AtomicEmperor

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

@Estylwen
Awesome post. I finally added again to our collab; sorry for the long wait!

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

Three new Temple NPCs!

NPC Harietta Von Voletta

Harietta "Hari".Von Voletta

21 | Harietta "Hari" Von Voletta | She/Her

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"This is absolutely not in the book."

Description:

There are two ways a child under the age of eighteen joins the Temple of Charming and Graceful Individuals: If you're a child of a dedicated follower, or if you're a magical stray who happens to catch the whiff of Lux wafting up through the ground of their campus. Hari Von Voletta is part of the latter group, and like many followers of the previous decade who had come to them, Hari is one of the first of the New Generation to come. She arrived after the Sycamore Tree Coven's greatest deed, and only knows St. Portwell in a tenuous peace, without the chaos and open warfare of the magical underground that had existed previously.

Her arrival five years ago was met by a dogged and exhausted Lynette, who was very quickly losing her grip on several daughters who pulled in different directions. Mia, her blood, was already cold and under the spike on a constant basis, while her chosen had already left, or were ready to leave her side. There was a call about a girl who was trying to chat up people outside of a Temple-owned establishment. When staff attempted to "insure her compliance" they found a strong, hardened Emotional Field brushing their attempts to the side. Thus, the carrot, rather than the stick, was employed. As the kids say, "real recognizes real.", and the very capable Pink Lux adept was brought to the Temple to be questioned.

Lynette appreciated the story the girl told, about her awful life and her rejection. Her struggle for survival. Of course Lynette took her in. A consummate foster parent, the paperwork was done up by her contacts in the State the next day. Nobody batted an eye when the girl started living in the Dorms and doing as she pleased. The problem seemed to be that despite that strange teacher's pet attitude she had, she was a genuinely pleasant girl. Not only, but strong willed and good natured; uncommon for someone who would've had all the trust issues of a homeless teen. It was like she didn't have any baggage at all.

Five years on, and it's a well known fact that Hari Von Voletta is a fugitive hiding out from her Thirteenth Generation Belgian Lux Dynasty. Not that she was from Belgium or anything; her family had settled on Chicago as their American headquarters, and they were three generations deep already. The Von Voletta line hasn't made any sort of move against the Temple, and while they did figure out what her real story was, Lynette has been unsuccessful in returning the girl to her home. As such, she's stuck around, and while she's mellowed out her direct involvement with her Foster Mother, she's remained close with the Richoux siblings. Particularly Mia, both of whom share a secret and sordid relationship between one another, and their opiate of choice (Or their frequent battles against it).

Abstraction:

Hari is a Pink Lux Adept whose Channeler is a men's black leather belt.
Famous for their diplomatic efforts in European politics, the Von Voletta family utilize Pink Lux spells passed down through generations in order to settle disputes through a specially developed set of skills: The Equality of Man. In essence, Hari excels in combining minds together into pools of thought and concept. At its most basic version, it's a tool that allows individuals to understand and accept one another when all other options of discussion have failed. At its most powerful, effected minds can be pooled together and re-allocated into different bodies with completely jumbled results, creating an essentially new set of individuals who are combined results of several constituents.

NPC Etiennette "Eddy" L'matise

Etiennette "Eddy".L'matise

20 | Etiennette "Eddy" L'matise | She/Her

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"Isn't it funny how God isn't here anymore?"

Description:

A cousin of the Richoux family, Eddy and her family have been riding Lynette's coattails since her young mother escaped New York with Eddy in tow at the age of fifteen. Despite being raised in the cult since her infancy, Eddy never Kindled. Efforts were made, Lynette attempted to guide and instruct, but at the end of fifteen of her own years, the young girl was just... Worthless to them. Like others under the same scrutiny and expectation, she was cast to the wayside with the assumption that if she ever found her power, she'd be able to return.

Eddy dealt with abuse and rejection not only from her mentor and teacher, but from her own mother. She had long since remarried a member of the Temple, and their life was a far cry from when they arrived. They were both expected to be dedicated, and while her Mother had already Kindled by the time Eddy was born, she seemed to be the only child not following suit. But she had friends: Not great influences, but Mia Richoux and Hari Von Voletta grew protective of the rejected girl. They were the best she'd get, and while the two girls may have introduced her to hard drugs, they were also able to change her life, and consequently their own.

Through literal highs and lows, Eddy was the little sister that both of the others needed. Far more unstable and prone to hot-headed behavior, she needed to be tended to in a gentle way that eventually became second nature to them. However, as time passed, a plan gestated. One where the Trinity would take matters into their own hands in regards to Eddy's overall situation. In a particularly dry, sober period of their lives, the girls left St. Portwell for the deserts of the South, where they spent a summer hitching around without money or support until they found themselves back on drugs in California.

In a seedy motel in the middle of nothingness, the three attempted to complete a ritual that would end the world. They failed, succeeding only in forcing a weak apparition of their desires and ambitions into existence. Serenity. Naturally, the girls would not let the weak creature fade; so Eddy volunteered to become the Adjoined to Serenity. The world of Magic opened up for Eddy that night, taking on the burden of nursing her own creation. The three have been "sober" since, but the powers of the Poppy Doll have only grown in the two years since. Now, Eddy is a nexus for their little Trinity, her powers providing an unlimited health-conscious buzz while keeping a spirit of rebellion alive inside them.

Abstraction:

Eddy is Adjoined to the Apparition known as Serenity, the Poppy Doll.
Serenity's main purpose was to be a tool of world-ending sloth and torpor created in an opium induced magic ritual. While the spirit itself was only half baked, consistent practice and usage has revealed several aspects of the Apparition that are available for Eddy to use. These aspects directly correlate to hers and her sisters' emotional states at the time.
The M-Strain, influenced by Mia, is the love of the high: Eddy is capable of projecting a strong opiate-like field of influence around her immediate vicinity. It's the most practiced aspect, as the three girls (and often others) gather around on off days to soak up the clean high.
The H-Strain, Hari's strain, represents the safety in stillness: Eddy targets a single individual, transfixing them in her gaze as they're filled with an overwhelming sense of empathy toward her until they feel compelled to keep her company or protect her from some unknown force.
Her own strain, the E-Strain, is the most violent representation: Rather than attempting to influence or court comfort, Eddy's body becomes numb and cold to the touch, and being touched by her transfers this sensation from target to target like a paralytic virus that leaves the body unable to move or function as organs slow down to a dangerous crawl.

NPC Kane and Abel

Kane &.Abel

Great Question | Kane & Abel | They/Them(It)

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"How deep is the hole? We're not telling a soul!"

Description:

Of all the relics and Apparitions in the possession of the Richoux family, none are as old and venerated as the pair of cats known as Kane and Abel. Aptly named due to their proclivity for more than dangerous kinds of antics and tricks, these two cats have been members of the family for as long as anyone can remember, and while there's no records of their arrival in France, it's said that they initially came from a journey to America during the first days of French settlement in the Louisiana Territory. What is known is that they are, seemingly, a pair of Maine Coon cats who exhibit exceptional intelligence and wit alongside a laundry list of other anomalous properties from capacity for speech to image perfect mind reading so strong that it ignores Emotional Fields. Strangest of all is the trait which they're named for, as Kane frequently and unceremoniously kills and devours his brother, who in turn reappears sometime later through inexplicable means.

Strangely, they claim to know of St. Portwell, talking about it fondly as if it were some sort of vacation spot in a distant period of their lives. It was, in fact, Kane and Abel who originally influenced and urged Lynette and Maxwell Richoux to move from the streets of New York City to the rainy harbor city, and when they agreed, the cats were brought along as valued companions and advisors in the earliest days. They revealed certain secrets in those days, hidden truths and necessities that the Temple has since addressed and prepared for, and eventually the brothers became more and more relaxed as time carried on.

In addition, these talking cats were trusted to be a part of the children's' lives. Maxwell himself explicitly trusted the two with the stewardship of their infant children, and said children were expected to be respectful and mindful of the venerable felines just as he had been in his own childhood. It's impossible to think that Maxwell didn't know what was going to happen; that if he had grown up with the same monsters, he'd know that they were anything but safe. The horrible things were torturous guardians; playing out the oroboros of murder until the children Kindled and were able to hear their childlike voices speaking as if they were children themselves. From there, the physical horror was only augmented by verbal torment and blatant abuse as they lauded their access to the children's' minds over them for years. Only Casey escaped, but they merely continued to physically torment him, their twenty pound frames easily ripping and tearing at his flesh while he slept, or other menacing tactics.

What's clear to Lynette, and was once clear to Maxwell himself, is that these two cats are far worse creatures than advertised. The entity in question is a Wampus Cat: a malicious spirit creature born of Mankind's fear of the unknown. Due to the nature of these creatures, it's often unknown what their true capacity for the supernatural is. While they're plenty capable of filling one's mind with falsehoods and lies, their age and seeming inherent knowledge of magic are both possible caches of valuable information available to the Temple for the small price of souls to torment forever.

Abstraction:

Kane and Abel are two halves of a single Wampus Cat whose real name is ∆æ¿ıӘɲɲ≤
While Wampus Cats aren't well documented as they're typically illusive creatures adverse to life among humans, certain Adepts have been known to capture them from the swamps and marshlands of North and Central America in an attempt to utilize them as powerful familiars. For reasons it hasn't disclosed, ∆æ¿ıӘɲɲ≤ chose to be "domesticated" by the Richoux clan.
While it's incredibly difficult to know what its plans are, the stewards of the Richoux have managed to collectively gather a list of effective abilities the creature has displayed over time. For starters, it seems to be incredibly resistant to Lux effects of any kind, his own natural Emotional Field bolstered by its alien and otherworldly complexity. Beyond that, its ability to split and absorb itself at will was observed long ago, and serves as the source of its horrific mockery of the Christian tale of Kane and Abel.

Its tremendous intelligence is mostly attributed to its proclivity for mind invasion, an effect similar to Pink Lux being used to intake, store and process memories of its victims for use later. Being two halves of the same entity, the cats share pain receptors, heart rates, step placement, and otherwise are capable of perfectly synchronized independent movement and action. Regardless of their massive size, the twin bodies are supernaturally strong and capable of withstanding tremendous damage as observed by an incident involving an invasion of the Temple's compound in the late eighteenth century.

In the same incident, an instance of their true form was gleamed by Antoine Alain Richoux, who described the full horror of the Wampus cat as "a six legged, elk sized beast of disproportionate mouth and head, whose glowing yellow eyes and wide Cheshire grin drove me to such madness that to this day I cannot bear to view even the silhouette of a feline in motion." Leon Richoux has confirmed this appearance, and many secrets of his own, as he's technically "catnapped" the creature and has been attempting to negotiate with ∆æ¿ıӘɲɲ≤ in order to claim the (potential) treasure trove of information.

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

@Estylwen
Do you want to collab this fight? Or just see how it goes bouncing back and forth?

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

Mood Music

Kenshiro

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Mentions: Auri Auclair, Odessa Maxwell | Direct Dialogue: The Trio/In Collaboration with @NoriWasHere, Luca Olivera/@FernStoneEmily G. Reed/@Punished GN | Location: Festival Airspace/Grounds, Cracker Island Historic District

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Ken had said goodbye for now to Auri and her friend Odessa, a large bundle of packed supplies that Auri was trusting him to deliver as safely and easily as possible. He was good at that, as Purple Lux made the moving of objects the simplest kind of task. He wasn't even some fancy portal jumper, rather relying on what he knew best: The Leaping Frog technique. He left his haul of flowers behind, intending to come back for them very soon, as he had plans. For now, he removed the weight of the bundle and tucked the line with one hand under it, then took off in a loud pop that sounded like a firework mortar had exploded at ground level. However there was no light, and absolutely no sign of the supersonic ball hurling through the air on a mortar arch over the city.
Auri hadn't given him the key, rather agreeing to utilize his ability to swap. He knew where she kept his stash of bark in the store, and as he touched down into the near desolate area of the city, where all the businesses were closed and the kids had better neighborhoods to get candy from, he peeked into the window to see if it was there.

It was, and he smiled. Ken's hands flicked together, and in a huff of purple smoke, he had a small bag of bark to summon more of his scouts, while the bundle of supplies, tables, chairs and myriad of other things she'd brought sat precariously on the counter for her to unpack the next day... Or, it would if he couldn't manipulate the still weightless bundle from outside. No, Ken wasn't quite so ignorant that he'd just leave things for her like that. He wanted her to be happy and calm when she worked, and as such he spent a few extra minutes manipulating the bundle, moving things and organizing them on the floor and countertop so that she'd be able to easily identify and store everything in its proper place.
An elderly woman walked by, asking what he was doing staring at the closed flower shop, but when he turned to her and started to blast Japanese at her, she very quickly scrambled away in confusion. It always worked.

Once everything was wrapped up neatly, he made for the island once more to enact his plan of remembrance for their comrades. One last jump across town got him back to the island, and from there he found that Auri had moved on. He didn't waste time then, and scooped the massive bundle of various beautiful flowers, negating its weight and his own. A small hop sent him on an upward trajectory that didn't stop until he formed a barrier of air to catch himself on. The flowers nearly escaped him as well, but he'd never intended to keep them whole. As such, he formed a massive phantom grasp around the bushel of multicolored flower petals, severing the stems before he mulched them into organic confetti.
Able to stabilize himself out, he began to calmly walk thirty or forty feet over the heads of Festival goers, slowly but surely raining flower petal confetti down to brighten the nights of those in attendance. All the while, in his mind he listed out the names of the dead and those who had recently been claimed. Each handful was an offering in their name.

But eventually he heard his name. Someone had bothered to look up, but they knew his name? Who could it be? He stared down at the spot, craning his neck until his face welled with surprise. Luca, out and about on the town! It was a beautiful thing to see, such a wonderfully sweet and gentle person so constantly wracked with pain actually getting out and enjoying their time. Ken found himself happy that Luca hadn't been one of the selected victims. But, he wasn't alone! Ken built a great deal of energy up in a ball with the remaining petals, blasting the entire thing open to send a great explosion of confetti across the sky to rain down on the island. As he did, his figure descended from the sky in a slow fall.

His eyes caught Emily G. Reed scuttling in a toga across the causeway, looking like she always did; up to no good. But he'd address that after. First, Luca and, to Ken's surprise, The Trio!

"You know, I come back to the Shimmer, and somehow every time something surprises me. Luca and the dynamic Trio!?"
While unable to touch Luca directly, Ken always gave the courtesy of a phantom hug for Luca as he bowed to greet the group.
"How are you Jasper, my friend!?" he asked, also exchanging real hugs between Jasper, Lila and Lynn. His Batman makeup was black around his eyes like a raccoon, and he had a warm smile on his face. "I have been told that Kikyo has missed you! No doubt you've kept up with your Gold magic, no? Have you moved on from our dear friends?" he asked with that odd sincerity that he had always been in possession of. Ken didn't ever mince words or avoid hard questions. He waited for a moment before his head turned between them all. A tear fell from his eye.
"Oh, fuck it! Come here!"

His arms lashed out, a telekinetic burst bringing the four of them tight together for him to hug. While he separated Luca from the others with a small barrier of air, his arm definitely wrapped around Luca and rubbed his shoulder and back until Ken could feel the burning pain starting to eat at his arm.
"I'm so happy to see you all. When I got home and filled in, I was gripped with pain... But this monster won't have any more of us: I've come home again."

”Fuck man it’s so good to see you,” Jasper spoke as he embraced his friend back, ”and Kikyo remembers me? Awww she was always the sentimental type. I’ll be sure to let her know how much I’ve missed her when I get to see her next! I’ve been really good, really really good. I’ve got a few new tricks to show you with my gold magic,” Jasper winked with a smile before the smile fell slightly. ”I don’t know if I’ve learned how to move on yet, I’ll always carry a piece of them in my heart you know?”

“Ken, we've missed you?” Lila said with a grin as wide as her face, “with you back all my fear is suddenly gone.”

“You being here changes things,” Lynn said with a grin and then a sigh, “excuse me while I-” Lynn’s voice cut out as her eyes glazed over and she departed for the possible future.

Ken’s brow furrowed at Lynn as she seemed almost frustrated at his arrival. He frowned slightly, but didn’t shy away.
"Well, I hadn’t intended to harm your night, dear Lynn! I’ve missed you, it’s been such a long time!” he called after her, a frown on his face. But he turned to look at the others.

"Well, at least I have you all. Have you seen Emily G. Reed!? Is she still wearing the soot from the smoke bomb I dropped on her earlier!?”

Jasper and Lila looked at each other and chucked. “No, no I haven’t seen her since I covered her face in bird shit earlier. You dropped a smoke bomb on her? I wish I could have seen that, the cunt is being extra shitty tonight. Fucker dead named me in front of the whole festival.”

”Apparently,” Jasper shifted his focus over to Lynn before back to Ken, “Emily is not done being shitty. Sounds like she stole the chalice from Sully.”

“Lynn saw it in the possible future, she’s over there somewhere,” Lila paused as she pointed in the general direction of where Lynn said it would be.

Ken’s eyes went wide. His hand trembled, and he grabbed the mask for his costume. While he’d come from a place out of time where Lila’s (and consequently Luca’s) situation was foreign to him, he’d been very quick on the uptake. He’d always had a great deal of love in his heart for these people whom he fought alongside, and never once had he questioned Lila’s judgment. She was who she was, and he loved her just as much as he’d ever loved the boy named Michael. There was no disconnect for him.

So, hearing this, and the possibility that such a widely known and important artifact such as Sully’s Beer Chalice had been stolen, Ken was in no laughing mood. He put the mask on like it was a superpower, and took a deep breath.

"This won’t stand. We’ll not have her insult us and rob us on the same night! While we mourn and attempt to find comfort and solace in our misplaced friendships! Emily G. Reed spits on the honor of the Sycamore Tree Coven! I will handle this myself, I do not fear that… That cunt!”

”Fuck yeah,” Jasper paused as he raised a fist up for a bump, ” when you’re done come join us. We’re doing an after party at Lucas’s.”

“We’ll celebrate your victory with a few drinks,” Lila finished as she put her weight on her hip as she smiled.

“Changes things in a good way holy shit,” Lynn laughed as she returned to the present, “you be safe now, okay?”

Ken grinned, nodding. One coin left, he figured he would need a weapon of some kind at some point. Knowing 8th Street, Vashti Nour was going to unstick herself from a fucking wall and try and rip his head off. He wasn't well equipped, despite having a full enough loadout on his belt. The bark wasn't going to help much, unless he wanted to roll the dice and flood the festival with Toughs. It wasn't something he wanted to risk, not going in alone. Trained in the focus and application of Lux in very specific quantities, everything was a game of numbers to Kenshiro. He'd not eaten, he'd not slept since his arrival, and he'd been sobbing his heart out for the better part of the day.

But he was pissed. That would be enough, he figured, to refuse to die. Sully was somewhere, and he would have his chalice back. Ken remembered where he'd seen Emily, and made a heavy step high up into the air before spotting the bright white toga hiding away nearby. He unceremoniously dropped in front of her, just like his hero Batman would've done, and rose up slowly to stare at her.
"Emily G. Reed... A woman so vile she can only be referred to by her whole name." he intoned deeply, his hands slowly rising to crack his knuckles. "I only get my news from my cryptic dreams, the source I trust most. A fellow cryptic dreamer says you've got something of ours. And I think the owner would want it back now, you-"
Ken had a bad habit of getting into the emotion of a situation and defaulting to his native tongue. As such, what came after was a jumbled mess of Japanese so old in its dialect that a modern day native speaker would even have a hard time understanding him. What it amounted to was a long winded curse, calling her bloodline and lineage a disgrace, and insinuating that she wouldn't be fit to lick the underside of a particularly low-bellied bottom feeding river fish.

"- so hand the fucking cup to me and I won't test the atmospheric pressure difference between low orbit and the bottom of the ocean with your fucking lungs! And no, this won't be like last time where someone will tell me to stop! Because this time I know you have what's ours!"

---

Mood Music

The Temple of Charming and Graceful Individuals

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Members: Elise and Mia Richoux, Andrade Salamente, Furio Natale | Direct Dialogue: Tsukino Luna/@Estylwen | Location: Festival Grounds, Cracker Island Historic District

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The bear didn't take its eyes off the girl, but that didn't stop her from getting her own look. From Luna's position, it would've been easy to see that Andrade Salamente was far too busy grilling to be handling a knife of any kind. Whether it was hidden away somewhere or not was a different question, as plenty of Chefs liked to bring their own knives whenever they were going to be in a kitchen. It wouldn't be a stretch to say the object of Luna's desire was probably there, but it was just a matter of seeing him use it to confirm.

Mia was too tired to think about much, but she remembered what she was supposed to be doing for dear Lynette. Mother had asked her to make sure the prayer cards got handed out to people. Whether or not they took them didn't matter; Lynette knew any Temple member would, since her words were written on paper. Not all of them knew what that meant, but Lynette's little poem-prayer would be her entryway into anyone who decided to keep it around. It's how they knew who to send solicitors to, who was most likely to accept the Temple in some way.
They were spy cards washed with pure White Lux. Even now, there was a chance that Lynette was spying from the very stack of cards Mia was supposed to be handing out. The girl tensed up, and it caused the bear in Elise's hands to move its head ever so slightly to focus on the little sister. Elise had been scoping Mia out since she'd gotten into St. Portwell, the family hobby of constantly insuring that Mia wasn't high, or in some various state of coming down from a high. It'd been almost a year, but the suspicion never waned.

But it also noticed the shift in the customer's head toward Andrade. It wasn't alarming, as plenty of people were interested in the master chef. Currently he was plating Luna's meal into a small plastic to-go container, which separated one side from the other so the salad wouldn't get soggy because of the steam from the kebab. It was clearly lamb, the gamey smell of the meat wafting along with the spices as Andrade passed it up to Mia.
"Order up for-" Andrade paused as he turned to see the customer, Luna, and her outfit. "Haha, creepy bunny. Enjoy!" he called. It was a bit of PR, making sure he was just as involved with the customer. But still no knife.
"It's from an anime, Uncle Dre!" Mia laughed backward, finally taking Luna's money and gathering the change, a plastic utensil set, and a prayer card for her to take.
"May Charm and Grace guide you, Touka! With love from our Temple to you!" a catchphrase she was meant to say after any transaction. Something she'd said at least two hundred times that evening. She rarely felt the need for the spike these days, but it did cross her mind. Her body relaxed at the very thought.

Elise and her bear stared creepily, however, eyes never leaving Luna's frame as she waited for the slightest hesitation at taking the card. She's got to take it. Mia folded it inside the change, right? Did she give enough money?
"Oh, and your drink, Sister! Absentmind here forgot to ask what you wanted..."
The sleuth had inserted herself into the equation, eyes now more closely examining the girl at the counter.

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

Mood Music

Edict

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Mentions: Togapocalypse | Direct Dialogue: Linqian and Henri Han/@FernStone, Britney Williams/@Punished GN, Layla Hyacinthus/@Estylwen | Location: Festival Grounds, Cracker Island Historic District

---

Edict was absolutely ready to turn and run with Brit, but he felt Sabrina's hesitation. It was obvious she didn't want to go without their tagalongs, and frankly Edict didn't want to leave Linqian in the rut despite the rapidity of her conversion and the hilarity of the situation as a whole. And God forbid, some White Luxer comes around, they'd be tipped off about his intrusion into Layla's mind immediately. It wasn't worth it, he needed far more time with Layla than just those few minutes. True saturation could take days, weeks even...

"Brit, wait! One sec!"

So when the seamstress took her shot and yarded both of the ladies back from the brink of the Togapocalypse, he was more ready to back her up than he was ready to chase after Britney. Of course that wasn't entirely true, but he had plans and people watching who needed to see results. It was an important deal for his personal independence, and a cause he believed was worthy of his dedication. Caught once again between his love for his job, and his love for another... The woes and plights of the Pink Lux Adept, to be forever trapped between love! Great, massive stones beset me upon all sides, and I am a prisoner of passion... I am the sad clown begging to be loved back...

Sometimes we go about in pity for ourselves in spite of a great wind carrying us across the sky, don't we My Pale Son?

Edict spun at the voice of his Mother, who he knew wasn't there. There was a moustacheless Mario slowly making his way toward them, a fairly surprised look on his face as Linqian was trying to shove him onward. Instantly, the Warm Little Center of the Lotus unfurled. It was reactionary, he was moving with intent! But then Edict heard the voice... And as it did, he felt the weak wash of pink break across a robust emotional field with very few cracks. And in that instant, Edict's eyes locked with Henri Han's eyes... And he grinned like a Crocodile watching the gazelle moving toward the muddy watering hole.

Henri froze like a deer caught in the headlights, just staring at Edict. His very open gaze shifted from confusion to realization, flickering to Linqian then back to Edict again. His whole face screamed 'what the fuck?' as he started to move towards them again.

Edict couldn't hide the shock on his face as he turned fully, blocking his side to Linqian so she didn't see him grip onto his glasses and cast another spell as quickly as he could.
Pink Lotus’ Precious Recollection: Living in Color.
The image shattered across Henri's emotional field as intended, leaving his vision mostly open save for a comically out of place set of giant cartoon lips, which zipped closed. Following it, the phrase Don't Panic! rolled across the bottom of his vision.
It would be an interesting test, he figured... To see if the boy was smooth enough to keep his cool and play along... From everything Edict had gotten from Linqian's mind, however, it was unlikely. He figured he had to take the reigns regardless.

Henri panicked. Don't panic?! How?! His eyes were wide, his mouth still hung wide open, and he was walking much faster towards them. Then he looked at Linqian and visibly paused. He forcefully closed his mouth and narrowed his eyes in a very awkward, trying not to look panicked look. He grinned very awkwardly. Perfectly not panicking.

Oh he's absolutely not ready.
As he shoved his hand into his pocket, he let twin bursts of Living in Color rush across Linqian's and Henri's Emotional Fields. For her, it spat out the words "Play it Cool!" in bright letters across her vision. Along with that was something like a neon sign pointing down at Henri. Six large beer glasses all poured themselves out.
For Henri, it had to be spoken into his mind: Edict mustered every bit of finesse he could, weaving together some of the latest contemporary hits in his mind in order to blast Henri with an auditory hallucination. Magic MAaaAN - She dooooooesn't knoooooowwwwww!!!!~ Your secret is... Safe with meeeeeee...- Now if y'all care to sing-a-long-" It was an incredible mishmash of song snippets, and as he felt it transfer, Edict found himself rather proud of it. His only hope was that the kid had some vague sense of self preservation and would, in fact, "sing along", as it were.

"Gosh, well you were right about them being drunk Linqian; but you think I don't know who this is?"
He grinned at Henri.
"Go easy on him, huh? You remember being his age."

Then Edict tipped his hat at the young man and spun around again full circle to catch up with Britney. He knew Linqian didn't want him around her brother, but that little exchange the two of them had in that moment couldn't be taken from him. He'd find another, far more private opportunity. For now, they had a ferry to catch and a seriously devolving situation to escape in equal parts.

---

Mood Music

The Temple of Charming and Graceful Individuals

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Members: Elise and Mia Richoux, Andrade Salamente, Furio Natale | Direct Dialogue: Tsukino Luna/@Estylwen | Location: Festival Grounds, Cracker Island Historic District

---

The night was winding down for certain "Dining" tents; the ones who were serving full blown meals just couldn't keep up in terms of raw product. By the time Luna had arrived at the booth for The Daybreak, the restaurant Andrade decided would get the spotlight for advertising, the menu had just about entirely been eighty-six'd. Kebabs and salads were rushing out to the final diners, and some of the crew behind the counter seemed to be switched off.

It was a funny thing; for a place that suggested the essence of the morning, they were all in awfully dark attire. It was like someone told them their uniform was meant to be witches. Not like... Not real witches of course, those silly cartoon ones that would stand over a bubbling green cauldron. It only took knowing the group a little while to understand that nobody had to speak about it... It's just how the Richouxs dressed. Standing primarily as first contact, the youngest sibling Mia shot the masked figure a smile.
"Oh, geeze... Elise!? Get the man flesh!" she called over her shoulder as Luna asked for their best dish. Her finger came up, pointing for her older sister to look.
The response was somewhat cold, confused even as Elise's brow furrowed and she tossed her hand up dismissively. Mia laughed to herself, shaking her head and turning back to Luna.
"Sorry, Touka-chan, she just wouldn't get it. We don't have much left unfortunately, we've got an improvised Kebab and Salad combo that we're doing at five bucks with a free drink. Sound okay?"

Andrade and Furio heard Mia taking another order, and both threw back their heads in rapt frustration, wishing the day would just be over. The two were kings of commiseration, one finding himself in utter despair while the other was boiling with rage.
"Woah, Mia, you're giving away money Babe! How's about you tone it back on the fuckin'-"
"Oh, Foori, they should be so lucky, eh! Better than throwing it at our fuckin' heads..."
"Don't start that bullshit with me, Dre, you know how the Big Lady's gonna feel if we didn't bleed it out!"
"As if it doesn't all come from the same pockets, just shut up and turn the kebabs!"

Mia widened her eyes at the bunny mask.
"Long day for some of us I guess!" she smiled, waving them off.
Mia wasn't exactly careful when it came to security and similar things, but frankly she didn't have to be. While Elise Richoux would never be one of her Mother's Maidens, operational security was just as much her responsibility as the wolf-man who was now running around with his coven pals in a naked toga. Where's Mom when it's funniest? Probably watching him make a fool out of himself from somewhere.
While Mia had gone for the usual hippie-goth, Elise had gone for the Lolita style costume so it wouldn't look entirely out of place that she was carrying around a stuffed bear, and she channeled her White Lux into a common spell that pulsed for magical aura nearby. Getting too many readings was overwhelming, however, and the entire area was saturated in magic. It was no good trying to suss out anyone in particular. But like a bell being run, it did make magic things almost vibrate in her vision... And for a moment, she thought she saw the masked figure at the counter ripple.

Elise tensed slightly. She could be wrong; and all of her upbringing told her that she was wrong... But instinct screamed at her from a hot, bright place. While she didn't turn her head, the head of the teddy bear turned between her fingers in a purposeful manner, button eyes now staring at Luna like she was a foreign pathogen in a white blood cell's domain. White Lux energy saturated the bear, causing gentle smoky wisps to curl from it like steam from the grass on a summer morning.

---

Mood Music

Leon

---

Mentions: Nobody Relevant | Direct Dialogue: The Whole Toga-Conga, Specifically Vashti Nour/@Atrophy | Location: Festival Grounds, Cracker Island Historic District

---

The Stygian Snake could come back right now and not have a chance in Hell of breaking this line. Leon wished he still had his White Lux so he could bathe in the absolute madness of Lux Auras. He remembered the old parties, the flashing colors all around him as orange and white stripes danced across his flesh like a tiger. By now, the old taste of the Chalice's metal rim had mixed into the hellish brew of mixed alcohols that the thing constantly refilled like a cocktail from another dimension. He was five heaping gulps deep, Lelou's seals comfortably loosened at a full body cowl of two percent. Having her own sensory abilities made things more intense, and while he couldn't see the colors anymore; he was sure he could smell and hear them.

The music of people's emotional fields ringing as they accidentally bounced against one another played like echoing chimes, each color having a different frequency with which it hummed among the cacophonous shouting and chanting all around him. The scents were more difficult, but red lux smelled like meat to him, and green was the scent of the forest. There were associations that told him the environment was saturating all around them, magics mixing into themselves to convaless into the winds. Things were only going to get weirder from here, and the moaning carnal voice in his head wasn't doing him any favors when it came to keeping a lid on it.

"I crave it! Their blood, their flesh, the softness, the tactile sensation of ramming myself into them until they're paste on the floor for me to lap up like the wine of life! Give in, my Carnal Beast! Give in and unleash me upon them, that we may copulate upon a bed of their bones!"

Leon's face scrunched into an uncomfortable frown as he was accosted from within. He had to do something, anything to ignore it. Without a second thought, his hands fell forward and down, wrapping as much as they could around Vashti's waist.
"Alley-oop!"
In a smooth motion, like a mother plucking a child from their crib, Vashti was being hoisted over six feet into the air, the cloth of the toga falling just into place so she wasn't bare ass riding on his shoulder. The size, the width of that shoulder, made it feel like it was some kind of seat meant to be taken by a jockey or some kind of rider. His arm wrapped around her legs by the shins, keeping Vashti stable so she couldn't lean too far backward or forward and fall off her perch.
"Yes! Yes! Drive her into the ground and devour the legs like a snack!"
Leon simply looked up at her and pumped his free hand as a fist into the air.

“DOUBLE DECKER TOGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

@Estylwen
Reading through your post again...

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

Mood Music

Leon

---

Mentions: Ft. @Atrophy | Direct Dialogue: The Whole Toga-Conga | Location: Festival Grounds, Cracker Island Historic District

---

Long legs strode toward raucous noise in the short distance, boot covered feet covered by half a night gown held at the waist by a belt. The top portion folded down, the limbs dangled behind him across the ground, and Leon was strutting with the might and poise of a circus ringleader as the pack of Greenwood members poured through the alleys of the festival. His ears, adjusting with the ethereal energy of Lady Lelou, began to pick out individual voices as they drew closer and closer with each extension and retraction of those tree trunk-like legs.

He didn't realize until then that he was smiling. Not just that, but widely, like a kid who knew a surprise party was coming but managed to hold it in all day until it had to be released. He heard people congregating and being jovial, and couldn't help but think to himself that it was just what the doctor ordered! No worrying about his siblings, or how Mom was feeling about things. Hell, she'd probably be just as likely to jump into some kind of cross-coven revelry if she were to see it, I mean... It was great news! Unity, cooperation, love and understanding under the banner of New Light in the dawn of Eden! He felt like Jesus, undaunted as he drove his body headlong toward the cross to absolve the sins of Adept-Kind.

Leon's mind imagined his Father's face as the words got louder and louder in his ears. The biggest man he'd ever known, a seven foot-two raven haired blue eyed Orange Lux powered juggernaut that was his Dad, cheering at him with veins in his neck buldging and those two massive hamhock fists balled up tightly. He was screaming it, fully in unison with the small crowd that had gathered up in that clearing between the midway and the Ferry Docks. He had true fun in his eyes and his voice as he shouted:

Toga, toga, toga-

The corner was coming soon. He'd be within visual range of them. It sounded like they were all facing him.

-Toga, TOGA-

Here it comes!

“TOGA TOGA TOGA TOGA!”

His massive frame burst from around the corner of a nearby booth, but Leon already knew who he was looking for. That goofy face he'd known for so long was staring back at him like the last day they'd seen one another. His eyes welled with pride to see the sight before him; the Maestro de Bacchanal, the Mardi Gras Mauler, the King of Keg Killing. He'd heard he was back in town, but frankly after they'd left off, Leon didn't want to come to Sully from the same moral high ground he'd stood on before. Before he had been slapped with the responsibility of Lady Lelou, Leon had been far more heavy-handed in his beliefs and opinions.
It was time to fix that. People were dying, and he never wanted to regret missing the Little Brother he chose rather than the little brothers he was given. As he joined in on the chant, he pointed directly at Sully.

“Dionysus, your Brother Ares wishes to REVEL!”

"Le..."

There was a moment of hesitation from Sully, impossible to tell if it was just drunken sluggardiness or something else, and then a toga was launched towards Leon.

"Yes brother! Come drink and make merry with us! Toga! Toga! Toga!"

"Hey, bro! You can squeeze in here," hollered Vashti, indicating to the space between herself and Emily.

Holy shit, that's seriously Vashti Nour and Emily G. Reed...

A deep part of Leon's body had already gripped ahold of him and his psyche... Or, it wasn't him.
"Warm blood and bone; flesh on flesh, my carnal beast. My pleasure cries for your attention, Leon... Indulge... Release me."

His flesh was at once riddled with goosebumps as he ripped at the cloth surrounding his body. The shirt split in two, the dates of his fight tour on the back fluttering to the ground as he began to wrap this long white cloth around himself in the fashion his father had taught him. As the cloth covered him and he slipped into the spot in front of the Bitch of St. Portwell herself, he gave the same inhuman strength over toward ripping his loose fitting nightgown out from under his belt along with the baggy burlap pants that went with the getup.
For a second, he'd accidentally exposed Emily to the entire harvest moon before he managed to tuck the toga between his ass and the belt above it, then settled into the motion of the Toga. His hand reached over Vashti, patting Drake on the shoulder.

"Fucking ZOOOOOOOS!" he shouted, raising his fist. "Toga! Toga! Toga! Toga!"

---

Mood Music

Edict

---

Mentions: The Toga Line | Direct Dialogue: Linqian Han/@FernStone, Britney Williams/@Punished GN, Layla Hyacinthus/@Estylwen | Location: Festival Grounds, Cracker Island Historic District

---

They were walking just fine... Everything had been just fine! But she had to be a little snoop, she had to go taking a picture! Now she was getting roped into something that none of them had expected her to get roped into this close to the front of Cracker Town: A multi-coven Conga line! You know who banned conga lines? The Cuban government! Why, one may ask? Because more often than not the drunken lines would become disorderly moshes that almost always devolved into significantly more dangerous levels of chaos and violence depending on who was involved.
And right now, Leon was converging on the pack to be reunited among his drunken kinsmen in Sully McPherson and Drake fucking Blackmore. Jocks. The Jock Squad. His hand tensed on the release for his gun, imagining the instant and total devastation the magical bullets would wreak upon the half drunk and totally unaware cast of nimrods. Wasn't there a murderer on the loose? It was fine, he felt, that he didn't care: As long as it wasn't him, why would he ever care? Instead, the people who should've been most aware and alert were getting the most foolish.

A gaggle of other people were not far behind Leon, including Adora Phoenix-Prescott, whom he was almost sure was going to get into some kind of conflict with Linqian who was bound to start it.

He had to get her out of there.
But his head swiveled. Britney was there. It was going to be okay.
"Any ideas on how we get her out of this without getting sucked in?" he asked to one side at Layla, then the other at Sabrina and Britney. If it didn't end in an all-out war, he didn't know what the next move was; not even a little bit.

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

300th IC Post celebration yaaaaaaay!

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

Mood Music

Greenwood Coven

---

Members: Everyone but Ruby! | Direct Dialogue: Leon, Elise and Mia Richoux, Adora Phoenix-Prescott/@Punished GN | Location: Festival Grounds, Cracker Island Historic District

---

The Greenwood Coven, sans Ruby and Sully, marched through the grounds of the Historic District… choosing to part ways with the Blackmores, Sully, and Drake after whatever you would call that conga line. They decided to look for Ruby, whose phone suddenly went quiet after confirming that she was on the island. She was on the island all day but neglected to tell them that.

Classic ruby.

“... RUBY!”

Autumn shouted, cupping her hands together as she called again.

“... RUBY!”

One last time.

“... RUBY!”

“... Why are you tryna’ call Ruby like she’s some dog, girl?” James asked with a raised eyebrow, laughing.

“Yeah, we’d have better luck sparking up!” Naomi laughed.

“Sorry, don’t have any ass-flavored blunts on me,” Jess said, laughing her ass off.

“Let’s take this seriously,” Pearl said with a flat expression. “Ruby could be in trouble, we-”

“... Got outed,” Naomi and James said simultaneously, rolling their eyes. Then Naomi spoke,

“We know, we know…” Naomi shook her head.

“You’re acting as if everyone in this city would listen to a bunch of crazy bikers if they told them that a bunch of twenty-somethings are the Greenwood Coven,” James rolled his eyes, then laughed.

“Word spreads fast in St. Portwell; you all been in Greenwood long enough to know that,” Pearl said, shaking her head, “And I do not want-”

"... YOU MOTHERFUCKER!"

The vociferous scream made all of Greenwood turn its head towards the scene, and saw some curvy black girl putting the whoopin on another.

“... Heh,” James chuckled before he patted Naomi on the shoulder, “It didn’t take long for people to start acting a fool!”

Naomi shook her head, “Girl needs to relax. They’re killin’ black folk out here like its nothing.” Then she sighed.

Greenwood watched the scene unfold… before two big motherfuckers came and broke up the fight. Separating the two girls like it was nothing, but the issue was not in the fact they broke up the scene - it was the fact they recognized Leon when he raised his little wolf mask.

“... It’s the Werewolf!” Jessica said.

“Ssssssh!” Naomi put a finger to her lips. “Let’s just...”

“Nah,” James grinned, “I think we should have a lil’ talk with Wolfman….”

“We are not starting a fight here, James,” Naomi narrowed her eyes.

James scoffed.

“... And who said anything about starting a fight?!” James laughed. “Let’s just… have a little friendly chit-chat.”

“It would behoove us to make amends,” Pearl answered. “Or attempt to get his… No, their side of the story.”

“Well, I’m chatting with him, ya’ll don’t gotta come,” James laughed as he watched Leon pull the gal away… and James grinned as he was the first to approach with his hands in his pockets. It seemed like the gal was explaining why she decided to go crazy and brain that poor gal. Not that James was listening, as it was simply none of his business. James stepped over and clapped his hands together as he said,

“Hey, Wolfman!” James started, “Wassup! We didn’t get to introduce ourselves, y’know!?”

He grinned, letting his words hang in the air.

“Better late than never, but never late is better!”

Leon was so distracted, he probably wouldn't notice someone trying to kill them until it was too late; someone would absolutely be dead by then. His nose and ears, his keenest senses, were full of smells and sounds from the festival.

Adora's complaints were serious enough that he was ready to go and start a problem with some Vanburens. Speaking ill of their dead Covenmates was unacceptable in his eyes, believing in the tradition of the Honored Dead. They earned their rest, and having people dig them up to throw their death in someone's face, metaphorically or otherwise, put you on Leon's shitlist as a disrespectful cockmuncher.

“Huh!?” He spun, hearing Wolfman said. “That's Granny to you, Mis-”
His head and body turned, he looked across the green and saw six, maybe eight faces. With their scents so close and his newfound focus, he instantly sussed their smells out.
Ruby came home. Amend yourself with her toy soldiers and follow the Philosophy.

Ruby was a pot smell to him, with certain unique characteristics that he could smell on every single one of them. It was definitely her pack.
There was even the buff redhead that Alizee had started everything over in the first place. Instinctively, Leon placed his massive body between Adora and the group.

“Oh, Greenwood, don't desert me now!” He yapped - with the Greenwood members attempting to shush him - not exactly squaring up for a fight so much as squaring up to receive some sort of thrashing from a parent. He pointed at Jess, looking at James as he spoke.
“Y'know the other night, I was drunk when everything started, I didn't recognize her. SunnyMuscleMommy, right?”

His eyes crossed each of them, and slowly he gave them a smile. His eyes met Jess’ specifically.
“I should've been quicker. Because of my state, you got hurt by a person I considered a sister. Now she's gone, so… I guess I'm the right man to take grievances with. So, what? Pound of flesh? Or can I make it up to you all some other way?”

His eyes became sad talking about Alizee. He'd always imagined they'd move past that stage, that if he could learn to live with Void Heart, maybe he'd be able to protect Alizee from the world outside as her man.
The shot was gone now. All he had left was repentance.

Jess walked over with her hands on her hips, and a smile on her face. “... Yep, that’s me.”

James couldn’t respond as he was getting stared down by Pearl, who rolled her eyes.

Jess reached into her holsters and pulled out her toy revolvers, each with an orange tip. She gave them a little twirl, “It’s all good… That whole thing was a giant shitshow, but you know what?” Jess shrugged.

“... It’s in the past now, pardner,”

“... Look, while it may be that deep, we ain’t that crazy,” Naomi stepped up, shaking her head. “I just wanna ask you why? Why did she attack Jess? That’s it.”

“Then we’re putting this behind us!” Jess shouted before she put her hands on her hips, “Agreed?”

Leon was somewhat eased by their claims. And if his Mother had been right, Ruby must've given them the same shit about reconciliation. In his mind, chances were good that despite the group gathering, there wasn't going to be any vicious jumping.

“Alright, agreed. But I don't think you'll like my answer anymore than I do, y'know?”
He took a deep breath thinking about her funeral, about dying for something so stupid.
“Frankly? Alizée, God rest her, was attached to a hungry fucking monster. The purple ballsack with the big hands?” He questioned, reaffirming their recognition of the players involved.

“That Apparition could've convinced her to hunt anyone; but that night she seemed fixated on some kind of lead. She was totally mistaken, and essentially acting out alone for some fucking reason.”
He grimaced, thinking about how stupid it all was.
“I'm glad you're still here though, uh… Jess, was it? I really didn't want you getting hurt, you didn't do anything. None of you did anything wrong. It was our fuckup. She was our fuckup.”

“It was a weird ass situation, I admit,” Jess said, throwing her arms behind her head. She then shrugged, saying, “But, I’m… just a little bit sorry for the gal.”

“Sounds like the Apparition was the one pulling the strings,” Naomi answered, shrugging, rolling her eyes. “Maybe I was too much of an asshole to ya’ll back then… That’s not much of an excuse tho’ because I’m attached to an Apparition. But he doesn’t tell me to hurt people!” She laughed.

“Regardless,” Pearl finally spoke after being done staring down James. “We agreed to put things behind us after his explanation. So we shall.”

“No hard feelings right, Granny…? Wolfman…? Whatever!” James asked with a shit-eating grin, “You gotta understand from our perspective, we weren’t tryna’ hurt you or interfere with your investigation… Right?”

“What was the lead… if you don’t mind me asking? She seemed to want to know what we were doing with the Wolfpack?” Autumn asked.

Leon grinned at the reactions, satisfied knowing that it was all a mistake, and in true Charming and Graceful style it could all be forgotten about.

“Honestly, fuck if I know at this point. I have some texts telling me that she was there because they all jumped to the conclusion that Judas was involved with a situation having to do with our Covenmates safety. My opinion is she was hungry, and figured the open season situation meant that she could get a free meal while being helpful by finding info.”

Leon's face really said it all; that he thought the whole thing was a pile of bullshit, and that nobody could possibly know what was going through Alizée's head at that point.

He looked around a bit more, deeply inhaling with his nose to search out a scent. Ruby's scent. That nose clogging pot smell. There was a gentle breeze that pulled it from the distance into his direction.
“Ruby's on her own? She probably never told you guys, but we know one another. Come on, come to my Family's booth. We'll get you all fed by the one and only Andrade Salamente.”

He turned to face Adora, stepping fully out of her way. “You gonna come too? By now my brother is probably walking away with your pal…”

”... I’ll come,” Adora lowly said, placing her hands in her face.

Leon turned his head to Greenwood.
“Oh, guys, this is Adora. Adora Phoenix-Prescott, Covensister of the Sycamore Tree, holder of the Trinity Ring-” Briefly causing Adora to shake her head. “-And I'm Leon Richoux: Heir to the New Light, I box under the name Timberwolf…” he smiled, waving them along.

“Ooooh, you’re also in Sycamore?” Naomi asked, chuckling. “You need to chill the fuck out! They killin’ black people out here!” She laughed.

”Y-yeah, I know…” Adora rubbed her opposite arm as she faced these people.

“I’m James! Don’t get a fancy title like Wolfman here!”

“Autumn,” She said, flicking her necklace.

“Naomi! Wielder of Anansi’s Gift!” She started with a smile, which turned flat after a moment. “... That was corny, wasn’t it?”

“Amelia…” She began. “Our fearless leader’s girlfriend.”

“Pearl,” She flatly answered. “The one that prevents our fearless leader from giving in to her intrusive thoughts… most of the time.”

“Kashmira Sarai! It is great to make friends with Sully’s friends!” She did a twirl in her saree.

“And I’m Jess! And we’re…” She said before she looked back at her people. “... The Greenwood Coven, we popped up sometime after you all did your little thing with the Danger Noodle.”

”Just how many Covens are there?” Adora raised an eyebrow.

“Well, other than Sycamore and us, there’s 8th Street!” Jess said, then laughed. “But there’s a new group of assholes calling themselves a Coven popping up each week in St. Portwell!”

“They’re assholes, so we don’t fuck with them!” Naomi said she laughed. “But let’s get to this booth already! Maybe our kooky leader will finally pop up!”

Leon nodded at Adora’s question.
“Jess’s right, there’s a lot of posers. Posturing and trying to find openings they’re not gonna find. We should check that shit out though; could be some upstart with delusions in their heads and magic on their cocks, killing us for the cred.”
He shuddered at the thought, a slight scowl on his face.
“But fuck that, it’s the Holy Harvest! Big Temple holiday, let's get this food. Maybe we can pull your fearless leader and that goofball Sully: Hit the Temple grounds and dance naked until sunup.”

He laughed, but he wasn’t joking. The tradition of circling under the harvest moon was very real, practiced since the times before when the New Light was an entirely Pagan affair. Never-the-less, he began to wave the group along, directing them toward the booth that was actually slowing down thankfully. He hated seeing his little sisters working that hard.

“Hey-ooooooo!”
Leon’s booming voice stopped the motion in the booth, Andrade spinning over his shoulder to see the big crowd now clumped up at the front with Leon at the head. His youngest sister Mia, looking haggard already, immediately turned to him and grabbed his costume by the collar.
“Oh, Lee-Lee, save me PLEASE!”
She was trying to climb up and over the counter, but he grabbed her by the shoulders and put her back where she belonged.
“Sssssstop that. No. Food, please, for our friends.”
Elise, the elder sister, looked up from her chopping.
“Oh, shit, those are Ruby’s friends, right?”
Leon’s face formed a scowl.
“Are you tracking me!?”
Elise just smiled at him, unwilling to tell him where their Mother had hid the note that she was spying on him through.
“Don’t think about it too hard. Here, menus!” the younger Mia exclaimed, taking a small stack of paper menus and handing it out while pointing above her at the boards that also had the menu on them.
Leon turned his head.
“It’s on us, by the way. Whatever you guys want.”

It was definitely fair food: kebabs and jollof rice, veggie wraps with mushroom and balsamic vinegar sauce, roasted chicken leg and sweet potato salad… Wait, this wasn’t fair food at all! Looking at the pickup line, the quality of food was definitely restaurant despite being served up on extra thick paper plates.

“Now that’s what I’m talking about!” James said with a grin, raising his fist up into the air.

“And here I was looking forward to some shitty carnival food…” Autumn laughed.

“Oh! What are your vegetarian options…?” Kashmira asked. “I don’t eat meat.”

Afterward, the group got some food. James got an entire roasted turkey leg. Naomi, Jess, and Autumn got some kebabs with rice - though Naomi got more rice. Pearl was happy to get some sweet potato salad. In contrast, Kashmira and Amelia got the veggie wraps.

“Thank you!” Kashmira said with a smile. “We appreciate your generosity and your willingness to resolve things peacefully.”

“And this goofball thought I was tryna’ start a fight!” James laughed as he jammed a thumb in Pearl’s direction - who rolled her eyes.

Adora didn’t order anything… simply stood there staring at the ground.

“She good?” James asked Leon, food in his mouth and jamming a thumb in Adora's direction.

Leon looked toward Adora and gave a small frown.
“I… I think she's worried? She beat up a Vanburen, she's probably worried about the consequences. Or, maybe, she's thinking about the dead and gone. I try not to bother people like Adora: She's a loyal Covenmate. In my opinion, she definitely earned her peace.”

“That was a Vanburen…?” Naomi awkwardly laughed.

“Yee-yikes!” Jess laughed.

This didn't, however, stop Leon from doing exactly what he said he wasn't going to. He, politely excusing himself from between happily eating members of Greenwood and standing in front of Adora.
“What's up? Not hungry?” He asked her simply, and as gently as he could muster

“I…” Adora tried to speak.

“... Oh my goodness, friend!” Kashmira shouted as she walked over. Then gestured to the bee stings up and down her legs. “What happened to your legs?!”

Leon’s eyes went wide, never even thinking about the idea that she had, in fact, been in a fight with a hive of bees on top of a rude woman.
“Oh, fuck, Adora!?”

“I-” Adora didn't get a chance to speak before Kashmira grabbed her wrist and she was wrapped in a green aura. All the stingers left in her flesh fell out as the stings, and their poison, disappeared.

Kashmira released her, smiling, before she said,

“That should be better, friend,”

“Yeah… Yeah, that feels so much better,” Adora said, “Thank you.”

Leon nearly squeezed Kashmira to death with a quick hug.
“Oh my stars, thank you! Adora, I’m sorry! I… I don’t even feel bee stings, I didn’t even think about them!”

“Oh you’r- gah! Welcome!” Kashmira barely choked out. “Please don’t squeeze any harder! I can feel my ribs touching my lungs!”

Leon let her go quickly, patting her on the head with a massive hand. As he did so, he was still sniffing around trying to find the owner for these lost children; Ruby was close enough that he could smell her, and releasing a small level of his Wind seal painted the air with scents that he could track on an individual basis.
There were deep subtleties in the process of sussing out what scents tracked and trailed and belonged to whom, but being among the group of Greenwood members gave him the chance to pinpoint things more accurately.

Slowly, surely, the air became full of colors that swept back and forth with the wind, each smell painted and correlated to the individual origin. From there, he found a common scent that they all seemed to carry that had nothing to do with their individual pheromone scents, and tracing it back and over the different booths, he was able to get a good idea of Ruby’s location.
He focused his magically enhanced hearing, following the scent trail until the cacophonous background faded, leaving him with a focused picture of what was happening.

People, at least ten, chanting Toga! like a bunch of goobers. He turned to James and pointed off into the distance.

“Ruby is uh… Somewhere near the midway, I can hear her having fun. You all want to go get her?” he asked simply to the bigger group, looking around to gauge reactions.

“I mean…” Naomi trailed off, “No one is talking about eating ass. For once it's peaceful!”

“Yeah, let’s make sure she’s alright… She sounds like she’s already high off her ass,” James mused.

Leon's towering frame waved his hand forward, ushering those who would follow onward, his other hand successfully stripping the top half of his costume down so his shirt was visible and his wolf mask no longer flopping around on his head. His massive arms were pale, almost clammy looking and hairless, but built with muscle so thick you'd think they were legs.
His veins were like roadmaps, the energy of Lelou pumping through his blood to turn it a sickly black as the pressure rose and caused them to bulge.

“Onward and upward, Extended Family! Let's go see the trouble!"

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

Mood Music

Edict

---

Mentions: Auri Auclair | Direct Dialogue: Linqian Han/@FernStone, Britney Williams/@Punished GN, Layla Hyacinthus/@Estylwen | Location: Festival Grounds, Cracker Island Historic District

---

Edict listened to Britney and Linqian, letting them go on about things as he watched Layla's reaction. It almost made him smile how much more chipper she was, and he wanted her to remember this feeling while she had it. Because when it left, it was going to hurt, he could tell by the amount of work that went into making it happen. Frankly he was a bit tired now, and skipping out on having to use his 'little friend' meant he wasn't going to need to explain why he'd been carrying a piece like it around all night. He'd had people get upset before, realizing he'd had a gun in some strange contraption that they'd never expect poised and ready to fire away.
There was talk about the Feds, however, which did make him a bit sick. Irrationally, he hated them almost more than some of the Sycamore Leadership based on their sheer willingness to break an Omerta code he perceived between Adepts and Third-Eye Opens. That they were all in it together; that having associates outside of that bond was fine so long as you kept them in line, but when it came to one another it should be protect over detect. He definitely didn't want to stick around any longer than he had to if that meant dealing with them.

Suddenly, his new little buddy started to pop out of her shell. He instinctively grinned, recognizing the behavior from so many introverts and closed off people. People with fears and worries simply needed to be assuaged, their stresses often getting the better of them in strong, unmitigated ways. With a washing like what she'd been put through, fuck it was well within reach, and it seemed so simple to just reach out and take whatever they wanted once they were there.
“Here's my bid for the second one. Why not~?”
Edict's brow furrowed and he looked down at the twenty year-old woman. He had a vaguely father-like scowl on his face as his hand instantly wrenched two twenties from his pocket and nearly flung them forward.
"Ayyy, out-fuckin'-bidded over here, Jesus... You ain't old enough, I know that one for a fact. At least wait until we ain't in public where someone's gonna arrest us before you go open fisting a can of Miller in the middle of Ol' Cracker. Fuckin' Feds everywhere, Sis!" Greyson asserted, his other hand extending to lower Layla's as he smirked at her.
"But, sure. Sabrina's house it is. How's about we all hit the Ferry then. I'll have someone bring my car back into the city, and we'll wait at my Uncle's bar down the road from the docks while we wait."

Mentioning his Uncle's anything made him assume, after what had happened, that Linqian was going to be nervous. He'd stuffed the money into her bag and left the beer there for later, shrugging with the now empty hand.
"Ah, nobody's gonna be there. It's closed for the day, but I have the back door key. We can just hang, it'll be cool. You remember the Brick, Britney? We got sick drinking there together one night, slept in a booth; my cousin Roland came in the next day to prep and woke us up?" he grinned, a fond memory coming back to him. He figured with the privacy, they could even let poor Layla unwind a bit more with a few off-the-clock drinks.

Edict's head moved in a strange way for a split second, neck craning to catch a look past Britney's head and out into the festival in front of him. He could, through a couple of booths, make out Auri Auclair sitting at a booth with a glass of wine. Two guests. A woman and some figure cloaked in black...
Who the fuck?
This night was getting weird, and he was starting to feel cagey; like no matter where they looked, they were just going to find more and more characters that weren't going to be particularly warm or friendly to him. His mind split for a moment, like it was a decade ago that he felt just like this, standing there with a feeling like he was the odd man out of a bunch of groups of friends. Like the few years before were nothing.

But her face was there. She was there. Just like she had been, when everyone else had turned their backs on him, she was the last to leave. Left to turn out the lights, because they were both cast out for their willingness to win a war that literally had to be won. He hated to think that was the only reason she had stuck around, but he couldn't be sure. Still, it was okay; she was back. Back in his life for a small period of time before she'd eventually see through him again and run far far away.
Better you do, my Love. I won't chase you. Once we're safe...
He felt his Lux welling up in his throat and eyes, the tendrils of his spell making themselves as if they were their own creatures. He was too slow to stop it from reaching them all, its influence meandering about rather than attempting to make some entry purchase. As soon as the burning started, however, he was shocked back into mindfulness. All present would feel the wandering tendrils dissipate instantly, like the clouds parting for the sun.

Love was a hard emotion to hide.

"Shit, fuck... Sorry, I... Wh-whatever, let's get the fuck out of here before someone gives us any trouble." he asserted, taking a step out of the gazebo and on toward the ferry docks, mumbling curses under his breath toward Auri Auclair and her poor decisions.

---

Mood Music

Kenshiro

---

Mentions: In Collaboration with @Punished GN | Direct Dialogue: Auri Auclair, Odessa Maxwell | Location: Auri's Flower Stand, Festival Grounds, Cracker Island Historic District

---

Auri ran to the scene, butterfly staff in hand, and watched as the crowd that came to watch the confrontation dispersed. There was (THANKFULLY) no sight of Emily, but Auri recognized the two PRA Agents who were in cutesy maid dresses and the rest of her people. She saw Britney walk up, and then Stormy talked to her. She got spooked, turned on her heel, and left with Linqian and Sabrina Vanburen. The situation seemed alright, but Auri didn't want to be around the people who teargassed them. However, Auri jumped when Odessa put her head underneath her arm, and smiled at her… Auri awkwardly laughed.

“These are your friends?” Odessa asked as she took a step forward, getting from underneath Auri’s arm. “The Sycamore Tree Coven?”

“Well, some of them,” Auri said.

“Heroes.”

“What?”

“They’re heroes!” Odessa said with a smile. “Not anyone could face the Stygian Snake, defeat it, and live to tell the tale!”

“Yeah…” Auri sighed as she looked around… and most curious, there was a little frog in her peripheral. She furrowed her brows in confusion as this was not the season for them. Then confusion was replaced by curiosity as it reminded her of someone… she summoned the butterfly apparitions within the butterfly staff and commanded them to grab the frog. Two glowing butterflies grabbed the frog and lifted it up, bringing it over to Auri so she could get a closer look…

“... Are you gonna dissect it?!” Odessa said with a laugh.

Auri shook her head.

The small frog was indignant at its quickly adjusting position. The butterflies were strong, and while the sticky pads on his toes kept him firmly planted for a moment, their constant dusting quickly dried out his skin.
Now, landing in Auri's palm, the frog took a resting squat while staring up at her.
This particular specimen was quite the robust mixture of colors; gold and purple seemed to swirl together underneath a tiny yukata robe, and on his little waist was a belt with a metal piece that had the tiniest kanji stamped into it.

As a poisonous tree frog, if he felt threatened he knew he could pressurize himself and ruin this person's day at the cost of his own time in this realm…
But he'd recognized what the Master said: The Butterfly Priestess. He croaked, actually chirped as he was so tiny, which was followed by the most miniscule and incomprehensible Japanese rambling.

If Auri could understand Japanese at all, she'd recognize that whatever dialect he was using either didn't exist, or was so old that it was no longer in use. He stared upward, upward some more, gave one last burst of language from his throat, then threw his hands up in very clear frustration.

So the peeping started: even small frogs like him were capable of projecting their tiny barking across great distances. While he wasn't trained in hearing such subtle noises, Ken was joined by the Scout Leader, who began to direct him toward Auri by listening for his Brother's distant signal. The two parties were capable of wandering just a few more yards before Ken rounded a corner and was looking down range at Auri Auclair.

“Auri!?”

It only took a few seconds for the area that had once been devoid of Froggy influence to flood with the peeping and croaking of the dozens of scouts sent out to find the woman. Some of them came to rest on her shoulders, a couple others ended up in her hand with the one she had found.
They were all kind of cute with their uniforms, some having little top knots or hats, but they all transferred back to Ken as he got close.

“Auri, I'm so fucking sorry…”
He didn't hesitate wrapping his arms around her in a warm and friendly embrace. He remembered losing his family; all he wanted was a hug.
“I had the worst nightmare and it made me come back. I should have sensed something was wrong earlier, I'm so sorry…”

“K-Kenshiro?!” Auri’s mouth was agape… and it wasn’t for the frogs all over her. She looked at Kenshiro. “It’s… not your fault. There is no need to be sorry. But it’s been so long, friend. How was your adventure?”

“Awful, I come back and people who I love are dead again. It’s like the past repeating itself, and despite my Batman costume surrounding me in its friendly warmth, I crave vengeance as I have for many years. But, it’s renewed.”
He flicked his hand, arigato leaving his lips as the several dozen frogs vibrated into golden hazes before disappearing entirely.
“I… I got your message just now. Not but a few hours ago when I arrived. I’m sorry about meeting you with such tragedy in such a happy place, but I await your orders!”

Auri briefly glanced at Odessa, who smiled at her, and then looked down at this stupid robot costume that she was wearing. Auri took a step forward as she said, “Well… ummm… right now we’re laying low, but tomorrow we’re going after a lead I gathered last week.”

Auri sighed, “I guess… I can fill you in on everything you missed in the meantime.”

Kenshiro grimaced beneath the mask and the eye makeup, bowing low in front of her as was traditional.
“Forgive me, I understand now is not a good time. Also, I believe I saw and, as they say, fucked on Emily G. Reed as I arrived here at the island. Say the word and I shall make myself scarce until a time that you require my assistance.”

“No, no, no, don’t go!” Auri laughed, grabbing onto his sleeve. “Come to my stall, we can talk like… normal people. I got wine in my stall, I’m not sure if it’s your thing.”

She briefly glanced at Odessa, who was smiling,

“... This is Odessa Maxwell,” She began, “A friend of mine.“

Odessa stuck her hand out, still smiling,

“It is great to meet you, friend!” Odessa began.

Ken smiled back at the two women, taking Odessa’s hand and bowing in front of her before pulling his mask from his face. The two dark black makeup circles made him look like a japanese raccoon with his hair tied up in a little bun.

“Odessa is a place in the land of Texas, correct? Coincidentally, I visited there within the last few months. The tacos are to die for!”

He was sure to hug Auri again, elated that she wasn’t rejecting him for another time slot. He wasn’t sure what he was liable to do without proper guidance in this time of crisis, but it was going to be drastic.

“You are not one of our people, Odessa Texas Maxwell. You are… Like us, yes?” He turned, falling to Auri’s side like a loyal dog would do.

“I am not one of you, but if I had known what was going on ten years ago, I would have been there by your side! Better late than never, as they say!” Odessa was still smiling, tilting her head. “However, I consider myself a loyal ally to old Sycamore, even if most of you are not aware of me yet!”

She then shrugged.

“Though, maybe not Texas, it is great to meet you!” She laughed.

Auri awkwardly laughed; if she had a collar, she would have tugged it, but alas.

“I’m convinced it was a Texas close to our own reality. But people seemed tolerant and that’s not what I’m aware of our Texas being like…”

As they walked through the fair grounds, Ken pulled a small pack of seeds and flowers from underneath his cape.
“As usual, I’ve brought you back some things. Some of it may already be rotted: The land of Owrang is a place that I was lost in for a few of their years… I don’t know how well some of them were preserved, but I did remove the best I saw from the pile of junk and brought it here for you.”

The little sack opened up in his hand, held aloft by his most basic control over his Phantom Hand technique. Within were petals of flowers and stalks of some cactus-like things as well as at least a dozen baggies of assorted seeds and other things.
“I hope you can make some use of these. The blue petals seem to taste good, and offer some uplifting effects… I uh… I definitely got lost in those mountains for a few weeks.”

“Oooooooh….” Auri said as she grabbed the flowers, mouth agape with wonder, before she looked at Ken and giggled. “... I’ll have to save these for later.”

Odessa laughed.

It wasn’t long before the trio returned to Auri’s stand… and she did not yet notice the alterations that the 317 did to her paintings. However, she did not move the closed sign as she leaned against one of the tables.

“So… maybe I should start from the beginning…” Auri glanced over to Odessa, who was staring at the 317. Unblinking. With a smile on her face. Auri shook her head, “... Oh!”

That was when Auri reached underneath the foldable table and pulled out a glass of red wine… and thankfully, she had brought two glasses. One for her and one for Ken… Auri glanced at Odessa again and figured that she probably does’t want any. She poured them both a glass, and then smiled as she said,

“Cheers!”

“Kanpai!”

---

One short conversation later, and Kenshiro was all caught up…

“... So, that’s why we’ve been laying low for the last week, but I feel like we’re on a race against time!” Auri awkwardly laughed as she ran a soft hand through her hair. “But, I think, with the help of Alyssa, we finally made a breakthrough.”

Ken looked like a war veteran at the other end of the table. His hand gripped the stem of his wine glass like the end of a club, the glass itself shimmering with a small amount of his natural energy as it arced through the material.

“This is a lucky break, Auri. Not all souls have the capacity to speak their truth.”
He remembered the Brothers of Honored Dead, taking them back to his village after the devastation and the Hellfires were diminished.
“It’s encouraging to know that we can make some headway soon: What do you feel I should be spending my energy on then? Keeping tabs on others? Or should our enemies feel the sting of my precision?”

“Relaxing,” Auri said with a smile. “At the moment…”

She paused as she carefully tried to pick her words.

“... We have no enemies, I would like you to keep an eye on the others because Father Wolf always attacks people who are alone.“ She sighed. “But, you can take a breather. There is no need to rush….”

Ken grimaced a bit more. There was a moment where Auri could’ve seen the gears in Ken’s head turning tightly, wound up like a tense clockwork that didn’t seem to understand it’s own mechanisms. His eyes went wide in his head like he was experiencing a war all over again, and it was a deep cut that he was traveling to in his memories. Vivid Recollections of the Stygian’s wrath.

““We… Have enemies. If our blood is spilled, our enemies lurk in the City. Heavens forbid, the Beast’s allies are back! Or, worse, Leon’s gone off the deep end, I couldn’t take it!”
His face was pure panic: Fear of the loss to come consumed him, and he was having a hard time thinking about Auri’s plan for “laying low”. But he was trained just as much in scouting as he was in combat: He could stake anyone out that she wanted him to.

Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and finally nodded his head in agreement.
“Okay. I shall… I will watch! Them, everyone. You say Jack is around, so I will approach him about establishing a proper network. I suggest we press certain people to test their loyalty to our cause; that we may avoid saboteurs! Though, no doubt we will be able to establish suspicions more directly by quiet observation.”
His expression changed to one of expectation, with the hope that she would approve of his plans like a toddler would look for approval.

Auri’s mouth was agape as she stared at Kenshiro in abstract horror.

“... Relax,” Auri tried to smile; she did but couldn’t hide the concern from her face. She had one final card up her sleeve as she desperately poured Kenshiro another glass of wine. “Here! Have some more!” She thrust it out.

Ken may have always seemed somewhat childlike in nature: It’s true he was somehow sheltered from the way that the “real” world works, but that didn’t degrade his ability to perceive. He felt the shock in her expression, the reaction to push alcohol onto him as if that would somehow dull his nerves.
Maybe it would.
His grimace turned into a simple frown, turning into a slight pout as he took another drink from his glass and nodded.
“Then, that’s how it will be. Relaxed. They would’ve trusted your judgment, and so will I.”
He couldn’t help but feel a little disheartened; that she was so willing to just play the back field when such things were happening around them.

“Before I came home, I was in such a strange place. The trees, they weren’t trees. They were, like, giant dicks. Flesh and wood. One day when things are less dangerous, I wish to bring people through the paths… To see the other Realms.”
He very quickly went from looking scared to looking reminiscent. Almost longingly, he thought about the chance for adventures that would maybe never come.
“Kari won’t see it now. Neither will Kali. I… Some may crave the same action that I do. It will make them restless. Vengeance.”

“I am certain that they are watching over you from wherever they are, Kenshiro,” Auri began, attempting to reassure Kenshiro, “They will have a front-row seat, you can say.”

She nodded her head.

“You are doing honor to their memory by returning, you know? You could have simply left and never come back to save yourself. Yet. Here you are. Ready for action. You’re going to save everyone, I promise you that.”

Ken shifted in his seat, his heart rate slowing down as he sipped on his drink and looked out across the festival grounds as the rain started to lighten up. It was getting closer to dark now, the time where things began to get strange. He recognized the slowly shifting feeling as the alcohol warmed his blood in the cool autumn air. He held his tongue for a long while, thinking about what he wanted to say.
But implying that he was suspicious of her and her behavior wouldn’t do him any favors. It was a dangerous game throwing accusations around without any sort of actual proof. There was a shift in his demeanor, his intensity dipping with the sunlight below the horizon.

“Right. Then we shouldn’t languish here in the rain. What kind of honor to the living is it to populate the waking world with the memory of the dead?”
He stood up, stretching and putting his mask back on.
“Trick or Treating! We should find some of the others, and go out into the city for the Trick or Treating! I still have several smoke bombs, soft boiled eggs I keep for rations, some…-”
Reaching into his utility belt, he produced a small sheath of close to ten shuriken stars.
“-Some throwing stars, I think I have a tomato?”

He reached back to the furthest point on the belt where there was a pouch with his smoke bombs. What he pulled out was a half squashed potato; clearly a mixup in his vocabulary. Despite his perfect American accent implanted into him, the words were not all wired correctly, and he often either sounded far too formal or too silly to be taken seriously.

Auri just laughed. “... That’s a potato!”

When she finished laughing, she said,

“But, you know, that doesn’t sound half bad, but…” She looked at the CLOSED sign on her stand… then Odessa staring at those weirdos. “I have to tend after my stand, I can’t really leave the stand again… but don’t let me hold you up!”

He narrowed his eyes as deeply as he could at Auri, taking in the inventory that she’d brought. It was the fall season, and while she had plenty of perennial flowers for sale grown in a greenhouse, there were seasonal flowers as well. The thought about his abilities, and about Kai’s many paths. He’d be here in St. Portwell for the foreseeable future, so…

He reached into his pocket, pulling out a few small rectangular gold pieces that clacked together as he placed them on the counter and slid them toward Auri.
“I refuse to leave you alone like this.-” he started, then stopped and looked at Odessa.
”-Well, not alone certainly, but out like this. It’s the perfect venue for a murder, and I worry a single friend won’t be enough of a deterrent. So, I will buy your stock; and as we’re leaving we will hand every single beautiful flower out to the people who have gathered here on glorious Crackerland!”

Auri grabbed the pieces, staring at them with wide eyes.

“... What are these?”

He pulled a third one out and put it on his forehead, right in the center with it sticking upright. He smiled widely.
“Meowth! Meowth!” he began to laugh. “These are Koban. Gold from the Empire which we used as a stipend for our yearly operations. The clan treasury would supply us with a few boxes of them every year, and we would return with different artifacts and materials you can’t find in this realm.”

He held out the third one to Auri, letting her take it as well.
“They were still in the village the night I returned to it burning; it’s how I can tell it wasn’t one of our rival clans that did the deed. If they had, they would’ve pillaged our coffers as well.”
There was a wide grin on his face, and he wasn’t about to tell her how many were back on his boat, or how many were buried on the property outside.
“These are, I believe, from the early seventeen-hundreds. Get them appraised, they become too high profile to sell. But, I met a fence willing to go for around sixty percent, which means today each coin is worth about a thousand or so of your American Greens.”

“I… uh…” Auri was completely awestruck as she stared at them. “I can’t take these Kenshiro! It won’t feel right!” She looked over to him.

“I believe I am a paying customer. Put the rest of it on my tab for gardening supplies and dogwood bark bags for my summons, and you will be perfectly capable of taking them as payment for an evening worth of your time without my being so glum and harmed!”
And there he was, back to being intensive in a bright and cheerful kind of way that he was mostly known for. Kenshiro was generally always wearing his heart on his sleeve, but these moments made it somewhat endearing as he provided warm and friendly energy to the situation. Maybe too much…

Auri smiled.

“... Well, could you help me get my stuff back to the mainland, then?”

A wide grin formed across his face.
“Of course. What else is all this good for?” he asked, his right hand slipping into the formation of half of a somatic sigil. Every flower and bundle or bouquet rose from the table like a ghost hoisted them from their spot. He slid them back onto open ground, giving Auri room to take care of her things which he moved to help with as well.

He’d purchased friendship for the night, it seemed, and he was satisfied for now despite the lingering fear and anxiety over what was to come next.