Conversation Space: The Ultimate

[powersthatbe]

You feel as if you've stepped through a door.

0 Ⅰ Ⅱ Ⅲ Ⅳ Ⅴ Ⅵ Ⅶ Ⅷ Ⅸ Ⅹ Ⅺ Ⅻ ⅩⅢ ⅩⅣ ⅩⅤ ⅩⅥ ⅩⅦ ⅩⅧ ⅩⅨ ⅩⅩ

Comments

I. The Magician

[powersthatare]

On a stage, under bright spotlights, with an invisible audience, are a pair of chairs - plush black velvet, in the shape of an upturned tophat, cut in half down the middle. The coffee table between the chairs has a white-tipped black cane, a slender dueling saber, a silver buffalo-headed nickle the size of a saucer, and a bejeweled golden cup full of what looks like rich, dark red wine.

[inventivepaladin]

So, she was just pulled out of her wanderings to come to this strange-looking place. What the quiznak. Pidge takes a couple steps toward the chairs, one hand on her bag strap, the other near her side, to summon her bayard if necessary.

Rover 2.0 hovers over her shoulder, beeping nervously. "You said it. Shiro's going to be so mad. I just hope Claudia can calm him down. Hello? Anyone here?"

[powersthatare]

"Just me." In one of the chairs, looking pleased with herself, is ROSE, appearing exactly as she did on the Grid.

[inventivepaladin]

Pidge startles a bit, almost summoning her bayard, but holds back.

"ROSE?" She hadn't actually seen the head Miner on the Grid, but she's definitely recognizable. "What are you doing here?"

[breakaleginhalf]

"Nope."

Gil is immediately backing away from the chairs, and he is gone towards the wings. His hooves echo on the hard wood as he storms away; his tail is stiff and straight up, his bat-like ears flat against his head.

"Fuck this."

But if the stage is empty, maybe he still has time, maybe he can escape before the Faerie that has clearly kidnapped him again shows itself.

[rosewater_path]

"Easy there, cowboy!" a voice calls out from behind him. A woman in a white vinyl bodysuit with blue LEDs - not to mention the blue hair and silver glitter - is perched on the edge of one of the seats, looking after him with a slightly baffled smile on her face.

"You're just here to talk. Well, here here."

[breakaleginhalf]

The voice makes him flinch, and he turns sharply to glare back at her. But the snarl building in his throat dies in confusion at the woman's... everything.

Fair Folk didn't do LEDs. Or electronics in general. Bioluminescense was more their thing. And vinyl?

At least Gil's stopped. "...no thanks." He lifts a hand to hold well over his meagre height, and his voice projects very nicely as he adds, "I've had it about up to here with your lot. I'm out."

Re: I. The Magician

[biiowiired]

The light was much too bright for a nocturnal person to comfortably look at, but he at least ascertained that it was some sort of display for his benefit. Dare he say, a set up. He took one sweeping look around and ducked into the darkest shadows near a wall so that even his yellow jumpsuit and four orange horns were a little less noticeable.

Panic began to rise. He didn't remember being trollnapped, so he must have been drugged. Strange that he didn't feel dizzy. Reflexively he touched the back of his neck through his bodysuit, but there was no new slave brand aching there. In fact, he seemed completely unharmed and unrestrained. Big mistake, he thought.

But before he blew the top off this joint and exposed himself as Alternia's most powerful telekinetic mage, he thought he'd better make sure there was no one around who would turn him into a helmstroll.

[powersthatare]

"Greetings, Program!" When he's finished turning back around, a blue-haired woman in a white vinyl suit is sitting crosslegged in one of the hat-chairs. Silvery glitter covers her skin, and an alice band on her head holds a pair of candy-corn shaped horns.

[biiowiired]

Where the fuck did this fangless glitter-covered alien(?) come from?

"Give me a good reathon why I shouldn't vaporize you," he hissed.

[repeatitinred]

As he appears in the room, Ushiromiya Battler looks...angry. He is, however, a young man of a good upbringing, so he will quietly and politely make his way over to one of the chairs. "Are you the Magician?" He will ask it politely, and then look at the other chair to await her permission to have a seat.

[rosewater_path]

"Smart boy. That's me." She appears in the seat opposite him as she speaks, blue-haired and glittering, dressed in skintight white vinyl.

[repeatitinred]

"So, you're one of the powers that brings all of us here, is that the case? You choose us for your little games?" He has taken his seat across from her. The tone in his voice is measured, like he is about to lose whatever composure he has.

[paragon]

Steve steps onto the stage and stills into the tense posture of someone who's used to the strange turns the world can take on a dime, but isn't always thrilled about it. It's not a defensive pose — his arms are down, his chest, his back, his neck, all of him left exposed, but few would get the impression that it's anything less than ready, his brow furrowed and mouth turned down as he takes in the tableau with a strategist's gaze, touching nothing. He doesn't wince at the spotlights, but tries to look past them for anything beyond the stage.

[rosewater_path]

"Over here, cowboy," a voice says as he peers into the darkness. A blue-haired, glittery young woman in skintight white vinyl is sitting in one of the seats, legs crossed, totally at her ease. "The rest is just window dressing - I didn't bring in an audience."

[verdeleonessa]

Pidge was informed about this beforehand. She hadn't completed her analysis on what Arcana might have marked her, especially with her lack of knowledge on Arcana, but she has to admit that whichever it was, they had an interesting style. Of course, she might have been marked by the same Arcana that the previous version of her had been, but she doesn't want to make assumptions just yet.

She takes a few steps further inside, looking around. "Hello..?"

[powersthatare]

"Hello, Ace," a feminine voice chirps, and a white-clad woman with blue hair and glittering skin appears on one of the seats, perched on its edge. "This is a first this round. Good to see you again."

[verdeleonessa]

Oh, well, that greeting does certainly help her figure out fast who this person might be. "When you say again, that means you're Magician, right? The one who had marked the previous me as well. It does make sense, considering we're the same person, just... different versions I guess?"

[teamblue]

An empty audience, and a setup on the stage that doesn't look so much like a pending performance as a good place for an interview?

It's interesting aesthetics. Drake has learned by now that every space that is distinct is owned, which means this place belongs to someone too.

"Hello? I don't want to trespass. Is someone here?" It's only polite. If nobody answers, he is so going to trespass, there are things to check out.

[powersthatare]

"Me," a voice says from one of the seats, and there's a woman there, suddenly, with blue hair, glittering skin, and white, plastic-like armor lined with cyan LED lighting. "And you're not trespassing. I invited you. You know, the same way we ask for volunteers."

[teamblue]

The sudden appearance of someone he's certain wasn't there before is a surprise, but people have been sneaking up on him SO MUCH lately that there isn't much beyond a slight start.

She's got a lot of blue going on, and in Drake's immediate assessment, this puts the stranger a slight bit higher on his estimations. "Compulsory volunteering." Well, that's nothing new for anyone in the junkyard at least.

"Are you one of the Arcana?"

Heck yeah harassing time

[breakaleginhalf]

Gil steps through the portal, and there's a dry grin on his face when he sees they're in the right place. He still kind of hates the Arcana as a concept, but when that initial shock had worn off at least his own patron has an aesthetic he can appreciate.

"Alright, nice." He looks back over his shoulder at Matthew. "Welcome to casa de Extra As Fuck."

[comebewe]

Matthew follows soon after, closing the portal behind them. They look around, curiously inspecting their surroundings.

"You'd think she was about to pull a rabbit out of a hat," he remarks idly.

[awitchdidit]

Beatrice isn't entirely sure of how to enter "Conversation Space" of her own volition (although if she'd been aware that those other two jokers had managed it she could probably deduce the method), and she's certainly not going to try and do so to her own patron without an invitation. Hospitality has kept her alive in this place, and she's not going to go violating someone else's. Instead, she begins by securing a room in her own private space with a lock and Color Magic wards, and speaking directly to the Mark on her forearm.

"ROSE? I believe I'd like to have a chat. I recognize we're coming up to a critical time for you and wanted to discuss some options. Your place or mine, of course."

[rosewater_path]

There's no reaction at first, but then there is - an intense awareness of her Mark, like suddenly realizing you can see your nose or feeling the weight of your tongue in your mouth. With it comes a sense of... anticipation. Not attention, not like a connection opened, but a shadow on the floor on the other side of a closed door. Waiting for something more to bridge the gap...