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Meika Kirenai Bridgeport, Connecticut
Early Evening
46° F, Overcast and Breezy

    "Seaside Beach" is a charmingly bland way to title a man-made sand pit of a beach, along one of the city of Bridgeport's developed barrier islands. With short, rectangular concrete walls fortifying the grass embankments to either side of the two-block long beach, and flat parklands and walking trails, with sparse, skeletal winter trees running along the rest of the island's waterfront, it's uncomfortably quiet and dreary on a late-winter day.

    Neither the nearby industrial park nor the nearby city university contribute beachgoers in any large droves, as cars drive past the beach's red-roofed custodial facilities building and don't think to park. Newspaper dispensers hold papers from the year of 1987- it's a small indicator that this Earth is, by no coincidence at all, one a few here have been to before- the city of Bridgeport itself having been picked from the vague familiarity Meika has, having seeing it just once before, even despite its non-proximity to the more focal Sterling.

    It's not a long walk from entry warpgates, skirting around the university grounds and out past auxilliary outdoors sports complexes into more public recreation areas, but it's still aching with that familiar discomfort of shuffling past streets full of people who really belong there- and Meika felt that keenly, as she came through hours before, drawing out the last legs of an already too-long jaunt away from home.

    The chill isn't brutal, near the seaside, but even with the scarcity of beachgoers, a local convinience store has bundles of firewood and other campfire paraphenalia out for sale. That'll fix two birds, one stone- exchanged cash and quick pocketing of firestarters and marshmallows means the magical girl has equipped herself for the fledgeling plan that's come to mind. All a seaside campfire needs, really, is more people.

. . .

<Q-conversation> Meika Kirenai clicks on. "Um. Hey, so... this is maybe kind of stupid. But I found a quiet little beach, and it's a..."
<Q-conversation> Meika Kirenai says, "It seems like an okay night for a campfire. And these bands are where-"
<Q-conversation> Meika Kirenai coughs. "... It'd be nice if- if some of you bunch wanted to stop by, or whatever. I don't like marshmallows enough to- yeah. I'll put directions out."

. . .

    Meika clicks her radio's static-buzzing output off, and tosses it besides her in the sand. The sun's lower through the blanketing clouds, and the wind quieter. A fire pit's already been dug, wood stacked up the way the convinience store clerk suggested, unprompted, to no response at all from the tired magical girl. A few cigarette butts litter the area, her own doing and ambient beach detritus alike- seagulls aren't quite numerous to be an equivalent plague.

    A cluster, too, of little wood-stump benches, once scattered from around the beach's other decayed, decrepit makeshift firepits, have been gathered up and put around the area. Meika feels silly hunching on the one she's on, near the still-young fire, as she waits over-anxiously for anyone to actually bother arriving.
Timespace Riders      A swirl of fabric appearing from thin air stirs up the nearby sand. Sougo and Woz are visible in brief flashes, between gaps in grey wool vortex and kicked up sand. As quickly as it appeared, the whirlwind is gone, the scarf returning to its status as an ordinary garment, resting on the shoulders of Woz.

    Woz wears what he always does; Sougo has dressed for the cool weather with a navy peacoat over one of his favored slightly-oversized button-ups--this one in pastel pink, with patches of sky-blue paisley print asymmetrically present here and there. The treads of his trendy hiking boots leave prints in the sand, as do those of Woz's black ankle boots.

    "Hi, Meika," Sougo calls brightly, waving enthusiastically overhead as he likes to do.

    Woz gives her a subdued but not displeased incline of his head and a slight bow at the waist, one hand over his heart.

    "I see you have provided libations," says the retainer approvingly, perhaps even eagerly (in his way), gesturing with a grandiloquent sweep of his hand towards the marshmallows. I don't believe I have ever roasted marshmallows over a fire before.

    "Thanks for setting all this up," says the Demon King with a bright smile and a bob of his head. He takes a seat on a stump-bench, and Woz beside him. "Any occasion? Or were you just looking to hang out?" It's good to see you again, either way.
Angela There is a mango keyhcain clipped to Meika's messenger bag. This is new, but not especially notable.

Love has, as of late, been going both stir crazy and going after Temptations (if Kayoko allowed it) as hard as she possibly could manage and she's been worn out. Justice told Love to go to Meika's event because she absolutely needs to get out there and do something besides fight and/or sit in a sewer. Reluctantly, Love obeyed Justice's wishes.

She is wearing a hot pink sweater and slacks with a red, violet, and purple heart emblazoned on the chest. Her staff still floats behind her as a constant companion but Tacky is not with her, having been left behind with Justice.

"Meika! It's okay that I came right? Justice has Tacky with her so..."

She swings her hands behind her back and--as a habit Love has picked up from Meika--starts to fidget.

The keychain is warm. It seems to always radiate a bit of (mental) warmth in Meika's direction even if it's just a keychain to anybody else. It doesn't seem to be communicating much but warm regard right now. Maybe it's waiting--like thinking of the right pleasantry.

Until.

Have you roasted marshmallows before, Meika?
Trudy Grimm     It starts slowly. A single soldier, clad in a ragged heavy coat that reaches his knees, his face obscured by a gas mask and metal helmet, staggers out of the woods along the beach. Faintly glowing green crystals protrude from rips in his jacket. A lens of his gas mask is cracked. Behind that glass, faint pinpricks of dim green light mark the locations of eyes.

    He approaches the fire, stops, and slouches down into an exhausted-looking seating posture in the sand with an old rifle resting on his shoulder. It almost looks like he has instantly fallen asleep.

    A moment later, two more in similar dress lurch out of the green belt. The one with a rifle slumps down beside the first. With a stick in one hand, he prods at the fire, stirring a flurry of orange sparks up into the smoke column. The other, more identified by a ragged medical bag, slides down on one of the wooden benches. One gloved hand reaches up, pulling his helmet down over the lenses of his mask.

    Quicker footsteps across the sand. The witch whom these deathless warriors serve crests the rise, obvious by her glowing green eyes. A gaze that wanders from the 'dozing' soldiers to the lonely Kirenai. A neutral expression that splits into a pointy-toothed grin.

    She descends the beach and clears the bench in a hop. The landing is well-planned, Trudy Grimm using the cancelled inertia to slam herself back into the seat beside her soldier medic. The Grimoire comes to rest on her lap, upon which she folds her hands.

    "Well, I see that my cute friends found you after all. How is the evening treating you, Meika? Are you well?" Her gaze flits to Sougo and Woz, her smile remaining in place. She remembers these two fondly, after all, "Oh, and good evening to you, Demon King and loyal retainer."

    Trudy wears, today, her normal retinue of furs and linens and entirely too many beads and charms and little skull ornaments. Given she dispatched undead soldiers to check the town, she must not be terribly afraid of standing out in Bridgeport.
Odette Raskins Going to a beach to actually relax for once instead of being called out to deal with the umpteenth disaster situation or yet more work training is a welcome respite for an overworked space EMT. It sounds like a good opportunity to meet new people, anyway, and Odette's curious about putting more faces to voices, and especially names to those sames faces and voices.

Plus, it's an opportunity to see part of a planet she's mostly just heard of until now. It's pretty easy for Meika and anyone else coming to pick her out as a tourist to the area, between her gawking at everything in sight and also jumping every now and then while sliding her shoes over the sand. Cars have become a relatively normal sight for Odette by now, but a real beach with actual sand is already new enough that little bits of broken glass, shells, or even coins that she digs up with that dragging motion are enough to get her to jump a bit each time.

Even with the relatively light chill, Odette's dressed warmly in a puffy white jacket over a red sweater and a beige ankle-length skirt. Only the jacket actually looks new, but the skirt and sweater both look old-fashioned enough that someone's grandmother might have worn them at one point.

Spotting Meika, Odette takes a hand out of her pocket to wave briskly at her, then half-jogs over to get over to the arranged stump-benches. "H.. Hi, Miss Meika! Sorry, I.. Um. Got a little distracted on the way here. There's so much water out that way, and it doesn't look like it ends." She glances back out towards the sea, staring off at the horizon for a moment before catching herself as so many more unfamiliar faces arrive with their unfamiliar voices.

"Oh! Um. N-nice to meet y... Everyone. I'm Odette, and I've... Er. Spoken to Meika on the radio a few times before." She introduces herself with a light curtsey, not noticing that she's inching sideways towards Love, Sougo, and Woz a little too quickly upon spotting some of those soldiers lingering around Trudy.
Hibiki Tachibana     Coming to this particular North America, 1987, for a social outing isn't her first choice of locale. Come to think of it, beaches kind of occupy a sore spot in her mind now, too. On top of that, Meika herself takes up another, even weirder spot. It's not as if any feelings post-Hermit have particularly been sorted through, nor have she and Meika sat down and talked or anything of the sort since then.

    Actually, has there been a word out of her anywhere since Petra's mind dive?

    Despite all of these, Hibiki Tachibana is nevertheless showing up to this harmless beachside bonfire, dressed up for the chilly weather; she's got a dark-blue winter coat on, worn open for her usual top underneath, and suitably thick enough pants to stave off ambient chill, of which she has one hand placed into while the other gives a wave as she steps on in. She looks...

    About the same as ever. Which isn't necessarily at her best. "Hey. Meika. I had a free night."

    And just like that, she slides herself down into a seat on one of the makeshift seas set up, picking up a stray stick of driftwood off the sand as she goes, apparently to not do much but idly spin it around in her grip. Maybe she's planning on using it to spear into a marshmallow once the fire is burning brighter?

    "...You're not wrong. The night looks like it's gonna be a pretty good one for being out here." Her head tilts up towards the sky, out on towards the sea. "If the clouds clear up a little bit, especially." And then back towards the magical girl. "...You done anything like this before? Having a bonfire like this, I mean."

    Sougo and Woz get a nod of appreciative greeting. Love, too. Trudy's soldiers get a rub at the back of her neck, although she doesn't seem bothered by them herself - and Odette gets a wave. She recognizes her voice from listening in to the radio.
Kayoko Kirenai     Kayoko could never afford an unexplained three day absence from home like Meika does so regularly, much less one only a few weeks after a month long absence. This time, no one in the family had even mentioned that she was gone. When Kayoko tentatively offered to stop by this evening to cook for Kyou in place of Meika, Kyou retorted that she 'can cook for herself; she's not a *child*'. Mom and Dad didn't say anything about it at all.

    Obviously it hurt, seeing Kyou constantly angry enough to snap at her, being acutely aware of the absence of acknowledgement from her parents, even though whenever they *would* acknowledge Meika before it'd just be to complain, but the unbidden feeling that suddenly struck Kayoko when Kyou snapped at her and everyone silently went back to picking at their plates, was *jealousy*. And that feeling *scared* her. Even momentarily feeling the same impulses that must have tempted Meika into running away felt like a threat that she's doomed to end up the same way.

    But that just means she needs to try twice as hard to prove that she won't ever. No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. Kayoko absentmindedly lenses light through the windows of the study hall while staring at the same passages for minutes on end, until the beam starts smoldering the paper.

    Kayoko appears on the cold beachside only an instant after Meika echolocates that she's approaching. Transparency wavers in place and seems to invert into itself to reveal the previously invisible magical girl in casual wear, a navy blue sweater with black skirt and tights, subdued gold jewelry on her wrists, ears, and neck to accent the nearly monochromatic outfit. In her hands are two Cherubs, both grabbed by the backs of their necks, and once she gets within a comfortable range she backhand tosses Drop at Meika before saying anything.

    "In case you're needed back home. Like you were on *Sunday* night." Then her unnaturally flat expression twitches, and Meika instinctively recognizes that her terseness isn't exactly because she's feeling *hostile*-- this is Kayoko trying to not show that she's *spooked*.

    Without turning towards her or the soldiers-- not that she's ever needed to do that to see something-- Kayoko addresses Trudy. "Miss-- Chevalier Grimm? Are those-- do you... need to..." Kayoko trails off and wavers, changing track in a familiar way to Meika. "Are those safe to be around?"

"Oh! Um. N-nice to meet y... Everyone. I'm Odette, and I've... Er. Spoken to Meika on the radio a few times before."

    Subtle adjustments in posture and expression blink into existence as if they were always there, erasing any sense of discomfort she might have been showing. Kayoko turns towards Odette and nods her head a little in greeting, scanning her expressions even while her head's lowered. "Chevalier Cobalt. It's a pleasure to meet you, miss Odette. I hope you've been kind to my sister."

"Hey. Meika. I had a free night."

    Another benefit to seeing Hibiki exit the warpgate long before coming into view for anyone else is that Kayoko doesn't have to look surprised by her being here when she shows up. That means that the side-eye she gives her must be entirely on purpose.

    With Drop removed from her hand and Spot jammed into her elbow to keep it from talking, Kayoko rummages through the plastic bag she brought to pull out a can of green tea before carefully sitting down. "I brought refreshments, if anyone's interested. There's probably enough for everyone to have one, but I'm a little surprised at how many people showed up for a little bonfire."
Kayoko Kirenai     Kayoko glances at Hibiki again, then says in veiled-accusatory tones, politely enough to feel almost natural, "So if you brought any drinks yourself, miss Tachibana, you don't need to bring them out. Especially not alcoholic ones."
Timespace Riders "Hi, Trudy," Sougo beams. "Who are your friends?" He's seen them (or some like them) before, so the shock value has since worn off.

    Woz politely inclines his head towards her.

Oh! Um. N-nice to meet y... Everyone.

    "Felicitations, Odette," says Woz. "I am the somewhat unusual time traveler, Woz, retainer to Sougo Tokiwa, the future Demon King of Time." A slight sweep of his hand towards Sougo.

    "Hiii," says the Demon King cheerily, waggling his fingers at her with a sunny smile.

    "Hi, Love," says Sougo to the magical girl. "It's good to see you out and about. You look great! You, too, Hibiki."

I hope you've been kind to my sister.

    Do you? Woz purses his lips.

I'm a little surprised at how many people showed up for a little bonfire.

    Woz opens his mouth to say something, but Sougo's hand on this thigh is enough to quiet him and set him looking at a particular point on one of the concrete dividing walls, before clearing his throat.

    "Thank you for the additional libations, Chevalier Cobalt," says the retainer instead, perfectly polite and pleasant, complete with a smile. "The obligations of magical girls are many--this turnout is simply a well-earned reprieve, and it is good that you are here to share in it, as well."
Angela Chevalier Love says, "Oh! Chevalier Cobalt...!" because she tends to use the magical girl names these days since she got it in her head that's what they prefer. The lack of greeting is definitely noticed though considering how she greets Hibiki, that might be for the best. Of course, Love would rather be hated than ... Nothinged. But she's still hoping that things can go back--if not to normal, to something less painful. She might just be a Girl now but she still instinctively believes that if you do your best and work your hardest and try to be the best friend you can be, everything will turn out okay in the end. Because that feels like the sort of lesson she ought to provide.

"So um--the important thing about beach bonfires is that you still can't leave it out and unattended even if there aren't trees nearby. Fires can still spread if you're not careful so remember to make sure someone is always keeping tabs on the bonfire and be ready to put it out at a moment's notice! And definitely do not mistake a bucket of water for a bucket of gasoline! The, um, Chevalier Love says that's no good."

Love looks to Sougo and says, "Oh um. I always look great. I have BPD. Beautiful Princess Disorder. But thank you?" She engages in more fidgeting.

She looks to Odette and says, softly, "O-oh you're... the medic that was on the band right?"
Hibiki Tachibana     So if you brought any drinks yourself, miss Tachibana, you don't need to bring them out. Especially not alcoholic ones.

    Kayoko's side-eye is at first met with a side-eye of Hibiki's own, along with a raise of her eyebrow. She's not sure if she's surprised to see the other Kirenai here or not - and if she is, if it'd be to ask her sister to come back home - but that comment gets her turning towards her more directly.

    "...Huh? If I brought anything in the first place, it wouldn't have been anything like that."

    She's legitimately confused for a moment - until she remembers her last one-on-one with Meika, weeks ago. Is /that/ where that came from?
Odette Raskins "The night looks like it's gonna be a pretty good one for being out here."

Hearing another familiar-ish voice and one unfamiliar one, Odette turns to Hibiki and Kayoko with another one of those light curtseys. "Is it usually this hot out here? Guess I'll have to dress lighter the next time I come to Bridgeport." She comments with a light chuckle that's still kind of awkward, but easing up already compared to her initial greeting.

"Chevalier Cobalt. It's a pleasure to meet you, miss Odette. I hope you've been kind to my sister."

"Chevalier... Cobalt? Cool name!" Giving Kayoko a firm nod, Odette chuckles lightly while sounding just a bit confused. "Y-yeah! I think. Um. I don't think I've been unkind to her, but I've only talked to her a little bit?" She pauses again, like she's not sure how to complete that thought just like how she doesn't quite get everything else the question may or may not actually imply.

Not realizing any of that, of course, means there's little further thought before she adds a firm "Of course!" It's pretty easy to tell at a glance and just from the way she speaks that she's one of those anxious people-pleaser types, although she doesn't seem quite as scared of socializing or of anyone here in particular other than those soldiers.

"I am the somewhat unusual time traveler, Woz, retainer to Sougo Tokiwa, the future Demon King of Time." "Hiii,"

Turning to Woz and Sougo, Odette stares at the pair in utter disbelief at first, waving at Sougo slowly before ooking right back up at Woz. "W-wait. You're both here from the future? Or are you from the future, and he's from your... Past? Or are you..."

She can't quite comprehend it yet, but not for a lack of trying. Something seems to click soon, though, and her gaze shoots to Sougo next. "Does this mean you know who's gonna win at what things? O-or lottery numbers?"

"O-oh you're... the medic that was on the band right?"

"Mhm! And you're..." Odette needs a moment to jar her memory, and she starts to sweat a bit as she seems to just fail at that with a quietly awkward noise hiding in the back of her throat. "I think... I heard you once or twice. Um. Chevalier Love, was it? N-nice to meet you!"

A quick curtsey to try and dispel some of her growing awkwardness, and then she looks over at Kayoko. "So you're team members, then? Chevalier Love, Chevalier Cobalt, and Chevalier...?" Wait. Is Meika a Chevalier something, too? It's too late NOT to look at Meika as she trails off, and the slight panic becomes just a bit worse.

"... Um. Sorry, Miss Meika. Still trying to learn everyone's names here. Do you have a Chevalier name, too?" She sounds genuinely apologetic, at least, and just a little bit like she wants to crawl under one of those tree stumps after that blunder. "A... And good fire tips, too, Miss Love. I've seen unattended fires lead to some real bad safety problems, so... Yeah, that's important."

Digging into her own messenger bag (white, with the flap already flipped over to hide the logo), Odette brings out a pair of thermoses and shakes them briefly like she's trying to get the contents mixed up properly. "Oh, that reminds me... I've got some cherry soda floats in here!  Don't need a spoon, either."

She looks proud for all of three seconds, then starts to sweat a bit more upon realizing she didn't bring any cups. There's still the lids, at least, and she's already starting to get some of the light pinkish-red substance poured into them for whoever wants a cherry float from space.
Meika Kirenai     When the first of Trudy's soldiers bear in from the fields and parks, with whatever strange, concerned, or just plain oblivious glances from the scattered residents and parkgoers, clamber down towards the beachfront itself, Meika's gaze stays on the flickering campfire, as it turns wood into heat, light, and smoke. She doesn't turn to face the animated being as it gets closer and closer-

    But her shoulders still tense up, noticing it behind her even without looking, and silently, silently praying that whoever or whatever it is just walks on past. It doesn't. "Can- can I help you, sir?" Her voice is tense and stressed- without looking the soldier's way, the acuity of her echolocation isn't actually enough to know any of the supernaturality present, so it's just how she'd respond to any stranger approaching.

    As such, when the two others, silent and shambling, wind up following it over- Meika gets up and physically steps away from the campfire, trembling and scared- and there isn't, actually, any relief when she sees with her eyes that the strange figures wordlessly approaching are decaying war-dead, armed and with their normal regalia. "W-what's- hey, I'm- Don't hurt me-"

    As they start to just doze, and stay still- and more, as their puppeteer witch shows up herelf, Meika's heartbeat finally stops pounding in her ears. "Cute friends? Why do you- this isn't funny. This really isn't." Starting off with an upset scowl isn't high hopes for a beachfront campfire, but, quietly, Meika pulls a cigarette box out of her pocket, and lights one up, before daring to step closer to the fire and the soldiers again. "Can you... ask them to go away, please?"

    Woz and Sougo's arrival is a thankful distraction, and the magical girl gives them each a little wave, as she sits back down on her stump. "Hey, you two. There's- there's no occassion. Today's just a day. And I just-" Just don't want to be alone, actually. She coughs into the side of a balled-up hand.

    Meika's hiding the slight shiver in her limbs by holding her letterman jacket tight around herself, and leaning in a bit closer to the fire. The now sandy ankle-length skirt she's wearing is the same one she'd wear as part of her school uniform- Hibiki, Kayoko, and Love are the only people on the beachfront to have seen her out and about in anything but that uniform or her magical girl costume. Her old messenger bag sits next to the stump, with a bright orange-ish colored mango keychain hooked on, both uncomfortably out of place and as familiar as a flimsy gachapon prize.

{Have you roasted marshmallows before, Meika?}

    "... I've never actually roasted marshmallows like this, before... so, um, I can do my best to make some for people, or-" Next to the bag of marshmallows, is another one of wooden skewers, an invitation for people to make their own if they don't trust her capacity, or her luck.

'Meika! It's okay that I came right? Justice has Tacky with her so..'

    Surprising as it is to hear a familiar voice here, Meika actually smiles, a bit. "It's- it's gotta be fine. I'm sure Kayoko knows you left, and so she'd..." She cuts off with a quiet nod, and the smile gets corroded away by sudden flashing guilt. "... Been a few days, huh."
Meika Kirenai 'There's so much water out that way, and it doesn't look like it ends.'

    Odette piping up makes recognizing her easy, even without being just an indicator on a radio. "Oh! It's- it's you, from the... Yeah. Good to meet you." Meika's boots shift, as she almost makes to stand up- instead opting to wave at the other girl with a skewered marshmallow. "It's- it's kind of weird, right..? That the water just goes on and on? Usually- um, at home, you can see the mountains on the other side of the bay super easy, but that's... this isn't home, or... yeah. It's so grey that it's pretty, out."

'...You done anything like this before? Having a bonfire like this, I mean.'

    Meika shrugs. "Sometimes there's- there's functions, with the outdoor charcoal grills, that some of the parish goes to, but..." Meika picks up a split wedge of wood, and tosses it into the dugout fire pit, into a shower of sparks.

    "I hope it doesn't get clearer, Miss Tachibana. The sky's got- got plenty of stars it in, anyway, if you count the little sparks. Even if they don't last more than..." She cranes her neck up to watch them rise with the trailing smoke, fighting in the wind to trace snaky rivulets onwards and upwards.

    "... Oh. Kayoko. Hey." Her words ring out just as Kayoko's invisibility cuts off, and just before Drop impacts face-first to the sand. Meika flinches at that, and watches the rancid little Cherub clatter upright again with a chalkboard-scratch hiss. "You- you made it. That's nice, sis."

    "Sunday. Yeah. If- if you want to hear me say I'm sorry, I am. I just- it's not like I can go back in time." her posture grows tighter and closer in to herself with each word, eventually going quiet, offering no defense to Hibiki beyond a small glance. She stays that silent way for a long moment, just watching the outside of her skewered marshmallow change color bit by bit by bit, until-

'And definitely do not mistake a bucket of water for a bucket of gasoline'

    "That's no good..." Meika parrots, nearly unaware she's doing it- until she snorts, and sits up, smiling again. She takes the skewer and holds it out towards Love, offering her that one. "... Want to test them, Love?"

'Do you have a Chevalier name, too?'

    Meika's mouth is moving, already, a half moment before the EMT speaks up- having caught wind of the confused thought herself. "Vermillion. Yeah. I've- I've got one, too. And also-" Oh. No, not anymore. Meika bites her tongue- literally, and goes quiet, embarrassed about almost announcing an allegience she's been severed from. Why is that a habit? It's not even been a year. It should come easier, right?

    So thinketh the magical girl still wearing an old hockey letterman, years and years since no longer belonging to the team it signifies. Sometimes, thoughts are just hypocritical. "Cherry soda floats..?" It sounds like something teeth-rottingly sweet. "What's that like?" (read: 'Can I try that?')] Sand scuffs beneath Meika's boots, as she shifts her posture to begin skewering another marshmallow. "It's- it's nice of you to have brought stuff, Miss Odette, and- and thanks, sis."

'this turnout is simply a well-earned reprieve'

    Something about how Woz says this makes Meika flinch- and the marshmallow she's fumbling with drops to the sand, forgotten the second it left her fingertips. I didn't earn this.
Trudy Grimm > "Miss-- Chevalier Grimm?"

    Kayoko addressing the witch draws her attention and does little to affect her broad smile. It's the sort of face that one would expect to greasonously ask 'Yeeeees~?' in response, though she doesn't actually say anything.

> "Are those safe to be around?"

    "Of course they are," Trudy answers without skipping a beat, closing her eyes and waving one hand dismissively, "My cute friends are reliable and loyal retainers, each of whom has agreed to serve me of their own accord."

    Beside her, the Medic shifts, pushing his helmet up. It is only due to Kayoko's unique relationship to light that she can tell he's looking Directly at her, because there is nothing physical behind that lens but worn bone. After a moment, he releases and returns to a 'sleeping' sort of pose. "Also there is no need to call me 'Chevalier' here, I'm not a magical girl after all."

> "Hi, Trudy. Who are your friends?"

    "Oh!" The witch straightens, glancing between the trio of soldiers, "These are... Sergeant Malone, Corporal Sprigg, and... Private York." In turn, each one raises a hand as his name is called out, "Don't worry about them. They don't have much to say."

> "Can you... ask them to go away, please?"

    "Certainly. That's quite enough about my cute friends, anyway," The witch lifts a hand. Each soldier's shadow deepens even further and, one by one, they sink into the blackness and out of sight. When the shadows return to normal, Trudy keeps her hand raised but addresses Kayoko next, "I would very much enjoy one of those, Kayoko."
Timespace Riders Today's just a day.

    "Oh yeah?" Sougo asks conversationally. "Well, we're happy to hang out any time."

    I've never actually roasted marshmallows like this, before...

    "Nor I," says Woz with a gentle shake of his head. "But this means only that we both have an opportunity to learn, yes?" He's happy to let her go first, although it's fairly easy to read in his tone that he wants to give it a go eventually. Woz makes an encouraging sweep of his palm and inclination of his head towards the marshmallows, after she drops the first one.

    He saw her flinch--he must have. One needn't argue that two and two is four, or that the sea is water.

Don't worry about them. They don't have much to say.

    "Hmm..." Sougo places an index to his chin. "Okay," he eventually acquiesces, when Trudy dismisses them.

    "Can Woz and I get a couple of those drinks, Cobalt?"
Sarracenia      'It'd be nice if- if some of you bunch wanted to stop by, or whatever. I don't like marshmallows enough to- yeah. I'll put directions out.'

     Sarracenia debated whether to go or not for a long while. Going was probably a bad idea. It was sure to be full of people who don't like her or at least people who prefer Meika over her. But, the princess is determined to prove she can be civil. Even to someone like Meika who has declared in no uncertain terms that she wants nothing to do with Sarracenia.

     There's also the added infamy and gall of showing up somewhere one is clearly not actually been invited to. So, despite knowing better the princess heads off. She goes with only her trusted butler Gregory in tow. He's a piranha plant about 4 feet tall who wears a little butler outfit. And never one to be an uncouth guest, Sarracenia has loaded Gregory with a large thick-walled cooler full of drinks and a small selection of typical campfire fare, such as hot dogs, burgers, select vegetables and mushrooms, and marshmallows.

     Sarra herself is carrying metal skewers, long enough to stick in the sand and have them over the fire. And since it is a beach but is also likely chilly due to the time of year, she is wearing a dress that is less poofy and frilly and more like a red sun dress, though it is still long enough that most of her legs are covered. She still wears black velvet gloves, but only typical hand gloves and not the full forearm gloves she usually wears.

     She arrives with a smirk that Meika may or may not remember from a previous encounter. And of course, she is not quiet about arriving.

     Her private wooden twin-prop VTOL, the Dyna, hovers its way down to land on the water. Sarra anchors it to shore before she and Gregory head over toward the others. "Hello all~" she exclaims in a sing-song voice as she approaches. "I heard there was a beach party and I simply adore those. I even brought proper provisions!" She motions to Gregory, and the plant person brings them toward the fire and sets them down, then bows politely to those gathered and backs away.
Hibiki Tachibana     It's good to see you out and about. You look great! You, too, Hibiki.

    "Oh-- thanks, Sougo. You too. Jacket's part of my school's winter outfit, so..." It works. But now that he brought it up, Hibiki gives Love a longer look. "...You really do look nice." How often has she seen the former Abnormality in anything like casualwear, even?

    Is it usually this hot out here? Guess I'll have to dress lighter the next time I come to Bridgeport.

    "Is this hot to you?" Hibiki tilts her head, then looks down towards the burgeoning fire. After a moment, she tosses the piece of deadwood she picked up into it, and pairs it up with a bigger one after a couple of seconds. "Or maybe it's just cold to me. Huh."

    I hope it doesn't get clearer, Miss Tachibana. The sky's got- got plenty of stars it in, anyway, if you count the little sparks. Even if they don't last more than...

    An instant passes, before she adds, "...Doesn't mean they didn't exist, right? Yeah. I guess I do count those, too. It's sorta the same with... like, shooting stars, right?" Her head tilts back up towards the cloudy sky. "Just because they're fleeting doesn't mean you can't appreciate them."

    ...eventually going quiet, offering no defense to Hibiki beyond a small glance.

    Hibiki doesn't seem to be in a rush to either pursue either extreme of arguing the point or throwing Meika under the bus-- rather, she's still side-glancing Kayoko's way with some amount of... it's hard to place, but she's certainly not smiling. What'd I do to get singled out like that?

    "...Meika?" She looks back to the other Kirenai, raising a finger to silently gesture downwards. Towards the dropped marshmallow.
Angela "That's right. I used to be the Queen of Hatred, but I'm a girl now!" Love chirps at Odette and provides no intervening explanation. "I get stomachaches now!" She wiggles back and forth on her feet because she can't really NOT be hyperactive.

But it is true that she mostly wanted to check in on her friend slash savior Meika.

Haha, they can't hear me but--I'm glad, this is an experience best had on days like this.

Maybe it's just because it's a piece of her rather than the whole thing, but the Gift is way less overbearing.

Love seems relieved to see Meika smile, even tough it's...brief. "Yeah..." Love can't argue against the guilt. Not anymore, not when she's still feeling it herself. "Did you see--"

She is distracted by Trudy's appearance which sours her mood a bit, and then Sarracenia who just makes her plain uneasy. Maybe if she doesn't say anything, nothing bad will happen! Chevalier Love does feel a little easy about coming in with a 'hello there~' but maybe reading the mood like this will be as far as it gets (Odette praising her lesson gets her to beam smugly--if only for a brief moment) but she says, "That's right," to Odette. "You're smart...!" Her eyes trail towards the mango keychain for a moment but she doesn't comment instead she giggles a little at Meika parroting her, taking the skewer. "Yeah! Sounds like fun! Thanks Vermilion!"

Feeling cool for not accidentally using Meika, she collects a skewer.

''I didn't earn this.''

It would be a cold world if we only received what we earned. Would you mind having one anyway?

"oops...!" Love lashes out to try and catch Meika's marshmallow but is too slow. "Ah shoot! Let me get you another one!" Without waiting for an answer, Love rushes off to go get marshmallows...

Actually Meika has all the marshmallows so Love runs back. "O-oh right! You have them!" She crouches down to collect the marshmallow. "I'll wash it off and have this one then...!"
Trudy Grimm     Trudy hums brightly at Sougo, "Were you curious about them? Their stories all had quite grisley ends, I'd be quite remiss to share any details beyond that. It's no pleasant tale." Closing her eyes, the witch waves a hand, "They suffered through a great war for many years until they met their ends all in the same day. Truly nightmarish. I don't know precisely how that conflict resolved, evidently it was many years ago."

    Sarracenia's arrival draws her attention, luminous green eyes drawn away from the firelight, "Oh? Welcome, I suppose. You've certainly made an entrance." Seemingly unbidden, the shadow cast by one of the stones ringing the bonefire deepens. A skeletal hand reaches out, clutching a log of season-dried pine, and adds it to the fire. Silently, the bones recede.

    On subjects of temperature and weather, the witch leans back on the bench and kicks her feet, "The sky is a nice, lovely overcast. Just enough of the moon's light creeps through, ahh-- but not too much. What a wonderful, crisp gloom we have, no?" She seems quite at home in the cold with a fire for company.

    Love's antics get a laugh from the witch, which fades into tittering and a dismissive gesture, "Oh, no, no, you wouldn't want to get sick, would you? Instead, give it to the crabs. I'm sure they'd enjoy it very much and they already eat things covered in sand."
Odette Raskins For Odette, there's both a sense of relief and concern at seeing Meika react in a roughly similar way that she did to Trudy's undead soldiers, if not necessarily in such a pronounced way. To her, they're probably just people in some weird costumes, and the idea of them being actually undead doesn't even reach her mind at all right up until she sees right through the Medic's helmet.

She looks about ready to faint by the time Trudy sends the soldiers away, only remembering to breathe after being reminded by a brief bout of light-headedness. "M-Miss.. Trudy, was it? A-are you a... Some kind of general, then?"

"It's- it's kind of weird, right..? That the water just goes on and on? Usually- um, at home, you can see the mountains on the other side of the bay super easy, but that's... this isn't home, or... yeah. It's so grey that it's pretty, out."

"Yeah... The only beaches I've seen were in simulations, and those really only let you go out as far as..." Odette holds her palm out straight out in front of her face as she squints at the ocean, lowering her arm steadily until she realizes that Meika likely can't see where she's trying to level her thumb towards from that same perspective. The steep angle of her arm is still low enough that Meika could probably guess Odette's indicating a short distance, though!

"There would be little mountains way out beyond the screens, though, like... If the sim was on a boat, you could reach them eventually." A pause, and she laughs afterwards. "I wonder how long it'd take to find mountains or... Anything on the other side of all this water now. It really does look way more amazing in person than on a screen..."

Gazing into the distance for a moment, Odette snaps out of it roughly when Meika brings up the name 'Vermillion'. "Neat... That really matches the awesome transformations!" She blurts out, getting visibly enthused just thinking about the aesthetic and the flair. "Man, I still can't believe I get to work around heroes just like in-"

She cuts herself off abruptly, coughing into her hand like she's almost let something embarrassing slip. Thankfully, Meika gives her an escape route. "The floats? Oh! They're real good. Fizzy, creamy, cold, and even better in hot weather like this." Sounding more relaxed and excited than before, she finishes pouring some of that pinkish sweet teeth-destroying substance into a lid before offering it to Meika.

Sarracenia's arrival with Gregory is relatively less surprising to Odette than Trudy's soldiers or Woz and Sougo's time funkiness, possibly thanks to meeting the princess once before. "Oh! H-hello, Miss Sarracenia. You've brought...?" She sees cooler full of meat, then nods slowly in direct approval of what she's brought.

"Is this hot to you?"

"Kind of. It's.. Um. Usually warmer on the stations than it is here, but home's way colder." Odette explains, giggling lightly at Hibiki's reaction to the cold. "I don't mind it, though. I-it's nice being able to... Um. Not have to wear a helmet out, you know?" She adds with a laugh, apparently taking it for granted that Hibiki might actually understand what she means.

"I get stomachaches now!"

Despite her initial confusion, Odette can't help but laugh at how infectious Love's enthusiasm is, and her eyes practically gleam as she nods quickly in response. "Neat! A transformation from Hatred to Love, from Queen to Girl...!"

Feeling that same excitement over whatever she stopped saying to Meika coming back up again, she has to actively stop herself from saying too much about her hobbies. Luckily, Love praising her intellect has Odette swelling just a bit more with pride and embarrassment alike, and she laughs somewhat oddly while joining Meika at the marshmallow station.

She has no idea what she's actually doing there, so she's going to have to imitate someone to figure it out.
Kayoko Kirenai "The obligations of magical girls are many--this turnout is simply a well-earned reprieve, and it is good that you are here to share in it, as well."

    Kayoko barely even needs to be able to see Woz's pursed lips or the way that Sougo touches him (is that even okay to *do*?) to know that his words aren't sincere. Perfectly polite doesn't mean anything other than that he expects her to read between the lines even without him needing to say it.

    Kayoko, somewhat impolitely, clears her throat herself in an intentional symmetry of how Woz did before talking. The idea that Meika is 'earning' anything from her obligations as a magical girl visibly gives her pause, and she looks at Drop before deciding not to address it again so soon. Fishing two cans out of her bag, she hands them over to Spot, who's only about twice the size of the cans itself. "Sure, here you go. Spot, would you mind bringing those over to them?"

    This is evidently an act of violence. The garishly colored humanoid bat-like thing nods fervently and babbles in approval, then scurries over directly into the Rider pair's personal bubbles, clambering up Sougo's coat with claws sharp enough to prick even through his layers. It perches on his shoulder, leaning forwards to survey him from the new angle, with the cans balanced in its hand-- it doesn't even bother trying to actually *hand* them to Woz and Sougo-- and then starts chattering with its awful scratchy voice, like sandpaper and nails on chalkboard.

    "Wow, do you always dress like this? You look like someone tried to patch up a circus tent with their underwear." Spot doesn't even sound like it's being intentionally malicious, it just sounds snottily disbelieving and gremlin-rude. "Have you heard of this thing called 'taste'? Hey, maybe that's it, actually-- this guy here's your seeing-eye dog, right? That must be why you're always handling him like *that*."

"Fires can still spread if you're not careful so remember to make sure someone is always keeping tabs on the bonfire and be ready to put it out at a moment's notice!"

    "That's a good point. Thanks for being careful, Love." Kayoko's not exactly ignoring the Magical Girl, she's just... a little distant. Having seen her fairly recently anyways, she just didn't see a reason-- or maybe couldn't work up the energy-- to greet her again.

"I have BPD."

    Kayoko frowns, looking over at Love with a concerned expression. "You really shouldn't be saying things like that about yourself. You're better than that, and you're working on it, so you shouldn't...."

"Chevalier... Cobalt? Cool name!"

    As mild of a compliment as this is, it's actually... one of the first times anyone's ever said something like that to Kayoko, and she *visibly* preens at the praise. "Chevalier Magical Girl Chevalier Cobalt, to be precise, miss. The other Chevalier is for my rank. I *did* pick it, so it should be pretty cool. Thank you." The simple gesture makes Kayoko immediately more comfortable around Odette, and she smiles a bit in implicit gratitude at Odette's assertion that she's been kind to Meika.
Kayoko Kirenai It's the sort of face that one would expect to greasonously ask 'Yeeeees~?' in response,

    Kayoko doesn't grimace.

"My cute friends are reliable and loyal retainers, each of whom has agreed to serve me of their own accord."

    This very obviously doesn't do anything to soothe Kayoko's anxiety around the undead. It wasn't even *really* what she was asking in the first place-- she just didn't feel comfortable making a direct request of someone she sees as a superior. When one of the skeletons stares directly at her, she shivers and makes a tense little whimper involuntarily, quiet enough that anyone other than Meika would have to strain hard to hear it, even though her expression is still totally calm.

    Trudy's elaboration on their names and continued chattering about them as 'cute friends' only stresses Kayoko out more and more, regardless of how 'safe' they might be. It's only once Meika asks, and Trudy obliges, that a tiny sigh of relief slips out of her. Only then is she able to drop a can in Trudy's outstretched hand.

"Vermillion. Yeah. I've- I've got one, too. And also-"

    In a less-common-than-before moment of cameraderie, Kayoko comes to Meika's support here, stepping in to elaborate on her introduction. "She's Chevalier Vermillion, I'm Chevalier Cobalt. It's our team name, back when it was just the two of us magical girls as the Knights Chevalier, before Love and Justice joined us."

"...Huh? If I brought anything in the first place, it wouldn't have been anything like that."

    Kayoko shrugs at Hibiki, taking a skewer from Meika and affixing a marshmallow to the end of it with pointed focus. "Well, I only wanted to be sure. You haven't had the best track record, after all, and according to some others you've got a worse reputation than just being a delinquient."
Kayoko Kirenai "I heard there was a beach party and I simply adore those. I even brought proper provisions!"

    Even with plenty of extra time to try to figure out what she's looking at, Gregory still leaves Kayoko dumbfounded. So when Sarracenia touches down, after Kayoko winces a bit at the noise of the VTOL, she stares past the princess and blurts out in jarringly naive confusion, sounding like a kid for the first time tonight. "What *is* that?"

    Her decent* mood, or at least her moment of levity, continues when she actually manages to place Sarracenia's voice from the radio, and shoots to her feet with her marshmallow left behind in the fire, forgotten for now. Putting together the pieces in her mind, looking from the VTOL to Sarracenia's outfit, to the butler behind her, Kayoko clenches her fists and seems like she's resisting very hard from bouncing in place, awe and eager expectation audible in her voice.

    "You're-- you're actually a *real* princess? I didn't think-- I thought that was a joke, from how you sounded, but-- actually, for real? That's-- that's *so* cool!"
Timespace Riders I heard there was a beach party and I simply adore those.

"Indeed," says Woz, evenly and calmly--the vibe islike a relative uncomfortably agreeing at the dinner table to progress the conversation.

I don't know precisely how that conflict resolved, evidently it was many years ago.

    "Oh, so it's like that," Sougo says. "That's too bad," he says, somberly. "It really sucks, the way people are thrown away like that. But as quickly as they're are sent off to fight, as... easily as they're just..." Sougo frowns. "Spent, it's good that they have someone like you, who'll bother to learn their names and their stories."

That must be why you're always handling him like *that*.

    Spot's claws bother Sougo more than its words do, the Demon King flinching slightly from the sharp points. Outwardly, it looks like Woz is the only one who notices the true intent of asking the Cherub to deliver the drinks. The thing about Sougo is that there is a lot more going on under the surface than the cheery, carefree exterior.

    "Thanks, Spot," says the Demon King, taking the soda as Woz does the same. After cracking it open, he enjoys a sip. "Woz isn't just my retainer, you know. It's normal for people in a relationship to touch each other." he says, unabashed and beatific--implying, as well, that Spot is the abnormal one, and answering Kayoko's challenge brazenly.

    Woz's free hand finds Sougo's. Their fingers interlace. One leg crosses over the other. I dare you, his brown eyes challenge Kayoko back, as he sips his soda with the other hand. A moment passes, and his look of challenge fades, into something more appropriately conversationally-interested.

    "If I may ask," the retainer begins, remarkably civil, "I know more about Chevalier Vermillion than about Chevalier Cobalt. Who is Chevalier Cobalt, in your own words? You have assembled her, and maintain her, as we have assembled and maintain Kamen Rider Woz and Kamen Rider Zi-O."
Meika Kirenai     Meika becomes visibly more at ease the moment all the soldiers vanish within their own shadows. It's an unsettling display, sure- but they're gone, and that's good. "You- you named them..." She isn't harboring the thought that those are their actual, real, 'was once a living person with that name' names. "Isn't that- that's sort of..."

    Meika doesn't finish the complaint, pursing her lips and just staring at the sand the soldiers dissapeared into, her heels digging a fidgetsome trench where they're placed out in front of her, side to side in that unconscious sort of motion.

    'Also there is no need to call me 'Chevalier' here, I'm not a magical girl after all.'

    "*You're* still a Paladin, aren't you..?" Quiet and bitter- it's not really a jab, even if the girl's words are sharpened. She exhales, and takes a drag of the cigarette she's been holding alongside the skewer- awkwardly waving the half-toasted marshmallow she's finally managed to equip on top of it through the evening air.

    At first, Meika assumes the noise from Sarracenia's approaching VTOL must be something headed overhead to the local airport- it's nerve-wracking to realize no, actually, it's heading here, stirring up waves (literally, and with shocked faces from the scattered, sparse civilians) as it touches down. She doesn't know who to expect could be coming out of something like that, but with her general standing with most of this sector's Elites, it's not a particularly good gamble.

    The vehicle's approaching owner being Sarracenia, though, is sure a harsher outcome than she'd been hoping for- and that smirk carries the same threat the princess had put effort into crafting the other day, fresh and reinforced. Meika's uncomfortably red eyes fixed on the little actions the princess is taking, not particularly more at ease by the apparent lack of a weapon. She stops fidgeting, even if her silent breathing is growing faster.

'I even brought proper provisions!'

    Meika winces. It's plainly clear, at least to her, that this is some act of undermining. What's worse, it's true- Metal skewers, even. Of course she'd bring nicer stuff. Of course she just 'heard' that there was one of these happening. Of course she'd greet everyone *else* all together. I wanted to do this, wanted to do it myself, and-

    Her lip is quivering. "R-right. Glad you could... make it, Princess." Shaky hands fumble again with marshmallows and her wooden skewer- and slip, catching her thumb on the tip as it goes through the marshmallow's body, and draws blood on her digit. She lets out a quiet curse.

{One needn't argue that two and two is four, or that the sea is water.}

    Woz gets a small, flashed glare- it softens quickly, but it's evident her mood is curdling. His encouragement to practice and learn with the sweets isn't so palatable, anymore- through no real fault of his own at all. She shakes off her still-stinging thumb, and puts the skewer back over the flames- intentionally making it catch fire. Hah. Maybe they're good like this. She doesn't, actually, care if they are.

'Ah shoot! Let me get you another one!'
'O-oh right! You have them!"'

    Even unsteady and slightly soured, Meika can't help but giggle at Love's back and forth behavior. She's trying so hard, and- Meika chews at the inside of her lip. "Hey. Love. You don't have to- you don't need to wash anything off. It won't help. But, um- thanks, I guess, for the spirit? You've always got so much of it."
Meika Kirenai {Would you mind having one anyway?}

    Slowly, Meika pulls the burning marshmallow out of the fire- char-blackened and molten on the inside. A quick puff of air blows it out, and the magical girl brings it closer to look at- and grabs the blisteringly-hot marshmallow, extracting it from the stick, as it immediately starts to burn at the tips of her just-poked thumb and forefinger. She can't hide the expression of pain on her face, as she mulls over the King of Greed's message.

    I don't even really like sweet things. Meika dunks the charred, molten marshmallow into the cherry float she set beside herself earlier, and shakes out the still-searing pain. Still- it's not like anyone else can have that marshmallow now. She picks up the drink to sip at it- and it's so saccharine she wants to throw up.

'It really does look way more amazing in person than on a screen...'
'Neat... That really matches the awesome transformations!'

    "I'm... glad you got to see it then, Miss Odette." One answer to both comments. I don't have many pages left at all. Maybe you'll be one of the last new people huh? That's funny. At least you're nice. She coughs, and takes a drag of her still-smoldering cigarette- she heard somewhere nicotine helps with nausea, but in all her years it's never proven that true for her. "Heroes? Just like in what, Miss..?"

'Just because they're fleeting doesn't mean you can't appreciate them.'

    Meika should know better than to read more into metaphorical intent with Hibiki's words, but she bristles up nontheless. She was doing it herself, somewhat. When'd you start being some kind of poet..? That sort of stuff is-" Meika takes the skewer she'd been using, and pokes a log, creating a shower of rising sparks and leaving the stick in the flames. "It's just stuff burning up and going away forever, anyway. Little wood pieces or whatever, or... or meteorites, or..."

    At some point, Meika's notebook made it into her lap. A flurry of angry, frustrated thoughts, as she's pulled her hands back from burning up the skewer, make a small part of her want to grab it and use it as the next piece of kindling. Luckily, just a part of her.

'Well, I only wanted to be sure.'

    "Hey, sis, give- give her a break, okay..?" Maybe- definitely Kayoko's buzzing excitement about Sarracenia has Meika even more on edge. It's not for Hibiki's sake, really, that she asks this. "It's just a- a beach party."

    Kayoko's volunteering of even lightly proud-seeming introductions carries a bitter, guilty twinge. It's hard to feel like cameraderie isn't hollow, and worse for Meika to be dead certain she's culpable for hollowing it out from the inside. "Teammates," she tacks on, with a tiny little nod. It's starting to feel more and more like a lie.
Meika Kirenai 'Woz isn't just my retainer, you know. It's normal for people in a relationship to touch each other.'

    Nearly every single one of Meika's muscles tenses. Her voice is low and cautious, when she finally speaks, a few moments after Sougo's statement finishes lingering heavy in the air. Woz's challenge may be to Kayoko, but it's Meika who picks up the thrown glove, first.

    "Whatever kind of- of sick prank you think you're t-trying to pull, it's not funny, Mister Sougo, Mister Woz. I just wanted tonight to be nice. Don't ruin it."

    Ugly, bitter, guilty shame and fear lace each and every choked out syllable. You didn't have to say something like that. Not here. Not in front of everyone. You don't have to make people think-

    Eyes unfocus as she stares straight ahead at a handful of skyward-bound sparks, watching them twinkle out into nothing against the clouds.
Trudy Grimm     Trudy seems to get some measure of amusement from Kayoko staring her down until the soldiers are gone. She clearly can't see how uncomfortable the younger girl is due to what's at play-- and she's not going to explain it either.

    The troops are gone and she is given a drink. Brightly, the witch offers "Thank you very much." as she draws the canned green tea in to look at the label. It takes her a moment of turning it around in her hands before she pops the tab.

> "*You're* still a Paladin, aren't you..?"

    "Why yes, I am," Trudy hums thoughtfully over her drink, taking in the scent before the taste, "But before that, I am a witch first and foremost-- I am not overly a fan of formal titles." With a grin, she wiggles the fingers of her free hand downwards, like the legs of some insect, "High courts and military formations are no place for a creature like me, hee hee~."

> "It really sucks, the way people are thrown away like that. But as quickly as they're are sent off to fight, as... easily as they're just... Spent, it's good that they have someone like you, who'll bother to learn their names and their stories."

    "I consider it part of my role as one who speaks with spirits, to be the voice of those who no longer have one of their own," Trudy explains for Sougo's benefit, "That these men fought and died for a cause they believed in so strongly that they were willing to come back from their rest and fight for it once more-- it's something very powerful, no?"

    She closes one eye, examining the Demon King more closely as he relaxes, "Each of my little friends has some dream or ideal they yet strive to realize. In this, I'm sure you can relate quite strongly, O Demon King."

> "It's just stuff burning up and going away forever, anyway. Little wood pieces or whatever, or... or meteorites, or..."

    Trudy makes a thoughtful little 'mmm' sound, tilting her head such that her one open eye can rest on Meika again; though it does put her at a bit of an arrogant cant as a result. After a moment, that eye closes and she shifts her seating posture completely, folding one leg over the other.

    "When something burns, it does not disappear," Eyes opening, she raises her free hand to gesture at the column of smoke and sparks, "It becomes the smoke, it becomes the ash, it becomes the embers and the warmth and the light. Even when the warmth and light have long since faded, the rest remains."

    Placing one hand on the bench, Trudy leans slightly towards Chevelier Vermillion, "Say-- what do you know about forest fires?"
Angela Love beams at Odette as she gushes over magical girl transformations. Clearly this is someone who knows what's up and she kind of reminds her of someone she knows well. Just because she never got to see beaches? Maybe. Either way, she soaks up Odette's excitement over her transformation from Queen to Girl. "It's all thanks to Chevaliers Cobalt and Vermillion!" Meika might not have two Chevaliers anymore but at least she still has one! Chevalier Magical Girl Chevalier Cobalt is just too much for Love. "They helped me and Justice out a bunch! They'll always be the coolest people in the multiverse to me."

Love is a bit hypersensitive right now It would have been one thing if they were able to bring Vermilion home but they weren't even able to manage that. She hasn't had friends she got to keep before, she really doesn't want to mess this up anymore.

Which means she does relax a little when Kayoko chastizes her about saying she had BPD. Getting chided a little in this way is a relief--she doesn't really think about the undercurrent of it.

Meika (sort of) warns her against washing the marshmallow. "Oh okay..." She just sort of ends up dusting it off and holding it over the fire with one of the stick skewers--the stick skewer would be more valuable in her mind even if Sarracenia's were gold plated. This is probably not a surprise considering she's the Magical Girl of Love after all. The King of Greed, on the other hand...

Is that so... Well, I won't insist if you don't like sweets. But ... why set up an event like this if you do not care for it? There is, of course, the company but there's a lot of ways to draw in a crowd... Because it is the sort of thing one does at a beach party? She ventures.

But Love is toasting her own marshmallow at this point and once it's nice and toasty just eats it right off the stick--there's a flicker of concern when Meika burns her hand but...

Meika thinks about throwing that very important book into the flames...

...You could you know.

Love is confused. "Huh?" She asks, feeling like she missed the thread somewhere.
Sarracenia      Sarracenia is a bit unnerved herself when that shadow spreads and a skeletal hand adds a log to the fire. "Erm...r-right." she says, then reaches into her purse to pull out...a tailgating chair. The unfolding kind with canvas stretched across it for the seat. She sets the chair down opposite the fire from Meika, then takes a seat and crosses her legs at the ankle.

     Odette greets her, and Sarracenia smiles to her and waves to the EMT. "Hello, Miss Odette! How are you adjusting to the Multiverse so far? You seem to be fitting in quite well~" she says cheerfully.

     'What *is* that?'

     Sarracenia blinks before looking toward Gregory. "That? That is Gregory~ He is my most trusted butler." she says, and gives Gregory a smile. Gregory bows again, and in a surprisingly deep and high class voice says, "It is a privilage to serve. If I can get any of you anything from the cooler, simply let me know." Sarra sees Piranha Plants every day, so she doesn't think to say that he is one of those, but Gregory does add for Kayoko. "I am a piranha plant, miss." He looks at Kayoko, but...he doesn't seem to have eyes, so it is just a big red tulip-shaped bulb full of shark teeth pointed toward her.

     'You're-- you're actually a *real* princess? I didn't think-- I thought that was a joke, from how you sounded, but-- actually, for real?'

     Sarra blinks in surprise once again, and has to fight off a bit of a frown.

     'That's-- that's *so* cool!'

     Sarra's frown is replaced again by surprise and then by a genuine smile. "W-well, thank you!" The princess actually blushes a bit. So few people compliment her on anything! "And yes, I am a very real princess. And as such, please enjoy this hospitality from the Sundew Kingdom~" She motions to the cooler that Gregory brought.

     Gregory hands Sarracenia a grapefruit soda from the cooler, then simply stands by with hands (well...big leaf arms) folded behind his back.

     Hibiki is here, and while they are not friends their interactions have generally been somewhere between neutral and positive, so Sarra offers her a wave as well. "Hello Hibiki. How are you this evening?" she says even as she holds out a hand and Gregory places a skewer with a hot dog on the end in Sarra's hand, which she proceeds to roast it over the fire.

     It's true Sarra came here mostly to mess with Meika, but she also really does like beach parties and so doesn't try to push things. It would ruin the nice time!

     Gregory has been busy putting more hot dogs over the fire, and they are ready quickly. "It is indeed just a beach party, and as such we should all enjoy! Do not be shy!" She pulls her hot dog once it is done, and Gregory already has a bun ready. Sarra carefully pushes the dog onto the bun, then with a glance...Gregory waddles over to Meika. "Here! A peace offering~" Sarra says. She seems genuine and cheerful. Maybe she feels bad about making Meika's lip quiver without even really trying. Meika wouldn't know, but Sarra brings this level of food and drink to most any beach party she attends, and showing up Meika was only a minor consideration at best.
Odette Raskins "Chevalier Magical Girl Chevalier Cobalt, to be precise, miss. The other Chevalier is for my rank. I *did* pick it, so it should be pretty cool. Thank you."
"It's our team name, back when it was just the two of us magical girls as the Knights Chevalier, before Love and Justice joined us."

"An official rank AND a title? Whoa. Then that means...  You've got rank with the Paladins, too? Talk about making it big." Odette murmurs in continued awe as she gawks at Kayoko, grining lightheartedly after a moment while pulling a half-scorched marshmallow up to her face slowly. "That's really cool, yeah... Hehe. You're welcome! Maybe the four... Five?" She starts, then corrects herself while looking over at Love, then around a bit before realizing Justice might not actually be here. "Five of us might even be working all together saving people sometime!"

A beat, and then Odette suddenly looks flustered upon realizing what she might have just implied. "Ah... N-not that I want that kind of situation to happen to other people! Just.. I mean. I-it'd be cool to work around more... You know. Transforming heroes and stuff."

"You have assembled her, and maintain her, as we have assembled and maintain Kamen Rider Woz and Kamen Rider Zi-O."

"Kamen... Rider?" Woz's use of another team-sounding name gets Odette's attention. Predictably, she seems even more interested in listening to that conversation while completely missing what had gone on between Woz and Kayoko/Spot moments ago. "Wait, you're a team of heroes, too? That's so cool...!"

It's getting harder to mask her excitement, and Meika probing Odette just a bit more finally gets the space EMT to finally open up a little about that excitement. "Ahah... Y-you know. Um. Shows. Animated drama stuff, you know?"

It's also getting harder not to notice that there's something going on between Meika and Trudy, Sougo, and Woz too. Odette can't really mask her concern over what she's hearing, but realizing she doesn't have a clue about any of that keeps her from actually commenting on that at all. She hasn't quite put enough of all that together, so she instead turns her attention to...

"They helped me and Justice out a bunch! They'll always be the coolest people in the multiverse to me."

Love! "And then your team and their team combined into an even bigger one thanks to that fateful meeting... Now you just need one more member, and then you'll have the classic number!" Odette truly can't contain her excitement any more after that, tapping her feet quickly on the sand just to have some brief physical outlet for the growing excitement over whatever mental image she's building up.

"Hello, Miss Odette! How are you adjusting to the Multiverse so far? You seem to be fitting in quite well~"

"I'm.. Um. I'm getting more used to it, I think!" Odette answers with a light giggle in return, shifting around in her seat to get a little more comfortable before chewing on more scorched marshmallows. She really seems to like her sweets, between this and the thermos full of diabetic shock. "It's still a lot of... Um. Stuff to get used to, but it's easier with people I recognize being around more. I just hope I can... Er. Be more of a help the next time we work together."
Hibiki Tachibana     Kind of. It's.. Um. Usually warmer on the stations than it is here, but home's way colder.

    Between that, and Odette's follow-up comment, even Hibiki Tachibana - known idiot - can put two and two together. Sort of? Kind of. Vaguely. Yeah, no. She gets the space station thing, but none of the rest. "Oh, so like... somewhere really far north? Or--" Give her a minute. It's coming.

    "--really far south?" Nah, she's got nothing in the oven.

    You haven't had the best track record, after all, and according to some others you've got a worse reputation than just being a delinquient.

    "...According to 'some others', huh." Hibiki repeats dryly to Kayoko, back... not really on edge. Somewhere between exasperated acceptance and tired defensiveness. "Yeah, I don't have a great one. You shouldn't just go off of that for everyone you meet, though. It's not a substitute for actually knowing someone."

    It's not herself she has in mind, thinking about that. "...You don't have to worry about me, though."

    Hello Hibiki. How are you this evening?

    "Hey, Sarra," Hibiki throws up a lazy sort of wave. It is indeed true they've had pretty amiable chats any time they have, although it sure has been quite a while since they were in anything like the same faction together. Not that that sort of thing has ever mattered much to the (not) magical girl herself. "I'm-- doing alright." Besides the obvious.

    "I thought some air and some time around people would be nice. So, y'know." A moment passes. "...Do you always make your entrances that, uh... over the top?" She points up, ostensibly referencing the VTOL.

    It's just stuff burning up and going away forever, anyway.

    Meika is 100% correct to not read too much into Hibiki's words, because any metaphor is coincidental, most of the time. She seems kind of surprised it was even brought up like that. "Huh? I always did really bad in poetry classes..." After a second, "...It's just like, when stuff burns away, it still leaves something behind."

    She acquires a marshmallow to stoke on the fire, since Meika has had her hands full doing such already. "Even something like tonight. Even when it's over and done with, it'll still have happened. Sparks and all."

    Whatever kind of- of sick prank you think you're t-trying to pull, it's not funny, Mister Sougo, Mister Woz. I just wanted tonight to be nice. Don't ruin it.

    "...Huh?"

    Hibiki glances up, out of her own contemplation to glance between the Kirenai sisters and the pair of Kamen Riders. She has, once again, looped around to looking confused. Did she miss something? "What are... we talking about?"
Kayoko Kirenai "It's normal for people in a relationship to touch each other."

    Spot titters and rocks back and forth on Sougo's shoulder, while Kayoko just frowns uncomfortably. Demon king, Tempter, Father of Lies; Kayoko doesn't recoil or retort like Meika does, since her opinion of Sougo and Woz is already assuming that they're irredeemable. She manages a neutral "I'll be praying for you," while Spot keeps grotesquely giggling.

    "Keheheh. As if you'd know anything about what 'normal' looks like. You can't even *dress* yourself--" "Spot, enough. Get back here." "Keheh. What's the matter? Scared of what the freaks might say to..." Kayoko lifts up her polaroid camera threateningly, and Spot trails off in raspy annoyance, hopping off of Sougo's back with translucent colorful-skin wings flaring out beneath its arms. "Fine, fine, you little..."

"*You're* still a Paladin, aren't you..?"

    Kayoko takes a breath like she's about to step in to reprimand Meika for being rude to someone who's still technically *Kayoko's* superior, but Trudy has just speedran being one of Kayoko's least-liked people, and the old relief of Meika being the one to 'fight' off 'ghosts' is a little stronger than that hesitant urge to defend authority. So she doesn't say anything.

"That is Gregory~ He is my most trusted butler."

    "N-... no it isn't? That's a plant, I can see it, it's not..." Kayoko continues to be baffled by this, until Gregory speaks and she flinches in shock, staring at Sarracenia with wide, confused eyes. "Huh? It can talk?"

"Hey, sis, give- give her a break, okay..?"

    All of Meika's little expressions have been noticed and analyzed, though that's no surprise to her, so Kayoko's aware of every flash of anger and pout and bit of disappointment or betrayal that she shows. Kayoko sits back down to retrieve her ruined marshmallow from where she dropped it in the fire and frowns, blowing out the flames and looking even more disappointed at the result. That's not at all how it's supposed to look.

    Taking one of Sarracenia's skewers and replacing a marshmallow on top of it for a better second attempt, Kayoko makes a small ambivalent noise in Meika's direction. "Maybe I should be more polite towards her, that's true. But it wasn't that long ago that the Paladins and the Refulgence were expressing their worries about you talking with 'terrorists outside the organization' and Miss Tachibana's name came up."
Kayoko Kirenai "Who is Chevalier Cobalt, in your own words?"

    Kayoko stares into the fire unblinkingly, watching her marshmallow slowly turn brown. Once Spot returned to her under threat of violence, she wrapped its head in the plastic bag to keep it from talking-- if this comes with the risk of suffocating it, that's either the intention, or an acceptable price, but more likely she's not worried about that at all. When Woz addresses her with that, though, her spine twitches as if she meant to snap her head up to stare at him, but her face doesn't actually move at all from where she's supposedly looking. Belatedly, after the motion response, she raises her face to look at him with narrowed eyes.

    "*I'm* Chevalier Cobalt. And I don't see why you'd deserve to know anything about her." The shift from first person insistence to third person reference doesn't get addressed. Kayoko returns to staring down at the stake, all ten fingers wrapped around the metal to sort of interlock like she's praying. After a few moments, she continues talking anyways. "... Chevalier Cobalt is a knight. Like how any knight should be. Brave, reliable, good; the shield for everyone against the evil from outside the world. She's... if anyone could see us, then she's the image of what everyone would want to see being out there, protecting them. She's invincible."
Odette Raskins "Oh, so like... somewhere really far north? Or--" "--really far south?"
Odette opens her mouth, closes it, then scrunches up her face. "... Uhh. Is a moon north or south?" She asks in complete puzzlement, looking around after a moment to see if there's any astronomy experts nearby that can help her and Hibiki out with their empty ovens.

"And... Wait. D-does that change if they're moving around the planet?"
Timespace Riders Wait, you're a team of heroes, too? That's so cool...!

    Sougo smiles brightly at Odette. "I hadn't thought of it like that, but I guess! Kamen Riders are... a little more independent, I think. There's more--"

Whatever kind of- of sick prank you think you're t-trying to pull, it's not funny, Mister Sougo, Mister Woz.

     Sougo stops as if he's been struck.

What are... we talking about?

Sougo shakes his head. "The same thing this conversation is ever about, Hibiki." Uh oh.

     Sougo returns his attention to Meika. "I know you don't really believe that what we are, or what we have," he says. "Is the kind of thing that 'ruins' anything. But it still hurts me that you'd lie about it anyway." He sighs, and sets his soda down.

     "There's nothing... that you, or Kayoko, or anyone in the Refulgence, or any Cherub in the whole world can say or do to shame me. I've been there, I've done it, and I'm finished with it. I'm not going back to 'it's just a phase.' I'm not going back to 'you don't know what you're saying.' Not ever."

     Sougo stands up. "Woz," he gently urges. The retainer nods and sets his own drink down, standing to join Sougo, side by side.

     "I'm sorry if that scares you--either of you--and I hope you both get over it. I'm not sorry for being me."

     "Neither am I."
Timespace Riders      Woz's brown eyes pierce Meika for one long, hard moment, naked disdain written all over his face. "You face erasure by the world for the blood and time you have given in its defense, and think to erase *us*, when our every action has worked towards preserving *your* story. *We* are not your enemies."--before his hand reaches for his scarf, as his eyes sweep towards Kayoko.

     A witheringly brief glance, by comparison. "This has been an enlightening outing. I believe it is time we took our leave. Perhaps," he says, his eyes fixing on Meika, "We may talk later, when good sense returns to you," says the retainer, coolly.

     "As for *you*," the retainer asserts, without bothering to use either of her names. Woz releases Sougo's hand, extending his own towards her. Not to take hers--the two of them are too far apart, and it's more like he's trying to show her something, instead. "Behold."

    Woz's Miridewatches aren't quite the Ridewatches that Sougo uses. A Ridewatch is 'was, and is,' and 'is, and was,' at once. A Miridewatch, however, is 'is, and might be.' 'Is, and could be.' A gentle chime follows a soft whir, as motes of white light coalesce in his empty hand. A blue steel pocketwatch with gold trim appears as they wash out. Its square face, set within a round frame, displays a Kamen Rider with a visor framed by a winged helmet, the wings forming the archetypical antennae. It's like looking into another world, or rather, perhaps an alternate future, of--

                                    COBALT!                                    

     "The Chevalier Cobalt of today knows nothing of courage; dancing instead like a circus performer for scraps. Here lies a tomorrow where her shield protects, rather than conceals. Dare you reach for it? We shall see."

     Woz flings his scarf outwards. It expands, impossibly; envelops the both of them, sinking into a singular point in space and vanishing. Their unfinished sodas lie unattended on the wooden benches.
Angela The Magical Girl of Love is about to automatically agree to pray for Sougo (version: victory in his future battles) but then Spot starts talking shit about how Sougo and Woz dress themselves and Love...thinks they dress pretty neat! And then Sougo and Woz go into more detail, well, even Love who is not exactly a smarty does start to get the picture. And honestly...

...There's something...frankly inspiring about what Sougo says. It speaks to the side of her that still turns into a laser spewing snake monster but more than that. She HAS been working real hard to be who she needs to be for the magical girls here. But that moment when Meika gave her the pad...She didn't have to do that, she eemed...to be encouraging her. Why? Because...

It's the cruelty of the very cherubs Love was once desperate to find one for herself that rankles at her most.

"...If they're freaks, they're love freaks, and there's nothing wrong with loving one another." Love says with elemental simplicty core to her very nature, even deeper than her nature as an Abnormality. "Love is Love and it's big and it's incredible and amazing and you're always finding out new ways it can exist inside you and others and that's a fact. You can't just go around telling people their Love isn't normal because Love is the most normal thing of all."

"And that's a fact!"

She points into the distance with her skewer.

"...I don't think I really like the cherubs very much." She adds. They're not really what she expected at all.
Sarracenia      '...Do you always make your entrances that, uh...over the top?'

     Sarracenia giggles at this. "What do you mean? That was just a normal entrance. My over the top entrance involves the Sundew Sovereign and me diving down riding my hammer and leaving a comet trail in my wake." she says, jovially but not jokingly.

     Sarracenia can't help a bit of a giggle at Odette's excitement, but she doesn't comment on it other than with her amused smile. Magical girls are pretty cool after all, and while she may have accidentally totally insulted Meika with her talk of them and dark magical girls Sarra does generally consider them heroes. And heroes are worthy of praise...when they are being heroic at least.

     Odette answers her question, and Sarra smiles to her. "I am sure you will be. Certainly more help than I usually am. I am really only good at smashing things and causing explosions. You can help people on and off the battlefield, and in many other situations! Medics are heroes in my book. Perhaps moreso than warriors in some ways."

     Gregory and Sarra both look confused when Kayoko insists that Gregory is merely a plant. The flinch when he speaks makes Sarra laugh and Gregory frown lightly. Which is very noticable when your entire face is mouth. "Gregory is a plant, but he's also a person. He's also a carnivorous plant, so be nice to him okay?" Sarracenia means it to be a playful teasing, but Gregory does not seem to appreciate it. "...do not listen to her highness. I would not eat a person." he says.

     The description of who Chevalier Cobalt is gets Sarra's attention, and she listens while nibbling on a hot dog that is still on a skewer. "A knight, hm? A noble protector of the innocent and the weak? And invincible as well? She sounds quite amazing." Sarracenia says, smiling lightly.

     Woz and Sougo make quite the exit, leaving Sarracenia speechless. For a few moments anyway. "...circus performer? What did he mean by that?" she says, then looks at Hibiki. "Now -that- was an exit, right?" she says with a bit of a grin.

     Love makes a speech about love, and Sarracenia ends up nodding in agreement. "Well said!" she calls out to Love. The princess is a romantic at heart even if she is often prickly on the outside.
Meika Kirenai 'High courts and military formations are no place for a creature like me, hee hee~.'

    "Okay, Miss Grimm." It's not a particularly hard shift- but the reasoning for discomfort the witch gives stings. Are you saying I'm worse, then, because I don't get to claim that rank anymore? Because I'm enough to cut out, but you, and how you always say you're some awful sort creature or wretch, aren't? Meika scuffs her boots in the coarse sand.

'Say-- what do you know about forest fires?'

    Meika just shrugs, dismissive. "Forests catch on fire sometimes."

    Gregory's approach with the hotdog is met with glaring confusion, mostly, that there's a talking plant- and then a bit of stomach-turning awkwardness that the peace offering she doesn't even want, is something she doesn't eat to begin with.

    "Just- just give that to someone else. And don't call it that? What's-" Meika crosses her arms across her chest. She's looking to Sarra, not Gregory, as she talks. "... That's not fair. Don't- don't show up here, and pretend it's... whatever."

{...You could you know.}

    Those words mix with Meika's own thoughts. Unfortunate as it is, the King of Greed gave a fragment of her attention to someone particularly good at avoiding things like that. Even if it's much, much harder when the prod is from someone else.

    Nervously, she tucks the sketchbook away, out of imminent reach to toss in the fire. She's not burnt out yet, so it still matters, at least a little bit, for now. Meika sticks her sugar-burnt thumb in her mouth, the correct-feeling response to a burn, made sweeter (and grosser) by the remnants of a marshmallow's innards staining it.

'Y-you know. Um. Shows. Animated drama stuff, you know?'

    A guilty, apologetic look. Meika doesn't know anything near enough about media like that to share the enthusiasm. "It's... sweet, I think, that you're excited. And-" An awkward little fidgeting motion with her hands, keeping herself busy. "... It'd be cool for you to work around- there's..."

    She looks frustrated with her words, and how they trailed off, trying to puzzle them together better. She pantomimes a handful of medical technician-y actions, trying to emulate an idea. "You help people not- stay hurt, too? That's really- that's good. Getting to work with others who do that is- would be nice." The most stilted translation of agreement to maybe working together sometime.

'Even something like tonight. Even when it's over and done with, it'll still have happened. Sparks and all.'
'But it wasn't that long ago that the Paladins and the Refulgence were expressing their worries about you talking with 'terrorists outside the organization' and Miss Tachibana's name came up.'

    Meika flinches. "... Yeah. Like tonight. It'll- it'll still have happened." That's always such a double-edged sword. Somehow, Meika's hurting from both sides of it- even if the depth of the ramifications haven't quite all landed yet.
Meika Kirenai 'She's invincible.'

    Meika finds herself mouthing along her sister's spiel. She's far from in posession of the eyewitness perspective Kayoko's dictation describes, but her own feelings of shameful inadequecy fill some of the gaps in the metal polish, and even then it's hard not to be impressed with her younger sister. Invincibility is hard to think about. Sometimes even she isn't sure just how much her sister embodies that- for better and for worse. Right now, though, Meika herself just feels thoroughly, horribly vincible.

> Sougo stops as if he's been struck.
'But it still hurts me that you'd lie about it anyway.'

    Meika's throat feels like a rope is tied tight around it. For the second of his glare she can bear, something between apologetic and frantic crosses her face, because regardless of intent, want, or truth, she doesn't get to talk freely here. Quickly, that metabolizes into dozens and dozens of other feelings of-

-Don't look at me don't look at me don't fucking look at me I don't want you to I never want you to and I hate that you're doing it that way that awful way and I hate that this all and if you keep saying what you're saying I'm going to have to hate you for making me hear them right here and right now where you know it's not so easy and it's not you who's scary and I hate that you can't tell that and I hate that there's nothing at all that turns out okay here and I hate that nothing's right but for it to be my fault no matter what I do or try and I hate whatever made it so you can't see I'm even fucking trying, okay? I am, I am, I fucking am, and it's not you who loses anything if I mess this up, it's me, so why can't you just make this easier, please?

    Complete silence is uncomfortable. The lack of any sound, from any single one of Meika's actions, lends an eerie sense of nondimensionality to her tiny movements, her quickly-shifting expressions of all the ugly emotions facial muscles can show, and wide-eyed frustrated, bile-bittered retributive fury. It's not directed at nearly anything outward, condensing like an ugly borehole through esophagal lining. It's ugly, wrong, and spinal-instinct flinchworthy when the words she finally hacks up are utterly devoid of any imperfections in sound, unhampered by background noise, with cutting acuity.

    {"If you say to my face that you didn't know exactly what you were doing, I'll never, ever forgive you."}

    Unusual for Meika's whispering, everyone present can hear it clearer than day. It's not just to Sougo, not just to Woz, not just to Kayoko, not just to Spot, not just to Sarracenia- a collective promise and collective threat. Unspoken is her capacity to know for sure the veracity of that.

'We may talk later, when good sense returns to you,'

    "Don't treat me like a little kid." Meika's hand is around her opposite forearm, fingernails digging in through jacket fabric. "Don't say 'we may,' like you're just warning me you're about to give up. I hate that." She's blisteringly aware, with how Kayoko has already shifted to resignation, that talking at all like this is willingly swallowing poison.

    That horrible silence blankets Meika again, watching the two Kamen Riders vanish away. She stares at the spot they disapeared from, unblinking and awfully still, for moment and moment too long. The fire cracks and pops in her stead, the waves still crash on, and somewhere, a seagull screams. Finally, one of her shaky, frantic breaths breaks through, and with it, a flare of ugly, festering emotion.
Meika Kirenai     "Y-you know what? All of you just- just leave. Get out. Just leave me alone, okay? This is *my* campfire, I- I just fucking wanted this to go nice, to be right, to just be one b-bright thing before-" Her eyes are wet. It's not at all just from the times woodsmoke blew towards her face. More than anything, she sounds and looks terrified.

    That terrified look doesn't stop her from hitching her long skirt up enough to physically stomp at the campfire with her boots, cracking fire-weakened wood into embers and ashes, and even the influx of oxygen doesn't last long enough for the structural loss to fade the fire's intensity quickly. Her motion softly f-f-flickers as she kicks at it- or maybe that's really just the flames.

    She's frantic, and breathing heavy, when she stumbles backwards, fabric only barely singed from the brief exposure. As soon as her footing is steady, she brushes off her knees- there's no sand on them, nor ash or anything, it's just a nervous habit, and slumps her shoulders even more than usual.

    "It can't get any worse now, right? Right? So leave, and- and don't fucking worry about it. Say and think what you will, yeah? That it- it was inevitable, right? That some screw-up doing something stupid like this totally couldn't-" A sleeve wipes across her eyes. "Couldn't ever make it less of a wreck than she is, right? Hey, Princess? Is that *why* you came? You're- you're all right, if it was, I guess. S-so go home."

    Meika picks up her messenger bag, and kicks over the stump stool she'd been using earlier. The bag is uncomfortably heavy on her shoulder, as she shoves her notebook back inside it. Her voice softens, artificially. "I'll be- be back to Kagoshima soon, Cobalt. Love. So don't-" A shrug. In the moment she's not sure if she's lying.

    That's the extent of words she has for others, standing there and looking at the kicked-flat campfire and its orange-white embers, the one bright object on the beachfront viewline dulling everything else out as all the others leave one by one or two by two, barely noticed. The spiel about fire safety runs through her head, as a part of her hopes it'll somehow spread and burn this whole place down. She watches for a long time, waiting, as the breeze's chill stabs at her bones, but the fire never does anything dynamic like that.

'...It's just like, when stuff burns away, it still leaves something behind.'

    Isn't that crueller than everything being gone? Everything left behind is only, always, just an ugly mockery. She asks, silently, to absolutely no-one, even if others still might overhear. How come that's fair?
Trudy Grimm > "Forests catch on fire sometimes."

    Trudy nods once at that straightforward and objectively correct answer, though before she can elaborate on the point she was leading to-- everything just kind of happens one after the other. It seems like all she can do is swing her vaguely luminous green gaze towards each figure in turn as they contribute to a teenager quite dramatically melting down.

    It all concludes when Meika stamps out the campfire and demands everyone leave. Trudy doesn't. At least, not right away. Calmly, closing those eyes, the witch sips at her drink and waits patiently; silently. The only motion that of her arms maneuvering the can or the occasional kick of her legs.

    She doesn't hear that whispered question. Those despairing thoughts.

    "Ek dreyma umb eldr... Ek dreyma umb dauðl... Hvar stjornur hrjóða grima himinn..." the witch's voice comes out soft and measured, gentle on the chill winter wind.

I dream of fire... I dream of death... Where stars adorn the darkness...

    Keeping her eyes closed, Trudy fades out mid-verse. It's clear she didn't complete the rhyme, perhaps she doesn't care to. At last, her eyes open again, fixated on the guttering embers before her.

    "When a forest burns, it causes great calamity and even death. There is destruction. A scorched land. But... It is not the end of the forest." Leaning forward, the witch slowly gets to her feet, "For the ashes feed new plants and the forest grows anew, greener and greater than ever before. What was burned may have died, but the world is better that they were a part of it and even in death they live on in those who follow."

    Lifting a hand she mutters, "Whether it is forests or people-- the world is like this. Each tree improves the world around it during and after its life, and that is something I think is beautiful. That even the worst scars have the potential to heal so completely." Lowering her hand to her side, the witch casts a glance at the moping magical girl, "Until next time, hmm? I hope the rest of your night goes better than... well."

    Trudy dips a bit and then honors Meika's request to be left alone. As she passes into the greenbelt between the beach and the parking lot-- she pulls a bundle of black from within her sleeve. This unfurls into the sleek black feathered body of a crow which immediately rights itself on her forearm and starts preening.

    As she walks, the witch leans down, pressing her forehead to the crow's when it glances up. She then releases it into the air above her with a rustle of feathers.

    A few minutes after Trudy's left, that same crow alights in one of the trees along the beach in clear view of where Meika's sitting, letting out its characteristic raspy cry. Just an ordinary crow.
Hibiki Tachibana     The same thing this conversation is ever about, Hibiki.

    Hibiki frowns. She still doesn't exactly get what the big deal here is at first.

    Although Sougo and Woz's emotional elaborations help make it sink in, ending with that declaration to Kayoko before making their exit. If that wasn't enough - and it was, with everything from 'what we have' to the way those two stood by one another, and Sougo's mention of Meika's lie hanging in particular - then Love's own words do the job perfectly.

    ...So it's like that.

    Now -that- was an exit, right?

    "...Yeah," Hibiki answers Sarracenia, although it's easy to tell her mind isn't entirely there at the moment. And it remains that way, through Meika's audible whispering, and her stamping out of the fire, and the demand for all of them to leave. The flinch on her face as shoes come down again and again turns into tightly shut eyes.

    After a couple of seconds pass, she pushes up to a stand off her deadwood seat. "I got first-hand experience with screw-ups who do stupid things," she says quietly, towards Meika. "And I don't think anyone had that on their mind, when they came here. Or that they thought it was stupid. If I did, I wouldn't have come."

    "... ...If you regret how things went, don't let them stay like that." Because stewing in that is worse than anything.

    She makes a motion as if she might step closer to Meika for a second-- then decides trying to stay would only lead to a lot more harm than good right now, and makes the rough decision to move away instead. On the way, hands in her jacket pockets, she stops briefly to glance at Kayoko. Her voice is still dry. She never did manage to get a marshmallow.

    "Every time I've been to Kagoshima, the only thing I've thought about was trying to help. I get that there's no part of it that's ever easy. Maybe asking you to believe that is too much, but it's true. I'm starting to get that there's a lot more going on than just Temptations needing to be stopped, though."

    "...If nobody can see you, just what's all the care about Chevalier Cobalt seeming invincible actually for?" Seeming invincible. Not invincible. It's phrased like a legitimate question Hibiki is asking herself as much as she is to Kayoko, and it probably is. And with it, she continues on to trudge back in the direction of the warpgate.

    The question of the moon being north or south will, unfortunately, have to remain unanswered for now. But only for now.
Sarracenia      'Just- just give that to someone else. And don't call it that? What's-' '... That's not fair. Don't- don't show up here, and pretend it's... whatever.'

     Sarracenia mmphs softly. It's not like she was really expecting the peace offering to be accepted, but...so completely rejected and the very idea of it rejected? "If I was pretending it was something, I would have called it a gift or simply offered it without saying anything."

     Then, that whisper that somehow comes out even more clearly than day. Sarracenia hesitates a moment, then sort of weakly says, "I...I knew what I was doing but, I didn't intend on actually -ruining- it. If I thought it was going to fail I wouldn't have bothered coming in the first place! I like beach parties! If it failed and everyone left that wouldn't be any fun! This! This what you're doing now! This is the failure! It's always 'leave me alone'! Don't run away! I may have come here to poke at you a bit, but I was fully prepared to also be wrong and have a lovely time! With you!"

     But, of course Sarra knows that once a party has hit this point there is no recovering. And the party hostess has bid them leave. The princess lets out a growly 'Uuuuh!' before she motions to Gregory. "Come along, Gregory...bring the cooler." she says before heading back to the Dyna. "It was nice to meet you, Kayoko. I hope I have not tarnished your view of princesses any further. Thank you all for the party." she says in a huff. She offers a wave goodbye to Hibiki and Odette as she walks, then the VTOL powers up and the princess and butler are gone.