Scene #9443: Better Kate than Lever

Owner	Pose
UFO Gang	The tooth of a dilapidated lighthouse juts up into a sea in front of a city that's never been inhabited. But that's just a point of reference. The actual action is in Whitby North, a sea-side town some distance south of those semi-legendary ruins - far enough away that it's not really connected to that nameless and empty city, but near enough to be the nearest large port to that city. The weather at Whitby North isn't all that great, but the sea is charming and sometimes it is sunny. And in summer, or the fading dregs of summer... it can be pretty cool. Besides, the young people who live there are somewhat shiftless but have a little disposable income and a lot of search for meaning in their lives. That's what you need to get a stew cooking. A stew of rock and roll. There was some hubbub at the dock when an old-fashioned but apparently new built ship rolled up from a westerly direction, sailing against the wind. Fortunately it was not heralded by mist and dead sailors, but instead by a landing, a mooring, and the careful debarking of an estimable crew of... weirdos. "Alright," states Shou, clapping her hands once. "Are all of you ready!" "Ready!" says Ichirin, who is in front. She is looking somewhat threadbare from having had to wash her clothing in the ocean but is basically alright. "..." says Unzan, who is floating behind her. He gives a thumbs up. One of his cloudy hands is reaching back to grasp the hand of... "rdy!" says a mysterious girl with a sack over her head, and one tiny slit in the front of the sack. This mysterious girl may have some connection to Minamitsu, given her possession of the same outfit as Minamitsu, the same accessory as Minamitsu, the same big anchor as Minamitsu, the same voice as Minamitsu, and the fact that she is, in fact, Minamitsu. "You think you can handle it if you're not seeing the ships right up close?" Nazrin asks Minamitsu, dubiously. "Yeah i'm fine! It's just the small ones! Remember that really big one with all the rectangle blocks on it? I tried to capsize that one but it was way too big!" Minamitsu gives a thumbs up with her free hand!! "Ready," Nazrin reports. "Then, let's all go and get something to eat~!" SOON, AT KATHERINE LEVER'S FRIED FISH: The shop's got a jukebox playing a classic as the trudging train of girls come in. That song: Chuck Berry. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xm3jthxADyo The group troops in in a line, like they're on a tour or in kindergarten. The weird bag on top of Minamitsu's head helps the impression. "We're here!" says Shou with a clap of her hands. She looks up at the menu, joined soon by Ichirin. Nazrin trudges along as well. Unzan sort of compacts himself and tries to look inconspicuous. This is a problem because he is a pink cloud. He's still holding Minaimitsu's hand, though... "Hmm... excuse me... how many fishes are in each 'fish and chips?'" asks Ichirin, a moment later. "Uhh... there's two pieces of fish so... one fish...?" "And the chips, excuse me, we're travellers - the chips," Ichirin continues, "they're..." "... pieces of fried potato." Long pause. Some communication among the girls. "How many --" "Hmm --" "I'm really hungry --" "It looks like it comes with some sort of salad?" "I think I can smell vinegar, is it that?" rutabega cauliflower rutabega cauliflower Shou steps up. "We would like thirty-two orders of Fish and Chips," Shou says, "and five drinks." Silence. "... Do you have cash or a credit card?" the counterwoman - Ms. Lever herself - asks, warily. Shou smiles and reaches into her robe pocket, reaching up and putting down a ruby, a sapphire, and a topaz, all of them in rectangularly brilliant cuts. They twink. Each is about the size of a quail's egg. Miss Lever wordlessly reaches down and picks up the jewels, putting them in the cash register. Silence for several seconds. Then, she remembers to smile: "It's going to be a little bit, so please feel free to have a seat!" As the group shuffle towards a booth with
UFO Gang	As the group shuffle towards a booth with a good view of the restaurant and an Unzan-shaped obstacle (so Minamitsu can take off her head bag), Kate calls into the back: "THIRTY TWO FISH AND CHIPS" ("say whaaaaaat") "and five drinks" ("okay that's reasonable").
Regulus	Sometimes, Regulus gets teased for not having a ship anymore. Her lack of PIRATING LATELY has been a subject of conversation. Regulus isn't entirely sure how she's going to fit a boat in a suitcase--actually she knows for sure a pirate ship wouldn't fit in a suitcase, but it's more a matter of 'where would she keep it?' She lives in a suitcase now. She's not going to move out just because she has a ship because then she won't be ''in range'' if Vertin needs her. Would she just leave APPLe with it?? It's something to think about. And so Regulus has heard that she might be able to (steal) ((borrow)) (((steal))) a boat down by Whitby North. She's never been to Whitmy Northbefore but Regulus goes to lots of places she's never been before. This is just another one! "Lets see here..." Regulus murmurs, stepping into Katherine Lever's fried fish. She's feeling hungry and while Regulus prefers MEAT to fish, she will at least accept fried fish and chips, that's british culture and all. She sees someone she assumes is a ghost entirely because she is wearing a sack and that immediately makes her think of Poltergeist. In fact, if it wasn't for their voices being different and the lack of stutter, she'd probably assume she WAS Poltergeist. Instead she thinks it's a little weird to be around with a paper bag over your head but it's not TOO weird, right? It's arcanist-esque enough for her to comprehend or, more accurately, not comprehend at all but be totally chill about it. "If it's fish and chips you just say fish and chips--" THIRTY TWO ORDERS? "...Are you eating thirty two orders of fish and chips? They'll never get to my order, loves!" She's secretly trying to bum off a free fish and chips off of them.
UFO Gang	Where is Whitby North near? Look, don't worry about it. It's probably England somewhere, or somewhere loosely equivalent to England. There's a gray sky, a gray sea, and someone selling fish and chips. If that's not England, what is? Actually, don't answer that. Several of the weirdos at the large booth turn their heads to look at Regulus. This takes the form of Ichirin and Nazrin, not least because the bag on Minamitsu's head is in fact veiling her identity quite well. Ichirin gasps, visibly, at what Regulus says. "Oh goodness! I had no idea we'd be ordering the entire stock out!" Kate says, "Aw, no, dear, it's fine, we've plenty, but it is going to have to come out in two waves," but she's saying it over the sound of the fryers in the back which are bubbling merrily due to the 32 orders of fish and chips which just came in. Usual throughput is more like six or seven orders, max. Ichirin doesn't hear her. "Let us give you one!" "I'm not giving her mine," Nazrin reports. Ichirin looks at Nazrin with disapproval even as she wiggles out of the booth to hop to her feet. "Don't think like that! If you have wealth you should give it generously; that's how you maintain wealth and cultivate the appropriate attitude to material goods!" Shou looks over her shoulder, as if prompted by the mention of teachings. Ichirin remains in the lead: "Please, though! Let us get you a drink, too." She looks to Kate: "Can you add a drink to our tab?" Kate says, somewhat craftily, "Aye well... I'll do the sums, might have to ask you for a bit more." "It's no trouble," says Shou, sedately, turning further to look at Regulus. "Greetings," she tells her. "We are travellers. Are you a resident of this town?" "Ask her about batteries," Nazrin offers. "What? Batter?" says Minamitsu. "I think I can take this off now, though... Unzan, you're going to just block the window, right?" The pink cloud grunts. Shou says, with a clasp of her hands, "Please excuse our eccentricities. What is your name?"
Regulus	''The entire stock out!'' Regulus feels a brief pang of fear that hanksfully subsides at Kate's assurance. She does her best Little Timmy/Oliver impression and says, "Please ma'ams... I haven't eaten all day, and you've ordered so many, what is one order of fish and chips compared to thirty one?" She pulls off her hat and holds it to her chest as if to suggest her sincerity and then remembers to hastily remove her sunglasses as well. She's being offered a drink as well?! She feels like she might be pushing her luck here! "Oh not this town, no, I'm traveling in search of a ship. My world ... or to be more accurate, my timeline... It no longer exists..." This is actually completely true and Regulus is not above using that to get free food. Then she blinks. "Batteries? ... What about batteries...?" But then her NAME is asked and she flips her hat onto her head and puts her sunglasses on. "I am Regulus, pirate dj and rockstar at your service!" She forgot that she was putting on a bit.
UFO Gang	"It should be fine completely!" Ichirin insists. "We'll hardly notice! We just haven't had any fried food for a very very long time!" "And I'm hopeful about these chips," Shou offers. A beverage is obtained and given - perhaps Kate does not want to push the luck. (It's a fountain soda - not a very big glass it must be said, but it's cold and sweet and fizzy. Hooray!) Ichirin even scoots over and makes room. And Regulus speaks. "Oh!" says Ichirin. Unzan -- is a pink cloud and doesn't react. Minamitsu, who still has a bag on her head, looks over. Shou looks mildly perturbed. Nazrin says, "What's the difference between your world and your timeline?" Shou looks at her. "What?" Nazrin complains. "Express more sympathy to the losses of others, for your own sake, if nothing else," Shou says, frowning. Back towards Regulus. "We damaged the battery of our device for communication. It was inadvertent." "Also, we were on a voyage," Minamitsu offers. A beat passes. She introduces! Now everyone else does: "Ichirin, at your service," says Ichirin with a bow of her head. "The cloudy one is Unzan, he's shy!" "I'm Minamitsu Murasa," says Bag Head, raising a hand. She's addressing a space about ten degrees left of Regulus, but hey, it's a try. "I am Shou Toramaru; it is a pleasure to meet you." "A DJ, huh?" says Nazrin. Something thumps into Nazrin under the table. Twice. Nazrin frowns and sighs: "Nazrin," she concludes, slouching over in her seat afterwards. But it's Nazrin who says, "DJ... that means you play things, right? On the radio." "That's the thing we broke," offers Minamitsu. "We didn't BREAK it... I think... the battery was just damaged," Nazrin says, with the air of doleful patience. She does ask: "Do you have a band?"
Regulus	REgulus is of course inclined to ask for Dr. Pepper. She is unrealistically approving of Dr. Pepper. ''What's the difference between your world and your timeline?'' "Well, the world still exists, but it's the 1920s there now." Regulus says. She imagines she's not really supposed to be telling people that but they're from off world and she doesn't really expect to see these people ver again and she doubts they'd ever have a reason to go to her world either and it's not like she plans on giving directions-- But also it's a dumb rule. "Your radio broke?" Regulus asks. "Hold on, maybe I can fix it. As thanks for the fish and chips! I know my away around radio stuff, if it's a weird design it might take me a bit but I can get it working in a jiffy." She doesn't seem to notice a lack of sympathy about her timeline but it does seem like a hard thing to really entirely grasp to the point that you just kind of have to pick yourself back up or go catatonic. And REgulus isn't catatonic.
UFO Gang	There is, in fact, Dr. Pepper. What luck! Perhaps it was chosen for its medicinal qualities. (That, or it was a package deal from the beverage distributors... the real enemies.) When Regulus mentions the 1920s, Shou comments to the others, "Perhaps a hundred years ago," as if anticipating something. Regulus does seem to have the attention of the group, when she speaks more. And it's Shou who observes, "You don't dress as people did then, do you? I can't quite place your style, though your scarf is quite excellent." "What's that stuff in your bag?" Ichirin asks, leaning over to look. "Be my guest," says Nazrin, getting out the thingy and handing it over. Leaving aside the earbuds, the main problem is that salt water splashed on the back and got on the inside -- there are little screws that can open it up, but will you void the warranty?! (It is probably the sort of thing you can buy for $90 or its equivalent at Interzone Best Buy; but when it's what you have on a ship... it's what you have.) Nazrin says, "I don't understand how they work, exactly, beyond the pragmatic stuff. I know they get a signal and we were able to pass around those ear bud things, and they let us hear other people and talk to them." "I thought it was pretty neat," said Minamitsu. "You didn't even have to have a hand free! Though it sort of had an odd conversational rhythm." "Maybe it was delays?" Nazrin muses. "They told me that happens with the Internet." "A series of tubes," Shou explains to Ichirin, who nods once. Then they look back to Regulus, and Shou asks, "Did you lose your ship, when the... timeline was lost, as well?" "So wait," Minamitsu asks. "You're from the future in your world?" "I think from what she had said, it's more a case that the present disappeared, and the past endured," Shou muses. "Is that how it works?" Nazrin asks. (Ichirin gets up to go get the first wave of fish and chips servings, which is going to take a moment.) Shou glances at Nazrin. Nazrin clarifies, "I actually don't know." "Though this might explain a few things," Minamitsu muses, mournfully.
Regulus	For Regulus the 1920s are forty years ago. But she's accustomed ot people talkjing like this now. "Oh, I'm still a 1960s gal so I dress like a 1960s gal. The swinging sixties! If you're from the future, I bet you've heard of it, it was all the rage, fab miniskirts, free love, miniskirts." Regulus puts her bag on the table and gathers up her tools. She unscrews the screws and pops the lid and she whistles, "You've got it right, love, that battery's shot." She just pries out the battery and puts a new one in. She then puts the cover back on, screws it back in, and says, "Give it another try." It IS possible there's more than one problem, of course. And she predates the internet proper so she definitely doesn't get the series of tubes comment and just taes it at face value. "I'm new to the internet but I made a website." ''You're from the future in your world?'' "Appparently it used to be 1999 so I guess I'm from the past and the future but not the present." She frowns even as she says it. Does that make even a lick of sense??
UFO Gang	'If you're from the future' There is a long pause from the rest of the table, except Ichirin. Nazrin seems to be rocked at this idea. Even the cloud seems to be taking it heavily. Bag Head Girl is too. Shou then says, presently, "I was alive at the time of which you speak, Regulus, but a few more decades passed before I met my colleagues again." Again? She looks towards Regulus. "I see... 1999. That's the Western calendar..." "What's up with the Western calendar?" asks Minamitsu, even as the fish and chips begin vectoring to approach. "It's based on the birth of their tutelary god," Shou explains, kindly. "A sort of avatar, something like the Buddha." Back to Regulus. "Ultimately, these things are all just illustrative illusions. The flow of cause and effect, the nature of things... time is merely a descriptive illustration of the ineffable qualities of existence." Like fried fish. "Okay, everyonneeee! THey're making the next batch," says Ichirin, handing the baskets out. Each of them has...! Two pieces of beer battered fried fish! A good handful of fried chips, which of course are thick stubby fries and not crisps. A small container of mushy peas! Another small container of coleslaw! A lemon wedge! And... A FORK! There is a moment of distribution. Bag Head Lady rolls her bag up to reveal her mouth, which is, fortunately, no more horrifying than a normal person's mouth. There's distribution of bottles of malt vinegar. Shou passes Nazrin her fish filets; Nazrin passes back her coleslaw and pea container. Unzan extrudes some cloud to tug a basket of fried fish over to where he can just sort of... engulf it. Terrifying! At this point, Nazrin takes the radio back. She puts it aside - "Lemme eat, I don't want to get grease on it and break it again --" And slathers malt vinegar over her fried fish, before picking one piece up and eating it with terrifying speed. Minamitsu just stuffs the fish in there with a profound cromch and some chewing. Ichirin uses a fork, like an adult. Shou picks up the coleslaw as well as a fork and takes modest bites. "A website... I've seen a few of those," she muses. "It seems like a difficult undertaking. Well done to you, for creating one. Although... was your ship left behind in the Nineteen Sixties? This is only a period of thirty years... it may still be afloat, though if it was not cared for, it might be too damaged to repair easily."
Regulus	''What's up with the Western calender?'' "I dunno, mate, if it were up to me they'd stick to one calender but I do prefer 'the Swinging Sixties' to the 'Swinging 8360s or whatever the like. Course the owrld's been around far longer than just even those number of years." She's a British DJ from the 1960s and while she considers this talk to be 'Far Out', she probably isn't converting any time soon. Regulus has a healthy appetite but even she can only handle two fish and chip orders max. She starts with one. The Dr. Pepper will help. She looks towards Bag Head Lady and asks, "You're a ghost right? That's why the bag on your head?" It's a bit of a leap of logic largely because Poltergeist doesn't need to do that actually. "I know a ghost too who'se really nice. You might like her." ''Was your ship left behind in the Nineteen SIxties?'' "Yeah, though it sank first. Cannon blasted it apart and I had to escape or I'd be at the btotom of the Thames too."
UFO Gang	"Yeah! Swinging Sixties! It sounds cool," says Minamitsu the Bag Head before stuffing some chips in her mouth. "Until lately, the common practice was to count from the emperor's rise to the throne," says Shou, continuing. She takes a sip of her own soft drink. "Huh? Kind of!" Minamitsu says. Before she leans forwards, bag still on her head. "HOW DID YOU KNOW." Ichirin looks at her. Looks back to Regulus. "Oh, she doesn't always have the bag on her head," Ichirin explains. "She sometimes gets a kind of, hm, it's like this really strong... impulse! To... do something, that isn't nice to do in the harbor, and since our ship had to actually go in there, instead of flying in land..." "I still think we could've saved some money that way," Minamitsu pouts audibly. Nazrin detaches one of the earbuds and raises her hand up to nuzzle it into her mouse ear. Because she has mouse ears. It really makes the phone a problem. After some more fiddling... <J-IC-Scene> (NPC) Lucius says, "It's unusual, but sometimes enduring great suffering can hinder the cultivation of the soul." "It works," Nazrin reports. Shou brightens visibly and says "Thank you so much," as she turns back to Regulus. "That is sad... is the Thames a deep water? I am not familiar with the name," Shou says. "Our ship was made by our teacher, who is not presently with us; but Minamitsu... I should not tell her tale for her." Minamitsu finishes chewing and slurps some of her soda. "I drowned and became a really rude ghost," she tells Regulus. "Is your friend like that? Is she plagued by suffering?" "If she's making friends, she can't be that rude," Ichirin muses. "It is not for us to say what makes a friendship meaningful," Shou concludes, primly. She also finishes eating her coleslaw.
Regulus	''HOW DID YOU KNOW.'' "The ghost I know also wears sheets over herself with cut out eyes and everything." Regulus nods slowly. "Maybe ghosts are just predisposed to doing stuff like that?" Well Poltergeist is also just very shy, and Regulus is aware of that, but that doesn't mean it's the only thing right? ''She doesn't always have the bag on her head.'' "But she has it on her head sometimes." Regulus points out logically. "Why do you--YOU have a ship already?" It didn't occur to her that there was no reason they couldn't have a ship. ''I drowned and became a relaly rude ghost.'' "Kind of. She drowned but became a really adorable ghost." She would feel bad pointing out she's also a socially anxious ghost.
UFO Gang	Minamitsu contemplates this. She may be imagining it. Visualizing this Poltergeist person in her head. Honestly, it's pretty easy to imagine. Just imagine a big sheet standing up like someone's in it. Her lips purse. BUT: Do they have a ship already? "I do," Minamitsu says. "She does," Ichirin concurs. "..." Unzan says. Shou purses her lips at the mention of adorableness. She rocks her head a bit to the side, and eats a piece of fried potato. There is meditation on the matter. At this point Minamitsu unrolls her sack and shakes her head out, revealing...! She actually looks completely normal! Well, other than the somewhat cutesy outfit. She even has a hat on, despite the bag sitting in a manner that might suggest she did not. Perhaps this is ghost power. "Mm... I drowned too," Minamitsu says. She doesn't elaborate. Shou finishes eating her chip. "Minamitsu... Would you mind if I were to offer Miss Regulus a ride upon our ship, in thanks for her aid?" Nazrin shifts over, and then ducks under the table, before crouch-walking her way out to extricate herself from the booth without standing up. This is probably a sign of great flexibility, though it helps that she's short as hell. "You did save us a lot of trouble with doing that," Nazrin says to Regulus. "After this, it's pretty much just getting supplies." Nazrin glances at Shou. Shou nods. Nazrin continues - "Don't worry about the details too much, but we're trying to get something that's at the bottom of the sea. I guess a better way to put it is that we have to get at something... we were able to find its location, but it was so deep we couldn't even drop anchor." "Super deep," Minamitsu agreed. "Did you know how deep?" Ichirin asks. "No idea," Minamitsu says. "We'd need a super super long rope even to do it at all!" "I hope what we're looking for is going to come up, because if we have to go down there, it's going to be a pain," Nazrin continues. At this point, Kate interrupts: "Next round is up, luvs. You, er, with the ears, can you get them for your mother and her friends there?" Nazrin turns her head to give her a squinting look, before trundling over to get the goods. "Do I really look like...?" Shou muses, even as Ichirin says, "If your ship's sunk, though, getting it OFF the ocean floor would be a great way to practice!" "Yeah!!" Minamitsu enthuses. She does look back to Regulus herself, now. "Oh uh -- we can definitely give you a ride someplace if you need it. Actually, we should probably look for a big city or something." This seems to get some general accord from the table.
UFO Gang	Unzan, at this point, slowly reaches forward to engulf a fizzy drink. It is drawn backwards into the pink cloud. Maybe this kind of stuff is normal to Regulus, but there's a reason they put several girl-shaped youkais between Kate Lever's countertop and, you know, the strange cloud spirit ghost thingy. slurrrrrrrp
Regulus	Regulus sighs at her misfortune. They already have a ship! And she doubts they're willing to give it away to a down on her luck pirate they just met. The world is so unfair to Regulus, Regulus tells herself, what has she ever done so wrong to deserve such trouble besides continuously run away from people claiming they wanted to help her (and take her philosopher stone which she STILL hasn't gotten back PURELY on the basis that she stole it in the first place.) ''Mm... I drowned too.'' "Oh. Sorry." Regulus rears up to start singing a song from the 1960s to try and soothe the feelings of a drowned girl but the inspiration isn't really hitting her and also it probably wouldn't work this time. "I guess it's going around." She blurts out stupidly but she doesn't groan about it after. Always better to act like you did the stupid things you did on purpose, that's better than doing stupid things on accident after all. Everybody knows that. [ansi(243,''Would you mind if I were to offer Miss Regulus...'')] "A ride?" Regulus came to obtain a ship not get a ride in one, but it is a soothing offer all the same. It's been so long since she felt the waves under her feet. " ''Unzan.'' Regulus has a flying apple for a first mate. Unzan is a level of cartoon she's accustomed to but it does make her feel a little better because APPLe isn't here right now. "I'm pretty sure it's lost to the Storm now, I don't even remember exactly where it sunk but I appreciate the offer." Regulus says. "Well if I can't get a ship here, at least a ride wouldn't be bad at all."
UFO Gang	There is the background noise of hungry youkai eating french fried potatoes and also french fried fish - technically, though, it's more of a Spanish/Sephardi fry, if you look into the details, it's all rather interestingly multi-culti but they sure don't know about it. "Haha!" Minamitsu laughs, about drowning. "Listen... I don't let it bug me. I just try to be mindful of the present moment, yeah? I mean, the past happened. It was horrible... even if some stuff was good, too. There's always going to be bad things that happen, and then they'll end. That's the other side: Good things are going to happen, and then they're going to end, too!" "Impermanence," agrees Shou, before eating more of the chopped-up slaw. "HOWEVER," declares Nazrin as she marches back, her head entirely hidden behind a tray of orders of fish and chips. She does offer Regulus first choice, not least because everyone is still eating, although Ichirin leans over to grab one herself. She's already on seconds!! "Even if we don't have any use for money... we do need help, ourselves," Nazrin continues. Shou looks over, frowning but only slightly. Nazrin continues. "You're going to need to help us find a big city. And... this one's just asking, so don't feel bad if it's a big 'no'... Do you know anyone who can reach the bottom of the sea?" "Without drowning or being squashed under millions of kilograms of water," Minamitsu says. ("What?" "Yeah," Minamitsu explains to Ichirin, "water doesn't stop being there just because you're under it. You still float but if you go down really far, you still have all that water on top of you, and you're not made of water." "I thought we were mostly water." "Yeah but all the parts that aren't water." "Such as?" "Like your bones." This makes Ichirin pause to think. She does have bones. At least thirty, she's pretty sure.) "What she said," Nazrin continues. "Do you want the whole story, or... do you trust us?" Nazrin says this while being sneaky vermin and looking kind of obscurely smug and untrustworthy. At least the other ones seem less shifty.
Regulus	"I guess that makes sense." Regulus says to Minamitsu though that just seems, to her, to be another way of saying not much at all. Good things happen and bad things happen? Sure! She doesn't want to bother a ghost girl by questioning whether that's something deep and zen and thoughtful or just something self evident to anyone. Shou just summarized it all with one word. Regulus gleefully helps herself to naother fish and chips. Even if she can't get a ship out of this at least she didn't have to pay for food. And she got to tinker with a radio. Good times. "Yeah money's just money you know? It's the bureaucratic middle man of getting things you want and need. Not too exciting to get worked up over! Though I do need to get a space cache of sharpondonty." Must be a local currency of some kind. "Sure, sure, any big city work or one in particular?" Regulus asks. "The bottom of the sea though? I'm afraid not! --Oh, maybe--well no I think you'd still be drowned or squashed." ''Do you want the whole story'' "How long is it? I'm happy to hear you out but I already trust you, so if it's not really that important if it's gonna take a while..." Regulus is a pirate who can lie but she is pretty honest about some things.
UFO Gang	Sometimes Zen is like that. To truly understand Zen is not to understand the bullshit, nor to understand it's all bullshit, but to understand that bullshit and Zen are both the same thing: Nothing. It makes sense if you sit in a temple about it for ten years. "Right?" Minamitsu agrees enthusiastically! "It's pretty easy for us to say that, though," Nazrin says. She then waits. For someone to bite at that. But Regulus has already moved on to the others. Shou says, "To your first question... the nearest which is on the sea, I think. Or, if you know of a great capital and crossroads of the many worlds, that would also do well for us, I think... even if it is further away, we have our infallible guide." Shou smiles at Nazrin. Nazrin, whose line was left un-taken, is drooping, but she does at least sigh in reception at the compliment. "That's fair," Ichirin says, pursing her lips. "We just don't want to deceive anyone else who we're working with, unless it's vitally necessary to protect the lives of others." "We had an extended discussion on the matter," Shou states. Pause. "But if you have already given us your trust... Well!" Shou turns then, and heaves herself up with the staff she's been carrying around ever since she came in here, despite seeming, like, thirty or thirty-five tops? She doesn't even have gray hair! Maybe it's something else. "I think that this calls for a moment of observation, and so, I shall obtain desserts." (Nazrin hups into Shou's abandoned seat.) Ichirin then asks, "Sharpodonty...? Can we get that if we have jewels?" "We technically have an unlimited number of jewels," Minamitsu says, beaming. Unzan grunts at this, and Minamitsu's head whirls around: "Oh HUSH I know it's not literally unlimited, but if you live a thousand years and can pull a dinner out of the Dinner Bag every single night, that's a finite quantity but only because you die!" The cloud seems to be frowning. Did it just... shake its head? Ichirin does explain, "We wouldn't expect you to take us to the bottom of the sea, but we would appreciate the suggestions. And if we find a safe way, you'd surely be welcome." In the background, Nazrin is eating Shou's food.
Regulus	Regulus has a different sort of zen but she probably has never been in a temple in her life. Monks take vows of silence right? Regulus clearly took a vow of loudness. "Well if it's the nearest on the sea, I can do that easy. I brought maps on the way over and I'm a genius navigator if I say so myself!" She waits a moment before ralizing APPLe isn't here to do the routine with her. And she doesn't seem to be the sort of person too fussed about backstories. This hasn't burned her in the ass yet because she never needed to know backstories before. She certainly isn't going to offer hers up though with Regulus there's decent odds she somehow doesn't know it. r''Can we get that if we have jewels?'' "It's an arcanist currency, but probably. Usually it's traded for stuff like alchemical materials but arcanists need proper cash too."
UFO Gang	There is an obscure look of sympathy on Ichirin's face. She may not know of APPLe and his marvelous strengths and mysterious potentials. Indeed, she probably does not know of him at all, save as a passing reference, at some point. Even so, she can see the pain of a missing friend. "Alchemical materials?" Ichirin asks. "Like mushrooms and herbs?" "If it is Occidental Alchemy," Shou muses, "perhaps the jewels themselves might be reagents. I heard a legend, once, of a queen of the far land of Egypt, who drank wine with diamonds in her cup." This meets with general silence. (Nazrin steals one of Minamitsu's fish fillets.) "Applesauce," Minamitsu frowns. "You'd tear up your throat." "Perhaps they were crushed?" Shou guesses. "You can't crush diamonds, they're super hard! And that'd just be even worse--!" SOON ENOUGH, desserts emerge to go with the bounty of fried fish. Fortunately, these things aren't made out of fried dough, but rather out of good healthy milkshake! Yes sir, a slightly different consistency of ice cream, and like a pound of it, too. That's healthy! It'll build strong bones, and arteries too! "Be sure to purchase some fresh bedclothes for our guest when you do the shopping, Nazrin," Shou informs her. Nazrin stops chewing, and looks up at her. "Cheers!" declaims Minamitsu, holding up the milkshake glass. AND SO, A MISADVENTURE BEGINS...