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Kale Hearthward "The Bureaucracy is expanding to meet the expanding needs of the bureaucracy." - Oscar Wilde.

"Great Advances do not come out of systems designed to produce great advances." - Systematics, The Systems Bible.

"What is this Paladins meeting about? It's about the Paladins." - Lilian Rook (paraphrased).

---

Why does this meeting exist? Because somewhere out there, someone decided that there needed to be another meeting. Some individual person is to blame for sitting down at their terminal, bringing up the organization calendar, and deciding to click one extra time. All of this being possible to trace back to an individual person to silently loathe as you sit there - but no. That's not true. That would be like blaming one of saturn's rings on an individual bit of rock that got pulled into its orbit. This meeting is a confluence - an accretion - of many small things, none of which you care about.

Doubtless the main lecture topic - the environmental effects of minor glyph insigillation - is important, but none of you know anyone who uses the particular glyphs on display, and even if you did you don't need an extremely long powerpoint - all text, all in the same template, with no graphics to break it up, and with the presenter *reading directly from the slides* (oh sin of sins) - to explain it. Doubtless the people being honored here are important - but you know none of the people going up on stage to receive awards for service or performance, and the awards being presented are ones you'd be ineligible for anyway. And the memorials for those who have passed are doubtlessly important, but once again you recognize none of these people - you recognize few to none of the regions or divisions they came from, in fact.

All of this is a long way of saying that nothing in this meeting is of interest to those Paladins from this particular elite division who are attending this meeting. It becomes clear, very crystal clear, that they've been brought in to fill out the seats here. Refusing at that point, trying to make a stealthy exit, proves hard. Everyone's packed into the big auditorium, the one with the AC that's inadequate for keeping sufficient airflow, entirely cut off from natural sunight, and with seating that was last replaced when your grandparents were arguing about being PL30.

At least the sound system and the acoustics are up to par, which would be nice if there was anything on stage worth listening to.

All of this is a lot of words to say that this all-hands meeting was completely, thuroughly, undebatably unenjoyable. Even the most lawful-lawful aligned person would find that it dragged on far too long. The only saving grace, the only silver lining to this cloud... is that it's over now.
Kale Hearthward Paladins of all shapes and sizes file out, going back to whatever they were doing. It's a short walk across this Paladins base to the transit hub and garage to get out of here, or a slightly longer walk to the courtyard with the warpgate to get further out of here, and people are streaming towards both. In theory the award winners are meeting up for newsletter photos, but many of them too are ditching.

Already, there's lines forming - some few thousand Paladins all attempting to get out of the same location at the same time creates some bottlenecks. Queues for elevators, queues for the warpgate's security checkpoint, queues of vehicles trying to get out of the garage. The phrase 'beat the traffic' doesn't apply here, because the traffic already has you beaten.

Either way out of the base passes by a small alcove off to the side of the hallway - a small rest area for foot traffic, with a couple of couches and vending machines. Kale's there, having pulled off to the side to catch his breath and wait for the exodus rush to die down a bit.
Go Shijima      Go is in the alcove. He reached this point from a series of stress-reducing emotional support acrobatics--which is to say literal acrobatics done for the aforementioned purpose.

     He -was- wearing a nice button-up with a tie (Tomari and Kiriko had pestered him to 'look presentable' for an important meeting) but these two things have been defeated. The tie is nowhere to be seen, the button-up casualized and the white tee beneath it untucked. This man is off the clock right now.

     "Jeez, what a bummer. I think I'd actually rather watch paint dry! Oh, hey, Kale." He heads over to the vending machine and plinks in a few credits for a flavored water and a candy bar. Go's backpack is slung over one shoulder. "You have any plans once you're out of here?"
Lilian Rook     Lilian is, as she begrudgingly explained before, here exclusively because it'll look good, and after the last couple of months, she suspects she may need all the brownie points she can get before the Q1 performance review of her file. She is dressed in her best, hair down, light makeup immaculate, and quickly scribbling tiny runes of cold northern winds to cool her fucking chair because this is absolutely miserable. She frequently stops to read chapters out of a book that never technically leaves her bag, because otherwise she'll go insane with what a waste of time this is. Midway through, she exits to get an outside drink without explanation.

    She only really stops by the alcove once she sees Kale and Go there. Popping in, she says, "Jesus Christ I've never been to a worse meeting." and then glances back at the packed line. "Do you want some help getting out of here? We're out of line of sight of the auditorium, and the traffic is blocking the cameras from this angle." She does not elaborate on why she just already knows these things specifically.
Ishirou I4 had actually been excited at first, it was stuff that was neat to learn, though not very in line with his interests.  Learning new things was a great time for him, even if the information was useless.  Sometimes especially if it was useless.  Knowledge for its own sake was good.

Then it went somewhere else.  Did he know these people?  Why was he here for this?  What the heck..?  Eventually, even his optimism and general 'here to vibe' attitude was dragged down by the sheer weight of how awful, long, and overwrought this was.  He was happy that things got out, but now the stampede was preventing easy escapes.  

He finds his way to the alcove, thankfully due to Go acrobaticing to it.  This is just in time to hear Lilian get them a way out.  He is about to grab a drink but decides to wait on that.  "Hello!" he says, trying to remain upbeat, but even he's driven to tears at how dull it is.  "Yea...yeah.  I'd rather be anywhere but here."

"Except for Night Mist's world.  That is the only exception," Night Mist's world would remain the worst place he's ever been.  This is mostly because most OTHER places can't bother him like that.  "How is everyone?  I mean, besides that terrible meeting."
Kirishima Sitting around in a dry meeting with a read-the-slides presentation isn't most people's idea of a good or even a productive time. Sure, it sounded like it could have been productive at first, but upon seeing so many people struggling to stay awake and, conversely, so few actually paying attention, it's not hard for even the most dutiful-minded Paladins to get distracted and work on other things in the meantime.

One such Paladin had been paying close attention to the first ten minutes or so of the presentation, typing away on a laptop to take notes on what was said. After that impossibly long lecture, though, even she's looking drained of life by the time she lurches into that alcove after spotting a few familiar faces in Lilian and I4, glasses askew and tie loosened. She's got a cheap-looking laptop tucked under one arm and a light vest folded over the other, and her outfit is most easily described as 'office drone'.

"That could have been... Worse?" The purple-haired woman comments, trying to sound at least slightly upbeat as she fumbles with the items in her arms briefly before managing to get the laptop on a table and her vest on the back of a chair (and only narrowly managing not to do it the other way around). "At least I could take notes and get other work done here. There's some meetings where they don't even let you BRING a laptop!"
Trudy Grimm     Trudy Grimm is present, after a fashion. Slumped bonelessly in her seat upright with glasses on. Despite her posture, she does seem to be paying rapt attention to the presentation, though during the cringey audience participation portions, never once stood up or spoke out or anything. Just silently listening.

    That is until the presentations are at last over and people start filing out. Someone jostles her and she shifts, her glasses going askew-- showing her eyes closed behind lenses that otherwise show animated and attentive green eyes. When jostled, she snorts, starts, then jolts awake and bolt-upright in her seat in the 'Yes I'm paying attention, teacher!' fashion.

    Once she realizes the meeting is over, Trudy removes her glasses and tucks them into her sleeve, "Well, that was productive!" No it wasn't.

    Moments later, at the Alcove of Escape, the witch raises one hand as she approaches, "Riveting stuff, huh?"
Kale Hearthward "A long shower and then some uninterrupted flight time," says Kale, who doesn't look too good either. "Someplace where I can just move around freely for a while. I am *really* not used to getting crammed into one place for so long with so many people close together."

He's still wearing his dress uniform, and while he hasn't lost bits like Go has, the phrase 'his feathers are ruffled' is literal *and* figurative at the same time.

"Yes please," he says, with emphasis, to Lilian. "Let's go to..."

He trails off for a moment. Go somewhere with unresricted airspace that he can jet off into, is what he was about to say. But - he'd been meaning to talk to people anyway, so actually making a complete exit and getting complete freedom is weighed against seizing the opportunity here, especially given Lilian's overstuffed schedule in particular.

"... someplace with good drinks?" he asks.

I4 gets a nod. "Hey, I'm curious - now that you're human, do you have to - nevermind."

"... I could have brought a laptop?" asks Kale. "I - hmm. They usually expect you to pay attention..."

"About as riveting as always, is what I gather," he says to Trudy. "Riveting enough to put the dead to sleep, huh?"
Lilian Rook     "Night Mist's world?" Lilian repeats back to I4 with a little bafflement in her voice. Her fingers slip under the black chain and pull the pendant free from under her clothes, the script-engraved, sword-shaped solar cross rendered in reflective black lodestone spinning loosely from her hand in the way of suspended jewelry's typical. She stares at it for a few seconds, then glances back up (down). "I don't think it has its own world, Foureyes. That'd be terribly strange."

    Then the actual answer. "Desperate to be anywhere else as well." She greets Kirishima as well. "Ah, so they took advantage of you too? You look like a hard study though. That's good, at least." When she's largely gotten the affirmative, Lilian says, "Time to show you one of the many benefits of being in my good books~"

    Her plan for 'getting out of here' is probably pretty obvious in retrospect. Elites *really* aren't supposed to be popping off special abilities here, but nobody's going to notice this one, and Lilian's incredibly sketchy habitual awareness of lines of sight is on point. It's like the next time one blinks, they're already somewhere else. Without a sense of motion, distance, or orientation, there isn't even a comforting vertigo; it's like a swarm of set hands had come out and changed all the surroundings.

    Lilian has chosen to simply haul through the Warpgate already to save every time, leaving them adjacent to another one, in a small town plaza, probably not many connections away, if even more than two, but god only knows how far. A grey-blue and cloudy evening sky isn't ideal weather, but it's soothing and cool after that hot and sweaty auditorium. Orange lights spill out of the windows of various pubs and cafes and touristy shops lining the brick street, mostly only in use from a few bicycles, pedestrians, and a tram at this hour. The open space is direly welcome.

    "God damn lose some weight Shijima." Lilian huffs in faux, exaggerated exhaustion. "And I actually always did wonder if you have hollow bones, Hearthward." Her pointer finger roves around the circular street around the itty bitty Warpgate. "What's your type?" she says, as a broad, out-loud question. She probably means 'what kind of drinks are we out for' and intends to pick the best from the averaged response. Probably. "Tamamo isn't here, so I don't mind mid-shelf if that's easier for everyone."
Ishirou I4 looks at Kale, tilting his head for a moment.  "Do I what?  You're not likely to embarrass me, so if you got a question, I can try to answer it!" I4 says, without a hint of restraint.  Probably because some things he should be embarrassed about he hasn't LEARNED to be yet.  Not being a human, not born in a culture of humans, and only learning about them from afar makes for interesting times now that he /IS/.  

He nods to Lilian, "Well...I guess it was more your world, but it has...it felt like choking all the time.  Like getting air was really hard, or breathing in smoke for most people.  I wasn't used to that, because most environments that were hard or unbearable for humans were something I was born into not worrying about, yeah?  That was real first for me."  There is a pause, "And makes you all more incredible!"

The scene changes and I4 is a bit less surprised by this than others might be.  He knew the longest, but the change in direction is a bit different.  "So cool.." he says, honestly rather impressed with how it works.  

Lilian asks what type, and then he realizes something... "Oh wow, I haven't been drinking before!" I4 says, honestly, "I never bothered with it before, and now...well, now I guess I can enjoy what being drunk is like!" He's almost excited.  "Mmm...though I don't know my tastes on this..." he considers.  He's about to start opening up holo panels to start researching if you don't stop him.
Go Shijima      "Yes, please!" Go echoes Kale, turning to smile at I4 when he arrives. He doesn't think to ask why Lilian knows about the camera angles, because he assumes she knows these things in case there was ever a hostile takeover, which is just good thinking and not noided in the slightest.

    "Oh, someplace with drinks? Sure! I have a day off from training with Miyamomo today, so that works out fine."

    He suddenly isn't there anymore--instead in the plaza of some small town. And Lilian is cracking jokes. "First it's put on some muscle, then it's lose some weight," he says back with a grin. "Make up your mind already!"

    What's his type? "...I'm kind of in the same boat as I4. I only turned 21 a few months ago, and I hadn't really made a big deal out of it..."
Kirishima Kirishima sighs and nods at Lilian, chuckling after a moment as she raises a hand up briefly to nudge her glasses. "I'm not an editor just for show. I could take notes like these in my sleep!" A beat. "... But I didn't fall asleep! If anyone asks."

"Nobody told me to put it away, anyway. And I really was taking notes on it! For... A while." She answers Kale with a slight pout, looking tempted to just collapse into a seat until the idea of going somewhere else comes up. "We probably won't be moving anytime soon, though." She glances over at the crowds outside, then scoops the vest and laptop back up before gesturing towards the exit of the alcove. "There's a traffic jam just on foot, never mind how bad it'll be-"

And then they're there! Kirishima remains stock still as the scenery just changes all around her with that single blink, looking utterly baffled by what happened until she hears familiar voices speaking once again. "My... Type?"

That absolutely has Kirishima's mind going in the wrong direction. She has that deer in the headlights look as she mulls over how to even answer that, not quite connecting the dots right away. "Right off the bat, huh? Um. I guess I'd go with... Strong and bold, but familiar? Comfortable, even..."

Wait. I4 and Go mention drinking. Is THAT what Lilian was talking about? Kirishima maintains her same thoughtful expression while keep her jaw mostly locked, eventually forcing out a laugh that's just a bit too hard to not sound off. "Y-yes, let's start with something strong! Then you two can... Uh. Know where your limits are."

That's definitely what she meant.
Trudy Grimm     When teleported, Trudy's response is to clap her hands once, "Impressive! Much faster than mine, even!" One eye closing, she raises one hand with her finger pointing upward, "And none of the usual business about keeping your eyes closed 'lest you behold the infinite and eternal void between spaces. Very convenient."

    At Kale's comment, she closes that eye, her upraised hand spreading its fingers out and gesturing towards him, "I Have No Idea What You Are Implying." Leaning, she bumps Kirishima with her elbow, "Proper ladies like us wouldn't possibly nap during a big important presentation." Her arm lowers, folding both behind her back, "Whether or not that was important at all; that's a different question."

    When the subject shifts to drinks, she shifts her posture and perks right up, "Any good meads here? I haven't had any decent mead since I left home; I don't drink often but it's one thing I miss." When her eyes open, she glances upward in thought, "There was this lovely little meadery just over the border, I should've stopped there on my way out of town..."
Kale Hearthward "Alright. Do you need to take breaks to-"

Oh hey, they're all somewhere else now. That is indeed incredibly useful. Also not a little bit scary. Thoughts of waking up to a time bomb in his room flit through Kale's mind.

"... Nevermind, I4. Shots," says Kale, who does indeed have hollow bones.

"... Or... okay. Let's see."

He looks around, giving the town a critical eye. "Not... there," he says, looking at the tavern closest to the warpgate. "Not... that one either. Overpriced, intended for tourists... definitely won't have mead..."

Nook's training is not intended for a lot of the things Kale uses it for. 'Finding the best pub' is certainly not something that was in the list of advantages that Kale had envisioned when he went for it, either, but running through the town in his head, from the view of everyday residents, store owners, bartenders, and those just passing through...

"... We want to go off of main street, first of all. One street over, look for a place like..." He heads off way, expecting the rest to follow, and points to a smaller pub once they're out of the line of sight of the gateway plaza. "There."

It's a bit more homely inside. The decor is nice, with lacquered wood bartop and tables, but nothing stands out about it. The bearded bartender looks up as people enter, eyes narrowing a little bit.

"Yeah, this is the place we want," says Kale. "First round's on me, to prove it."
Kirishima Trudy's elbow bump gets a brief, indoor-friendly chuckle from Kirishima. "Exactly. Being able to act like the meeting was informative is part of being a professional, after all."  She nods knowingly, almost looking professional prior to that sudden 'teleportation'.

Leaving the task of finding a good place to Kale, Kirishima's attention is instead of just seeing what they all pass by. It's new, it's shiny, and she actually doesn't get much time to look around before they're inside. It's probably for the best, though, as she'd likely get lost wandering on her own.

"Shots might be safer for first timers, yes. Just be careful not to got through too many at once." She recommends to Go and I4 while heading in, holding the door behind her and shuffling off to the side to keep it open until everyone's in. "Maybe even... No, you should try the shots. I'll go for something lighter to start with. Just in case... Er. You know."

Wait. They might not know. "In case anyone needs a lift back."
Go Shijima      "Um... okay!" Go is relaxed here, but very much out of his element. If Kale--someone who seems more used to this--has a good recommendation, then he'll just go along with it.

    "I guess I'll do shots, too," he says, with the innocent surety of someone who's never done them. "...whatever that is. Uhm... do we just...?" He meekly points at the bartender.

     "Wait... whiskey! You can do shots of that, right? I've seen people do that in movies. Like those old westerns Professor Harley likes!"
Ishirou I4 just looks confused that the question is never actually asked, but also because the scene changed and that seemed to cause the problem.  I4 has learned about this...someone starts something they can't finish and then backs out when there is a convenient place.  I4 thinks about this for a moment, what did Lilian call these people again..?  Oh well, it's fine, he'll just ask her later.  

I4 is more willing to follow the group around, he's here to vibe.  It's a chance to hang out with people he likes (Go, Lilian), people he doesn't know very well (Trudy, Kirishima), and people who...well...uh...ok and Kale.  He gets his own category.  

From behind his holo screens, Go gets his own bright smile from I4, who has suffered the worst of his cooking experiments.  The results are he can make basic soups pretty alright but probably shouldn't try new things...yet.  "Really, something you don't know either?  Huh! Well, we should figure this out.." Even as Kale is figuring out a place.  

Kirishima answers, nodding along with her, not realizing that she was not referring to drinks, and had recovered.  "Oh, so you're experienced in Strong and bold, huh?" He asks, innocently.  He does turn to Trudy, "Mead?  Oh, that's...made from honey right?  That should be sweeter, right?  That might be more to my taste, I think."

The inside of the place was less...what he expected.  More homey and relaxing.  Very comfy, and he already liked it.  "Whiskey..?  Hmmm.." he considers as he starts researching that drink.  "Shots, right?  Are shots just...smaller amounts?"
Kirishima Oh no. Her lies are catching up to her already! "Y... Yes! Whiskey's one of those, but it's a good.. Um. Meterstick to see if drinking's for you." Kirishima makes a quick-ish save when I4 asks her about drinks, sounding mildly relieved despite the fact that she shouldn't need to. "Between the taste, the burn, the strength.. You'll know fairly quickly."
Trudy Grimm     "Sure is!" Trudy nods once to I4, "There's a few other steps but honey is the base. So it all comes down to how happy your bees are!"

    Trudy does reveal her absolute lack of chill once inside, however. She crosses to the bar, hops onto a stool, and spins around a few times before she stops herself at the right point to be facing the be-bearded barkeep. Placing her hands on either side, she leans forward with that pointy-toothed grin of hers, "Do you have any meads on hand? Any recommendations? I haven't had any since the last time I was at Sunbow and I'm dying to see what this region can do with it!"

    Leaning back, she adds, "If you don't, I'll just have water, no big deal."

    Twirling again, Trudy rests her elbows on the bar proper, "I do dig a great, homey tavern-y atmosphere though. It's very comfy."
Kale Hearthward "You just tell him what you want," says Kale to I4. The bartender has wordlessly started pulling shot glasses out, lining them up on the bar, and filling them.

"Oh, and some of the cinnamon stuff, for me," he adds. "And something lighter for this guy."

"Oh, and food, right, thanks for reminding me Kirishima. What kinda food you got here?"

"Peanuts," says the bartender, not looking up from his task. "There's pizza next door."

Then to Trudy, he nods silently, and reaches up behind himself, pulling a bottle off the shelf to show to her. If it passes her approval, he just as silently starts pouring it.

"Okay! Pizza! What should we get?" asks Kale. "Toppings wise?"
Ishirou I4 is asked a very important question, then he realizes it's also a way to solve another important question.  "Hawaiian?" he asks, curiously, "I wanted to see why everyone was on one side or the other on this one." He says innocently.  Tonight, I4 will learn many human things.  

I4 looks at the glass, and everyone seems to have opinions, and though they mostly agree... "Ok, let's start with whiskey?" he asks.  He's not sure here, but it's an experience.  Though he sounds unsure, he looks excited.  It's trying the unknown for the first time, getting to experience something that is unique to himself.  

While others can guide, it'll be his first...

He takes the shot glass and looks at it for a moment.  Then downs it, because that's what you're supposed to do.  He immediately starts coughing and looking completely caught off guard by the strength of what he just drank.  He might need a minute.  
Go Shijima      You just tell him what you want? "Excuse me!" He takes a seat at the bar, smiling brightly. "May I please have a shot of whiskey?" Looking over his shoulder at Kale, "Mushrooms and red peppers!"

     "Oh, I think that whole thing is kinda overblown," says Go to I4. "I've had it before, and it's not bad!"

    I4 takes his shot first, because Go doesn't--he wanted to gauge how well his friend took it before giving it a shot himself. Go, therefore, makes a very transparent attempt to one-up I4. It isn't convincing.

     He ends up, as the burn travels down, making a face that looks like the middle point between constipated and 'stubbed toe.'

     "Smooth," he lies over a badly-suppressed cough.
Kirishima "No bread here, then... Yes, pizza should be fine." Kirishima taps her chin lightly as she takes a seat finally, setting her laptop and vest aside to keep her hands free while nursing her drink. "Extra cheese is always good and safe. Pepperoni's a given, too, but I don't know if everyone here..."

She pauses, looking from person to person. "Does anyone not eat meat?" Yes, she's even keeping that in mind, looking every bit the reliable office worker up until I4 mentions the forbidden words.

"No. Never. There are limits to what can be called pizza." She sounds deathly serious about that, even sounding as serious as she did back during their first meeting when she had her glasses off and her scarf on. Only when she takes another sip of her drink does she finally breathe again, seeming quite used to the lighter booze and returning to that soft-spoken demeanor she had been displaying since...

Actually, only since today. "Mushrooms and peppers are a nice combo, too. Ah... But we'll need to be careful not to get too many toppings at once. Some places start cheaping out on those so the pizza doesn't fall apart even if they're charging full price on that."
Trudy Grimm     When prompted with a bottle, Trudy tips her head back to look at it upside-down. A hand raises, offering the barkeep a thumbs-up, "I'll take it!" Kale did say he was buying, but this looks fancy, so she'll doubtless chip in for her share.

    Rolling her head back up, the witch makes a thoughtful face when asked about pizza toppings. After a moment of serious thought, though, she simply makes a surrendering shrug, "I've never had it before, so I wouldn't know the first thing about what I'd want on it!" Her eyes close, "I'll try whatever you guys choose and see what I like."

    At Kirishima's question, Trudy straightens up and broadens her shark-toothed grin, "Does this look like the smile of a vegetarian?"
Lilian Rook     There are a lot of different reactions going on. Seating herself next to Go, and watching him pop that shot, listening to Kirishima and I4, Lilian sighs explosively with, "You virgins are impossible." and then just pays full bottle for Merlot. She is, after all, a nicely dressed young woman, and gets to default to 'something anywhere that sells liquor should have', which she insists she will judge the quality of the place by.

    When the subject of pizza comes up, she visibly weighs it for a moment, then goes, "Oh why the hell not. That meeting sucked." And then in rather opposite style, just selects about five different kinds of meats and spicy peppers and slams hot sauce, three cheeses and thin crust options. Might as well.

    "And I didn't teleport you anywhere." she says to Trudy, then copying her own catch phrase, "Don't worry about it!"
Kale Hearthward "I mean, we can just order one big pizza with all the toppings, and people can pick off what they don't want...?" suggest Kale, who Doesn't Get It.

The bartender doesn't comment on people having their first experiences with alcohol, aside from adding a few large glasses of ice water to the lineup on the bar.

I4 doesn't get a minute to recover, though. "Hey, I4! I was gonna ask you something before we teleported," says Kale.

"Do you need to take bathroom breaks now that you're human?"

Go gets a pat on the shoulder. "Yeah, isn't it, though?"

The pizza gets sorted out (eventually) and ordered in a configuration that makes most everyone mostly happy. Lilian gets her Merlot. The bartender seems to know his stuff and have the selection the group wants, he just doesn't say much.

"So Lilian," says Kale, when there's a gap in the conversation. "Got... two things I want to ask you for. One short term, one long term."
Lilian Rook     Lilian, after hitting half a glass faster than she really should have, sounds refreshed. "Well then. You did a lot better than I expected, picking from a whim, Hearthward." she says, now in the process of one-handedly loosening the black bow she'd worn all meeting, despite being the only one who can brainlessly sit at a bar stool with perfect posture.

    "I wondered if it might be something like that. I've certainly given you the best opportunity to casually grill me on them, haven't I?"
Ishirou I4, wheezing a bit as he comes to terms with the fact that Whiskey burns like hell and is trying to recover from what he just experienced is ambushed.  He sucks in a breath, gets ready to answer before he fails, and coughs for a few seconds.  He drinks the water provided, thanking the bartender with a voice three octaves lower.  

"Of course I do, some biology has to be respected," I4 says, finally.  Thinking about this finally, "Why ask this?" he asks, now curious, and perhaps slightly started on this.  

I4 looks a little afraid of Kirishima's reaction.  "O-okay..." he says, shrinking a little, and instead asks for mead from the bartender.  He whispers to Go when Kirishima is hopefully not listening.  "She's intense...I think we should try the pizza somewhere else another time or we might start a fight."

Mead is more to I4's liking, though perhaps dangerous because he really seems to like the sweeter drinks.
Kale Hearthward "Well, as far as grilling, I want to hear more about your career path, what you've got planned for your new subordinates, and... I dunno. Compare notes in general."

"But that's not what I meant. This has been on my mind for a while, before... all of this went down."

He puts his (now empty) current shot glass down on the bar, and crosses his arms, watching Lilian's reaction (and maybe trying to spot if she blips).

"I still want that duel."
Kirishima "Good point. No... Not really." Kirishima shakes her head with another chuckle, leaning in briefly to squint at Trudy's teeth before going back to her drink. "That must be tricky to chew with. Do you... Well, does anyone here have a specialized diet?"

She's trying pretty hard not to look too long at Kale as she asks that.

Halfway into her first drink,  however, Kirishima sputters when Lilian just goes and calls some vague number of people virgins. "Th... There's nothing wrong with..!" Wait. She meant alcohol-virgins, right? Right. Clearing her throat, she drains the rest of her first drink, then orders a second glass (mead this time). "They'll get used to it at their own pace. Besides..."

Kale asks about I4's bathroom habits, and then she hides a snicker. That, unfortunately, doesn't last all that long when she sees Go's face and sputters in mid-swig. Thankfully, she's got enough sense to keep that in her own glass rather than just blasting him in the face.

"Are you okay there? There's no need to rush it if it's your first time. Just... Take it slow." She's still snickering as she resumes sipping, although the talk of career paths and a duel has her looking over at Kale and Lilian once again.

"There's some history behind this, isn't there?"
Trudy Grimm     Trudy holds up her hand, pouring I4 a shot from the mead she'd picked up rather than force a separate charge. Closing her eyes, she lifts the bottle then in a toast with a big pointy smile. Never let it be said that a necromancer can't share.

    "I guess for you it's more of a carrying motion than a teleporting one, hm?" Trudy offers to Lilian as she returns to her own drink, "I hope I'm not too heavy. We did just have the winter solstice so I might have put on a kilo or two." Much like with I4, she volunteers some of her mead bottle for Kirishima to try out, "--Here, this guy's got great taste, try this. It's real top shelf..! You can taste how happy the bees are."

    She is listening to the conversation brewing between Kale and Lilian. She's not aware of any duel, much less the details, so this should be interesting.
Go Shijima      Go reddens at Lilian's multi-target insult, but knows better than to challenge. He does take a hearty gulp of ice water.

    "Don't laugh!" Go chides Kirishima with mild embarrassment. "I'm perfectly fine! In fact, let me get another!"

    Kale suggests that they just pick the unwanted toppings off. "The cheese comes off with it when you do that," says Go sadly, who has definitely tried it before.

    Whispering back to I4, "Maybe so," he agrees. "Are you feeling anything yet? They say you're supposed to feel something."
Ishirou I4 whispers to Go, "I feel a little warmth in my face, I think," I4 admits to Go, but I4 is also uh...MAYBE one hundred and thirty pounds soaking wet.    He notices everyone taking a bit of pain from Lilian's insult.  "What?  Virgin isn't a bad thing.  She calls me that all the time," he says almost casually.  

I4 is likely oblivious as to why.  I4 is also happy to share from Trudy's drink.  However, he does insist on buying a second bottle after liking the first drink.  He'll also share.  

When Go is down for drink two, I4 looks at the drink and thinks, "Hey how about VODKA, I want to try that!" he says, and once given a shot of vodka downs it.  He gags even worse this time because it's just as bad.  
Lilian Rook     "Well, it's not as if I actually carry you." Lilian says to Trudy, now between slices of hyper-carnivorous and definitely not-white levels of spiced pizza. She has to toast with a wine glass, but that's an equally acceptable toasting vessel. "I've been working, just a little, with the Sapient Heuristics people, but I already had my own idle ideas about it before. As far as it matters, I've essentially . . ." She really stops to think about this for a couple of seconds, then downshifts to a more casual tone on purpose. "Convinced reality that I'd already moved you all here, and the universe stares at the math, scratches at its head, says 'okay I believe you', and resolves it. But that does mean some of the 'effect' comes back to me."

    To Kirishima. "Huh? Of course there's a problem with that. You're pretty young right? So maybe not so much for you, but at a certain age . . ."

    She laughs at I4 trying for vodka. "They grow up so fast~" she adds, in facetious wistfulness.

    And then to Kale's staring. "Sorry, but you won't see anything no matter how closely you watch. It's not good enough to just roll high; I have to roll low too." It's actually unclear if she read that one, or cold read it. When she actually hears his demand however, she laughs, though not strictly unkindly. "Seriously? After-- are you insane?"
Kale Hearthward Kale flinches a little bit when he's read, but only a bit.

"... Yeah. I am. Insane. Kinda. Not human, and this isn't the human way of thinking that's driving this."

"Maybe you can wipe the floor with me again, even when you're not... like that, like how you were. But I gotta know for sure."

"You, and me. All other things being equal, without other people interfering. Which one of us comes out on top."
Lilian Rook     The only thing Lilian can think to immediately reply to this with is:

    "Why in God's name?"

    Then slamming back the second half of her glass and pouring a new one. "How is some inhuman thought process driving that? At worst, it'd be something bird-like, wouldn't it?"
Ishirou I4, with his throat still burning immediately speaks without any hesitation, because his ability to measure his words, "Lilian wins, you only manage to seriously hit her once and nobody knows if it's because she's let you or not," I4 says, holding up a finger, and drinks some water. Ok...ok...0 out of two didn't work for you. Ok I4, you got this... "Tequila?
Kirishima "Carrying...? Oh! Right, Lilian's power. It's not teleportation?" Kirisihima seems confused, yet curious as she looks from Trudy to Lilian, then back to Trudy again at the offered bottle. "Ah, thank you. This one'll actually be a first for me, so..." She takes a brief swig, tilting her head forward first, then back to really le the flavors and the throat feeling come through.

"... That's not bad. That's not bad at all." After looking over the bottle briefly to try and absorb some information about it (she won't), she hands it back. "Next time. Someone should stay mostly sober in case... Ehm."

Go's reaction has her biting her lip briefly, holding in another snicker before smiling right at him. "It's alright, really. Everyone's tolerance is different, and I'm not even that great at it. I've just done it longer... At all. Pizza'll help." She recommends while grabbing a slice for herself, just eating it with goddamn everything on it.

Naturally, it just so happens she's doing that when I4 goes for the vodka, and she nearly gags on her food just from laughing in mid-swallow. That, or it's because Lilian actually caught her comment and starts talking about her age. "E-even then! I mean... I think I'm fairly young... Probably."

She sounds uncertain. "But.. That shouldn't matter too much, anyway!" Yep, turbo virgin. "Let's just focus on you two having your fated duel, o-okay?! You and Kale, no interruptions, just find a... Um. A grassy field! Or a parking lot, so there's no hidden tripping hazards."
Kale Hearthward "I think you need to slow down," says the bartender blandly, pressing another glass of water into I4's hand.

The pizza arrives. Someone else will have to deal with it, because the delivery girl isn't getting between Kale and Lilian right now.

"I want to know," says Kale.

"I *need* to know. If I'm better than you. Call it a bird thing, if you want. I want to see if the loudest other person on the paladins channel is really all of that."

"And besides," he says, his body language shifting a bit. "That wasn't a clean win you had, was it?"
Trudy Grimm     Trudy closes her eyes, bobbing her head from side to side as she processes Lilian's explenation. She gets that it's more of a metaphor. A simplification, and not entirely accurate. Getting the point across. But it does sound like certian schools of magic she'd heard about in the past. What was it again... Abjuration? Conjuration? No, that's just glorified alchemy for smug people... After a thoughtful-looking moment, she makes a dismissive gesture at no one in particular and returns to the matter at hand.

    That matter being pizza. With Kale facing off, Trudy hops off her stool to collect it and tips the delivery girl a gold piece for her trouble. Carrying it back, she hums back to Kirishima, "Don't worry about it. Food's here--!" . . . "How the heck do you eat this stuff, anyway?"
Ishirou I4 takes the water and drinks, "But I'm here to experience new thiiiiiings..." I4 complains but does not actually object, taking the water and drinking. He helps Trudy understand pizza.  "So you take one of these slices and you eat it from the front!" he says, demonstrating, and not taking the box from the pizza girl.  

"Also Vodka, nasty.  Need to try something better!" he complains before he goes quiet and looks over towards Kale.  "Ok dude, what?" he asks.  "Not cool.  Like, to the point I'd probably turn the other way when she mulches you."
Go Shijima      The second shot, after a little while, seems to have done the trick, as Go's cheeks are noticeably flushed. "I feel like I'm feeling something," he says, too loudly to keep it between himself and I4.

    Having reassurance from Kirishima, he gets up and goes for the pizza, paying and leaving a generous tip for the delivery girl. It's the least he can do, with Kale covering the drinks. His gait on the way back is a little wobbly, but no so much as to cause concern over pizza welfare.

    "We're gonna experience plenty of new things tonight," says Go to I4, patting him on the shoulder. "Just pace yourself like Kirishima said!" He then helps himself to a slice.
Kirishima It's time for a pizza tutorial (after joining in the tipping)! "Ah, it's pretty straightforward. You hold it by the crust here-" Kirishima demonstrates for Trudy and I4, picking up her slice with just her fingertips on the crust and then one other finger from her other hand to prop up the end while turning a few times to let them see. "-and you can start eating this way."

A bite, a swig, and then she continues. "Some people like folding it over so it's not so floppy and might not burn you as bad-" Another demonstration comes with folding the slice over, and then she squeezes the folded part of one end to show some of the cheese and toppings peeking out already. "-but you end up eating it a lot faster that way and it can get messy, anyway. Plus, you might burn yourself even worse with that.. Uhm. False sense of security making you eat it faster."

Like Go, however, Kirishima's cheeks are getting visibly flushed as well despite only being partway into her second drink (and technically some of Trudy's mead). "But that's the basics... Meat toppings usually stay pretty okay, but mushrooms and onions and extra cheese are a lot more prone to just popping out. And... Yyyes. Any questions?"
Trudy Grimm     "In hindsight," Trudy comments, "I shouldn't have asked that expecting to learn much cultural stuff. If it's finger food, it's finger food~." Settling in, she picks herself a slice and makes a show of drawing out the cheese until she just picks off the stretchy bit with her fingers to separate it from the rest of the pie, "I just didn't want to wind up in a Dessert Fork for the Entree sort of situation; but thinking about it, I shouldn't expect that sort of refinement from this rowdy crowd." She folds the crust like Kirishima demonstrated, finding this to her liking, "I mean, Lilian's the sort who would have that high society stuff ground in from the get-go, but I bet she's pretty sick of it and likes the chance to cut loose a little~." An eye closes, the other focusing on the lady in question, "Am I close, or way off the mark?"

    Trudy demonstrates just what those teeth are for by neatly slicing off her first bite, both eyes shut while she enjoys this combination of flavors.
Lilian Rook     "Plenty of new things tonight?" Lilian implicitly asks, albeit rhetorically, to Go and I4. Eyebrow raised and everything. "Well now, if you have plans then by all means, don't let me stop you." A moment passes, and she sighs, "I'm surprised that I'm the heavyweight in the room, and yet, I feel as if I shouldn't be." She audibly scoffs at 'fated' duel, and says "A little theatrical, don't you think?" out loud.

    But Kale is currently the person actually talking to her. She swirls her glass around in a front at absentminded thought. "I meant what I said back then. I wasn't trying to ameliorate it. In real combat, whoever gives up fighting is the one who loses. But, even before that, I was never into duels, was I? I was always terribly selective about fights. I avoided needless combat. And chose how many cards I wanted to play when thrust into battle anyways. There was never once a time I even had a sparring match with anyone. Granted, there was a sense of 'there's nothing they'll teach me, and it'll just equip people, bit by bit, to fight me', but all the same. I'm not concerned with 'proving myself for real', if that's what you're getting at."

    "But I also didn't think I'd wounded your pride or anything. And it didn't seem like you had that much interest in crossing blades for the year prior. Or even particularly with other Paladins. Even more pressing than what I possibly get out of that, what do you get out of this?"

    "And what was your second question anyways?"
Lilian Rook     Lilian replies to Trudy. "Oh, I'm so used to it that it's practically invisible to me. In fact, it took a while to acclimatize to things like-- well, pizza for one." she says. "When you're inured to it, it becomes your comfort zone. I understand most people find it difficult to keep up, but in casual situations, half the time it feels like I'm trying to figure out what to do with empty hands." she admits.

    "It's not." she then says to Kirishima. "Though it's hard enough to tell the difference that I lied about it for four years. And the full explanation is . . . complicated. That's not code for 'I don't want to talk about it'; it actually means that it's complicated."
Kale Hearthward "I said what I wanted to get out of it already. To know which one of us is better."

His body language shifts again. Earlier, it'd been anticipation that he might blip into being face down in the dirt for his remarks. Now it's sort of... trying to lower the tension that he himself was raising a moment ago.

"... It's not a pride thing. It's never been a pride thing. I *was* going to come ask you for this in private, quietly, but around the time I decided it you got incredibly busy and then - well, everything else happened."

He gives I4 a side-eye, and then continues talking to Lilian. "If you need to get something out of it - I'll find something, then, and come back to you. Until I do, I'll drop it."
Kale Hearthward Kale pauses at this point to get pizza, because he just now realized how hungry he is after sitting through that long meeting.
Go Shijima      "Lilian is really refined," says Go, stepping up to plate for her when Trudy calls the crowd rowdy. "Her and Tamamo both!" Only moments later, his face is more flushed than the liquor would do alone--"P-poor choice of words," he sputters back at Lilian, hazarding a glance towards I4.

    He clears his throat. "Not that..." There's no safe place to take that sentence. So he signals for another whiskey shot, after finishing his ice water. "Weird how you get used to it..."

    "Uhm... Lilian!" He downs his third. "I'm glad you're back. I4 and I both are. I really look up to you." He's at that point--the heartfelt admission. Might be best to cut him off, at least for now. "You're the best!"

    "I know that we were fighting when you said it... but asking Miyamomo for lessons has really helped out."
Ishirou I4 stares at Lilian when she mentions Go and him having plans.  The meaning goes over his head, now more than he's had something to drink.  "Eh?  I don't get it?  I'm HERE to try new things, leaving would ruin that chance!" he says, perhaps too excitedly, and continues nursing that water, as well as a slice of pizza.  

"I live with Go, I've had pizza before, but just haven't had a chance to try out Hawaiian," he explains to Kirishima.  A pause, hoping she doesn't get mad from mentioning the contentious topic.  

Kale gives him the side-eye, and I4 holds his gaze.  He's absolutely serious.  

"Wait, pizza is finger food?  I thought finger foods were small foods..?"  He wonders, not sure, before finally turning around to ask for his third shot.  He takes to tequila better than the other two before.  "Huh...this seems to be missing something though..?"

Go continues on the topic, which gets a strange tilt of I4's head.  "What?" I4's the one at a loss of what's going on here.  I4 DOES, however, nod at Go being honest with his opinion on Lilian.  "Yeah!" he says, with a sunny smile.  "Well, if you're not sure Lilian...we could just talk!  About anything, really.  Sorry, I'm not the wise man yeeeet." he says, a bit flush at the drinks he's been trying out.  

"I've been trying, you know, to expand my horizons.  Before it was just about...knowing things, but I've been trying to experience them too.  Being human's been..." he says, thoughtful.  "Freeing.  I've never felt so...myself."

"Though, would the other androids look at me the same?  Have I separated myself from being comrades to them..?" He pauses, not SAD but contemplative.  "I don't regret it, I'm just..." he pauses.  "I don't want to abandon them either.  Or you guys...or any of my friends!"
Lilian Rook     "I'll believe you that you intended to ask earlier, and that the two aren't necessarily related." Lilian says to Kale. It's always annoyingly hard to tell, now that she's admitted that she can read people's hearts, if she's actually believing someone at their word or not. "I suppose I'll process as it as someone who considers themselves strong acknowledging a wall to climb and be flattered."

    Lilian is, of course, outrageously carnivorous for some reason. Probably gets along with a fox woman that way. She doesn't go through the pizza at an unusual pace, but hers is loaded. Gotta get at least a few slices down while it's still hot. However, for the sake of flow, one piece just disappears and is never seen again. Lilian pops her fingertips into her mouth to get some of the pepper juices and sauce off of them.

    "That Okada hitman spent days trying to get under my skin about swordsmanship. Staren spent even longer about 'someone teaching me a lesson'. But even before that, I've spent half my life surrounded by people questioning my talent; too many for me to even have time for them all. Apologies, but you do eventually develop a thick skin for it."

    A beat. "Granted, I am supposed to be trialling this new equipment, but that isn't what you're after." And then, she rolls up her sleeve, exposing what at first look like light burns past her wrist, but have a strange, 'screen-tearing' static pattern to them. "And I might as well not bother until I'm all healed up regardless, right?"

    Go continues to get Doubt.png eyebrows. "Honestly, considering what I owe the pair of you, I wouldn't mind putting handing off a couple of grand before you leave." Intended use implicit. Her smile is a little awkward and sad. "You were right about a lot yourself. And . . . I'm glad to be here, instead of . . . where I would be right now if things had turned out the way I expected." she says, and then tries to leave it at that. "I'm glad you're getting something out of it though. Miyamomo has real talent. Almost divine, really. There aren't many people like her in the Multiverse with that kind of polish to their power. I'd be shocked if you didn't learn anything even just from watching, but the fact that seeing the gap between you has motivated you to close it on your own; that's really respectable. I hope I can rely on you next time." The way she says it halfway implies that she'd like him to be more reliable, but the other half implies that she'd like it if she could bring herself to do the relying.

    To I4, she says pretty simply, "Why not just line them all up and get them the same thing? It wasn't very difficult for you, right? I'm sure it'd piss Indus off plenty too."
Kale Hearthward "... Ah."

Kale pauses, pizza in hand, when Lilian reveals her wounds.

Physically, he himself is doing pretty well. More pressing is the hits to his ego and his momentum - despite how he acts on the outside, internally he's found himself hesitating when things start getting stressful, when before he could dance around an entire battlefield without missing a beat.

Not that he'd admit that he's not at his best right now. Especially out loud.

"Yeah, let's wait, then," he says, for Lilian, and not because he's also badly needing to get his groove back.

I4 holding his gaze, in a serious manner, gets a moment of genuine surprise. And then Kale makes a point of ignoring I4, as if that didn't just happen.

"The second thing - wanted to ask for patience and empathy. Especially in the coming months. For... obvious reasons."
Trudy Grimm     Mostly quiet while snacking, Trudy responds to I4's question about finger foods by pausing mid-bite and lifting her fingers, wiggling them while supporting her pizza slice with her thumbs, as if demonstrating 'finger food is eaten with fingers' as her one and only qualification for that particular classification. She tears off that bite and chews contentedly with her mouth closed, taking a napkin to her lips rather than risk greasing up her fluffy sleeves.

    "If you *are* looking to test things later, I might be able to help. Especially if you need multiple opponents and don't want to worry about being too rough with them," directed to Lilian, "After all, what are you going to do? Kill them?" She follows that up with a laugh, closing her eyes again, "Though I didn't think about how the cutlery business might be for someone who grew up doing it. Of course you'd be used to that and then slumming it would be the stressful part, huh~... We all have our own anxieties, after all. Small as they might be."
Lilian Rook     Lilian snorts a little at Trudy. "Cutlery business? That's a new one." And then, "Certainly that's true. At a certain point, the Shrine has simulated opponents already, so I'd expect that means you at least intend to play field commander."

    'Small as they may be'. Lilian attempts to smile. It is thin and high-strung.

    To Kale, "Patience and empathy? Because you're getting married? I don't quite understand what your concern is."
Kirishima "Ah, it's an American thing. Except it's also Italian... Sort of?" Kirishima semi-answers Trudy, looking somewhat puzzled as she says all that. "I don't know the specifics, but I think the only rules for pizza are just... Uhm. No knives, no fruit, and...  I forget the third one." She explains, chuckling a bit before leaning on the counter so as to not have to sit upright the whole time.

She's definitely feeling some of that booze now. She didn't even have a lot. "Or at least... No knives and no fruit if you're calling it pizza." She adds for I4's benefit (sort of).

"Theatrical, but it's appropriate. Er. Right? I mean, with this kind of challenge and... Whatever your past history is with each other?" She asks of both Lilian and Kale, reaching up briefly to take her glasses off before slipping them right back on. She can't let anyone know she's really a ninja!

Never mind the fact that few people outside of her home even know who she is.

"If it's complicated, then... I'll learn how it works sooner or later! Maybe if it's written down somewhere." Kirishima adds, laughing a bit more freely at I4's and Go's comments. The smile remains as she listens to the continued conversation, peering from Lilian to Kale to Trudy and back to Go and I4 before finally sitting straight again.

"I've only been here for three days now, but I can tell there's a lot of trust between all of you. People looking up to each other and relying on each other through what sounds like some real trials and... Um. Trials." Kirishima nudges her glasses off just a bit to rub her eyes briefly, then continues. "I can't speak to how much any of you have changed, but I know for a fact that I probably wouldn't be standing... Sitting here today if not for all of you. So.. Thanks."

She downs the rest of her second drink, then shakes her head quickly. "So if there's anything you need help with, please let me know. I'll stake my life on it." Despite her words, she's still speaking just as softly (if a bit more slurred) than before rather than loudly and dramatically.
Ishirou I4 pauses as if he never had considered.  No, more accurately it was more that he hadn't thought to ask because it'd be...well...asking Phony to literally change an entire race.  Every single one of them.  It's not like they'd become different if they didn't want to either...they'd all become what they wanted inside.  

"I...obviously should talk to Persephone about that, but it'd be no small job," I4 leans back some.  It's a very complicated situation, and he's not entirely sure how to approach it.  Maybe he... "I think a first step would be going out to the bunker, after talking to Persephone."

As for testing, I4 remembers something, "Oh yeah, you wanted to help break in the AVCS, right?" He asks Lilian.  

To Kirishima, "Oh yeah, I still have a bunch of secrets about that government on that island.  Is it the island you really wanted, or just a place to set up a free state?" he asks, actually trying to get a better feel for the situation in her world.

To Trudy, he nods.  "I suppose that makes sense..."  Kale ignores him, and I4 can live with that.  He was a little surprised at it himself.
Kale Hearthward "Pretty much. Yeah. Because I'm getting married."

"There's a few last little roadblocks we're trying to work through as far as - call it political stuff. Just - going to be dealing with that while also working on the wedding, and dealing with all the normal Paladins stuff. If I'm a bit short, I apologize."

Kale looks a little awkward.

"... Anyway, though."

"I'll take you up on that," he says to Kirishima.

And then he remembers that there's people in the room besides him and Lilian, and goes to check on Go. "Holding up okay? Not taking things too quickly? This isn't a race."
Trudy Grimm     "If your kind of training wants a field commander, I can play that role," Trudy states with a shrug, "But I can promote leader types, too, if punching a scary dude in black armor is easier to get immersed in." She folds one arm, the other holding the remainder of her slice, "The goal is to let you go all out, right? But seeing this friendly face would probably do some subconcious thing. It'd probably make a more genuine training experience if I wasn't on the field myself."

    Trudy shrugs, then, "But I also don't know anything about what you usually fight, so it's not terribly genuine after all, huh..."

    When Kale starts talking to Go, Trudy's eyes open, glancing towards the Japanese man as well. She gives another shrug -- he's still upright for the moment, but she does speak up, "Eating something helps your body deal with alcohol, so maybe grab some of this."
Lilian Rook     Lilian's smile becomes a lot easier at Kirishima; even if some of it is hapless newbie charm, hearing that affirmation come from an outside source does make it all feel 'more real', or at least, harder to rationalize away as someone being too attached. However, instead of saying anything about that --anything regarding how they know each other, what friends Kirishima will make, their future working together, the storied past of anyone here-- what Lilian does is lean her cheek into her hand, smirk, and say "Cute~", then murmur, "Kind of my type too."

    But she's not committing to that bit. She turns to I4 straight away. "Well, starting with FANTOM wouldn't be too difficult; that's a minimal section of the Android demographic, with a massively outsized impact, and sweats Indus the most without causing it to outright collapse." A sentence later. "Oh, your robot? I've been seeing a few people with those lately, come to think of it. Sure, why not. It's a little bit cool." To Trudy, "What I usually fight is . . . Don't worry about it~" Distantly, Lilian thinks about what a useful phrase that is. Gosh. "A 'scary dude in black armour'? Haha, aren't I the scary lady in black armour though~?"

    Then to Kale again. "What, are you a bridezilla? Is that it?"
Go Shijima      "It's only not a race for the people in second place," says Go in direct contradiction of what he'd told I4, his words slightly slurred. Behind his back, the bartender is shaking his head. He's had enough for the moment. "This stuff's pretty great once you get used to it! You did a good job picking this place out, Kale."

     He reaches for his water after a refill. "What are they putting in this to make it so good, I wonder?" He stares at the ice cubes.

     Gushing a little bit at Lilian, "Smoke is... kind of exactly what I was looking for. I'm going to be studying under Miyamomo... pretty much indefinitely, unless there's some huge change. She's got so much more experience than me, and I'm not... immortal like she is." He frowns.

     "I'm just glad she agreed."

That night... I never want to feel that way again. Go stares into his water, bad memories of an utter, crushing defeat welling up. I didn't want to be right. But I wish Lilian wasn't right about me being weak, either.

     "Ah..." He finishes the water. "I wish I didn't need it."
Kale Hearthward "Hah, yeah, a bridezilla. Sounds about right."

Pizza consumed, he goes back to his drinking. "Just - forget I said stuff. Forget I asked."

Back to Go: "Okay, no races, alright? You're gonna feel awful in the morning as it is, probably."

"... But yeah. I know my way around now."

He gestures with his drink. "No more 'Kale only knows how to be a combat specialist'! I know stuff!"

"And you're starting your own training too, Go! That's great! What are you training for, I didn't catch that part."
Ishirou I4 smiles sunnily when his new suit is called 'slightly cool', which is going to be the best compliment it ever gets, especially considering the source.  "Thank you!  I'll make sure Blemi gets the message too.." he says, though likely now regulated to either mead or water.  He does, however, drop into more of a serious face.  

"Well, it'd have to come in two parts.  The first is that the truth would need to be told to all of them.  It was hard for me to swallow, but I think it'd be important to let them know.  The issue is, I'm both a traitor and dead.  S6 would be in danger if I came to them...on the other hand.." mmm...

"Maybe we should chat this when I'm soberer?" I4 finally decides, "You're on to something, I think," I4 agrees.  He knows not every android would want to become human, but...they deserve the chance.  Persephone's thoughts on this would be important.

He does smile again, "Thanks, Lilian.  I'm glad...really really glad you're here.." he says, sniffing.  It's emotional, not sad.  "And I'm glad that Go and I are roommates...and..." he tears up a little.  "I'm just so happy right now.  I never thought it'd be so nice like this.."
Go Shijima      "I need to be able to punch way above my weight class," explains Go, holding onto the bar to keep from rocking on his stool. "Lilian brought up that... a lot of the time, we're completely outclassed by who we're up against. At first," he says hesitantly. "I thought I needed something like Strawberry's wand. But that was when I was motivated by feeling... small," he admits, looking away. "Strawberry got really upset when I said I needed that kind of force. She was right. But I never stopped thinking about that fight."

     He manages to look back up at Kale. "Lilian and I..." Argued. "Talked, before she left. It came up during the conversation and... after everything that happened with Heart, I decided I don't want to be a target-eliminating Kamen Rider, even if I do need to be stronger. Martial arts are inherently protective... and Miyamomo's the best there is. So she's teaching me the element of Smoke, from her Nameless Style. It lets you overcome impregnable defense, and lets you withstand devastating force."
Kale Hearthward Kale blinks.

"... Target... eliminating kamen rider?"

"... Like, you don't want to kill. Okay."

Is right now, when he's drunk, the best time to bring this particular concern of his up?

Yes, obviously, it's the best time.

"I- you do what you feel is best! I mean, great! Working out what you want to do and how you want to do it is important and don't let me stop you. But I can't help but feel like I'm practically the only actual soldier left in the Paladins these days," Kale complains. "Everyone else is buying into the whole 'feel with your heart' thing, it feels like."
Go Shijima      Go smiles wanly. "Don't you mean your lungs?" He pauses.

     "You should meet Xion sometime," says Go, pointing a wavering finger 'decisively' towards Kale. "She makes a really good case for feeling with your heart. Even if you didn't agree, she could at least help you see the appeal. The Hero of Everyone's Hearts!" He crosses both arms, and splashes I4 with a little water. "Pronounced Key!" Setting his glass down, he attempts to dry I4 with napkins. "The thing is, Kale... soldiers are for wars. I'd like to not think of what we're doing as that--to approach this as minimizing harm, instead of punishing or pre-empting with force."
Kirishima "Secrets? I wouldn't say no to seeing them, although.. Ugh. The more things I learn about that island, the more I hate it." Kirishima grumbles slightly as she props her head up with her palm, scrunching her nose briefly while considering I4's questions. "I guess... I mean, the island was where I was born. Created, formed, raised, learned everything for better or for worse. A new place might not be so bad to start fresh, but there's still memories there, good and bad. Maybe..."

She does't sound like she knows the answer to that question just yet.

Her mood is lifted considerably, though, when she hears Kale. "You are? Congratulations! Oh, who's the lucky person?" She asks, stumbling momentarily while realizing something rather basic, then laughs and nearly slips her head away from her hand. "Wait. I wouldn't know them anyway. But still. Congratulations! If it's a political problem that's in the way, then... Still ,let me know if there's something I can help with. I can..."

Is the bartender watching? She's pretty sure he'd notice her doing anything really egregious, so she pantomimes punching and throwing stuff.

And then Lilian hits her with the bomb. Kirishima's face turns redder as she just stares at her wide-eyed, visibly struggling to process what just happened. It's not until several names like Miyamomo, Kamen Rider, and Strawberry's Wand(?) come up that she's finally able to calm herself down enough to...

She's not familiar with any of these names. She can, however, latch onto other things that do make a bit more sense! Like when Kale mentions HEART FEEL. "I've got to admit, this place does feel... Cozier than I was expecting from what I had heard. Maybe it's just this group here, but... It's nice here. It reminds me of what things were like back home.  That's... Sort of like how soldiers work, right? Forming bonds with their own squads?"
Trudy Grimm     Trudy laughs again at Lilian's turn on her phrase, "Careful, if you paint yourself as the bad guy that would make me the hero and I'm not sure any universe can accept that!" Raising a finger, she wags it, "At least not yet. Anyways, think it over if you want. I'm happy to help however I can." That same finger raises, points, and sweeps across Kirishima, Go, I4, and Kale, "And that goes for the rest of you, too! Whatever this wretched witch can do for you, don't hesitate to ask!"
Ishirou "We're not soldiers," I4 says suddenly, "When have we ever been soldiers?  Sure, some ARE but the Paladins are a peacekeeping force.  Soldiers are used to projecting force and fighting in wars.  Things that Paladins attempt to defuse and prevent?"

I4 is splashed with water, which causes him to release a cry of surprise, and is now being dried off.  "I was created to be a weapon, I can't imagine anyone wanting to throw their humanity away to be that.  It's an awful existence."

He turns towards Kirishima, "I...understand that I think.  It's the same with my home, but I think too that I can't consider it MY home anymore.  Sure I want to fix the problems, but...I can't really consider it a happy place for me.  Maybe it's different for you because you had better memories?"  

He smiles at Trudy, "Sure...but you keep saying you're bad, but I've seen you nothing but happy and helpful.  Come on, give yourself more credit?" He doesn't comment on Lilian bullying Kirishima.  He has just come to accept this.
Kale Hearthward > Don't you mean your lungs?

"I still don't get why everyone *besides* the Windswept Continent has decided that 'heart' is the feeling muscle. It just beats. You don't even have any control over it."

"... But fine. Alright. I'll go track down Xion..."

He rubs his face, and goes to get some more water. "... Find this thing I'm apparently missing. Let no man, woman, or robot say that I don't back away from a task."

"And it sure feels like a war, sometimes. Unless you want to call what happened to Strange a border skirmish, or something..."
Lilian Rook     "I'm glad she had just what you needed then. You deserve for things to have been that clearcut for a change." Lilian says to Go genuinely. Then, offhandedly, "Age is one of the easier things to deal with, when we get to that bridge. Getting smeared isn't." Getting dangerously deep into her bottle, but maintain a 'early work party appropriate' level of blush, she circles her fingernail around the top of her wine glass in idle contemplation.

    "We all have moments where we wish we didn't have to work hard at something. Then when we're given the power to take it easy, we often regret using it. Being able to skip, trivialize, or overcome a challenge without sweating . . . It's like a drug, did you know? You get your first hit, and there's an incredible high, and then you come down, and you want more. But the more you take it, the less strong the high, and the more you come to rely on it just to stay level. The worse the withdrawal gets. Once you enter your first cheat code, even if the game was broken, the knowledge that you can enter another one at any time becomes permanently embedded in your brain. And if you use it every time the game gets difficult or boring, eventually you realize it's stopped being worth playing altogether." Siiiiip.

    "I've considered popping in and asking her for a few pointers, but pure hand to hand combat isn't my primary tool. It feels a bit like a paramedic asking a brain surgeon for tips. And other people's styles and experiences are built on presumptions about how . . . everything, works, that are totally different than mine. So it's difficult to integrate that outside data." She laughs drily at imagining just what Strawberry must have said to him. "I admit having a similar feeling not long ago. That's why I started designing the Cleasanna Lilí Dubha. I was so tired of all the casually immortal brick shithouses ploughing through our ranks. Surviving them, outplaying them, deceiving them, beating them to the punch, isn't the same as defeating them. Claíomh Seilge sa Todhchaí was designed for that kind of thing, but I wasn't quite finished mastering it when the Winter Slayer business happened, and fumbling the dismount was rather severe."

    A slightly drinky sigh. "Scáthach . . . Well, I'm going to have the pay the piper on that sooner rather than later. She'll be pissed that I left before my training was complete."

    A more sincere laugh to Kale follows. "Most of the Paladins are out to be heroes, not soldiers. Our combat personnel are sometimes sourced from them, but compared to the Concord, and even the Watch to a degree, we do have a lot of self-taught types." She thinks about it for a moment. "I'd consider a 'knight' to be halfway between a 'soldier' and a 'warrior' at least. But the reason I don't want to kill human beings . . . It has nothing to do with empathy or the heart or anything like that. I'm not . . . I can't be that good a person. It's . . ." She really, really thinks about this one. "For someone like me, it's, I think, unethical, for me to kill someone if I have any other choice. The same way it'd be unethical for Persephone to molecularly angle grind someone out of existence with a thought. Or for Gilgamesh to fire off Ea at a place that gets on his bad side."

    "But I think Shijima means that he wants to be something other than a glorified hitman in spandex. To contribute to the world in ways beyond simply chasing down bad guys and exacting punitive revenge. It's a noble goal."

    Lilian puffs out her chest at Trudy. "Please. We all know the black knight is always the coolest one in the story." Then she gets to snort-laugh a little at I4. But then, "If you can drag a bright person out of an awful space, their little improvements tend to snowball. I'm glad you're a bright person."
Ishirou I4 is silent for a time in response to what was said about Strange.  "Just because it's not a war, doesn't mean tragedy doesn't happen.  Making it out to be a war will only make more tragedy, and we'll be the one causing the wake if we act like that," he says, looking Kale in the eye, "We both saw that."

Though he smiles at Lilian sunnily, "Thanks, though I don't always claim to be the wisest person, I'm sure I'll get there one day," he says.  "Though I never set out to the Paladins to be a hero.  I still don't think I'm one of those, but I know people here I'd consider a such, and I give them my support."

It's easy to tell who he means by this.  He doesn't elaborate on it while he grabs another slice.  
Go Shijima      "I really appreciate that, Trudy," Go says. "Back at you, by the way!" He beams at her, cheeks still flushed. "I hope we can work together soon. ...have you always had such sharp teeth?"

     Less bright, but still quite sincere, Go responds to Lilian. "That's absolutely what I was looking for, at first. A way to cheat," he says. "A way to cheat. A shortcut. But now that I'm doing it this way... even if it's not immediate, there's something about making progress. Seeing that you still have room to grow." He reaches up and scratches the back of his head. "And... I haven't just been focusing on being a better fighter, either. Since I've calmed down a little, I notice that I've started understanding the people around me better. I want that to continue."

     "I'm glad we were able to get together for this, even if it was just to get that stupid meeting off our minds."