"What do you mean??" asked the chipper stranger. "I'm new here, so I was wondering if you guys went to school here, 'cause, well, I'm not sure what to do..." She looked off to the side embarrassed. "And if you went here, maybe you could... Help me out?" Xuza was looking to Amatha expecting some wise answer; that the only answer she could give would be wise.
"Amatha... What do you think? Should we let her tag along? She looks lost."
▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ζ▀▀▀▀I▀▀▀▀ζ▀▀▀▀I▀▀▀▀ț▀▀▀▀Ћ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
The man didn't budge an inch in response to Adrian's rejoinder. Instead there was a profound silence which spoke volumes above the old sailor's hearty lungs could pump out. When it looked hopeless Lilith cast her lot. "Death's politics are failing, and so is his system. There's not much else to say about, and the fact that we're dressed like this might put you on edge, but while you judge us there are towns just like this everywhere that want nothing more than to exist unmolested by Death's botched order."
"Take it from me: when I saw the school I had to fight back my lunch because it was so... Stupid. They send perfectly good kids out here to do something inevitably selfish and call it justice. Ha! Like they could actually conceive of an accurate way to distribute souls. That's for gods long forgotten and dead to know and us never to find out."
"... You know, I really like your style around here. Sure, you don't have Wifi but at least you aren't ignorant; you still remember how to get things done. Why, I'm just trying to get--"
"There's a room in back. We use it for potatoes... It's not potato season." The bearded brute tossed them a key and the and Lilith fumbled it in surprise, regaining her posture with a beaming grin.
"Thank you~! Adrian, let's go!" Lilith stopped short of the door to wait for him before heading around to the old storage room. Would the weapon be able to tell this was a product of Lilith's hypnosis?
"Well... Here we are." Lilith was sitting on a sack of flour now. It was the most comfortable thing in the room.
..
Posted: Sun Aug 23, 2015 4:45 pm
Adrian Jones
Light Meter ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇
+ Can absorb and release light (like a stun grenade effect) + Can be thrown and returned to thrower (like Thor's hammer) + Can shrink down to the size of a short sword. + Can release an aura to calm simple minded creatures (animals, unintelligent minions, etc.) + Can absorb light and create temporary weapons or shields for himself in human form. Must be in direct light for two posts before using this ability.
Adrian flinched in surprise at the sudden turn of events, then again this wasn't the first time Lily helped turn a 'deal'. He sighed in relief as he followed her in."Yup, I guess so. I am so sorry about what happened out there, I guess the dwma has a pretty bad rep with some folk."Adrian sat with his back against a wall. He hated having to get his a** saved, he just couldn't get a read on certain types of people."I guess I will stick to closing deals with demons."He made sure to speak quietly incase someone was trying to listen in on their 'guests'."You have such a way with words Lily, but then again I guess that's why you basically own an enterprise."Adrian smiled and yawned, stretching his arms outward.
"Psh, don't worry about these bumpkins. Sure, they have the right idea not to trust strangers--ah, who am I kidding! Look, Adrian, ya did good out there. If you didn't cover up like you did I wouldn't have been able to sell 'em on my bit." She preached a little, but there was some truth to be had there. Elbows walked back uneasily as the Succubus tried to make the most of the situation, effective unsaying with her body what she'd just told Adrian.
"You'll stick to nothing! Look, what do you think would have happened to me if I stuck to a hundred souls a day?" Here she was, at it again with the whole don't settle speech again. "Yada yada, take more than you deserve, blah blah, you're the victim... Sue the bastards! .. Death and taxes are literally one thing now!" It went on in a pattern like this for quite some time. Always was, forever will be hence as long as Adrian remained the quiet little charmer that he has. And while the above amalgamation of Lilith's spiel can't be taken as a serious quote, even in most shorthand dialects, it was nice to be able to do this.
Nice weather for it I mean. There was a lot of dust floating in, which meant there was a profound lack of anything to do and the poor mites had posthumously gravitated to the sinking gravity of the Succubus' flapping yapper. Not only that, but a slight breeze and draft had pooled in the little room to dispel any stuffiness and leave in its place a moist, semi-aromatic gyre of conversation and what the folk around would call "speaking air."
"So yeah, I'm pretty sure this isn't the place, so we'll leave tomorrow. ... But did you see the way those pe--"
A sharp turning of the knob cut Lilith off at the gossip and replaced her sentence's end with something which would make the whole thought seem ridiculous to at least one person in the room. "--Peas! Wasabi Peas! He ate a whole bag in one go! Like, whaat..." The girl at the door blink a couple times
"Well, that must have been quite impressive... Please don't mind my father," she said setting a tray of little assorted chocolate treats and other sweets down on a small circular table near the door, "he can be a bore sometimes, but the people in this village really look up to him." She said this as if passing on the implication hot potato to them before the nonsense bomb exploded in her face.
"Thanks, we'll keep that in mind. ... So, Shibusen: not the best ice-breaker around these parts. Cool."
"Exactly! You'll do alright as long as you remember that... How long I can convince my father to let you stay is another matter--oh my gosh! I forgot, I'm Shasha. It's nice to meet you both. Real foreigners!" She was practically drooling.
"Hey~ ... I'm Lily, this is Adrian," she said point to the weapon with her thumb. "We're insurance reps. Never know what kind of danger you'll come across with Death making enemies; we'll be making friends." She rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.
"Kind of a lame slogan, huh? Too long, right? We're trying to shorten it while still getting our message across."
..
Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2015 4:24 am
Adrian Jones
Light Meter ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇
+ Can absorb and release light (like a stun grenade effect) + Can be thrown and returned to thrower (like Thor's hammer) + Can shrink down to the size of a short sword. + Can release an aura to calm simple minded creatures (animals, unintelligent minions, etc.) + Can absorb light and create temporary weapons or shields for himself in human form. Must be in direct light for two posts before using this ability.
Adrian smiled as Lily lectured him, she was right, mostly. He wouldn't give up because he messed up once, he was just having a moment of self pity. Adrian looked over at the door, giving his most innocent look as Lily's improv skills came to light. He stifled a laugh which came out like a cough. Adrian gave a slight wave as his name was mentioned. He was a sucker for sweets so he couldn't help but take one almost instantly as the two talked. Adrian had finished his half of the sweets before he noticed Lily had stopped talking. He wiped his mouth quickly before turning towards the girl."Shasha."Adrian spoke in his most foreign accent."Have you noticed anything strange around here? We are here to help.
As soon as he'd finished saying this Lilith shot Adrian a look to stop him dead in his tracks. But what was done was done. Shasha had that glassy melancholy swimming in her eyes now which spoke volumes to her troubles long before any words would draw out the silence in the cozy storage room.
"... I wouldn't say strange, but there is plenty amiss here." There was a hush that seemed to drag the sound from the words. Shasha stepped away from the wall as if to distance herself from the suction of hidden ears. She sat down in the middle of the room. She smelled like spring felt.
"Every month strange things happen around the new moon. Father won't speak of it; none of the elders will either, but somehow I think they all communicate the same feelings to each other about it."
"... We don't get many guests. Please, forget I said this. If father finds out I was telling you all this he'd..." As her speech faded a booming tumble of steps crescendo'd toward the main desk, which was adjacent the storage room, divided by a hall which could only be considered a closet in more modern homes. Immediately Shasha jumped up, as if to intercept her father's bellowing call which inevitably came. A quick bow. "... Please, be ready to leave. I'm sorry."
..
Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2015 3:28 pm
Adrian Jones
Light Meter ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇
+ Can absorb and release light (like a stun grenade effect) + Can be thrown and returned to thrower (like Thor's hammer) + Can shrink down to the size of a short sword. + Can release an aura to calm simple minded creatures (animals, unintelligent minions, etc.) + Can absorb light and create temporary weapons or shields for himself in human form. Must be in direct light for two posts before using this ability.
Adrian shivered at the look he got from Lily, he didn't even have to see her eyes to know he made a mistake. He looked at the girl now that she was closer, she was quite cute. Adrian nodded and soon felt bad, if this town was hiding a secret they'd want it to stay hidden. He flinched at the booming voice and Shasha's sudden rise to attention. Adrian watched her leave and slowly looked over at Lily. He avoided eye contact like a puppy that ate his owners shoes and was about to get shamed for it."So umm, I guess I messed up. I am sorry Lily, m-maybe you should take charge of the missions for now on."Adrian knew this might have screwed up the whole mission, would Lily even want to go on another one after something like this?
With Shasha making a hasty retreat the room was only left to entertain two guests in its rusty old customs of stuffiness and quiet "charms." Somewhere a dustmite coughed, and Adrian might just have been able to here it ripple a wake of its own through this lake of awkward water. After some eons of counting their own lifespans away on dust-particle abacuses, a sigh would pardon Adrian from this sentence of silence. "Look, Adrian, you're doing fine, alright?" She started with her mom voice. "These people are just... Weird. Needless to say they're probably saying the same thing about us right now. This is why every business manual says to open a deal by making common ground; people hate what's different, anything, so you have to make them see how similar they are to you as quickly as possible." She looked at him with something of incredulity.
"... You're not using the business model. This is just like any other deal we've done. Remember when we went up North to Ferrous' place? We were so sure he was going to be a jerk we thought ahead, and when you put all that iron in your coffee, you think that didn't make a difference?"
"I know we had time to research him, but still; I want you to apply the same thing here. The only difference this time is we're going to have to learn a little about our people first." She leaned forward, essentially the Lilith equivalent to a Southbilling of a certain red and white baseball cap.
"Ok, so it looks like the guy doesn't like us. I'm guessing the girl is neutral in this, but has a big heart; that's why the gorilla wanted her in here, to check up on us. When she comes back, what will you say? Remember what country we're in. Whatever you do don't mention danger! These people don't need any reason to freak out."
After a while the silence on the other side was beginning to piece itself back together in the form of stomps and crescendoed voices. At some point it sounded an awful lot like one of them cracked into tearfall for a bit before, "Please excuse me..." Shasha again, speaking as she opened the door as if it was her shield behind which many a grenade could be lobbed; as if her true disappointment was in the eyes of Lilith and Adrian rather than her father's shouts. "We're... We're going to have to ask you to leave."
..
Light Meter 
