Scene #8300: I'd Like To Sample The Goods

Owner	Pose
Sylvi	Not every single meeting happens in a quarry, or a street in town abandoned by people, or at Uncle's house. Not every single thing has to start like a Kamen Rider pitch. Even if Tokiwa Sougo is the Demon King of Time, with the power of every Rider. Sometimes, a pipe was just a pipe, and a text was just a text directly to his personal mobile. Hey. We haven't talked much yet. I hear you're kind of a big deal. And you haven't presented yourself? ... I'd like to sample the goods. Meet me at the Apex. Come hungry. Bring your plus one. Oh, and, I'm Sylvi, by the way. I'm the strongest. At the Apex, at the secure concierge floor filled with spaces and attractions and private rooms, Woz and Sougo are invited past a grand open kitchen to a line of frosted 'glass' doors with brass handles set into black marble walls. Within, a 'dark' interior wings in frosted orange glow. Past the door is a pair of couch seats across a round white table. In one, directly across from the door, is Sylvi, already seated with her feet up on the table and a smug grin on her face. She dresses in a red collared button-down shirt and a black vest, a pair of black luxury leather tights that end in black heeled boots. The table is set for dining, but all the fine dining has been replaced with a mountain of mild to abusively hot spicy chicken wings in unmarked plates. There is no water, milk, or bread anywhere in sight: there is, however, a cooler of sodas, ciders, and canned beer besides Sylvi's seat.
Timespace Riders	hi sylvi! i'm sougo. my plus one is my retainer. i'd love to present myself! i'll be there soon. Typed as only someone who has no idea what that means could. The Demon King of Time is wearing a large, canary yellow short sleeve button-up, with rolled jeans and pink hi-tops. His retainer wears the usual. At the sight of Sylvi and the pile of wings, both Riders have different reactions. Sougo smiles brightly, eyes brimming with excitement. Woz furrows his brow in simultaneous confusion and imperiousness, before turning his nose up and taking a seat after Sougo. "I didn't know what to wear for presenting myself," says Sougo. "So I hope this is okay. I'm Sougo Tokiwa, and this is my retainer, Woz. So..." He leans forward, curious. "What was that about, um, sampling goods?"
Sylvi	Sougo has absolutely no idea what Sylvi means, but he shows up anyway. And brings a plus-one! It's always easy when you just reach out and take what you want. People just give it to you. Woz appears as some sort of scarf salesman, and Sougo appears simply and without any frills or twists except the yellow in his shirt. Sylvi rolls her heels off the table with loud THUNK that rattles like a one-beat pulse earthquake through the building -- it gets at least as far as rattling the walls and rolling the topmost wings down towards Woz and Sougo, rolling across the pristine white table with a sauce-dirtying dribble. Sylvi continues staring down Sougo while he speaks, all the way through his seated question, before her lips split into a jagged grin. "You're the goods. Of course, your highness," She makes it sound like pathetic, all downtones and inherent dismissal, but she smiles, glancing Woz's way. "He's cute. Good in bed?" She asks, to Sougo, and not Woz. Woz, she gives the same sort of attention to that someone in front of a butcher counter does to the meat being handled in the back: Interest. Distant, not-for-her interest, but a particular kind of interest. "Did you sponsor him in? Or. . ." With each ellipse her eyes tick towards the scarfed man. "Hmm? Maybe he's a fellow Partner? That would be so interesting." She goes back to Sougo, having remained not asking Woz about his own performance for the King's opinion. "You can wear whatever you like, but, if I said no, would you take it off?" Leaning forward to pluck a wing off the pile, she bites down on the mystery wing and outwardly savors the flavor, amused and leading. "Mmmhmhm. Try some!" She suggests (demands, but her voice drips with a singing sweetness even while she says what she says). "Some are a little hot." They're all hot. They're mild-to-hot for Sylvi. Several may be lethal.
Timespace Riders	>He's cute. Good in bed? "He is," says Sougo, smiling warmly. >Did you sponsor him in? Or . . . Hmm? Maybe he's a fellow Partner? Woz looks down his nose at Sylvi, letting his King and the disdainful expression on his face speak for him. "He's a Partner," says Sougo proudly. "I actually joined because of him! He's dedicated himself to me because of my potential, and we weren't working together very long before he found out about the Concord. Woz is very devoted--he's always taking initiative and searching out things that'd make me stronger." Woz allows a small smile to creep onto his disdainful expression, his eyes briefly flicking towards Sougo. >If I said no, would you take it off? Sougo laughs. "I'd probably just go home and get a change of clothes. For you," he says, "It'd hardly seem like any time had passed at all. I'm getting better and better." At what? Woz insists on trying the wings for Sougo to see which ones are in fact lethal. Even the ones that aren't have them sweating.
Sylvi	Sylvi leans back, amused but not overly pleased with the answers. She makes a conscious effort to think of Woz as a person. She doesn't get all the way, but she makes an effort for Concord Partners. Their plus-ones and hangers on are treated less well. "So, you're the one then." Sylvi points, with a cleaned bone, waggling the glistening knob at the King's Retainer. "So, then, Woz, why haven't you courted me? If you're looking to learn from the Strongest, I'm right here. Go ahead, look down, it makes you feel better, I bet." Sylvi sways the bone to her mouth, leaning the knob between her back teeth before crunching down and chewing loudly. "You sweating yet? Taste-tester? It's cute you're sharing, that's real initiative, I agree." Forward! She's teasingly agreeing, even if Sougo's up for a round of -- fairly spicy but not 'I am currently dying from the mouth outward' wings. A little nibble means he can pass them off for Sougo to share! And then there's one that lingers, a fire. Sylvi is smiles and an indulgent lean-in, leaning her elbows heavily on the table and considering the shirt-and-jeans again. "You can switch that fast, huh? That's a good trick. I thought your man would dress you. Aren't you used to servants yet?" Sylvi's smile is almost shared. "Once people start treating you right, things get easier."
Timespace Riders	Woz actually stops looking down at her, when she puts her full attention on him. "A king must be the strongest, but also the best in many other regards," answers Woz with a catlike smile. "There are many in the Concord who could teach my Demon King the necessary traits of a ruler," he says, taking a little nibble before passing the wing to Sougo. "And you are certainly among them, Strongest." Sougo beams at Sylvi. "He picks outfits for me, sometimes, but I prefer to dress myself most of the time." The heat, at least right now, isn't too much for him or his retainer. "I've never seen anyone eat the bones like that before," he notes with conversational interest. "But I guess that makes sense. A little bone would hardly bother somebody as strong as you." "I'd really like to learn anything I can from you," Sougo eagerly adds.
Sylvi	"Oh, among them! Diplomatic, diplomatic." Sylvi appreciates openly, reaching down her side deeply, past the edge of her chair, to hook a glass bottle up in her fingers and places it on the table. Looking at Sougo, Sylvi smiles. "Alright. Here's what I've got to explain then." She doesn't look at Woz. More wings, a tumble of wings, inundate him, tumble all over his lap as Sylvi leans on the table more forcefully. "Your boy just said a whole bunch of things, and they weren't very servant-like at all. Or Partner-like! Does he speak to you like that?" Rising a bit, the red-shirted Sylvi rolls back her vest-restrained shoulders and thumbs the cap off her bottle, swigging it back and picking up another wing - a raunchily purple one, from the ones still on 'her' side from the wing mountain. Sniffing the wing under her nose like a fine cigar, she takes a bite and sighs happily. "You 'must be' better than me, but, other people are more important to get you there. Including me with all the rest is a very diplomatic way, during an apology, to tell me how little he thinks! Mm, mmhmm." Sylvi appraises sharply, nibbling and tonguing around her savory-sinister purple sauced wing before biting it off at the bone-stem and chewing it whole like that, crunching down on all the connective tissue and bone in one jawbreaker-like crescendo. All the little pieces, loudly destroyed just like Woz observes. Sylvi really didn't like Woz's attitude, openly having a bit of disdain for the man. The superiority, as she stated, was loudly misplaced. "A pleasant way to say that would be to appeal immediately to my power and ability, maybe my beauty too. If he wanted to be snide, he could be quite sweet about it." "Instead, he chose to place me, who made a point to show my place above the mereness of others, on the same level as..." Sylvi rolls her eyes as she considers. "A gaggle of children, several old men, a gas station attendant, and most of the town of his birth. Come on. Oh, that's not in the Concord? You mean Persephone. If you think Persephone is better than me, fine, but she's not stronger than me. She's powerful in different ways, and treating real power with this kind of snide respect is absolutely presumptuous." Sylvi leans back, sipping at her drink, looking up, and gargling as if washing the taste out of her mouth, before canting forward. "If anyone speaks to you like that and you have no strong reason not to, punish them on the spot." "Immediately, without hesitation."
Timespace Riders	Woz looks very satisfied that Sylvi took his meaning as she did. Satisfied enough that he can ignore the beads of sweat forming on his brow from the increasingly hot wings. "Mm... thank you, Sylvi," says Sougo, bowing his head. "I think I'd usually have a strong reason not to, which is... I want to be the Greatest, Kindest Demon King. For me, and the kind of king I want to be," he says, "Punishing people is less important than making it right for the people who were wronged in the first place. So... Woz, please apologize." Woz looks less pleased at this, but he stands up from his seat after chastely wiping his mouth, and bows at the waist. "Please forgive me," he says, face level with the floor. Sougo smiles sweetly. "Woz... I think you can do better than that. Do it like you were apologizing to me. Show her you mean it." The corners of Woz's mouth twitch downwards in irritation, but he gets on his knees, palms on the floor, and prostrates before her. "Great, powerful and bewitching Sylvi, strongest of the Concord, strongest of all, whose awesome power is known far and wide, please forgive the grave disrespect I have shown you, with my careless words. I humbly place myself at your mercy." Sougo beams at Sylvi. "No," he says fondly. "He doesn't talk to me that way. Woz, you can get up when Sylvi says you can."
Sylvi	It's not the simping that does it. It's the look before it. The grand air of imperiousness, rattling amusement, heady vigor, ceases like a popped soap bubble. All the charm disappears, and it's just a strikingly built white-haired woman in red and black with emerald green eyes. "No, you don't get it." Sylvi gets up, walkiing around to stand on the 'Sougo' side of the table, opposite from Woz's bow. Her eyes look to Woz, tired and open contempt clear in them, and then back to Sougo, blinking back the cool disdain and replacing it with a calm, iceblooded flatness. "He doesn't mean it. He won't mean it. And I don't care. I don't accept your apology, highness, because he hasn't given me it. So I'm left with punishment." "Never speak to me again, Woz. I'll let you know when your silence is over." Sylvi grunts, and then walks past the table to the door, jamming her hands in her pockets. She isn't mad at Sougo-- But she is violently mad on his behalf.
Timespace Riders	Sougo sighs. "Woz," he says, standing up. "I wish you'd stop acting that way." "My Demon King, I only wished for--" Sougo holds out a hand for his retainer to take. Woz rises, but can't meet Sougo's eyes. "I know what you're going to say. This was part of some plan of yours, that you'd put together without me or anyone else knowing. You say you believe in me, but you don't trust me and you don't trust any of the people who are supposed to help me, to do that without you arranging things beforehand." Woz rises, but can't look Sougo in the eye. The Demon King frowns, watching as Sylvi heads towards the door. "Xion is right about you. You're so used to using the book that all you can think of is whether you're correct. And in moments like this, it shows." He sighs, walking at a brisk pace towards Sylvi. "Thank you for teaching me anyway," he says, bowing his head.
Sylvi	Sylvi doesn't want to wait for the denoument. The teachable lesson, the moral for tomorrow, isn't for her. She gets to the door, raises her boot to shove it open with her foot, and hard stops as the glass door creaks and stops. Sylvi, now with an object under her attention, frustratingly is - as she had explained before - something she had a strong reason to not punish. It is in the Apex. Sougo gets a moment to catch up, but it is in the wake of Sylvi yanking roughly at the handle of the twanging, wobbling pane of glass door that smacks back into the rear marble wall of the frame and makes a 'doioioioioioi' sound. "I'm not into you enough to smile and act nice. Your man should be dead on the ground. He's not. That's what you're welcome to." She growls, and continues on her way out.