828/A Totally Awesome Pizza Party

A Totally Awesome Pizza Party
Date of Scene:	19 October 2014
Location:	Boston-666
Synopsis:	A very social event.
Cast of Characters:	Arthur Lowell, 151, 183, 253, 365, 385, Riva Banari, 513, Ayako Hasekawa

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Psyber (253) has posed:
    This week's Heaven or Hell-ish social gathering is being held at a Pizza Buffet. You know those places where there's like a dozen different pizzas and you just grab a slice of 3 or 4 and load them on a plate. That kind of deal!

    A decent, but not overly massive, number of tables have been set aside to accomodate Heaven or Hell members coming in and out, and Psyber has again comped food and beverage for people on his tab.

    The half-angel in question is mostly chilling at a table with a couple slices of anchovie pizza (special order) and a beer in his hand.

Procyana (365) has posed:
    But don't be surprised if you get a visitor or two that isn't on the roster.

    Because seriously who doesn't want to hang out having pizza and beer?

    The point being that Psyber abruptly has a raccoon woman leaning over his shoulder, the flicker of her stealth field fading off still faintly visible for a moment as she does so, as she flitchs an anchovi off a slice and flicks it in her mouth. "And here I thought I would be the only one with strange taste preferences."

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Mizuki and Palora are here again, though the former doesn't make any great effort to be noticed. She does greet Psyber as she normally would, though, giving the half-angel a curtsey. For him, it should be fairly evident that her smile lacks some of its usual, coy luster, and he could probably also guess why. In fact, that's probably why she's here -- to take some of the edge off and relax. So she'll just be sitting at a table adjacent the one Psyber's at, in a corner, watching everyone else. As authorial stalkers are wont to do.

    Palora, in the meanwhile, pulls up a chair at Psyber's table and throws down a plate stacked to the ceiling with pizza slices. That's an obvious hyperbole, but she does have, like, five pieces on a single plate. Most of them are laden with pepperoni and other iterations of snausages, but a few of them have healthier things on them. Like steak! Wait, is that not healthier? Don't tell her that.

    Seriously, though, if she was a normal human, she'd really need some Jenny Craig after this outing. Dear lord.

    After a while, Mizuki meanders over to the salad bar to fetch some healthier alternatives. She grabs a small bowl of lettuce and another of fruit, taking both over to her little corner when she's finished.

    Meanwhile, Palora. She yanks an anchovy off of one of Psyber's slices and tosses it mouthward, chewing critically. "Hmmm... not bad! Not as good as pepperoni, but these little fish bits are tolerable." She reclines in her seat, wrapping her hands behind her neck, grinning. "Hey, I just got the craziest idea ever. You think anyone has ever made lobster pizza? ... naaaah. That's just too far off the -deep- end." Her grin widens.

    God damnit Palora.

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley shows up, and there's a bit of an oddity to her right now. She has a bunch of loose change stuck to one of her hands. She seems to be trying to remove it, with much fiddling and grumbling, and almost bumps into someone in the process. She even walks over to the pizzas and gathers up her food without stopping this process of painstakingly removing magnetized coins from her scales.

    When she finally seats herself at a table, she has grabbed one piece of three different pizzas. The coins are placed in a pile on the table... a pile that remains magnetized together.

    She finally looks up at the rest of the room and browses the selection of folks that she could work up the nerve to talk to. Like most social occasions, she doesn't seem to be very social. A little awkward frown shows up on her face as she has trouble choosing who she can talk to. She resigns herself to eating her food for now.

    Maybe she's just here for the pizza.

Finna (513) has posed:
    "Ooooooooooooooooh. Meat Lovers!" Nobody invited Finna here.

    Chances are almost nobody here even knows who she is.

    But she is in your party, eating your pizza.

    She's chosen to wear a festive sort of skintight adventurer's crimson bodysuit, sporting a leather harness-like topwear and strips of leather pleated into a kind of armored miniskirt. The outfit is more for flair than function, but it goes well with the young woman's loose white hair - hair that swishes freely down to the middle of her back.

    Chances are high nobody's going to be spotting the woman's strange fox ears and tail at first glance, but the former are flicked high and the latter's wagging playfully... as she's seated in the next table over.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "Hey! What is it with people stealing right off my plate here!?" Psyber grouses in playful annoyance, "Go get your own slices and eat those, you jerks," He waves at both Palora and Procyana, shooing them away from his precious pizza slices. And then he looks over to Mizuki and pats her on the shoulder, "Hey. Buck up." He says to her.

    Ainsley gets a wave as she picks pocket change off of herself and sets them on the table, "Ainsley. I see you're getting a magnetic personality during your travels. You been doing okay?"

    Finna, on the other hand, gets ID'd immediately by Psyber. She has similar Tells to Blossom Rose, so he pretty much just guesses, "Oh hey, what brings a Lunar to my little pizza party?"

Procyana (365) has posed:
Procyana stands up and gives Psyber's hair a ruffle with one hand as she walks past the back of his chair. "Aw, but then I can't tease you with it," she replies just as playfully, before saunting over to the pizza buffet to help herself properly. It's not her fault she likes to tweek people a little. Well okay it is, but it's just out of amusement. As long as you're not on the other side. You know how spies tend to be.

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley looks over to Psyber, smiling lightly at him, the joke seeming to cheer her up a little. "Seems I magnetized the coins in my pockets without realizing it," she tells Psyber by way of explanation. "I'm doing fine. Thinking of visiting mom." She shrugs her shoulders, and stuffs more pizza in her face.
    She carefully nudges the pile of coins around the table with a field of magnetic force projected from one of her hands, entertaining herself with her new sorceress traits.

Riva Banari has posed:
(HEAVEN OR) HELL YEAH, PIZZA!

Riva has arrived at the location and sets to with gusto. She grabs an even spread of a variety of pizza types, as well as a nice side salad. "HI FINNA! Good to see you here! How's the foxing going?" She asks. She also makes a point of poking Ainsley. "Hey Ainsley! I didn't even know you /could/ magnetize pennies like that. What kind of voodoo magic did you pull off there?" She gives Ainsley a grin and gestures with her head. "Come on, let's go pester Mizuki."

And then she does just that, sitting down across from Mizuki and folding her hands daintily as she does so. "Hi Mizuki!" She says brightly. "How's it going? Are you feeling all right?" Yesterday was kind of super duper drama, after all.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    "Had to get my free sample first, boss man." Even though he's already paying for all the food, you mean? Meh. Palora takes two slices of pizza and bites off their ends at once. Gulp. "So what were you sayin' about fish rolls or whatever? I wanna get in on some of that if people are really givin' you free food for savin' 'em and stuff. I'm guessin' they don't have too much of that here since this is a pizza place, but still. Haven't been able to stop thinking about it since you brought it up before."

    Mizuki gives Psyber a small, appreciative smile when he gives her the pat. "Thank you, Psyber." And a bow of her head. "I'll be fine. You know, for years I watched events exactly like this one to console myself. Times when people are together and enjoying themselves, I mean. I do derive pleasure from being allowed to see you all, even if my participation is limited, so do not worry too much. My distance is not a hint of some untold loneliness." With that, she plucks a pair of chopsticks from a hidden pocket and eats an olive or two. Once she's finished chewing, she idly comments, "Chopsticks. Infinitely more versatile than knives or forks could ever be on their own." Maybe her fondness explains why she went to the trouble of having some carved out of ebony. Or at least, that's what it looks like.

    Her eyes grow wide at Riva's approach, though, and for a while she's stunned into a stammer. "Erm. Ah... well." She manages a nod, eventually. "Yes, I'm well enough. It's not as if this is the first time this has happened. I will recover. Nevertheless, thank you for your concern Miss Banari." If Ainsley gets dragged over, too, she gives the lizard woman a vaguely apologetic look, but bows her head in greeting to her as well. "Good afternoon to you as well, Miss Ainsley."

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    Ainsley will be the first to notice a new arrival, from the light flicker of an aurora that comes from Arthur making fun of her magnetism troubles with a bit of his own solar radiation! What a jerk! He swaggers his way into the pizza buffet, having a small humanoid iguana thing handle all the relevant payment matters while he piles his plate with pepperoni monstrosities.

    "HEYYYYY, what up yo? What's the HAPS PSY, besides some PIZZA HEISTS?" Then there's a few greetings to Mizuki and Palora. "MIZ and my FAVORITE MAID, how's it HANGIN'?" Good lord how is he so upbeat after last night? It actually seems a little forced. And then he turns to Riva, giving a friendly wave to her. "ALL THESE JOBS we've done together, STILL never had a chance to meet you OFF the job if I remember right. HEYA."

    And then he looks out at the rest here. "And the BOSTON ZOO out in full force today I see." He says in a bit of good-natured humor. "Man I haven't even MET some of you, that's a fuckin' TRAVESTY." He says, apparently interested in meeting them while he stuffs his face with pizza, wandering somewhere near Psyber.

Finna (513) has posed:
    "The pizza!" Finna cheerily answers, tilting her head and grinning over her shoulder at Psyber. "You went and said the one word I wasn't expecting, too... poo, am I that easy to see through?" Well, she wasn't doing a lot to hide herself. But soon, an array of Moonsilver Tattoos fade into view all over her body for the benefit of those LACKING magical sight!

    Riva gets a wave! A pretty exuberant wave, and Finna's stuffing a piece of meat lovers pizza in her face at the same time... "Oh, it goes, it goes! ... It would be better if someone apparently hadn't come before me and spilled all the beans..."

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    "They're not pennies," Ainsley says, holding up the magnetized bundle of coins, now lightly covered in the grease of a messy eater. They seem to be some kind of crude currency that isn't from any country that Riva would recognize. "These are from home. I went shopping for my magic research." She sets the coins down, and then tries to lift her hand and finds the coins are stuck to her hand again.
    Arthur's entrance into the room is met with a look of mild uncertainty. "I belong in a zoo just as much as you do," she tells Arthur, but the good-natured tone she has suggests she understands he didn't mean anything by it.

    She gathers up her plate of pizza -- leaving the magnetized coin bundle there on the table -- and moves herself over to Mizuki's table to sit down with her. The lizard girl smiles gently at the dream witch, content not to say anything, just wanting to be near someone she knows.

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    "ESCAPED BEAST ROAMS BOSTON STREETS; ANIMAL CONTROL STRUGGLES TO CONTAIN POTENTIAL SICK BURN THREAT." Arthur makes an overdramatic gesture of reading a newspaper with one hand while he gnaws pizza with the other, clearly a response to Ainsley. It comes with his usual grin, though, so he probably doesn't mean anything bad by it.

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley cannot help but laugh at Arthur's boisterous humor, which results in quite a bit of coughing because she was in the middle of eating some of her pizza. And then a bit more laughter, more awkward this time.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "Aaaarthur. How are you doin after last night? Puke your guys out, come to fill em back up on delicious pizza?" He asks to the Mage/God of Space before grinning at Procyana and saying, "Yeah well, you might lose a hand next time you steal from my plate." He makes a biting noise before looking over to Riva.

    "Yooo, Riva. Welcome," Psyber says, shifting attention over towards Mizuki right after and nodding his head, "Well I'll help you as much as I can help. But I doubt I can do as much as some." He says pretty honestly.

    To Ainsley, Psyber says, "Visiting your mom? That's not a bad idea if you have a decent relationship. You should do it."

    And his final response is to Finna, "One of my close friends was a Lunar. I can pick em out. Plus I'm your boss. Plus you admit it repeatedly!"

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Mizuki gives Arthur a somewhat reserved, but earnest nod of her head and a smile. Something behind her eyes almost looks... pained, though. It might not get across to him, but she isn't at all surprised that he's acting this way; she's just torn up all the more to think that he feels he must. If only he was allowed to be sullen as she is being right now.

    Palora, on the other hand, dives in for a high-five with the rocket powered jerk if he'll reciprocate it. "Not too bad, ULTRA JERK." She grins her usual, toothy grin and folds her arms. "But I'm not a maid out here. I'm just a totally awesome chick with a scythe. Well, sometimes with a scythe; Mimi said I ~hhaaaad~ to put it away if I was going out in public, so I figured I'd just say 'whatevs' and follow her stupid rules."

    Mizuki gives Ainsley a quiet look now and then, but for the most part any communication she engages in with her is of the nonverbal variety. She informs her that there's a salad bar if she gets hungry later, offers her some reading material, and other such things, though. Just to be polite, but Ainsley would likely understand that Mizuki means the suggestions to be benign no matter how perfunctory they may sound.

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    Arthur winces a little at Psyber, then says, "I'm FINE, wasn't a BIG DEAL! I'M the sort of COOL KID who's supposed to be able to be TOTES APATHETIC to that shit, so, hey! S'ALL GOOD." He says, forcing that grin back over his face before excusing himself from more talking for a moment by jamming more bastardized Italian shlock down his gullet.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    As an afternote, Psyber explains to Palora, "Lobster Roll. It's like lobster, diced celery, butter sauce on a toasted bun. They're basically the specialty food of east coast seafood towns," He explains before hearing Arthur's response and ruffling the top of his head, "If you're sure you're good."

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva laughs in response to Finna. "Well, looks like you've just made an impression! Did someone spoil you grand entrance? Who'd do such a thing?" Riva makes a 'tsk' noise, though still smiling as she shakes her head.

Arthur's arrival gets a squeak and a moment of relief for Mizuki as Riva leaps over ang gives Arthur a hug hello. "Oh my God it's so good to see you again!" She says effusively. "And you are totally right, it's about time we finally met outside of work, Jesus, things get so crazy, you know?" While Arthur might seem forced, Riva seems to be intent on battling the forces of social awkwardness with pure optimism and energy. "So you're THE MAN HIMSELF, Arthur Lowell, god-badass of space and whoopass. I'm Riva Banari, member of the Knights Templar in my homeworld, powered by bees and world-energy, and tasked to stab evil horrors in the face. It's a living!" She shrugs. "Now go get some pizza and meet me over there." She gestures over to the Mizuki corner.

Ainsley points out they're not pennies. "So you were doing magic research on what, magnetic coins? Where did you even get them from?" She leans over and pokes at the coins, seemingly unable to keep her hands to herself in that respect. "You've been doing a lot of research lately. Still working on that thing with the thing?" She says, maybe obliquely referencing her undead research. "How's it all working out?"

Psyber greets her, which means it's time for Riva to change targets. "HEY PSYBER!" Riva calls happily. "Nice to see you again! We just keep running into each other, don't we?" She laughs. "It's almost like I work with you or something~" She teases. "What's the latest? Hope it's not all work-related, you know how people get when they don't take time off!"

Mizuki draws her attention as well again, causing Riva to get back to snaffle a piece of her (Riva's, not Mizuki's) pizza and ask her in between bites, "So what are you up to these days? I mean, you have to have SOME free time or something, right?"

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    Arthur has a free hand, but that would be boring. Palora's enthusiastic response deserves equal enthusiasm, so he tosses his pizza plate up into the air before slamming in the high five and then catching the plate, then each slice in sequence. That was TOTALLY POINTLESS and just showy for its own sake.

    "WELL, still the FAVORITE ONE then. Good to see ya! Yeah, people get MAD UNEASY around WEIRD WEAPONS. Didn't really get that way back in MY HOME, funny story. Should TELL YOU GUYS sometime."

Procyana (365) has posed:
"Bite me? Is that a threat or a promise?" Procyana replies in a coy, what could almost be faintly flirty sounding in tone. But she's a spy, they all tend to sound like that from time to time.

After snatching an assortment of differently topped slices she wanders back over, hooks a chair at Psyber's tabel with her foot, and pulls it out to sit down. "Pizza buffet sounds like such an odd idea, but I ain't going to bloody complain about the variation without having to order multiple pies."

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    Arthur accepts the hug from Riva with a palpably awkward and reluctant vulnerability that doesn't fit with his presented image. More with how he seemed last night.

    "SHIT YEAH I am! Though not doing much GOD STUFF these days, I like to think I'm more INTERGALACTIC HOOLIGAN than any of that DIVINE SHIT, yo. Good to meet you, anyway! Powered by BEES huh? I'm powered by MONSTER STABBING myself." He assumes an upbeat, social posture after extricating himself from the hug. "Sounds like the BEST KIND OF LIVING! Lots of ADVENTURES and all that. GOOD STUFF." He's planning on following along with his supply of pizza, joining her as requested.

Finna (513) has posed:
    Finna tchs lightly over at Psyber, apparently she's disappointed whatever ploy she had in mind was cut so short! "Ah, who would've guessed? You do attract the strange like treasure attracts lodestones, maybe I should've expected it." Was that a compliment or an insult? Who can say...

    Her attention wanders about, settling on Riva and Arthur first! "Hah! With you two about this is almost like a party back home!"

Riva Banari has posed:
"Intergalactic Hooligan? Awesome title. And hey, I was in college to be an artist. Fat lot of good that degree was in the work force, huh?" Riva says, jokingly. "It's a living, that's for sure!" She sounds optimistic... ish. "So you're really into the adventures and stabbing monsters, huh? What got you into the business? Or did you just descend from on high like Chuck Norris?" She chuckles at that one.

Finna causes Riva to lean over. "Hmmmmmm? So what are parties like back at home? Come on, tell me about it!" Whee! Exalted party talk!

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "Riiiiva! It's almost like exactly that thing. Not that I'm complaining about seeing much more of an awesome lady like yourself," He says with a big laugh, "Aaaah, the latest. Nothing too amazing. Just taking a lazy sunday while I prepare for crunch time coming up next week."

    "Could be both~," He says to Procyana. Finna gets a pretty straight question, "So you just here to mooch pizza, or can I help you with something, foxy lady?"

    "And Arthur, you know you can come to me for advice, right? As your weird, dictated space father, it's my duty to guide you along despite you being billions of years older than me."

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    "Yeeeeah no..." Ainsley says, carefully setting down her pizza. "You know that crazy murderer that was terrorizing the Grey Scholars? She got captured..." She frowns for a second over at Psyber, letting him fill in the blanks from there. 'My mom is a homicidal crazypants.' She doesn't seem to want to talk about it to much.
    She smiles at Mizuki and takes the offering of reading material, as well as getting some salad when it's suggested. She doesn't seem all that bothered.

Procyana (365) has posed:
Procyana smirks around a bite of pizza. "With you it probably is." Nomnomnom. "I might bite back... or use the claws." Idly turns the slice around so she can bite through the thick crust and gnaw on that.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    To Riva, "Oh, of course. I am chronically flooded with free time. Regardless of the consequences, the situation in my world does not seem to have any explicit deadlines. Continuing on at my own pace has worked thus far, so I shall continue to do just that." Under hear breath, she might add, 'And that way I may yet have a chance of preserving what little sanity I still retain'.

    Then back to Palora. "Oh. So it isn't just really expensive sushi? Huh. You know, when you said 'roll' I thought you meant something wrapped in one of those eggroll crusts. A sandwich sorta thing sounds pretty awesome." That said, she's content to return to stuffing her face full of bread and cheese for the time being. Go figure.

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    "WORLD BLEW UP! Had to ESCAPE into a realm of MONSTERS AND FIGHTS! DUNGEONS, GREAT EVIL, that kinda stuff. Turned out GREAT though!" Arthur says, in a friendly sort of casual tone, to Riva. Then a quick glance to Finna and a brief flare of grinning. "Must have some GREAT PARTIES at home!" Quick wink.

    Psyber gets passed on the way to the Mizuki Corner and he gets a somber sort of look, briefly. "Yeah." Arthur says, in a much less upbeat tone. "I know. Thanks. I'll be fine though. Slept it off, you know?" He really didn't but, you know, not polite talk to bring up.

Procyana (365) has posed:
Procyana just raises a brow a bit at the exchanges going on, but doesn't bother asking. She's only nosy when it's part of her current job to be nosy.

Riva Banari has posed:
"Pffft, I'm not that amazing, I just try to help out where I can." Riva says, waving a hand nonchalantly back to Pesyber. "Yeah, word on the street is that Halloween is usually a Thing basically everywhere." She frowns. "Something seems to be winding up in my own world too. Hope everything works out."

Riva sliiiides in near Palora and gives a wave. "Hiiiiiiiii there! I don't remember meeting you! Sup, I'm Riva!" She holds out a hand to shake. "Maid off-duty, huh? What got you into the scythe thing? Are you doing the whole 'maid of death' thing or is it something else?" She shrugs. "Hey, if you're working with Mizuki, I guess the rules are there for a reason, right? Bedies, people /totally freak out/ if you wave weapons around out here. Believe me, not worth it."

The mention of weird father causes Riva to chorus "SPACE DAAAAAD~" at Psyber from the background.

Arthur's statement causes Riva to blink. "Your /world blew up/? Wow, no wonder why you're all into the disaster movie thing. That makes sense." She nods definitively. "Guess you didn't have much of a choice either, huh! Well, glad everything worked out for you, right?" She winks at that.

And then back to Mizuki! "Good! You have to have time to unwind! So what do you do when you're doing it? I'm guessing reading figures into a lot of it, huh?" She says.

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako peeks into the room. She's not exactly being sneaky-her witch hat sort of prevents that! Rather, it seems she's being shy all of a sudden? She hesitatingly steps into the room, glancing about awkwardly, and takes a seat at one of the tables. Her body shakes slightly as she quietly watches everyone. Now, why is she acting like this instead of her usual cheerful mood?

Finna (513) has posed:
    "Lots of boasting and high spirits to go around, of course!" Finna clarifies, returning the wink with a lopsided little grin of her own.

    "Oh, yeah! Both! I did have something, but it can wait!" The foxwoman replies Psyber's way.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "If it's to marry me, I have to warn you that I get a lot of suitors." Psyber says to Finna pretty casually, taking a long swig from his beer before taking a big bite of Pizza, "So you've got stiff competition there."

    Ainsley's response causes his face to fall into a frown, "Ah... I didn't know. I'm really sorry to hear that, Ainsley."

    Arthur does not get a further response from him, Psyber's message conveyed and then dramatically bolstered by Riva. So instead he looks to Palora, "It's like a super swanky seafood salad sandwich. It's the tops."

    Psyber spots Ayako and waves her into the pizza establishment, "Ayako! Come join us. We're all taking a day away from the drama of our ongoing crisises to chill out. You like pizza?"

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako smiles softly when she's waved in. "I... umm... alright." Her gaze travels to the floor for a moment. "A day off is always wonderful! I... well... I don't really eat, so..." That's probably the exact reason why she feels awkward! She fidgits a bit awkwardly in her chair.

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    "But I still need to visit her. I... don't know if it will matter to her," Ainsley says, trying her best to prevent turning into a sullen pile of regret and despair. She does a pretty good job of that. She looks over to Mizuki with some pleased smiling for a moment, though still doesn't say anything. It's mostly just friendly looks. Riva, though, gets a reply.
    "The coins are currency from the Quetzal home city. They're made of metals that magnetize too easily." She pauses a beat. "I'm not studying the undead anymore. Focusing more on where Quetzal magic came from and what it actually is. Seems like my people got led astray at some point and all the literature is filled with ideas that don't actually work when someone tries to put them into practice." She pauses to take a bite of pizza.. "Inga is helping me. She's very insightful. I think I'll be focusing on wards and healing."

Procyana (365) has posed:
Procyana snorts softly as she starts on a slice of hawaiian. "Drama of ongoing crisises. The bloody lot of you all make my time seem placid, and I'm the one that sneaks into evil mastermind's bases to break their shit and occasionally assassinate one of 'em for a living."

Then she picks a slice of meat off her pizza between two clawnails. "And why the bloody 'ell do they call this canadian -bacon- when it's made like -ham-?" Aaah, the mysteries of life.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Palora is probably licking some sauce off of her mouth when Riva comes to bug her. "Oh, uh. Yo. 'M Palora, but you probably got that already." She listens to her rapid volley of questions with a gradually raising eyebrow. Clearly, she's not quite so flattered by the interest as Mizuki herself. "Uhhh huuuuh. Well, yeah. Scythes are the things Grim Reapers gotta have, right? I'm a Grim Reaper. I gotta scythe. Sorta like a badge of office or somethin', you know? Maid of Death sounds pretentious as shit, though. I prefer Soul Taxi." She sticks out her tongue... and then rolls her eyes when she gives her even more reasons not to have her scythe out in public. "But it's freakin' -funny- when people run around screaming! What's the point in being scary if you can't... well. Be freaking scary?" Pout.

    And when Riva gets around to prodding Mizuki, she nods again. "Yes. I read, write, and visit others when I have the opportunity. I've been drafting no small number of poems lately as a method of venting."

    Mizuki gives Ayako a small wave as she notices her coming in, and Psyber gets a somewhat narrow-eyed, critical look at the mention of suitors. "It's hard to chalk you up to a single mythological character, you know? You're beset on all sides. Wayward mages, eldritch abominations, and even completely mundane maidens seem to be drawn to you. If you were any more magnetic, you would spontaneously combust to become the sun." The smile assures him that it was just more tongue-and-cheek.

    As Arthur approaches, Mizuki pulls something out of her pocket. A handkerchief, it looks like, embroidered with an image of the night sky. The letter 'M' appears in a bold, golden hue at its Southeastern corner as well. Oddly enough, she offers it to him. "This is but a small token, but I would be honored if you would accept it. I had this crafted for me years ago but never put it to any use. I thought it might make you a trifle more 'classy' if you kept this in one of your pockets." And hey, maybe he could even wipe the grease off of his hands with it once he's done eating!

    ... even if that -is- a handkerchief's intended use, why does that sound so wrong? Mimi gives weird gifts.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "Even if you can't eat, you can still enjoy the company of good friends, can't you?" He points out, smiling and waving her over as best he can, "So there's nothing to feel awkward about. Just chill out, tell us about your day and junk."

    "Multiverse has some crazy shit going on in it," Psyber replies to Procyana, grinning a bit, "And it sorta takes a toll on the people that try to get out there and try to maximize the good they can do," He explains to her, nibbling on his pizza. No explanation is given for canadian bacon, and instead simply a shrug.

    To Mizuki, he waves his hand, "Don't forget crazy time-powered authors, Grim Reaper Wannabes, and a single traitorous priestess." He adds to her list.

Finna (513) has posed:
    "Oh... I haven't even put any effort forth and you're already smitten with me?" Finna teases after munching down another bite of pizza. "Not what I was expecting to hear, Psyber!" Seems she can roll with this kind of jokery, huh?

    "...So many people about I haven't met! Who might you all be, anway? The name's Finna!"

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    Arthur gives a laugh to Riva. "YEP, PRETTY MUCH. Not much of a CHOICE, but y'know, GO WITH THE FLOW and all that. Better than the ALTERNATIVE, yeah? Alternative was being blown up by meteors. SHITTY ALTERNATIVE." He winds up sitting down at the same table there now. Riva doesn't need to do much to get him right into being really intensely social. Probably would have done it anyway, honestly.

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    Ayako gets a wave and a grin after she's been there long enough to get noticed. Arthur remembers her! In a positive light, given how she was so supportive before. "Can you TASTE?" He asks, plaintively. "'Cause, you know, you don't gotta get SUSTAINANCE from this shit for it to still be WORTH EATING. It's PIZZA. If we ate it for NUTRITION we'd be SUICIDAL. Give it a TASTE, huh?"

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    Finna's comment about boasting and high spirits gets a laugh from Arthur. "Lady if my SPIRITS were ANY HIGHER they'd be part of NASA." Arthur says, pointing at her and doing a quick little finger-gun. "Can't imagine how you OTHER DUDES manage to get 'em so LOW sometimes."

Procyana (365) has posed:
Procyana shrugs at Psyber and tosses the slice in her mouth before continuing on the pizza. "I guess its because I'm still not on the actual frontlines much, even in the Multiverse. So I don't see a lot of the... y'know. Just the weird shit people come up with in secret."

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    "CANADIAN BACON is a PYRAMID SCHEME." Arthur declares authoritatively, replying to Procyana's confusion regarding the issue of the toppings, then laughing briefly.

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    Palora gets a stare from Arthur, then another laugh. "Always good to not take yourself too SERIOUSLY. Just as long as you don't go with SOUL TRAIN, ought to be good." An approving thumbs-up! And then, hey, Mizuki's giving him a gift! "Oh! Hey. Coo'. Thanks, Miz! I'll TAKE CARE OF IT. Make shit MAD CLASSY up ins." Arthur takes the hankerchief. Despite his emphatic words and relaxed mannerisms, he handles it both gingerly and dexterously, slipping it into a pocket after folding it with quick, simple one-handed motions while he continues to chomp his way through a slice.

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    Finna's request to get introductions gives Arthur an excuse to do his well-rehearsed introduction. "ARTHUR LOWELL! ROCKET-POWERED JERK and INTERGALACTIC HOOLIGAN!" He says, giving his own weird little title set. "Nice t'meetcha, Finna." Quick little greeting by way of fingergun there. Re-re-regreeting, anyway.

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako waves a small, slow wave back at Mizuki and smiles softly in return. Her head nods slowly in respsonse to Psyber and she smiles softly. She takes a deep breath... and then exhales. "Maybe I should have some soda of some sort..." She gets up from her seat and gets a small cup, filling it up with some lemon-lime soda. Her steps take her back to Psyber where she sits down next to. She settles into the chair properly for a moment, drops a straw into the cup and takes another deep breath. She stares at the cup... and then shakes her head quickly. "Best for me not to drink that unless I really have to..."

    Ayako smiles softly, "Umm... I don't really do anything exciting or special, though. I just end up filling up bottles of different colored healing water for Medical." She looks over to Arthur and then giggles a bit awkwardly. "I can't taste. I can detect things in water just fine, but... no... there's no real emotional link or anything like that. So yeah... no happiness from sugar, no yumminess from salt. Flavor is a mystery to me..." Her stare goes back to her cup. "Soda... does affect me, though. Or even just carbonated water. But... I act... Hmm... odd? When I drink it." She shakes her head slowly, "I don't ever remember what I do, but everyone says it's... alarming?" She smiles brightly, "Oh, but I always feel really good after! Kind of like a release somehow."

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber laughs to Finna, "Other way around, you're the one smitten with a total stranger. That's why you're showing up in a body suit and skirt to a casual lunch you're totally unrelated to~. It's really very incriminating for you," Psyber says with a teasing tone.

    Ayako gets a much more serious response, Psyber moving to pat her on the shoulder as she sits down next to him, "That sounds pretty interesting, to be water. That's really cool, even if I couldn't imagine not being able to taste," He says with a bit of wonderment, "So Soda is like... boozey for you? I wonder what Booze would do, then."

Riva Banari has posed:
"The home city, huh? So you went and visited your home town?" Riva replies curiously. "What's it like? Would it be okay to visit sometime? It sounds interesting." She nods. "Well, you have to do a lot of research before you get someplace, so says all the scientists. And magic is kind of like science sometimes, right?" She shrugs. "I'm not expert, though. Maybe we can ask Supercatboy." She nods at the mention of Inga. "She's incredibly gifted with that. It looks like that's what all of her, um... home tradition focused on." She kind of glosses over the blood part.

Palora's response causes her to laugh. "Soul Taxi, huh? Do you get a tip from people you go and reap?" She asks. Can't resist. "Well, save it for Halloween maybe? Everyone expects that kind of thing then."

Mizuki causes Riva to lean forward in interest. "Poetry, hummmmmm? Care to share, or are they the super private type~?" She asks, slightly teasing. "And don't worry about Psyber. I'm going to steal him for myself and they won't have to fight over it anymore." Riva says it so flippantly, she's got to be joking. Right? Arthur gets a definate nod, and that puts Riva, Arthur, and Mizuki on the same corner. Maybe the boisterousness will cancel out the inherent awkwardness from yesterday. That's her hope anyway. "Yeah, getting blown up by meteors would be terrible. What's with meteors anyway? Why are people always trying to crash them into planets? That's super inconvenient."

Ayako's timidity practically calls out to be addressed! "Ayako!" Riva calls, leaning in from behind the water girl. "Relax! Here, you're with friends! Eating or drinking, whatever! We're all here to enjoy ourselves, aren't we? Just relax! We're here to have fun and be with our friends. So what are you up to, hmmmm?" How does she manage to do this?

Finna (513) has posed:
    "....Hah! Incriminating... as if showing yourself off is something to be ashamed of. hah!" The foxwoman fingerwaggles. "It shows where your mind is..." And adopts a mischevious grin, whilst raising up to her feet and scooting away from the seat. "Tyah!"

    Spinning in place, she's surrounded with a flicker of silvery light and her clothes shift and reform! The bodysuit's gone... replaced with a Japanese PE uniform! She snaps her fingers, and it shifts again: A lovely cerulean wedding dress! Another fingersnap and the dress becomes a crimson, flower-patterned qipao.

    The outfit switching continues for a bit: french maid outfit, fantasy thief outfit, pirate, exotic belly dancer, white-robed priestess, tribal life...

    She finally settles on overly modest, super colorful merchant's robes complete with an overly garish assortment of jewelry, and takes another bite of pizza!

Psyber (253) has posed:
    To this entire display of outfit switching, through the many different looks Finna gives herself, Psyber looks to her and says, "Oh. So you're a Lunar with a cosplay fetish! Okay."

Procyana (365) has posed:
Procyana nearly chokes on her pizza in trying to not laugh at the way Psyber chose to phrase that. She sputters a few times, then groans as she gets over it and chugs down a glass of beer to make her throat less dry.

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    "BLEH. So, TASTE, but no REAL TASTE, huh? Harsh. Ought to look into FIXING THAT. Trust me, food is GREAT." Arthur says, nodding to Ayako in a ponderous sort of way. "Don't worry, I got a FRIEND who handles ANYTHING THAT'S NOT WATER like SHIT AWFUL. Don't do it today, probably a BAD IDEA!" That last bit is very upbeat! Punctuated by another chomp into his pizza.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
The door to the pizza parlor/buffet swings open, and a young woman walks in who hasn't been around the Union much lately.

Yuna looks much the same as usual, blonde hair tied back in a long ponytail, green eyes shining with good spirits, lips curved in a friendly smile; she's dressed up a bit more than usual, though - not like she's going to a formal ball, but with a tan sweater and matching below-the-knee skirt, white blouse visible where the sweater's collar exposes it. "Sorry if I'm running late, Psyber," Yuna says apologetically, then bows - not just to Psyber but to the others at the table. "Is it all right if I join you?"

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako smiles softly at the shoulder pat from Psyber. "I-Is it? I don't really know. I've always been made of water. Although I have no complaints about it, really." She looks over to Arthur, "Hmm... I don't really know what I'm missing so... I don't really mind, to be honest. I've tried fixing it in the past, but... it never really works out. So I'm just happy the way I am now." She giggles softly, "Hmm... I suppose you could say that, Psyber... Oh! But alcohol doesn't do anything to me." Her pointer finger pokes the small cup of soda in front of her. "I have to drink this willingly and not kick it out of me."

    Her eyes blink quickly when Riva leans in behind her. "Eh heh... I... alright, Riva." Ayako smiles gently. "Umm..." She inclines her head to the side gently. "Acting like a water witch! Well... dressed like one, anyway!" Her hands reach up and take off the witch hat on her head. She hugs it gently. "I happen to like this outfit a lot." A light blush crosses her face and she places the hat carefully back on top of her head, adjusting it so that the bow is in the right position.

    Ayako claps her hands cheerfully at Finna's display of outfit switching. "Oh oh, I can do that too!" She blushes deeply. "But I don't like to do it in front of other people." Her head shakes quickly and then she raises her hand. "Then... I'm a water spirit with a cosplay fetish too! I'm always looking for cute outfits that suit me."

    Ayako notes the new arrival and waves hello cheerfully to her. "Hello!"

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    "I actually SOLVED the whole METEOR MYSTERY after a while. LONG STORY. It involves a lot of TIME TRAVEL, apparently. Shit was NUTSO CRAZY, lemme tell you. Turned out, no joke, the METEORS were just a SIDE EFFECT of SOMETHING ELSE. Now THAT'S fucked up." Arthur says, rambling a bit on the subject while he pals around with Riva and Mizuki over here. He shakes his head. "As for MOST TIMES? Just CONVENIENCE. Lotta POTENTIAL ENERGY for ANYTHING outside a planet's PRACTICAL GRAVITATIONAL PULL, y'know? Work with what you GOT, I guess."

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    That whole exchange going on between Finna and Psyber gets a laugh out of Arthur. "OH MAN." He says. "Never let her get near CROWRAVEN, huh? Man, that'd be AWFUL. SILLY COSTUME SINGULARITY." He declare, as if speaking of some great and terrible disaster!

Finna (513) has posed:
    Finna leeeeans over at Psyber, showing him a most twisted frown while her cheeks puff up. "Doesn't everyone around this time of year?"

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    There's a casual wave and a greeting to Yuna. "HEYA. I remember YOU! C'mon! Take a SEAT. You been doin' a LOT LESS YELLING these days." He takes a relaxed stance, figuring she'll have something to say on her own, linking his fingers behind his head.

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    "YOU," Arthur says, swapping subjects in his conversation with Ayako. "Need to find a BETTER WORD FOR THAT. Also what the HELL, this is like the THIRD, what, FOURTH time I've met ANOTHER weird tricky girl all up into COSTUMES. Is there some SECRET CONSPIRACY? Some POD PEOPLE shit goin' on up ins? What the hell." He gestures to both Ayako and Finna here in a baffled way, then resumes his relaxed stance.

Riva Banari has posed:
"Your costume is awesome, Ayako! I love it." Riva says, still smiling. "And don't worry, I like dressing up, Arthur, but I'm not like, really into the cosplay thing."

Psyber (253) has posed:
    When Finna is leaning over at him and frowning, Psyber does the number one counter that he's discovered for the Lunar Exalt. The half-angel reaches up atop her head and scratches right behind one of her ears. He takes this time to laugh at Arthur's comments.

    To Yuna, Psyber waves her over, "Sure, come sit down and chat. We're just kinda messing around."

    And finally to Ayako, Psyber nods his head in understanding and then simply laughs at her picking up the term he used against Finna, "Ah. You're a riot, Ayako."

    RIVA, though, gets the most surprised response out of Psyber, "That's really your plan? Dangerous game to play."

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Almost simultaneously, Mizuki and Palora turn and give Psyber looks. "Don't you dare lump my associates and I in with your 'groupies'." Hmph! She gives a gentle, playful flip of her hair to go along with the remark. She's obviously recovered quite a lot just being here if she has the oomph to give witty retorts like that one. Palora follows her up with a rapid series of nods. "You tell 'im, Mimi. I'm in that Aozaki chick's corner. Just followin' Mister Investigator around for his wallet, and the good eats." She sticks out her tongue again, here.

    She lets Arthur go without any more sappy gestures, but does silently appreciate his tact in handling her gift. She'll tell him her prettily worded, poetic reasoning behind it later. In private. Palora bars her proverbial fangs even more when he replies, too, placing a hand on her hip as she wolfs down the last bite of one of her pizza slices. "'Soul Train' sounds like some tacky disco song name from the goddamn 70s. The hell I would ever use that." She's obviously more keen on American culture and history than she lets on. At least she plays it for humor in pretty sneaky ways; not likely to be picked up by others that way!

    Palora makes a shrugging gesture at Riva. "I wish I got tips. Trouble is, dead people usually don't have a lot of money on them. A real shame, that." Sarcastic as always. Mizuki is finishing a sip from her glass - a wine glass containing naught but water, of course - and peeks open an eye at Riva before she replies. "Not the sort of poetry I would share in a public forum, at least. But then, I've never been overly fond of sharing -any- of my writings in a public forum."

    She sighs loudly at the discussion of cosplay fetishes, pinching the bridge of her nose. Then Palora, at the top of her lungs, speaks thusly:

    "Mimi should know about -that-. She has a Victorian cosplay fetish obv -- MMPPPHH!"

    Palora now holds the world record for having her mouth covered by her relatives. She also holds the world record for pissing of Mizuki the most. Or is it embarrassing her the most? Probably both -- she looks pretty angry, but the blush on her cheeks is kinda hard to miss.

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako raises her hand again, "I'm like it all year! Well... except for Halloween." She glances off to the side awkwardly. "During Halloween, I get stuck in my formal appearance and can't look like anything else." Her palms gently rest on her cheeks. "It's really embarrassing looking like that... So... I'll probably try to hide somewhere during Halloween."

    She then giggles at Arthur's gesture. Ayako taps her cheek with her pointer finger as she looks upwards, "Alright, alright... I'm just... fashion conscious?" She looks over to Mizuki and Palora. "Oh oh... Victorian clothing is wonderful too! I actually have one purple dress and a hoop bonnet, but... it's a bit too showy for my tastes..." She blushes lightly.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Yuna smiles a bit brighter as she heads over - actually hitting the buffet first to pick up a few slices for herself, then taking a seat at the table with the others. "Quite a few people I haven't met here yet ... I'm Yuna Kagurazaka, idol singer; it's good to meet those of you I don't already know." She bows her head briefly, but formally.

"I was called away for a while on something kind of urgent," she explains to Arthur.as she's picking up a slice of pizza. "It's a little complicated to try and explain beyond that ..." She trails off, pursing her lips, then takes a bite of her pizza, considering how (and whether) to try and layo ut more details. Psyber *will* need to know, if she's to make her request of him; Arthur might be able to help too ...

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako smiles brightly at Yuna, "Nice to meet you too, Yuna! I'm Ayako Hasekawa, a human water witch!" She sticks out her tongue playfully, "Just kidding! I'm a water spirit!" She rests one palm against her cheek. "Gosh... an idol singer... that brings back some memories..." And smiles softly to herself.

Riva Banari has posed:
"Did you have to fly onto the meteor and blow it up with a nuclear weapon?" Riva is forced to ask Arthur. "That's so crazy!" Riva replies to Arthur. "But I guess that's right. You work with what you've got. Thank goodness you've got a hell of a lot to work with, huh?" Riva jokes.

Psyber warns Riva about the dangers of getting involved, and Riva waves back at him. "Relax, silly. We've barely met. Even if I think you're a cute hunk of man, I'm not really crushing on you." She then grins, her eyes narrowing with dangerous levels of teasing amusement. "Yet."

Palora laments the lack of money in reaping. "Really? You don't get paid? I guess people don't do that thing where they bury people with money on their eyes anymore, either."

Mizuki's ACTION GAGGING of Palora causes Riva to waggle her eyebrows. "Victorian, huh? Niiiice. Classy!" She shakes her head and waves a hand. "Relax. But I really think you should do some poetry you can share. We can go to readings! That'll be great!"

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley got preoccupied with some radio conversation, distractedly watching the other folks. Unable to really mingle with them in any meaningful way -- what does she really have to talk about that isn't about work or another crisis? -- she stands up and meanders out of the place, finishing off a breadstick that she ordered a few minutes ago.

Finna (513) has posed:
    Finna's just confused enough by the gesture she thinks Psyber's up to that she doesn't see what he really intends until it's too late. "a-ah!" The weirdest look flashes across her suddenly-blushing face as her ears aflatten out a little. Both eyes turn a little glassy with content, and she makes a very inhuman little 'chirp' like noise... only to wrench herself away and fold her arms after a few seconds of that. "Ooo-ooooohgh, you've learned too much!"

    Still blushing like a maniac...

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber can't help but laugh at Riva, "Oh you're good." He says to her, before laughing even harder at Finna's reaction to his ear-attention, "Muahaha. The most dangerous weapon of a paranormal researcher is knowledge." He says to Finna, wiggling his fingers at her enticingly.

    Psyber's laughing subsides as he looks to Yuna and asks, "What's on your mind?"

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    "Not into the COSPLAY weirdness? So, just into OUTFITS, not into the STRANGE CONSPIRACY, huh?" Arthur says, jabbing Riva in a friendly, joking sort of way. "Well, GOOD TO HEAR."

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    There's a few nods in a friendly way to Palora. "Hahaha, well, there's worse STYGIAN CONVEYANCE I can think of. Could make it even MORE bad. Work the SOUL PLANE and all." Arthur laughs for a moment before crossing his arms and putting an eyebrow up at Mizuki's little bit of wrestling with Palora, grinning as he observes. Ah, true friendship! So nice.

Finna (513) has posed:
    "Cosplay? What is that supposed to even MEAN anyways?" Finna asks Arthur, trying to avoid bringing up Psyber's laugher apparently. "I'll deal with you later!" She snaps none-too-seriously at the half-angel!

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    "LONG STORY, huh? I know how that goes. Don't wanna PRY or nothin', huh? Lay it on me if you're FEELING IT, but otherwise, sounds like you need your chance to CHILL, yeah?" Arthur says, relaxing and going back to chewing.

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako comfortably nestles back in her chair and leans forward to the straw-and quickly stops herself. "Eep. That was close." She moves her head back and shakes her head. "Almost got too into the mood." She raises her hand cheerfully. "It's costume play! You know... dressing up in costumes for fun." She shakes her head slowly and sighs, "I love dressing up, but... while a lot of clothes look good on me, a lot of it doesn't suit my style..." A smile crosses her face. "I like... cute and elegant clothing. Nothing really showy, but still eyecatching."

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    Arthur shakes his head at Riva. "NAH." He says. "Went into the RELATIVE PAST of the meteors and killed the EVIL SPACE TYRANT who made them be AWFUL. Was a HUGE DEAL at the time. Big fight. Lasted like FIVE DAYS or something. Turned out PRETTY RAD, even though I needed fuckin' HALF THE MULTIVERSE to get me through it." He sticks out his tongue and makes a quick "bleh" noise.

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    Then Arthur's asked to define what cosplay is. He puts a hand to his chin. "COSTUME PLAY. It's where you're a REAL WEIRDO who enjoys LOOKING LIKE an even BIGGER WEIRDO, but with, like, a THEME, usually. Like a COSTUME, or a COPYRIGHTED CHARACTER." One can tell this is not his actual belief, and he seems to not really have any disrespect about the idea. He just doesn't have any mode besides "irreverent" that applies here! Oh well, Finna can figure that out.

    "And sometimes you're a JERK, like CROWRAVEN is, and FOIST AWFUL COSTUMES on people, because of IRRATIONAL FASCINATIONS. That's what COSPLAY is, apparently."

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber is gonna let Ayako and Arthur have their conversation. He's having enough fun messing around with the flustered Finna, "Yeah? I'll be curious to see your dastardly revenge tactics."

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Yuna smiles, looking Ayako over briefly. "Pleased to make your acquaintance! A water spirit, huh ... ?"

A particularly close eye might pick up a slight flicker in Yuna's expression at the name, though. 'Ayako' isn't a name that Yuna's going to forget, although there are other reasons for that. For now, though, she looks to Psyber and Arthur ... almost offering Finna her answer, but Arthur beat her to it.

She takes another bite of pizza, chewing and swallowing. She has the feeling that she can trust the people who are here, so there's really no reason to waste the opportunity.

"Basically, the reason I dropped off the grid for a while was that I found out there's a *lot* I still needed to learn about my other job," she says - mostly addressing Psyber and Arthur, but not trying to shut anyone else out. "So I was out of contact during my first set of lessons ... and the homework Queen Ryudia gave me," she focuses more on Psyber now, "is that I need to find teachers for some of the things she can't teach me. You were one of the people I thought of, Psyber. If you don't have time to spare for it, I understand - but I'm not sure who else could fill in that gap ..."

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Yuna's request surprises Psyber for many reasons. The half-angel blinks a few times at her and tilts his head, "I'm not sure what I could actually teach you. Setting aside my talking animal companion, I have very little overlap with the average magical girl that would allow me to train or impart wisdom. I'm really not a good role model for anyone," He admits pretty perplexedly.

Finna (513) has posed:
    "Hmph... I was going to lounge around here and see how long it took people to realize I wasn't invited, or a member... but so much for that idea!" Finna grunts with a sour look out of the corner of her eye at Psyber, whilst munching on more of her meat lovers slices.

    "Huuuuuuuuuh... well then, I guess I'm just an exhibitionist... you're the ones who like these silly getups." She chortles into her slice.

Riva Banari has posed:
"Well, I do like outfits~" Riva admits. Maybe she's not been corrupted by the COSPLAY CONSPIRACY yet. WHO KNOWS. Arthur gets a squint. "Well, at least you didn't have to deal with Bruce Willis, I guess." She says noncommittally. "But that's insane, five days of a huge fight against an evil space tyrant? Man, I miss all the fun."

Yuna gets Riva to lean in over by her. "HI there!" She holds out her hand in greeting. "I'm Riva Banari, nice to meet you! I'm a new hire into Psyber's group of misfit toys." She jokes some more. Does she take ANYTHING seriously when she doesn't have to? "I work with the Knights Templar of my world to solve ancient eldritch horror problems. How about you?" She sounds so /chipper/ when they're not trying to bite her face off.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
"You might be surprised," Yuna answers Psyber, smiling. "I can explain in more detail another time, if you'd like - they're ... a little private."

And Riva demonstrates sort of why privacy might be an important thing. She does accept and return the handshake, though. "Well, like Psyber just hinted - if what I said wasn't enough - besides being an idol singer, I'm sort of a magical girl myself. It's a little more complicated than that, but that's the simple and not-wrong way to describe it."

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako wiggles her fingers at Yuna. "Yup. A water spirit." As she waggles her fingers, starting from her fingertips, her hands lose their color and turn into water. Her hands slowly reform from the floating water. She giggles brightly! And then blushes when Finna says she's an exhibitionist. "I... I'm kind of technically an exhibitionist too..."

    Ayako reaches up and takes off her witch hat. "My clothes are made of water too." As she says this, her witch hat also loses it's color, making it look like it was made of clear glass.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber laughs at both Finna and Ayako, clearly amused by them as a duo. He then looks over to Yuna and says, pretty seriously, "I'll hear you out, but I don't really teach people or take on apprentices, so definitely no promises. I really don't think I'm good at it. In the worst case, I can probably guide you to someone that can give you better teaching than I can."

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    Arthur nods to Yuna. "WELL," he says, "I dunno what you need TAUGHT. Plus, ME, I'm probably a SHITTY TEACHER. Unless you need someone teachin' you how to not be so HIGH STRUNG all the time, I might not be able to HELP." Arthur gives a little good-natured laugh, showing that he doesn't really mean that. Any of it, really. He's not even really that lacking in confidence that he could teach, really, but he has no idea right now what Yuna needs.

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    Another point to Finna and Ayako. "I keep saying," Arthur says, pausing long enough to let the words hang in the air with a tone so dry it could hurt Ayako! "You need BETTER WORDS. EXHIBITIONIST? COSPLAY FETISHIST? C'mon. This is a FAMILY ESTABLISHMENT." Arthur makes emphatic gestures. "Though actually I'm just sayin' that so you don't drop in on any of the OTHER pizza nights for Heaven or Hell and wind up saying that in front of CROWRAVEN."

    Chomp chew chew chew.

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    "TRUST ME. Next time one comes up? I'll make sure YOU get to know TOO." Arthur says, turning back to Riva and giving her an easygoing sort of gesture, with a wide grin. "Let EVERYONE who'd give me a LISTEN know about the last one. God I hope we don't have ANOTHER ONE, though." He sticks out his tongue and makes the noise again. "BLEH."

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako puts her watery witch hat back on her head and it slowly regains it's color. She blushes at Arthur's words, "I-It's not my fault! Finna is the one choosing the... Umm... questionable words!" She nods her head once! And then inclines her head to the side gently. "Umm... who's Croraven?" A water drop falls from her witch hat.

Finna (513) has posed:
    "If I used better words, you'd be running around screaming!" Finna points out, planting hands on her hips and grinning at Arthur. She somehow manages to do this while still munchig on the slice, without sounding like she's got a mouth full of food...

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Yuna nods to Psyber, "I understand completely. I'll call your office and set up an appointment to talk about it, if that'd help?"

She looks at Arthur next, grinning somewhat wryly. "I'm not sure what you'd be able to teach me either," she admits, "but 'not being high-strung' sounds like a useful skill ... - oh, there *was* something I wanted to ask you, though. Who do I need to talk to about planning a concert on Afterus?"

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva shrugs. "What's so crazy about having magical powers in this place? There's a god over there, Psyber there, Ayako is all water and cute, and then there's apparently dudes who can murder entire planets. Is that really a problem, or do people keep getting in your grill about it?" She tilts her head questioningly.

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    "I'm ALWAYS running around SCREAMING, lady." Arthur says, grinning smugly to Finna. "SERIOUSLY, c'mon." Then, to Ayako! "ANYWAY, CROWRAVEN is a GOOD FRIEND with a big COSPLAY FASCINATION and likes SHOWING OFF. I can only keep her in check with a lot of SHAMING, y'know?" He makes another good-natured joking noise. "She'd probably like MEETING you. Well, AYAKO more than FINNA there, no offense."

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "You'd be surprised what makes me run around screaming," Psyber says to Finna, reaching towards her threateningly as if he's going to go after her ears again before backing off a couple seconds later.

    "Anyway, sure, Yuna. Or you can just hit my private band and I'll try to help you where I can." He says in a chill tone, "Always trying to help people where I can."

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    Then he's focusing on Yuna. "Most of the MUSIC SORTS go through Three Muses Media. Big ol' MUSIC GROUP, based out of some MODERNIZING of the WEIRD ANCIENT ORDERS around some of the MUSIC GODS we had on AFTERUS. They'll get your shit SET UP, easy peasy. No issue with a CONCERT, probably." He says. Lots of leaning back. Very relaxed. Or, you know, relaxed-seeming.

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako blushes at being called cute and rests her palms on her cheeks. "Eh heh heh... thank you, Riva..." She then looks back up at Arthur. "Aahh... I see." She glances down at her witch outfit. "If I meet her, I should probably wear more... normal clothes, huh... or... it could be bad."

Finna (513) has posed:
    Finna's ears twitch the instant she picks up on the movement Psyber's threatening... "Hmmm... is that so? I should stick around you some more then, Arthur! Sounds like you get into all kinds of fun!" SMACK! She claps her palms together and rubs them together in a show of interest!

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
"Thanks, Psyber," Yuna says with a sunny smile.. "I'll appreciate any help you can give me. I have other people I need to check with as well ... how's Amalthea been doing?"

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "Busy with her family, but not too much beyond family-related stuff like the Necronomicon and all," Psyber says pretty blandly, as if it's not a major deal, "So there's Ariel and the mech, plus she trains Dex, but that's pretty much it."

    Psyber might be reaching slowly for Finna's ear, trying to get another couple scratches in.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Yuna nods. "Good to know her family's doing well," she says. "And 'Three Muses Music,' you said, Arthur? I'll let my manager know ... it may be a while before we can get everything lined up, but I'm looking forward to performing on Afterus."

She pauses to look at Ayako and the witch outfit. "Doesn't seem *that* unusual ..."

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako stretches her arms upwards and then curiously watches everyone else. She absentmindedly gets to her feet, takes her hat off with her right hand and shakes the hat. A broomstick falls out of said hat that is quickly grabbed by Ayako's right hand.

    Ayako starts... sweeping for some reason? Her eyes blink quickly when Yuna looks her witch outfit over and she smiles cheerfully. "Eh heh... thank you, Yuna. Err..." She glances at the broom in her hand. "Oops. Force of habit..." She giggles brightly.

Finna (513) has posed:
    While Finna doesn't seem to be looking Psyber's way, far too intent on munching down her pizza...

    Her tail does something a bit weird. IT STRETCHES and zips up like a tendril, growing several feet in the blink of an eye. The tip darts straight for his now-vulnerable armpit to TICKLE ASSAULT while Finna continues munching on her pizza!