Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3

Fate observed Lark with a collector’s eye, fascinated by how literally the color had drained from them. There were the eyes, sure, but it was more than that. Their feigned indifference to her jokes and mannerisms was gone, replaced by apathy. Their hair somehow seemed to have lost its shine, its glittering silver now a matte, dull silver. This wouldn’t do, absolutely not.

“Dealing with Fate?”
An eyebrow crept upwards along with Fate’s tone.
“You know that’s never a good idea, Lark. Centuries of stories exist where the moral is just that.”
A pause, a sip, a shuffle.

“Although you do have a track record for disregarding advice, so that’s probably a moot point.”


Fate let the silence drag out a little further, watching them again. Their stillness was unnerving, not in an upsetting way, but unnatural, like watching the second hand on a clock tick but not actually move forward. The witch set her deck down, lacing her fingers and resting her chin upon them, pale eyes staring into the deep gray of the weary traveler sat before her.

“Okay, Lark. Let’s play a game.”
Fate smiled sweetly, sharply, as her deck began to move on its own, the cards shifting and snaking along the desk with the soft clatter of something harder than expected moving against the desk.
“Three questions. Ask one, flip a card. I’ll give you an answer.”


As Fate talked, her eyes seemed to glow faintly, edges of red reflecting in the glassy pale blue. The cards shuffled and arranged themselves, six perfectly neat rows of thirteen cards, all face down.

“No magic, no tricks. I just want to see what you pull.”
That vulpine grin remained, not budging.
“And I promise that every answer will be completely and utterly accurate, to the best of my ability at least.”
A black gloved hand draped in tattered crimson extended across the table. An olive branch, a ceasefire, a fool’s bargain.

“Do we have a deal?”
 
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Himiko didn’t fail to notice that the receptionist needed to look twice at Masami’s ID, while hers simply needed a single glance. No doubt because she actually looked the part of someone who belonged in DDC, whereas Masami should be dozing in the back of a classroom somewhere. She beamed at the receptionist as she stood and led them down the hallway to their training room.

"Thank you!" Himiko bubbled, eagerly stepping inside the training room, only slightly annoyed that she had to go after Masami. “I will, if you don’t mind.”

Himiko untucked the prism necklace from her shirt and brought it to her lips before letting it fall back down. Small splashes of rainbow clung to her lips and fingertips, spreading out from where the necklace fell against her chest. She ran her hands up over her face, bright blue skin trailing in their wake. They ran through her hair, shortening it and filling it with color before flicking the rest out.

“Iris.” she introduced herself with a little bow, basking in the glow of her transformation. She didn’t have the wings out yet, those would come later.

“Go ahead,” Iris gestured towards Masami. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”
 

Janis was mortified. She felt a flush creep into her cheeks as her wife’s familiar made a giant robotic heart and blew her a kiss. Fortunately she didn’t have a ton of time to be embarrassed as the Circle was cast, the swirling fog of the Nightmare solidifying into a thick sludge that coalesced further into gross shapes. She registered the Salamanders and winced as the piercing crow of the Cockatrice reached her ears.

The others were already springing into action, and Janis wasn’t going to let herself be caught gawking. She pressed a few buttons on her console and grinned to herself as music started filtering in through some speakers she’d put up. They weren’t exactly regulation, but if they thought she’d be able to kick Nightmare ass without something playing, they were sorely mistaken.

As she felt the drums and guitar fill the space, a grin crept on Janis’s face as she pushed Medusa forward. Aphrodite and Brig appeared to be handling the Salamanders, with her wife providing backup. That was good, as long as Meena was safe things would be a lot easier.

“I’ve got the other leg!” Medusa surged forward, skirting the edge of the fight before abruptly shifting focus, darting in to mirror Echo, slashing at the Cockatrice’s other ankle. Any of her hair snakes that got in range lashed out too, intent on making this thing sluggish and slow. They’d show this fucking overgrown chicken not to mess with them.
 
Interesting. While biochemistry and medical science weren’t her forte, Mari certainly could appreciate the advances made in the field. Spork would disagree, but Spork also agreed to let her experiment on them and attach things to their spine, so they weren’t really the best point of reference for what her areas of expertise were. This bone cement could certainly be handy for them, though.

Spork had broken several bones before Mari had even started Nine Tails, and with their recklessness, combined with her occasional fuckups in the augmentation department, that number had almost certainly hit double digits. Wrangling a Spork who couldn’t move a part of themself or get it wet was truly an endeavor. More than once while enduring this, Mari considered asking Sisyphus for his boulder, just to take a break.

The crowd murmured after the girl’s speech was concluded, a wave of people forming an unruly line to ask questions and exchange business cards. Mari kept a handful that she’d taken from various booths, intending to properly research the companies later. Some of them had little holes stabbed through them with a pen. These were for her targets. They’d get extra research later on.

Mari waited until the majority of the crowd had moved on before making herself known and stepping up to the younger woman presenting. She seemed the bubbly sort, not someone Mari would usually expect to see in these conventions, let alone presenting.

“Good afternoon,” Mari said, putting on her business smile. “I have to admit, I’m very intrigued by the applications of bone cement. Do you know if or when Dr. Voticelli intends to release it for public use? I would certainly be interested.” She extended her hand for the girl to take.

“I’m Mari. Do you work for Dr. Voticelli?”
 
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