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Zephyrman	It's not a very 'secret' base. Sure, it's out of the way - a fairly far distance outside the college city, sitting by a large lake - but it's not exactly hidden from view or anything. It's just a house. Judging by how far out of the way it is, it probably used to be a kind of run-down house. In fact there's still *some* evidence of that here in a fence that's not yet *quite* been repaired, in some walkway stones not *quite* aligned with the others.      It's that kind of place the mysterious old man you wonder about might live, the guy you make up stories about because he never comes out. Or, well, it probably used to be. Now, there's a salvaged car out front, made up of pieces from a whole bunch of others, with a big Z painted on the front. It's not a super-car. It's just a car. Along the walls are some scavenged industrial robots painting the side of the house, getting rid of the old peeling paint in favor of a crisp white with some gold detailings. There's a makeshift robot doing the lawn, too, a lawnmower with a mask on the handle and some kind of sensors behind the mask. It beeps if you get near it and just goes around.      The whole place feels like a magical toy shop.      The doorbell is a heroic theme, for God's sakes.      That feeling is only redoubled when John himself opens the door. He's a tall guy, kinda lanky, with brown hair that's clearly kinda messy on purpose, dressed in a loose-fitting tee-shirt and shorts, an awkward grin on his face. Behind him...      Well, toys.      Everywhere.      Except there's no sense of messiness, or of laziness, or of disorganization at all. Actually, there's no dust, no clothes strewn about, no dirty dishes, nothing to suggest that John is messy in the slightest. The toys aren't haphazardly thrown about - they're *arranged*.      Lots of them are action figures in silly dioramas. They're fighting each other, or engaged in Shakespearean drama, or hanging out with their legs dangling off shelves. Some of them are trains, which run on elaborate tracks all over the ceiling, looping around the ceiling fan in what looks precarious but actually isn't. Some of them are plush toys that perch together happily. There's playsets so action figures can look cooler sitting on stands and tables. LEDs flicker on and off sometimes to imply some kind of dramatic combat. It really is like they stumbled into the house of some extremely eccentric toymaker, or a whimsical magical toy store in which dreams come true in Christmas movies.      "Hey!" John's voice is cheery, and there's only a slight blush on his cheeks as he scratches it, looking embarassed. "Sorry, I had to finish some homework and refuel the guys out front."      "Come on in!"      The living room has several couches. Most of them look like they've been found and reupholstered and repaired, with slightly different parts. It also has several chairs, some cushions, and, of course, a huge bean bag chair. The coffee table is big and adjustable and has a bunch of boxes stacked neatly in a tower.      "Grab a seat wherever you want!"
Karlan Nobles	If it wasn't secret before, it's probably less of a secret now when an armored car pulls up in front of the 'base', and not in any kind of way that could be mistaken as it showing up for the next house over or just happening to run out of gas right then and there. If it could have been mistaken for the latter, that quickly stops being the case when the driver, a mountain of a man with two upright horns sticking out of his head and a bushy black tail, just moves over to open each of the doors on the opposite side. ????: "Are you sure about this?" Pramanix: "Oh, don't worry. What's the worst that could happen?" SilverAsh: "Many things, but all equally unlikely. There's nothing to worry about." ????: "Very well. Please, enjoy yourselves." The driver leaves as Pramanix and SilverAsh step towards the mystery house, both of them dressed in relatively-but-still-obviously-expensive casual clothes that would probably look more appropriate in a fancy uptown area. Their ears and tails are carefully hidden among hats and coats held by their waists, but it's still easy enough to spot them as they glance around at the house and the car up front. When John greets them, Pramanix responds with a cheerful smile and SilverAsh with his usual overly-polite smile. Pramanix: "Homework? Ah, yes, you mentioned you were a student. Thank you for inviting us! This should be a fun evening once everyone arrives." SilverAsh: "You have quite the collection here. I can tell some of these are well cared for, even the ones that aren't collector's items."
Rita Ma	Rita is here! As an ordinary human girl, no less. In one hand she's got a brown paper grocery bag; under the other arm she's got a pair of live lobsters, which fruitlessly squirm and snap. There aren't any rubber bands on their claws.      It doesn't really hurt when they pinch her, but she makes a cute pouty face when they do anyway.      When the door opens, it catches her in the process of fascinatedly examining the robot (or is she marveling at the lawn, instead?). She jolts upright immediately, turning to look at her host first with reflexive shock, and then with a beaming smile. "Mr. John!! I brought food, just like I said I would!"      She marvels at the toys inside with naked, obvious awe, putting down her grocery bag and reaching out to touch one that's blinking with pretty lights, then stopping herself just short. Is it really okay to touch? She looks to Zephyrman, silently, for approval.      A lobster delivering a pinch to her side reminds her that she has cooking to do. "Oh!! Um, where's the kitchen, Mr. John? This won't take too long, I promise!"      As she scampers off, she shifts to a higher formality level for just a moment, calling back over her shoulder: "Oh, right! Thank you for welcoming us to your home!"      She'll just preheat the oven, start boiling some water in a big pot, stuff the lobsters in the fridge, and then scamper back into the living room while that heats up. A watched pot never boils!
Candy	It's fine if it's not secret--better, even. That means it's never hard to come and visit! Candy stops at the fence and attempts to set a crooked post right. It sags again the moment he turns his back to gawk at the Z car. Uttering a low whistle of appreciation, he stuffs his hands into his pockets and rocks on his heels, admiring the patchwork craftsmanship.      "Ey, John! No worries, my friend. I brought some drinks." He didn't. But now he has. When his hands retreat from his pockets, smoke curls at his fingertips, swelling. Strange lights dance within it, and when the wind blows it away, there is a six-pack in each hand. One is IRON COLA, the other is EL BASTARDO, some kind of beer.      "I like your toys," he beams. "Where should I put these?" He lifts both arms--and once they're secured, he takes a seat on one of the reclaimed couches. He's scarcely leaned back before something seems to strike him. "Oh. Shit. Ey, Rita, you need any help in there?"
Rita Ma	"Haha, no!! Don't come in! I'll be right out!" Rita's voice sounds slightly muffled.      In the kitchen, a raw lobster claw dangles from her mouth.
Zephyrman	John's face gets a little red at Pramanix. "I study biochemistry. You wouldn't know it from the house, I guess, but it's pretty fun and interesting. I really hope it's fun ,though. I guess you guys don't get to do this kind of thing much, huh?" When SilverAsh mentions how well-cared-for everything is, the blush goes away immediately. "Yeah! All of it's really special. Feel free to play with any of it you want, though. Toys are there to be played with. And if you break them, don't worry - I can fix them."      Indeed, some of the toys do bear the marks of having been used extensively, with so much love and so much fondness that they've had to be put back together...several times. He grins at Rita. "Seriously, go ahead. I don't mind. You guys can do whatever you want!"      "Thanks for the food, Rita. It's really cool of you. The kitchen's in the other room - ah, don't worry, the only toys in there are the train tracks on the ceiling. Hey, Candy! If you wanna put your stuff in the kitchen, that's a good place, too. It's easy to get to."
Hibiki Tachibana	Game night is tonight, and you bet Hibiki is coming. For one, she /really/ liked Zephyrman, who's hosting, and Rita, who's coming. It's a chance to actually just bond face-to-face with a lot of her friends totally casually, and also make some new ones. Neat little social gatherings like this are...well, she doesn't actually go to that many, but she's glad she is. And she's also really curious on what kind of headquarters a masked superhero might have.     This isn't entirely what she expected. The repaired robots working outside, the salvaged car outside, the whole place getting fixed up bit by bit...     And everything she can see behind John when the door opens. She actually doesn't reply for a few seconds because she's just staring at it.     "...Whoa...--ah." Hibiki shakes her head a bit to snap herself out from looking like a deer in headlights, and puts on a proper smile to greet John with a small wave. "Thanks for inviting us over. This place is..."     She steps inside, and her gaze wanders around again as she trails off. Still, she finds herself somewhere to sit, and deposits her contribution of some light snacks like pocky onto the table. The bean bag is almost her target, but she decides to find the next biggest cushioned spot to throw herself down on instead, bouncing on it a few times. "...Amazing," she finally finishes. "Did you do all of this yourself...?"
Zephyrman	"Ah, yeah. Well, the robots help a little bit. I pulled 'em out of the local junkyard and fixed 'em right up. They're still good. It's like, uh, 'an island of misfit toys,' I guess." He grins at Hibiki.      John starts putting down the board games. "So which one catches you guys' eyes? This one's kind of a bidding sort of game, this one's a more orthodox one where you roll dice and go around a board, this one's a co-op game where you're trying to solve a world crisis that keeps evolving, this one's a diplomacy game..."
C	How C got here is completely up in the air, but when the door is answered, he looms in full costume. He hadn't even removed his helmet.     "Yo. I heard there's free food." And so, this is how he winds up where he is, examining John's various action figures and other visible hobby items -- no, scratch that, his whole house was pretty much a hobby item. They're pretty much junk as far as Archaisms go, but he did seem to put them together himself, if for no other reason than to handle his housework. What a guy. "Sea food's my dig, and how could I say no to such an adorable cook? Hey man, I'm set." C crashes on one of the couches in dramatic-sitting-with-crossed-leg fashion, reclining deeply. Maybe 'C' stands for 'Thinks He's Really Cool?'
Rita Ma	When she returns from the kitchen, Rita snags one of Candy's sodas, flops onto a couch next to Hibiki, and flashes a beaming smile at the (fellow???) magical girl.      "It is amazing, isn't it? ... But I don't recognize any of these games at all. Do you, Hibiki? What's the one about a global crisis about?"      Hard to tell if that'd be ideal for a post-apocalyptic survivor, or terrible.      She twists off the cap on the bottle, regardless of whether it is actually a twist-cap, and then stares down at the soda's fizz with an absolutely fascinated and vaguely concerned expression. Is that... abnormal?
Hibiki Tachibana	"I dunno if I can say they're misfit. They look right at home here." Hibiki nods back to John with a smile. It's not too hard to make herself comfortable in a place like this. It's a 'comfy' place, in a different way from what she's used to.     Rita flops down next to her and gets a grin back, and she leans in a bit to get a look at some of the board games on display. "I actually...haven't played that many, so not really. Maybe something simple..."     Partway through doing so, her eyes shift over towards where C has seated himself. Man, he really does keep that headgear on all the time, huh? "What do you think is a good one?"     She asks towards him while folding her arms in thought, which goes a few seconds before she notices what Rita is staring at, glances down to her drink, and then raises an eyebrow up at the other girl. "...Have you never seen soda fizzing up before?"
Karlan Nobles	"Just holler if you need a hand or four in there!" Pramanix chimes in after Candy addresses Rita in her kitchen adventure, finding a seat for herself and sitting properly for all of four seconds before already starting to slouch. "This place is so whimsical... Comfortable, even. I imagine all those biochemis..cal experiments must be exciting, though!" She chuckles softly at John's reaction and shakes her head. "This is a first. Most of our visits to other people's homes are more..." "... Sterile. Political. Waiting for an opportune moment to take the lead." SilverAsh follows up on that as he raises an eyebrow at John's invitation to actually touch the toys. "Really? How reckless of you. But... There's a charm in that as well. Thank you for your hospitality." As SilverAsh keeps looking over the toys while still being exceptionally careful despite not touching them once, Pramanix progresses straight to lounging just to sit right back up when the board games are presented. "Ooh... These all look so colorful. Perhaps the simple game to get our feet wet first? And so everyone can settle in and..." She looks over at C, squinting after a moment. "It's safe to take that off here. Or are you feeling a little shy?" She does a terrible job of hiding a grin before turning to Hibiki and Rita,  getting up quickly to watch that soda fizz up as well. "Have you ever drank that, Rita? It's quite good."
C	"Huh? Well, just about any of them are fun. I've found that usually, there's some kind of contemporary for board games that exist on Zemuria out in the multiverse, so learning about new ones is fairly easy for me. Of course, I prefer card games -- like Blade." C says this, lifting one hand to gesture as he speaks. Where did he get that deck of cards? And why did it disappear a moment later? It's like he's some kind of street magician. Seeming non-plussed about the issue of the mask, he chuckles, "As far as I'm concerned, this is my face, you know?" Despite stating that he came here for free food, he seems uninterested in actually eating or drinking anything, actually.
Candy	They are not twist caps--Candy knows how to pop the cap off with just his hand, because of course he does. He still seems quite impressed with Rita's way of opening it, raising his EL BASTARDO in a little toast to her. "It's soda," he says, nodding along with Hibiki. "It's supposed to do that, don't worry," he warmly adds, before casting a glance towards John's board games.      With his feet kicked up (he took off his shoes, he's not -that- rude) he strokes his chin. "I think the saint's got the right idea. Let's start with the simple one, ah? ...Ey, what are you a saint of, anyway?"
Zephyrman	"Ahhh...well, toys are meant to be played with. If you don't play with toys, it's no fun. Besides, like I said, I know how to put them back together."      At Pramanix, he says, "Mostly it's interesting. I dunno about *exciting*...a lot of the time it's just class, right? I'm a freshman. Don't get to do any of the big experimental stuff. What about you?" He scratches his cheek awkwardly. "What do you do?"      "Wait, you're a saint?!" His face gets even redder, and he goes right to looking at the ceiling. "Oh. Uh."      "W-well, in that case...lemme put down the simple game."      John deals out a bunch of cards onto the table face-up, then puts a bunch of chips down on them, then passes out chips and deals out a different set of cards to everyone. "You're basically trying to buy to complete stacks of colors for points. It's really easy. You'll get the hang of it really fast."      C gets a wave of the hand. "C'mon, you can come play too. Why don't you take your helmet off? Even if it's your face...hey, I mean, Zephyrman's the face of my soul, but I'm not gonna wear that at something like this, y'know! It's all..."      He waves his hands around. "But if you really want to, I won't push it!"      John, evidently, doesn't drink soda. He drinks water. This might be collegiate habits. Money-saving, maybe. Then again...      "What about the rest of you guys? What do you all do?"
Rita Ma	Rita shakes her head in response to Hibiki's question. "It's like... hydrogen peroxide? I've had soda before, but it never did that. It's safe to drink, isn't it?"      She mentioned on the radio that her world got flooded a hundred years ago. If nobody's made soda since then, it'd all be flat, wouldn't it? But with Pramanix's encouragement, she takes an adventurous sip... and though her face is scrunched up in anticipation at first, it relaxes into a sunny smile a moment later. "Wow! It really is better that way, isn't it?"      A little shudder runs down her spine, followed by a slight grimace that she hides behind her arm, pretending to wipe her mouth on the back of her hand. Even now, that aftertaste... I guess it won't even let me drink soda in peace. Anything that's not raw meat...      She perks up briefly to hustle to the kitchen- "I'll be right back, I promise!" The lobsters, much to her chagrin, are finally ready to be chucked into the boiling water.      I can't afford to bite off another claw! Then I won't have enough filling for the thermidor. I'm still a little hungry, but... it's not nearly as bad as yesterday. It's just a little ache. I can keep it under control.      She comes back beaming again, hopping up next to Hibiki once more. She brings the soda to her lips again, but keeps them closed as she takes a pretend-sip. Then it's on to Zephyrman's game! She's a remarkably shrewd and intelligent player, despite everything.      "Oh! I used to work in a restaurant. But... I had some health problems, and I had to move somewhere else to get treatment for it." Not a lie, but it leaves a lot of things out. "Now I'm a diver, I guess?"      Weirdly, she has some trouble telling the colors apart at first, but gets the hang of it after a little bit.
C	<J-IC-Scene> C says, "Me? I'm a professional potato." Waving one hand to John, he shakes his head, "I think I'll sit this one out. Just take a little R-and-R, yeah? It's fun watching other people play, anyway." He shrugs in Rita's direction as she hurries off to the kitchen. Maybe the lobster was ready to make sooner than he thought? It's not like he was an expert on anything but fish tacos, really, even if seafood was his favorite. Although. When I was observing the battle with Elon Ark, there's something about her that really put me off. ... but, this is supposed to be time off for me or something along those lines, so I have no business being suspicious of anyone. I'll just relax for a little while. "Before I was a Mysterious Masked Man, I was a Mysterious Man Without A Mask. Pretty cool, huh?" And that seemed to be about all he had to say on the matter of his past, "Also .. you were a saint? I guess I could believe that. Don't let the Church hear you say that though."
Karlan Nobles	Snagging a soda for herself, Pramanix struggles with it briefly while continuing to eye C curiously. "Really? That's a shame. Miss Rita's cooking smells quite good already~" She chuckles, then turns to Candy and John when they ask about her. "Oh, it's... A title. My name is Pramanix, Saint of-" She winces as she pops the cap right off abruptly, nailing herself in the forehead with it and just inhales steadily with her mouth screwed shut. Three breaths later, and she continues like there isn't a light red mark on her forehead. "-Karlan. That's the religion for our home nation of Kjerag." She clarifies with an awkward clearing of her throat, raising the bottle to just hold it against her head instead. John's reactions get an mused chuckle from her, but she has enough sense not to say anything of that. C, though... "Hear what? I'm not on duty right now." She pouts a bit, but it's obviously in a joking way. SilverAsh, finally tearing himself away from all the toys, takes a seat and grabs a soda as well (while opening it smoothly and getting a brief squint from Pramanix). "You have a bright future ahead of you, John. Pursue your ambitions wholeheartedly, and the rest will follow. Just do not let the rumblings of weaker-minded cloud your judgment." He takes a sip, then starts handing out business cards. It's on that thick fancy stock, too, with the lamination that makes it convenient as a coaster without soaking through. "SilverAsh, President of the Karlan Trade Company. It is an honor to meet you all on more casual terms." "Oh, yes, super casual." Pramanix adds, once again doing a bad job at hiding a grin before turning to Rita. "From cooking to diving? What an exciting shift in careers..." As far as playing the game goes: SilverAsh's luck is ass, but he's taking it all in good humor and not worrying too much about the results. Pramanix's luck is great, but her moves are terribly inefficient.
Hibiki Tachibana	"Well, yeah," she nods to 'safe to drink', looking to Candy and then Rita again. 'Why soda fizzes' is something beyond her ken, she just knows it does. And it's delicious. She's about to say something else when the other girl has to run off, which gets a blink out of her and a small look of confusion, wondering what that brief moment was about...     But while she's gone, she turns to the masked man. "Yeah, we still need to play sometime, now that I'll have an actual deck to use," she mentions back towards C, seeming--well, not all that surprised by his sleight of hand. He pulled off a pretty big disappearing act before, after all. "I'm kinda wondering, though. How do you...?" She gestures towards the snacks, and then up at him. "The mask needs to come off sometime, right? You can't always be 'C'."     Then again... "Though I guess you could also be like Featherman..."     She seems thoughtful for a moment, but puts it aside for the immediate moment to take her cards and chips. Huh. Sounds simple enough. Hibiki is definitely the 'learning by doing' type when it comes to this, but not a slow learner at all. She helps out Rita with her colors when she needs it.     "A diver? I never would have guessed...me, I'm..." She wonders how to phrase it. "I go to school. I also work with the government to fight Noise--uh, monsters. I think that's about the easiest way to explain it."
Candy	Candy's off the couch and at the table, once the cards are dealt. "I would've been a farmer, but the government took our land to give to the hacendados," Candy casually offers to Zephyrman. "So they could grow the sugarcane. I guess what I do depends on who you ask, but you ask me, I help people." He smiles. Candy is someone who seems to have a love of social games like this--he picks up the basics quickly, as John said, and plays not quite 'to win' but 'to make shit happen.' He seems to enjoy prodding for reactions.      "Diving, ah? What's the deepest you ever went, Rita? You ever hit the Back Wall?" He asks it with a completely serious face.
C	"See, that's the thing, if they hear a Saint's taking time off, it'll cause a scandal! Ain't Saints supposed to be workaholics? Ha ha.." he responds, in an equally joking manner. "Featherguy? Not really. I mean, he took to calling me 'Dark Featherman' for some reason, but I think he was just jealous of my good looks. That red is just too tacky, man." Pausing for a moment, his helmet tips towards Hibiki. Although there's nothing menacing about what he says, there is something vaguely 'off' about it, "I'm C, and that's the real deal." But it's gone as quick as it's there, "Diving though, that means you're a professional sea explorer, right? You go and sink down to see what's down there. That's pretty neat, especially for your age."
Zephyrman	"S-Saint..." John's face gets a little redder, and he goes to focus on his cards a little more. Then, when they actually all start introducing each other by name, he pats his own chest. "John Alan James! Freshman biochemist. And..."      "-well, you guys know the rest." He grins, his face still red.      Candy asks the question John was going to ask Rita, so instead he asks Candy, "I think we definitely all help people. What kind of things do you do to help?"      "Or you?" He says to C. Not a hint of distrust in his words.
Rita Ma	"Oh, so you're like a harpoonist?" Rita glances over at Hibiki, her eyes practically sparkling with admiration. The nuances of that word don't translate, but it's not hard to hazard a guess: in a world of water and fish-monsters, those who defend people from what lurks in the deep must be renowned heroes. "That's amazing! Doing that and going to school at the same time... you're really hard-working, aren't you, Hibiki?"      Rita plays to win, wearing an expression of intense focus, but she isn't in it for winning. She's the kind of person who has fun doing her very best, whether or not "her best" is enough to win!      All the admiring questions fluster her, though, putting her off her game for a turn or two. To C: "It's really nice! But it's also a little sad. When you find something manmade down there... it's something that used to have a story, once. Something that was important to a lot of people. And now it's gone from the light forever, with only you to see it."      Candy's question just baffles her. "What's the 'Back Wall' supposed to be? Is there a back to the ocean?" If she really tried, she could probably infer his metaphorical meaning, but she's busier trying to figure out a way to not answer truthfully.      I've been so far down there's no light anymore, where there's glow-fish and worms and weird crabs nobody's ever named. I've seen the wrecks at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, squeezed by so much pressure they crumpled themselves up like paper. But those are things I can't say to anybody. They'd know no diving suit goes that far.      "Actually, I wanted to ask... Hibiki, or Zephyrman. My dad fought monsters. My brother does, too. Do you think you could teach me how? I might have some talent for it, but... I was always too scared to try and learn."
Zephyrman	"Definitely!" John grins at Rita. He's been muttering something to SilverAsh the whole time, but when Rita asks him to learn to fight monsters, he gives her a big thumbs-up and a huge grin. In the process, he fumbles his cards. John's *definitely* not playing to win - there's the sense that he probably could if he really really wanted to (or, at least, he could put in a lot more effort to win), but he's playing to prolong the game, to have fun, and to let the conversation flow. It's not a complex game, so it's perfect for conversation.
Candy	At the sight of Rita's confusion, Candy's lips curl into an impish smile. He can't hear her, like Persephone and Xion seem to hear others. So... "Well, you think I'm so pretty, maybe you dive and find -my- Back Wall, ah?" He laughs and takes a swig of his beer. Candy -also- takes the opportunity created by his ribald quip to make a sneaky play in an effort to dick Pramanix over.      "I give people what they need, John, and try to fix it so they don't gotta depend on nobody to have those things. This, right here, what we're doing now--this is the way life oughta be. Smiles and friends, you know? Not 'do we got enough,' not 'are we gonna make it to tomorrow.'" There's another swig of beer, as he looks over his holdings. Not too bad--but could be better. "Nine times out of ten, it's some fat little piggy living the high life, that makes things that way for other people. The piggies, and their little helpers, the uniforms. I tell you, John, they do not like it when I help," says Candy with a little smile, shaking his head.      "And they really don't like it when I break their shit, ah? That's why I say it depends on who you ask. Some people will say I'm a Zamorista--a freedom fighter--some will say I'm just me. And the piggies, they call me all kinds of things, on all kinds of worlds. Dynamiter, terrorist, radical, all kinds of special little words." He giggles, glancing towards Hibiki, who's asked a pertinent question.      How -does- C eat with that thing? It's so pertinent that he slaps his thigh with the hand holding his cards, beating his fist into it. "That's what -I- wanna know!"
Karlan Nobles	"Helping people is admirable. Just remember to take time for yourself as well, Candy. You can't help anyone if you're burnt out." Despite her calm and friendly tone while responding to Candy, Pramanix is definitely focusing way too hard on trying to play the game optimally. Unfortunately, she is REALLY bad at it. "They'll only worry if I show up in public looking like this. But I work hard, so I should get to play hard." She sticks her tongue out at C lightly, then raises an eyebrow at John's continuously reddening expression. Naturally, she has to make things worse by getting up to check on him complete with back of the hand on forehead. "Are you alright? Have you been overworking yourself already?" Silverash actually has to turn away briefly to hide a snicker at that, having been whispering to John on and off for quite a while already. Instead of addressing that, however, he turns to Rita instead. "Are you afraid of them? You performed admirably in the last battle, although I must admit that I don't understand quite where your specialties lie. Would it be imposing to ask you about that?"
Karlan Nobles	Sadly for Pramanix, she is easily dicked over by Candy's maneuver, and she makes a face at him in return. SilverAsh does, too, although he's also finally building up a small advantage for himself doing the same.
Hibiki Tachibana	'I'm C, and that's the real deal.' Though Hibiki doesn't actually say anything in direct response to that, she does frown somewhat. "...Mm."     It doesn't last long before she meets Rita's wide-eyed excitement with a glance and a slightly flustered blink. She can make a pretty good guess on the relation, but getting looked at and praised like that isn't as easy for her to casually brush off like when they were in the middle of fighting.     "I--...I guess so," she mentions while trying to focus back on her cards. "Everyone else here is pretty amazing themselves. Pramanix and SilverAsh, Candy, John for putting all this together...and I can't imagine diving down that low. I /could/, but..."     She trails off, playing the game a bit on autopilot for the next round while listening to everyone else. Hibiki is pretty straightforward in how she plays. Definitely 'for fun', but not pulling punches either.     She perks back up to the question though, looking surprised. "Really...? Being too scared to try...yeah, I get that. I'm not much of a teacher..." Her free hand comes back around to rub at the back of her neck. "...And the way I fight is kind of a mess even if I've been working on it, so don't expect too much from me. But I'd be happy to help out where I can."
C	One leg bobbing mildly ever so often as he sits, C sarcastically replies to John, "I help cats out of trees, every so often. ... although." he stops, considering it for a moment. "Wouldn't that just make me a Bracer if I did that?" he wonders to himself. "Ah, it doesn't matter. Anyway, I totally help people. For sure. Probably. Maybe." C pinches his forefinger and thumb together and holds his other three fingers out in the universal O-K sign, "I beat up the bad guys and stick it to the fuzz. Or something like that." Inclining his head to listen to Rita as she spoke, he hums softly. "In Zemuria, before the intergration, no one went past a certain point at sea. It's where the world ended, in more ways than one." he says, ambiguously, before continuing on, "Stuck in a bottomless void with no light or anyone left to remember you ... it really is sad, yeah? But that's also life. No one shines forever."     What a dour outlook. Although he wasn't Zephyrman or Hibiki, he did have something to chime in for the next part as well, "It's not too hard, squirt. Most of it is about pererverance and an acquired taste for busywork," he says, as if speaking from experience. Though. Those field studies were fun -- no one shines forever, and that's all behind me. As for how he eats with the helmet on, that's a secret to everyone, and he espouses as much, along with a hand motion towards Candy, "but that's the rub, even when a cop or a soldier might really want to help others, at the end of the day, they're the toadies for the people up top."
Zephyrman	Pramanix puts her hand on his head. John stares at her for a minute. Well, he's supposed to just say stuff, right?      "Ah, I was actually wondering if you wanted to go out with me some time, Miss Saint."      Nothing can really put down John's enthusiasm, not for long. He just grins. He's too upbeat a guy to let himself be down for long. Hey, what's the worst, you ask and you get a no? Fair enough.      Candy says he gives people what they need. And when he says this is how life should be, John nods vigorously, his blush fading. "Definitely. Definitely this is what life is supposed to be like. And it's funny, right? That people keep saying you just have to accept...'this is how the world is'. 'This is what the world's like.' 'Grow up - you can't change it.'"      John tilts his head at one of the trains passing by with a big grin. "That's stupid, right?"      "Ah, I'm not that amazing. This is just inviting people over to my house. Anybody can do that. And that's why I'm Zephyrman, y'know? Because I want to show people that anybody can be like this. That you can say, 'no, growing up doesn't mean that I can't change things.'"      He rocks back a little bit, rubbing his nose.      When C says that stuff about a bottomless void, though, Zephyrman stands up. The lanky guy walks over to one of the shelves. He takes a figure off it - a little one with a scarf and a helmet - and walks back over to C. He grabs C's hand and opens it, then shoves the toy into it. "This guy," he says, "Is Lighger. He's the fourth hero from TriColor Team Prismger. He shows up in the sixteenth episode, when everything's looking darkest, to save the Prismgers. He stands behind everybody and shines bright so they can shine even brighter."      He closes C's hand around it. "You keep him. That way, if you're stuck in that bottomless void, you'll have somebody to light your way, as long as you believe in him."      John's stare does not leave room for C to protest.
Zephyrman	"Nobody," John says firmly, "Is allowed to make speeches like that in my house. This isn't a place for you to be sad. This is a place that runs on play."
Rita Ma	"Thank you, Mr. John! I promise I'll work hard to learn whatever you're willing to teach me." She smiles a heartrendingly sunny smile, eyes shut in peaceful happiness. She opens them to glance over at Hibiki, smile still undimmed: "I understand! You must be really talented to be so strong that young, right? And geniuses can be bad at explaining things to normal people."      If I'm going to protect people while pretending not to be a monster, I need to learn how to fight like heroes do, don't I? I can't keep pretending that bad things just die around me for no reason.      SilverAsh catches her attention for the first time. She glances up at the dignified man with lips pursed, her smile fading into a serious look. "I'm still a little scared, yeah," she admits. Her strengths? "I... can run pretty fast. I'm sneaky. And I notice things?" A sideways glance back at Hibiki. "And I might be good at talking people down, but I'm not sure."      I feel bad lying like this, but what am I supposed to do? Show them the tentacles? Maybe sometimes honesty isn't best. Even if they only like me for the person I'm pretending to be... the person I'm pretending to be is still Rita. I can really belong here, as long as I keep that up.      'No one shines forever'? "I know," Rita says with a graceful little smile. Isn't she a little young to be all 'memento mori'? Maybe that's the post-apocalypse for you. You could blame her reaction to Candy on exactly the same thing: his joke goes completely over her head, leaving her blinking in confusion.      "I don't..."      An egg timer goes off in the kitchen. Saved by the bell! "Oh!! The lobsters are done. I need to put things in the oven!" And she's off, vanished into the depths of the kitchen once more.
Candy	"When you're right, you're right, C," says Candy, adding an emphatic "Shit" afterwards. That's one beer half-done. "Like I said on that beach, you give someone a badge, and the brain just -fwoosh-!" He draws a line from his ear to the empty air.      John's agreement causes him to down another quarter. "That's fucking stupid," he vehemently asserts, nodding his head. "Ah... my friend, I hope Zephyrman will outlast the piggies." EL BASTARDO is raised in John's honor as he presents C with Lighger.      "Ey, while Rita's in the kitchen, how you guys feel about something to last us 'till them lobsters are out of the oven? You like jumiles? HEY RITA, YOU LIKE JUMILES?"
Karlan Nobles	"Don't sell yourself short, Miss Tachibana. Your skills already surpass those of several Operators we have worked with previously." SilverAsh responds to Hibiki, pausing to take a sip of his soda while absent-mindedly playing another card. "Both you and Miss Rita appear to favor physical combat, and her speed should allow her to keep up with you in time. I believe you would make a fine source of inspiration for her own techniques, even if teaching is not your forte." "A Bracer? I believe one of those... Um. Whoever they were yesterday mentioned that word. Right?" Pramanix replies to C and glances towards SilverAsh, who strokes his chin lightly and provides no further useful input for her. "It doesn't sound like that's just the thing people wear. Is it a title for someone?" The more depressing sounding part of what he says, meanwhile, gets a more pensive look from Pramanix. "That's not always true. The influence of someone truly great can continue long after they've passed away, for better or for worse." Beat. "... Wait. Ignore that last part." She shoots SilverAsh another look while he conveniently looks at anyone but Pramanix, and then they're both staring at John when he asks her out. Pramanix chuckles after a moment, looking like she's trying to pick her words carefully. "That's very kind of you, John. Bolder than most, too, so that's certainly a nice quality to have! But... You deserve someone that would be able to... Return your affections." She sighs after a moment, finally taking a seat again while still smiling at him softly. "My position is a little too public-facing for anything like that, I'm afraid. Plus..." She furrows her brow, taking her hat off to let her ears breathe finally. "I wouldn't want to expose you to the dangers inherent in my homeland. THere's.. A lot of that." SilverAsh turns to Candy. "Jumiles? I'm unfamiliar with this. Is that a local specialty as well?"
Rita Ma	Rita yells back from the kitchen: "WHAT ARE THOSE?" She's doing something or other with pots and pans. The oven opens, and then closes.      It takes a couple more minutes, but she hurries back into the living room and hops back up on the couch, beaming. "Okay!! A little while longer until they're done, but I don't have to do anything else but wait. Whew."
Zephyrman	"Ah...." John looks briefly a little sad at Pramanix, but then, "Alright. That's too bad, but I understand. Maybe some other day, when you don't have to worry about that stuff."
Karlan Nobles	"Perhaps! That..." Pramanix goes quiet for an awkward moment, purposely avoiding eye contact with SilverAsh and vice versa. Eventually, she sighs. "... I can hope." There is most definitely some kind of awkwardness between the two on that topic.
Xion	Xion, in the bean bag chair, looks up from her phone. The case - checkered black-and-clear, with the clear spots revealing white phone underneath, and a phone charm string absolutely studded with baubles. She taps away, before looking up, smiling at John and waving, and then looking to Candy, interested. She was not there at the start. She was not there before. She was not there when John last looked. Praminix is certain she felt a breeze from a weird spot. SilverAsh noticed and simply didn't tell anyone, being the only one facing the frame at the moment of arrival where she... Oh wait it's the vmmmmmn-ing portal of endless dark hanging over the beanbag chair. That's why. "What's a jumile? Is it a drink?"
Candy	"Hey, Xion! IT's BUGS!"      Before anyone can protest there is a bowl of raw (thankfully not wriggling) jumiles on the table, following another of those odd illuminated clouds of smoke. They smell kind of like cinnamon. If anyone aside from Candy tries them, they'll find it to be, naturally, crunchy--and perhaps unsurprisingly, a bit of an acquired taste. Bitter, almost like medicine in that black licquorice kind of way.
Hibiki Tachibana	"Ahaha..." Rita's praise was already difficult enough to laugh off - genius is a pretty strong word - but SilverAsh adding to it brings a small tinge to Hibiki's face that's impossible to hide with her cards. "...Thanks, sir. That...means a lot coming from you." She's seen that swordsmanship more than once before, after all. Taking a small breath in, she sits up a bit straighter and focuses on the rest of that.     "Yeah, that's true. The potential is there, and she doesn't need to transform to do it like me. I guess diving really builds character." <-- Unaware. "...Between me and John, I'm sure she'll be just fine."     She takes great interest in the exchange between C and John right after that. Her mouth opened, briefly, to say something to the masked man, but it never came out in favor of her eyes going somewhere off to the side with a small grimace. But their host steps in, in a very surprising way, and her face goes bck to one of surprise, and then a tiny grin. "Somebody to light your way..."     That smile remains until her attention is grabbed by Candy, and she asks in perfect time when Xion drops in out-of-view. "--What's a jumile?"     She glances at Xion, does not comment on her sudden arrival, and instead leans in to glance at the bowl of bugs with a bit of a look of horror.
C	C looks down at the action figure in his hands. " . . . . " Although it was a nineteen year old standing in front of him, it was like he was being encouraged by a small child. His near knee-jerk response to caustically rebuke him is halted only by the mildly guilty voice in his head that made this association; it'd be like telling a little kid to go eat shit because he quoted Mishy at you and thought it would make you feel better.     Man. "I see," he says, tentatively, "I guess now I gotta' hang on to him for the time being, otherwise I'll never hear the end of it. You're the man of the house, so I'll be sure to follow your rules; consider me sorrow solvent." It went without saying that for someone who dresses in the costume he does, C had to be into this kind of thing to begin with, too. Secretly, he thought the figure's outfit looked pretty radical. C glances over to Pramanix and Silver Ash a moment later after nodding agreeably with Candy, "Oh, yeah. It's a kind of profession in most places on Zemuria. The Bracer Guild is a semi-non-profit public service organization who run off of community charity and comission fees. They do just about anything, from helping kids find their lost ball, to investigating murderers and monster extermination. Whatever the community that branch is stationed at happens to need." He pauses, "Most governments will work with 'em to some degree, too, but the Bracer Guild has been outlawed in near totality in Erebonia." Xion appears, but C is non plussed, because she asks a very important question. "Yeah, what IS a jumile, anyway?"
Zephyrman	John's grin is irrepressible, even after being shot down. He sits back down, not looking self-satisfied at his speech or anything, just...scratching the back of his head like a dork. He is a dork. This whole place is a monument to being a dork. This is the place of a man who decided what his soul looked like and made it his home, and wants to make everybody else at home there, too. He's got a big heart.      When Candy puts the jumiles onthe table, John peeks over them. "Huh...those look weird." But he picks one up and he pops it in his mouth, and he chews on it, and after a minute, he decides, "Not bad! Should I have gotten some chocolate? I usually don't keep any in the house, but I can run out and grab some."      When Xion appears he practically jumps a foot in the air. He's not used to her yet. As everybody else is relaxed, John relaxes, too. He waves at her with that same big grin. "Hi. John Alan James. The name of my soul is Zephyrman! So you can call me John, or Zephyrman. Welcome to my secret base!"      "Ah, but could you close that door? I don't want any of the trains to get pulled in or anything. I don't mind them being played with but I definitely don't want them to go away."
C	There is now a missing beer, but the jumiles are left alone. But, C is now playing with a bottle cap, flipping it up and down like a coin. Just where the beer went or where C got the cap from is an oddity. "Well ... whatever floats your boat, I guess, man. But I'll prefer not to eat bugs when I don't have to, besides, I gotta' save room for Rita's lobster." C catches the twirling cap mid air, and retreats his hand back to his waist, where the action figure he was gifted now lays.
Karlan Nobles	"Sounds like a mercenary group, then. No wonder they confused us with bracers.. And terrorists, I guess. Depending on past experiences." Pramanix furrows her brow, looking over at C eventually. "That's... Actually, that's something I was hoping to get some info on. When we're not busy having fun, anyway." A mysterious Xion appears! Pramanix follows that odd breeze to the beanbag, blinking a few times before laughing softly and clapping her hands together. "Ah, welcome! You certainly know how to make an entrance~" SilverAsh, meanwhile, feigns surprise. He totally noticed. "It certainly sounds like a drink. We may have to be careful if it's-" It's bugs. Pramanix goes wide-eyed and jumps out of her seat, perching on the top of it and staring at the bugs in horror. She's also likely to topple over and land on someone if nobody catches her chair. SilverAsh just breathes in and out slowly through his nose, clearly trying quite hard to maintain his cool (which he still does, but with difficulty). "Wh-wh-what is that? Why? Why is that?" Pramanix stammers out as SilverAsh inches towards the table with the bug bowl on it. The elder sibling takes another deep breath as he reaches forward, picking one up and stoically shoving it into his mouth. It takes a considerable while longer for him to crunch into it, and he's already getting up to go for one of those beers by the time he finishes closing his mouth.
Rita Ma	Rita jolts backwards when she notices Xion suddenly existing in the beanbag chair, her eyes open wide and hands raised defensively. Slowly, she eases back down into a relaxed posture- accelerated when the mysterious girl speaks. "Oh! I know your voice. You were on the radio, weren't you? It's good to meet you!" That last sentence entails a quick gear-shift to a higher 'formality level'.      She picks up a single jumile between forefinger and thumb, staring at it with a hard-to-read mixture of emotions. None of them are revulsion.      "This is... an insect, right? I've never seen one like this before." If there's no land, bugs must be pretty rare too! "And it's food?" Deep in her heart (and stomach), she already knows the answer to that question, but she's asking for permission more than anything!      It doesn't smell toasted. Is it really...?      Crunch, munch.      Rita stares off into the middle distance. Her expression is flat and conteplative, but her eyes have the rare and powerful imouto sparkles in them. She takes another single jumile. And then a handful. And then a double handful. And then- fuck it- just picks up and downs the entire bowl like she's chugging a drink.      She comes to her senses a moment later, holding the empty bowl in her lap and with a single bug leg poking out of the corner of her mouth. Her brain is almost visibly rebooting.      "Um," she says.
Zephyrman	Oh, God, that's just adorable.      John laughs and catches Pramanix, because he's a good guy with fast reflexes. "Okay, that's adorable," he says to her as she tumbles, "Don't worry. You're safe."      Rita downs the whole thing.      John blinks. "You must really love them, huh?"
Xion	Xion puts her phone away in a pocket as she really begins engaging with people, which immediately is a series of... Moments. 'It's BUGS!' Xion blinks. "Oh, no thank you." The Karlan nobles and Zephyrman both note her entrance, and she looks up at the TERRIBLE DARKNESS PORTAL and winces. "Oh no! I left the door open." She announces in sympathy, before scooching high in the chair and extending a hand, finger outstretched to swirl the portal through the air. Like so much smoke, the whole thing loses cohesion and disappears. 'Should I have brought chocolate?' Xion holds up a SNACKER'S (TM) bar, watches Rita tip the whole bowl back, and sloooowly slides the SNACKER'S back into her sleeve. The services of the noble SNACKER'S bar will not be needed, its point made moot. "Oh! Wow, I've not met someone whose soul is named real different like that. Did you want help with a name change? They're pretty easy in most countries, but --" Xion pauses in her schpiel to wipe off her hand on her hoodie and hold it out to John. "I'm Xion. Sometimes I'm a hero but right now I heard from Candy there was a party and they were doing lobster and a surprise! Um..." She looks at the bowl. "I guess it was a good surprise, actually? That's great."
Hibiki Tachibana	Hibiki looks at SilverAsh slowly trying one. She then looks at Rita about to try one.     And then scarf down the whole thing. The entire bowl.     She slowly leans back in her seat.     And then she chuckles. "Don't worry about it. Everyone tells me that's how I eat rice." This is, in fact, not weird to her at all. Other than the fact they're, you know, bugs. But people eat those. She's okay with just the lobster, though.     After a few seconds of grinning, it fades somewhat as she also glances towards C to follow up on what Pramanix said before she near-fainted. "...Yeah. Do you mind filling us in more about the SSS and some other things when you get the chance?"
C	C nods to Pramanix, Silver Ash and Hibiki, "Right. That's pretty understandable. I'll see what I can do to assauge your concerns." he lies, as easily as he breathes. Looking between Rita and Xion, he taps his helmet, "The more the merrier, they say. I bet you two will get along great, too." "As for Bracers being mercenaries .. in a way. I guess you could say they're 'accountable mercenaries approved by the people'. Other kinds of mercs include Jaegers, scum who'll do anything for a buck, or the seafaring tribes who peddle their services to protect people during long voyages."
Karlan Nobles	"Th... Thanks. That's... There's so many of them!" Pramanix is still visibly shaken at the bowl of bugs long after John catches her, taking a while just to settle down from the scare. When Rita just goes to town on the bowl, she just faints on the spot from fright! This may or may not be lucky for John. That leaves SilverAsh to just slowly munch on his while watching Rita devour the lot of them. He swallows forcefully to get it down, then holds his hand up to his chin to stroke it lightly in thought. He may also be holding his mouth shut to force himself to get the remainder down. "You're more formidable than you appear, Miss Rita... I can admit when I've been bested." He even chuckles lightly, although it sounds halfway towards a gagging noise as he promptly finishes his soda afterwards.
Candy	"Wow!" Candy claps his hands together, and finishes the rest of his beer. There's suddenly another one--yet the pack in the kitchen is only missing the three taken by himself, SilverAsh, and the Mysterious C. Leveraging the cap off with that trick from before, he knocks back a swig and stealthily makes a play that will help SilverAsh at his fainted sister's expense. Candy makes a sly face at him, holding up an index finger to his lips.      "That was really something," he says with clear admiration for Rita's bug demolition. "I never seen nobody go at jumiles like that." There's a mischievous gleam in his eye. "Ho ho! Now I know how to spoil you, ah?" Candy chuckles. "Or maybe you were just hungry--the way your cooking smells, I do not blame you, my friend."      Was it a good surprise? Candy raises his EL BASTARDO to Xion in a proper greeting. "It sure was! And you, that's another good surprise. How's that thing treating you, ah?" There's a gesture with the beer towards her choice of seat. "Looks comfy."      What -are- jumiles? "They -were- bugs," jokes Candy to C and Hibiki. "My aunt, she mashes them in a little bowl, mixes them with salsa. Mm!" He rubs his stomach. "You can cook em, too, you know. But I like 'em better raw."      "Oh," says Candy, nodding at Hibiki, when she brings up the colorful cops that'd showed up to arrest them. "What was it? Special Support something? C said those guys get all the shit work the other uniforms don't wanna do."
Rita Ma	<J-IC-Scene> C says, "Wow. Someone's a fan." <J-IC-Scene> Rita Ma says, "I'm sorry! I must have been hungrier than I thought..." <J-IC-Scene> Rita Ma says, "I feel better now, though. Thank you, Mr. Candy." <J-IC-Scene> Candy says, "No, don't be! That was really something." <J-IC-Scene> Candy says, "I never seen nobody go at jumiles like that!" <J-IC-Scene> Rita Ma laughs nervously. <J-IC-Scene> Zephyrman says, "You've got a little bug in your teeth, by the way! It's kinda cute." <J-IC-Scene> Candy says, "Yes, yes. It is!" <J-IC-Scene> Rita Ma says, "It's... cute??" <J-IC-Scene> Rita Ma makes frantic tooth-debugging noises. <J-IC-Scene> Zephyrman says, "Well, not the bug." <J-IC-Scene> C says, "Uh. Well. ... sort of, in that 'spinach in your teeth' way. The actual bug in your teeth wasn't the cute part."      Rita successfully extracts the bug leg, stares at it for half a second, and then immediately tosses it back in her mouth and swallows. No sense in letting that go to waste! As soon as she's done that, though, she goes back to being bashfully embarrassed. The empty bowl is placed, sheepishly, back on the table.      Why did I do that? There's a lake right behind his house. Could I really not contain myself for an hour longer? Couldn't I have even just sneaked out and grabbed a fish? So stupid.      ... I hope Mr. Candy has more.      Fortunately, Hibiki is there to break the tension with her rice joke. Whether or not it's intended humorously, Rita breaks into a giggle that starts off nervous and ends up genuine. By the end of it, she looks a lot looser; more relaxed than she was even before eating like half a pint of raw bugs.      "Thank you, Hibiki. And yeah, Xion! It's in the oven right now, actually! ... I'll be right back, it'll be almost done by now." One last foray into the kitchen!
Zephyrman	"Oh, no! If I changed my name, then I couldn't make a dramatic entrance and say my lines, right? And 'John' isn't a very heroic name to go by for a transforming hero. Who would go, 'wow, cool!' if I transformed into plain old 'John', right?"      He beams at Xion. "Welcome to the party. We've got board games, food's coming, and you can play with any of the toys if you want to. This is my secret base. It's pretty great, right?"      Pramanix literally faints in his arms. John is...slightly unsure what to do. Not because he's nervous or anything, but because she's literally fainted in his arms. Do you just leave her? She might tumble out of the chair and hit her head. Do you just...what? What do you do for her?      John's a good guy. He's a sweetheart. So he decides that, rather than risk her falling over and hurting herself, he'll just sit her down on the couch next to him so she won't fall off, and swallow his own feelings so she's safe. Instead he laughs at Rita's reaction. It's a warm, friendly laugh, to go with her happy giggle.      Hibiki brings up the SSS. John immediately flicks over to serious face. He does have one! "Yeah. That guy had a real 'dark general' aura. You don't get that kind of thing just from messing around. So who are they, and how'd they get so powerful?"      "And why are they so angry at you?"
Karlan Nobles	Leaving Pramanix to John, SilverAsh watches him for a moment longer before starting on his beer to make sure that all the remnants of the bug are gone. "That was certainly a new and... Unique experience. Thank you for the opportunity, Sir Candy." Three or four more swigs just to be sure. Only then can he finally refocus on C's description of Bracers and the other mercenaries from his homeland. "So it seems there's multiple types. I take it that Jaegers have a more... Questionable reputation, then, but what of their skills? Would you consider the average Jaeger more valuable overall than a Bracer, or the other way around?"
Rita Ma	From the kitchen, there's a clattering of plates and kitchen tools, followed by the sink being run for a little while. She's cleaning up behind herself, too! What an industrious girl.      When she emerges again, it's in three trips, carrying two plates on each trip: for Zephyrman and Hibiki, then for Candy and C, and finally for SilverAsh and... "Oh no! She fell asleep?" Rita was too caught up in her own gluttony to even notice Pramanix passing out at the time! "Well... it's no good cold. So is it okay if I give hers to Xion, Mr. Ash? Do you think she'll mind?"      Each plate has half of a lobster's shell, cut the long way so you can see the creature's lengthwise silhouette. The shell has been filled back in with a stuffing of cooked lobster meat, a creamy white-wine sauce, and cheese, and then baked to put a golden-brown crisp on the contents. It is so decadently rich that it's hard to finish even a single serving, but addictively flavorful at the same time.      Rita, of course, didn't reserve a serving for herself. But she's positively beaming watching everybody else try theirs!      "I don't think that's an impressive thing to best you at, anyway, Mr. Ash. But... I'm glad that me enjoying them made you happy, Candy! If that's true, then I can be happy too."
C	"Well, I already explained about them earlier --" Crossbell State's good ol' Special Support Section. Basically, they deal with all the cases no one else in the force feels like doing; think of 'em as half beat cop, half special forces. I heard about them from a 'friend' who got her tail kicked pretty badly by 'em a while back. " -- but if you're asking me about specific members, I don't know a lot. Just what someone I know happens to know after getting the stuffing beat out of her." He shrugs a little, " ... which is that they're seriously tough customers. I doubt they'll be so easy to shake off, next time, since we probably caught them more unaware than they did us, all things considered." With a flippant motion of his hand, "As for what I did, I'm the infamous C! Who does't want to beat me up, these days?" Shortly after the plates are hashed out, and everyone gets to eating and talking, C's lobster begins to mysteriously start missing pieces, as if it has been getting eaten as well, somehow. "So she's cute, she can cook, and she's got a super well-meaning, good-natured personality? Isn't this unfair?"     "It's like you're some kind of mascot." he jokes.
Xion	"Oh, that's okay! I wanted to meet you two, I didn't say I was coming, you don't have to--" Xion raises her hands and shakes her head from the beanbag fruitlessly as food is brought out for her from the kitchen rather industriously by Rita, a portion diverted from another guest for her. "Oh no! I couldn't, that'd be so rude of me, and you didn't make any for yourself, it's fine though, I get it--" Xion sinks into the beanbag. "Mostly." She tries to play it off with the professional move of Talking About Other People: "Do you want to get beat up right now, C?"
Zephyrman	Pramanix is out next to him. John asks something of SilverAsh quietly. Then, slowly, he reaches his arm up behind Pramanix's ears and scritches them gently, like someone scritching a cat's ears fondly. He's very gentle.      When the lobster comes out, he's incredibly surprised. His eyes widen, and he eats...well, with remarkably good manners for a guy who acts the way he does. When Xion backs off, John smiles. And then he cuts a little of his own off and passes it to her. He's just that kind of guy.      Speaking of that kind of guy, he glances C as he eats. He blinks behind his glasses. "...hmmm."      But he doesn't say anything yet. Instead, he finishes his meal and resumes scritching Pramanix. "You're really amazing, Rita! This is incredible! You're really-"      And then Xion. "Hey, hey! No fighting in the secret base! Take it way outside - you might hurt the robots if you go out in the lawn!"
C	"Hey, what did I do to deserve that kind of treatment?" C says in exaggerated astonishment to Xion, before chuckling. "Believe me, Johnny, I'd vamoose well before any scrapping got under way. I've got no interest in getting my shins kicked."
Karlan Nobles	"I'd be surprised if she still had an appetite after the... Appetizers from earlier. Go right ahead." SilverAsh looks like he's still reeling a bit himself, but at least he's conscious enough to down some more beer and take advantage of Candy's earlier opening in Pramanix's cards. Granted, it doesn't look like she's all there still, but at least he won't snitch. After sampling a bit of the lobster himself, though, he sets aside the rest. "Would you like to have some, Miss Rita? I doubt my sister will..." He glances over at Pramanix, who's still firmly in the terror-fainting state. "... Notice anytime soon." She definitely doesn't look like she'll notice, on that note. There is a brief twitch when John goes for her ears, but it does seem to be calming her down finally. Just not enough to get her senses back to normal just yet. And then he turns back to C! "So that's the case, then... They could be useful allies, if you could afford them. And what of that other woman that was with you?" He leans back in his seat, although it's entirely possible he's just feeling the beer a little. "The one with the staff. Is she an ally? Or..." He chuckles at Xion's question to C next. "... Is it also a complex matter?"
Candy	"Oh, no problem, my friend," says Candy to SilverAsh with a little grin. The kind that says he knew it was an 'acquired taste' kind of food when he slapped it down. "Just Candy's fine, though! No Sir, no Don, no Mister necessary, ah? Ha ha." There's a smile towards Rita, at that last bit.      "I appreciate it, all the same."      He's only had lobster once or twice before--and it was a spiny kind very much unlike this one. Digging in doesn't take him long, eager for new experiences as he is. From the first bite, he's hooked to the extent that his beer goes untouched from the time he makes his first cut to the time his plate is clean.      "Holy shit! That sauce is something else. You're hell and Jesus in the kitchen, ah?" He grins, giving Rita a fervent thumbs-up and washing it drown with a swig of BASTARDO. "Nicely done!"      There's a slightly more serious expression on his face. "They knew that Adachi guy. He piss off a lot of people, or are these 'tough customers' the kind that reads up on you?" C's remark about the unfairness of Rita's presence draws a short, pleasant little laugh from him, as he lifts his bottle in acknowledgment.      "He -did- say you gotta have a little sour with the sweet sometimes," Candy teases, when Xion asks if C wants to get beat up. "You don't gotta pretend like you're not interested just 'cause the robots might see, you know." No one is safe from bullying.
Xion	"It's a Kamen Rider and me, we'll just..." Xion pantomimes jumping awkwardly while sitting. "-jump sideways and land in a forest nearby or something. They've got legs! I think that's why the kick finisher is the stronger one. I really admire it, I think I should do more squats." Xion looks at C, shrugging. "What'd you do to make everyone hate you? As the hero of everyone's hearts, I have to stop your violence against joy."
Hibiki Tachibana	Hibiki nods along with John, tilting her head at C. Xion also, now that the Big Bug Crisis is over, gets a proper wave of greeting. Honestly, she was totally serious with the rice bit, but she's just glad Rita eased up.     'As for what I did, I'm the infamous C! Who does't want to beat me up, these days?'     Hibiki gives a grimace once again, remembering what some of the members of the SSS mentioned before. But it's not really the place to bring anything she wants to ask up in detail. There'll be time for that later. And it sounds like they'll definitely be running into them again...     And then food comes, and it's Hibiki's turn to make sparkle eyes she does a pretty poor job of hiding. It's very obvious she does not eat anything as fancy as stuffed crustacean with cheese and sauce, and just the smell alone is enough to get her struggling to stop from actually drooling and scarfing it down on the spot.     This pretty much dissipates after the first bite, where lobster meat begins disappearing into her maw with all the table graces of Rita herself scarfing down jumiles. Sauce is definitely going to end up on her cheeks.
Zephyrman	"Wait, you can do that?!" John's still scritching Pramanix's ears when Xion says she can jump sideways into a forest. "Ahhh, I should figure out how to do that. I do have a kick, though. And a punch. That's important. Although I prefer my Gale Whistler...beam swords are just cool."
Rita Ma	Rita wilts- or is it 'melts'?- under John's and C's successive compliments, looking down at her own lap and taking balled-up fistfuls of her skirt in embarrassment. "I'm sure it isn't like that," she protests weakly. "I'm not..."      A "mascot". Someone for others to look up to and adore. That's what that is, isn't it? I could never be like that. Because nobody should want to be like me. ... But maybe the other 'Rita' could be.      She seems to come to a realization that lets her smile again, taking the compliments with a little more grace (although still cutely embarrassed). "I mean... thank you. If I can make other people smile, that's all I need."      For some reason, Hibiki's messy eating makes her laugh in particular. That's a really sincere kind of compliment, too! She grabs a napkin and dabs at the magical girl's cheek to wipe the sauce off. "Poor Hibiki. I know I said it's no good cold, but you can slow down a little bit!"
Xion	Xion snaps her fingers and sits up. The lobster offered to her is gone, plate and all (wise and wary eyes spotting it disappearing into dark microcubes and fading into a vanishing-thin mist) and so she does not spill anything in her exuberance. "Ex-actly! Even if I *can* do a punch or a kick, I've got a cool sword! Thaaank you!"
C	"I just have one of those faces," he taps on his helmet, jokingly retorting to Xion. "But I guess Shine X, pronounced Key, is here to defeat me for love, justice, and the Nowherean way." He waves Candy's bullying off like a foul breeze, "Hey, hey ... although you're not really wrong~." Leaning back in his seat, he regards the question about the mystery woman a little more seriously, and seemingly has nothing to say about the prospect of allying with the SSS, though his neutral body language in a way, says everything.     "Well ...." He rubs the top of his helmet in a visual tic of thought, " ... complicated. Yeah, it's /very/ complicated. But you could consider her someone who isn't your enemy, if nothing else. At least, as long as you're not on her bad side. She gets mean and petty over the smallest things, though."
Candy	"Hahaha! I knew I could trust you, C." Candy beats his fist against his thigh, making his last play of the game. He spent most of it playing kingmaker or fishing for reactions, which he certainly got--      "Ah, this woman, does she also do the thing where she says something or does something and you think, 'ey, maybe there's something good there, under that snippy bullshit?'" Candy knocks back another big gulp of beer. There's a faint bronze flush at his cheeks. "I know someone like that. Strange, no?"      Candy rises from his chair to take a seat on one of the couches. "You got any music, John?" His eyes are suddenly bright as something strikes him, and with the hand not holding his beer, he snaps his fingers.      "Hibiki! My friend. I got a question for you! Out of all the people in that music academy, who do you trust not to be a piece of shit?"
Zephyrman	John snaps his fingers. "Music!"      In a room or two over, there's the sound of some mechanical movement. Then, music starts playing. It's not any song anyone would recognize. Anyone very very clever at engineering or mathematics would notice it's being procedurally generated - and extremely well, at that. It doesn't sound like a mess, like you'd expect from machines generating music - it sounds very smooth and clean, very gentle. It's got a very 'classical' vibe.
C	C laughs alongside Candy, "Ah, yeah, she's about like that. Oh, her name is Vita, by the way." At least now they had something to call her other than 'that woman' or '???' -- though some who'd been in the Watch for a while may recall such a person having spoken before on the radio. She had a voice to match the mature yet, porcelin beauty of her face. "Though, you want my take? I think it's not all that uncommon for a character trait. Ha ha!"
Hibiki Tachibana	Hibiki actually does hold up for a moment when Rita stops to help clean up the mess on her face she didn't realize she was making. A whole second passes before realization settles in and she gives something like an awkward sputter and swallows what's in her mouth. "--Whoops. I didn't think I was..." Her eyes go off to the side as if that'll hide her embarrassment.     "...It's...really good." She clears her throat, with a thankful nod. When she returns to her plate, it actually is slower and more paced. And a lot less messy. There are a few glances off towards C's corner of the room and his lobster, but nothing mentioned out loud.     And then as music kicks up, her focus goes towards Candy when he gives off an attention-snatching snap asks her a very interesting question. She sits up and furrows her brow a bit, apparently thinking on it.     "...Well, a lot of them. Itaba-san and the others..." She furrows further, before raising an eyebrow to him. "...And Miku, more than anyone. Why are you asking?"
Candy	"Because I am in the business of making a Symphogear, my friend, and you don't give Symphogears to pieces of shit," Candy says simply.      "So it's Itaba and Miku. Got it! You and Tsubasa, you should not have to do all of the work. And if there's more hands, there's less work--and less work means more time for shit like this, ah?" He twirls an index finger around merrily.      "Yours--is there something special about it? Was it made just for you, that thing, or..." He takes a sip of beer. "Or is it more that something about that relic spoke to you? Gungnir, yeah?"
Zephyrman	John, again, briefly looks put out after a brief conversation, but then smiles again. "So it's magic, huh? Your Symphogear. Sorry, I wasn't really paying close attention at the time."
Hibiki Tachibana	That gets Hibiki to almost spittake some lobster for the second time in very short succession. "You're really going to...!?" Right. Swallowing is a thing.     Not much of it is left by now, but she leaves it be for the moment as she sits up straight to look back at Candy in a mix of slight disbelief and surprise. She didn't get all the details of what Candy was planning to do back before, but now it's all on the table. There's a glance off to the side. "...I'm not--I dunno how to feel about getting either of them mixed up in this even if you can..." She murmurs that, but nevertheless reaches down past her jacket collar, pulling out the crimson pendant she wears around her neck.     "...No, not for me. It's a little complicated, but Gungnir--belonged to somebody else before me. Kanade-san. It was hers." Despite Candy's casual way of carrying himself, her tone is a bit heavier and more serious than it has been.     "It's magic, and also technology, though I dunno all the details. But this is a second pendant, made from different fragments than hers. It's from the same source, so it still resonates with me just like it did before." She looks like she's trying to figure out how to word something. "'Before' is when...an accident happened, and bits of it ended up inside of me. A part of me. That's why I could use it. I /can/ use it like normal now, but I couldn't do it...naturally, like Tsubasa-san."
Zephyrman	"I'd love to take a look at it sometime!" John says cheerfully. He's putting the board game away, now that people have left, ordering the cards properly. He's very...precise. Very clean.
Hibiki Tachibana	"I wouldn't mind that. Maybe you'll be able to help us figure out some things." Hibiki does perk up a bit at John's sheer cheerfulness, and at least enough to get her own cards back together and help clean up a bit. Her plate will come soon (TM).
Candy	"Oh, yes, yes, yes, I am," says Candy calmly, but with absolute certainty. "Supplying a bunch of uniforms with shit they could misuse is for the birds--and if I just helped by brute forcing shit, then that'd only fix things until something else rolled into town, you know?"      He listens, setting the beer down someplace where it won't spill or stain any wood. "So you're kinda... like a special case, okay." His tone is as delicate as hers demands. "Tell you what, then. I know how they're supposed to move, what they're supposed to do, from watching you and her. I'll talk to Tsubasa, see how the, ah... things were built to be used." He's not really sure how to put that without saying 'how to use it normally.'      "With John taking a look at yours, and with what she's got to say, that oughta be plenty. I even know what relic I'm gonna do, so..." Candy makes a finger-gun her way. But... the reassuring thing he was gonna say doesn't come. Instead, something else:      "Oh, Hibiki, my friend... I know you are worried about getting them involved. But that's the trouble with these things--they already are. At least this way, you have someone else you trust watching your back. Doing everything yourself..." Candy scratches the back of his head.      "You can do it. But sometimes it's hard. Good people, people like you--we ought to do what we can to make it easier for them."