only when he mentioned Rex's name that you threw a fit." Herc said to him not tolerating what had just been said. Louie was not helping either once he approached them and offered to get back at Tset.
"He's not doing anything of the sort. Nobody is getting back at anyone." Herc then said to Louie firmly before turning back to Ben now concerned for him. "Ben, you don't like the writer I get it. On my first day you expressed your feelings about him, how much you loath and detest him but this is not how you go about things. That's NOT what a hero does. A hero does not seek out fights for the sake of it, you protect your family, your friends, you protect the innocent. You need to control yourself." All this while keeping a level tone and remaining calm during his reprimand.
Edited by TheStarscream759 on Jan 15th 2019 at 3:32:32 PM
Library Lobby
There was another problem that had presented itself, and this one was less bigoted and more of a statistical puzzle. The Lamia were currently on someone else's land and their hunting was technically illegal. The Lamia needed meat to survive though, and while she was sure they could get some land to farm given enough time, they'd need a supply until everything was up and running. This wasn't going to be solved by telling a noble to shut up.
“...Silanea, do you know about how many people there are in your village?” she asked. “Could they possibly find something to trade in exchange for meat from someplace else? Maybe a skill or craft that others in the kingdom can't provide? Then you wouldn't be forced to hunt.”
Stop Killing My Titles
Two, That's That, Library
Well... Caboose was nothing if not succinct. "No. There's no need. I think the problem is fixed by now." One said in response to Louie, trying and failing to smile encouragingly. She took the appearance of a new man - who just seemed to poof into existence with no regard for anything - with a stone-cold face. Three and Five seemed to be taking the news well, but Four-
"This is drivel. Lies. Preposterous! I refuse to believe-"
"That's the spirit, cutie! Let him have it!" Five cheered at Ben mid-rant, silencing Four with sheer audacity - and the sheer level of indifference to the groundbreaking news.
"What is wrong with you?!"
"Oh, you'll have to excuse me, sister dearest. Even if we are mere fragments of Zero, perverted by an otherworldly creature, what do you expect me to do? Grovel?"
"Doesn't change that much." Three shrugged. "I think. Might make it more difficult to rule, but that's life."
"...oh. I'm sorry, I... expected more of a reaction." Two looked down sheepishly when Rean seemed to just accept the grim story with no problem.
"Oh, is that Rex I hear?~" Five crooned, trying her best to have a look at him from the limited angle the magical screen provided - and pressing a lot of her person over for the viewing. Two blushed. "Hey there, handsome! Spare a minute?~" It seemed he was busy, much to her disappointment. Gently, but firmly, One pulled her back into her seat.
"I'd like to apologize to all of you, sisters. I kept the truth hidden from you." One sighed, but did not explain any further why. Four, meanwhile, stiffly got up and left the vision of the screen. The eldest of the Intoners watched her go with a sigh. "I'll see if I can talk her down... I'll be seeing you later, Two." And then she too was gone, leaving just Three and Five (with Dito having disappeared off to somewhere). Soon however they were joined by a familiar man with a familiar scar on his chest
.
"Apologies for butting in, but it seems I've been called by an angelic tone of a certain missing Intoner." He hummed with a charming smile. Two smiled sheepishly, feeling her face heat up with a blush.
grah
Dark Sun, what choices have I...?
"I don't know, it felt like a clever middle finger, just get me Arthur already so I can leave because every second down here is a war to not run over and clock the sonuvabitch in front of an entire fucking assembly!" I snapped, shaking and really wanting this to be over with sooner rather than later.
i guess you can watch me shitpost i guess
"Sorry, got things to do and people to talk to. Maybe I'll catch you later"
It was a lot easier to deal with this through jokes and aloof flirting. It gave Rex the sense that he still had everything under control... and maybe made the consequent begging sting a little less than it otherwise would.
"There's gotta be something you can do! I know assistants like to go behind their bosses' backs and help people all the time" Well, at least Tairee did. She had a soft spot for children, and hopefully this guy had a button like that too. Rex just had to find it and exploit it "We have a special thing and I... I want to see it grow. Like in their case" he didn't feel comfortable admitting that aloud and instead whispered while briefly pointing at Two. "Is that not interesting enough for you?"
THE SLORG!
"Hey, you're not in charge of the knights!" Louie said back at Hercules, a bit snappy. "And what are you talking about, us being the one to pick the fight? Writer's the one who kidnapped us; that guy's associated with the Writer, so he's associated with kidnapping us. That's why I intend to have Swishee dunk water on the guy and ruin his suit" the trainer continued, not sold yet by Hercules' points.
Meanwhile at the central desks, Miss Tairee #2 gave a nod and a simple, "very well" as a plain looking handheld mirror appeared on the desk in front of Garrett with a blur. "Touch a finger to it when you want to begin the call and again when you wish to end it. Either once you end the call or the day ends, whichever comes first, the mirror will vanish" the second librarian instructed to Garrett.
Elsewhere in the lobby, Miss Tairee #8 rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Lewis, doesn't futility factor into your decision making at all? You can't hurt him, and I'll have to bubble you if you try" Miss Tairee #8 said as a simple tablet device with a single button appeared in front of Lewis with a blur.
Over at the large mirror, Silanea looked over at Makoto. "If it brought back everyone, then, a little under two hundred. Um... Hunting is what we're mostly good at, and fishing, and I guess nature magic" Silanea said, still concerned about something, as she then went on. "I worry that the humans around us would still refuse to trade with us, at least for some time. I'm not naive enough to think that their fears of us will go away overnight... And um, how would they have the meat, if they're not allowed to hunt either?" the lamia went on.
One of the things Silanea said had gotten Valentina's attention, who looked over with an expression of academic curiosity. "Did you say, nature magic..? Perhaps we can discuss that later" Valentina said.
Through the mirror, since Akyaliha was at the far end of one of the tables, and the way the seating was laid out, only one person had had to sit next to her. That person was a very old looking man with a large white beard, dressed in blue robes and a pointed blue hat; the standard medieval fantasy tropes were obvious, that this man was a wizard or mage of some sort. He had likewise suddenly looked interested when Silanea mentioned nature magic, and now took his cue to speak up. "Our villagers get meat from farming livestock; didn't the idea ever occur to you?" the old man said, turning his attention to Akyaliha.
"Of course it did; we just could never do it on a large scale in the forest, while hiding from you" Akyaliha answered him.
"Hmm, and tell me madam, were hunting in the woods and hiding from us there the only reasons for your people to live there?" the old man then asked.
"... It has become something of a tradition now, but yes, I suppose" Akyaliha responded, a bit hesitantly.
"I see. One more question then madam; can your people eat eggs without getting sick?" the old man questioned further.
"Eggs?" Akyaliha said, her tone a bit shocked, almost disgusted.
"Bird eggs" the old man clarified.
"Oh, bird eggs? Yes, we can eat those just fine; we take them from their nests in the trees, on occasion" Akyaliha responded, understanding better now.
"Excellent" the old man stated in a cheery tone, clapping his hands together once and turning his attention towards the king. "Well my lord, I believe I have an alternative solution that should be fitting for everyone. As I recall, some of the Northern grasslands are still uninhabited after the orcs had marched through them. We could have the lamias move there, and as we all should know, that land is perfect for raising chickens; they should hardly even have to worry about cultivating crops, as there's plenty there for chickens to forage on their own. It solves the poaching issue, lets us not have to worry about repopulating the lands, and it should even be a more reliable source of food for the lamias, who as their leader has even admitted, were 'barely making do' in the forest as it is" the old man explained at length.
There was a brief silence, then the king slowly brought his hands up and clapped a few times. "Bravo, arch mage. I'm glad to see your mind is still sharp" the king said sincerely once he stopped.
"Always eager to help, sire" the arch mage muttered with a nod of his head.
"Well then, I believe that would be the best course of action, but it does leave one more question" the king then announced, looking around the court. "Who among you with titles in the Northern grasslands would be willing to have the lamias live upon your land?" he asked them... There was a more drawn out, awkward silence then, as a number of the nobles glanced about at each other with either uneasy expressions or stony poker faces.
"Whaaat? Are you suggesting that, Sekreh Tairee went behind Writer's back on something? How scandalous" Tset said, his clearly fake shock indicating that he already knew what Rex was talking about. "I wonder how she did it though, since Writer is completely omniscient and all" the man continued, his cheeky grin likewise indicating that he was now just messing with Rex.
Tset dropped the grin though as he moved on to the other topic. "Well, Rex, of course the romance thing is interesting; that's why Director and Developer are allowing it to happen at all. Your universes and Makoto's universes were never supposed to even touch each other; it's completely impossible for you to reach each other without their intervention" Tset said, in a more serious tone, with almost a hint of somberness to it. "The problem here is that, if you two have some kind of fitting and dramatic obstacle to overcome, then it's even more interesting; and what could be more fitting in this case than your latent amnesia striking again?" the assistant went on.
Edited by FirockFinion on Jan 16th 2019 at 1:13:39 PM
You are reading this.
Dark Sun, what choices have I...?
"I'm trying not to, that's the idea, it's just fucking hard and I need to gtfo before I cave" I hissed at her, roughly snatching the tablet and accidentally knocking over the chair in the process. "KthanksI'mout."
I booked it for one of the elevators, went in, and...immediately went back out and toward her again. "I can't do this with video, can I put tape over the camera or something."
i guess you can watch me shitpost i guess
THE SLORG!
"Oh for the love of- did Director make you this annoying or did you do it yourself? Here" Miss Tairee #8 said in frustration, as the tablet blurred and was replaced with a simple phone with a single button.
You are reading this.
Happy Box Hater
Upper Library
Caboose had never thought he'd see someone so adamantly opposed to an obvious truth. But Four was the kind of person who was very firm in her beliefs, it looked like. Honestly, the stubborn conviction was almost Sarge-like. One already left to help her sister, so it seemed like conversation on that front would have to cease. "Just between you all and me, I do not think she was very good at hiding it," the soldier said. "I knew something was strange after talking to you all for like a few minutes."
Well, One didn't seem unpleased with this turn of events either... so, all in all, Caboose's efforts had made everyone happy! Probably also Zero? She wanted to kill them because of the flower, so she probably wasn't gonna kill them anymore... right?
His innocent insult of One's subtlety stopped when Cent walked in. "Oh, Two! It's your cool bird not husband!" he exclaimed to the already flustered intoner. His voice dropped into a whisper when he added "Wait, did they know they were kind of also birds already?"
Why is a yam attacking me?
For the Horde!
Ben's harsh expression softened as soon as Hercules started to scold him and instead of looking at him, Ben simply stared into space with a blank, unpleasant expression. Normally he probably would have gotten mad at the Greek hero, especially when Louie immediately swooped in to defend him. But his eyes had been opened by this.
"Knock it off, Louie," Ben said. "Hercules is right. We're not being heroes, we're being bullies. We say we're heroes but all we do is get into fights with other good guys and push people around for not thinking the same way we do." The shame evident in his voice turned into anger, and Ben lowered his head, balling up his fists and putting them on his head, shaking his head.
"Why do I keep doing this?!" he yelled. "What is wrong with me? What kind of hero does stuff like this?!" He got up in a huff.
"I gotta go think about some stuff," he firmly said, moving towards the door. Hopefully it would be quiet outside. That way he could think.
Edited by AllHailThrall on Jan 16th 2019 at 6:49:24 AM
I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither.
Snowy
Rean sighed, honestly not wanting to dignify Rex's "Girl trouble" comment with a response. The Intoner sisters overall seemed to be ok with the news, though Four was having a very hard time believing it. Two on the other hand expected Rean to have a stronger response to the truth.
"Really?" Rean asked, puzzled."I mean sure, it's weird, but it explains why Zero kept coming after you guys. You’re here now, regardless of how it happened. And you don't have to worry about the Flower ending the world anymore, so that part doesn't matter either."
Four and One left the room, and were replaced by a familiar swordsman.
"Oh, hey, it’s Cent!" Rean said. "Two’s said a lot about you."
Edited by stargirl93 on Jan 16th 2019 at 3:36:44 PM
I just want to help!
Cole didn't seem to quite get Arcade's slight disapproval of Cole's opinions on his survival skills, and looked as though he might have more to say about it, but some noise from above caused him to take a step back, looking up and around. It took him a moment, but finally-
"Ben!" Cole called out, abruptly handing the mirror back to Arcade and turning to hurry out to where the young hero was walking, even as Cole was waving an arm in the air to try and get his attention. "Ben! I have a grandmother that I am meeting! She's very nice and I'm showing her everyone!"
He looked to Arcade, pointing almost a bit frantically. "Ben is there, can we go say hello and introduce him?"
Edited by ColeMinor on Jan 16th 2019 at 7:35:17 AM
If it wasn't one thing, it was another, and Arcade was stuck fumbling as Cole suddenly thrust the tablet back into his hands. At least he seemed excited.
"Alright, alright," he said once he got a handle on the situation, "of course it's fine. Let's get up there."
I say that aloud too sometimes, just: "man, no life."
Stop Killing My Titles
Two, Library Upper Floor
"Catch you later!~" Five crooned to the leaving Rex. Well, no matter. Now she could watch her dear blue sister light up like a evening star from Cent's sheer presence.
"My what?" ...oh, yeah, Cent was technically a dove. Ugh. Best not to think of that - it gave her too many unseemly images. "Ah, um, well..." Between that and Rean mentioning that she might have gushed about her boyfriend just a little too much, she couldn't help but blush up.
"I see. I'm humbled that you would consider your lowly Disciple worthy of discussion, Lady Two." Cent bowed his head down reverentially, but his face still held a playful squeak. The bluenette squeaked in embarrassment.
"S-stop it, you... you're not lowly at all..."
"...so, Caboose, anything fun happening over there?" Three inquired to the now-red sim trooper, resting her chin on her hand.
"Add me for that question. I'm all up for hearing of all fun-loving people out there."
"It's pleasure to meet you." Here Cent addressed Rean. "Friends of Lady Two are friends of mine." Two meanwhile seemed content to just blush up a storm and fidget nervously in her seat, accidentally squeezing Rean's hand again in the midst of all this.
grah
Louie continued to be a hindrance to the situation he then snapped at Hercules, blindly rushing to Ben’s aid and insisted that Ben should get back at Tset with one of his Pokemnon. Hercules was about to scold Louie for even thinking such a thing but Ben told him to back off.
Hercules then looked at Ben, he could see the boy was now feeling shame he was now regretting what he had done in the City while leading the City Knights. Hercules had noticed over time while he was here that Ben had gotten into verbal fights with people and even arguments while claiming he was a hero at the same time.
He couldn’t help but feel sympathy for his friend, while Ben did act impulsively he did have a heart of gold and was trying to do the right thing he then watched his friend yell in anger about why he kept doing this, he just couldn’t bear it no longer knowing what he ha done.
“No one’s blaming you Ben, you can still change things.” Hercules said quietly to him in a reassuring tone, he no longer wanted to scold him but to help him in any way he could. Ben then decided that he wanted time to himself and with that went to the front entrance to get some air.
Hercules then watched Ben walk away in silence he knew what he had to do. “I’ll go talk with him. He may need some moral support.” He finally told Louie and then followed after him up towards the entrance of the library without another word.
Edited by TheStarscream759 on Jan 16th 2019 at 12:50:21 PM
Library Lobby
Unfortunately all that seemed interesting to the other humans was the Lamia's nature magic, but finding a place for a population under 200 didn't seem unreasonable. At least someone else had a more feasible idea. Moving the Lamia into unoccupied territory for quick farming worked, but it didn't appear that anyone actually wanted them on their land. Was this really where they were going to stall out? Makoto was unimpressed, but they couldn't exactly force volunteers unless the king felt like it.
“...It look like they might need an incentive at this rate,” Makoto said quietly. Maybe a small sum of money or an extra title or a favor to pull.
Dark Sun, what choices have I...?
There was something redundant about giving me a disposable second ladybug-type phone when I already had a full phone on hand, but then it did fit with what I asked and I didn't particularly care anyway. I turned to leave, took two steps, and then spun back around like on a hinge to face her again. "What if he immediately hangs up, I would, wouldn't this be a bit of a waste, is there any way to..."
i guess you can watch me shitpost i guess
Library Lobby
Oh, so Valentina actually had a countermeasure for people jumping into the call unexpectedly this time? Well, considering last time she was nearly hit with a pole, it made sense. Sh'ed try to be quieter then. Rex created his giant boots and jumped up to the second floor for some reason, taking Doug with him. Maybe he wanted to call up there? The actual meeting was starting though, and it sounded like things were at least on track, except there was some friction about letting the Lamia join the military. From her experience reading history books, Makoto thought that full integration made understanding one another easier. Not allowing the Lamia to even participate in the defense of the Kingdom they were meant to be a part of wouldn't end well either. Forcefully keeping them separate from the rest of the population would only make tensions worse in the long-run.
"It's not very equal if they can't even drill with each other...." Makoto said quietly, though she didn't try to force the point.
Library Second Floor
Doug squeaked at the jump, but held on to Rex well enough and he seemed curious about how they'd gotten so high up in such a short time. He wasn't a fan of so many people in one space though, and stayed quiet as voices were raised, watching the groups carefully.