[OP-F24] Start of a New Spring

[Bistro 0]

Bistro whistled as the heart of the party came back, returning to their circle. So much for starting the conversation, but at least there was order now. With a bow, she began to introduce herself -- even dropping her real name. The broker raised an eyebrow, thoughtful for a moment, before resolving to commit that to memory. One could never be too overly-cautious with picking up new information.

A weapon. Just more to take note of. With a few flicks of her menus, she pulled open a small cloth-bound tome and a black fountain pen, starting to take notes. The woman watched as Azhoda seemed to flex, humming impressed, before glancing over to another, who'd been distracted the whole while, chatting with someone beside him. Low level, huh?

She penned it down anyway. Might as well -- there was always the potential that new adventurers could turn out to be somewhat promising. Sliding the pen into her pocket, she kept the tome in her hands, finding its weight comforting and familiar.

"Guess we're only sharing what we're fine with, right?" The player queried, placing her fingers to her chin. "Eh... I'll play along. I've already said it earlier, but if you didn't catch it, I'm Bistro. My real name's Bianca Fontenot, though I doubt we'd have any use for it." The woman grinned, coupling it with a muffled chuckle. "I'm an info broker, if it wasn't obvious enough already. Uh-- weapon?" She extended her arm outwards, half-heartedly offering her tome up with a smile. "This, I guess. I could bash it over the head of enemies, right?"

A shrug, as Bistro scanned the group. "I'm mostly taking notes on what's happened in Aincrad in the past. Keeping track of what goes on in the castle could lend us some clues about what there might be in the future. Also..." With a wince, she gently brushed her fringe away from her face, the hair prickling into her sights uncomfortably. "I'd plug my shop right now, if it wasn't undergoing renovations."

The woman drew out her pen once again, opening her tome to a fresh page. "Right. Questions, questions.... Eh..." With a shake of her head, she sighed, twirling the pen in her hand out of habit. "Most of my curiosities lie with the front lines, having heard that they've been silent for a bit. But I'll take almost anything anyone's got. What're the most recent expeditions any of you've been on?"

[Andromeda 0]

An did a double-take. Then a triple-take. She rubbed her eyes to be sure. Shion?! The scary lady who could look so relaxed in the combat zone and also possess all the assertiveness and ferocity of her least-favorite boarding school teachers remained an obnoxiously fresh memory in her mind. Shion... all things considered, they had that nice picnic afterward but -- the poster clasped between her hands fell limp as her shoulders visibly sagged. An was going to do something that would have the danger end of the spear pointed at her again, she bloody knew it.

There was no way she would have the courage to approach the woman in any usual scenario... in the first place, they didn't have much to do with each other. But as her resolve petered out, the sweetest temptation of delicious flavorful barbeque served flaming hot from the grill coupled with a cold tea or two could trump any sort of logic. 

Mmm...

When was the last time she had anything other than cup noodles and boring plain sandwiches?

She was a bee drawn to honey. Channeling as much of her high-class manners as she could, An arrived dressed for the occasion. Semi-formal for an acquaintance's garden party with no explicit dress code was always the safest bet. A simple ruffled blouse tucked into a long skirt; complete with stockings, furry boots, and a brown coat for the chilly weather. She kept her silver hair loose, having ran a brush through it earlier, and she dematerialized her rapier and shield as soon as she approached the gate.

This was still okay, right? It's not like she lacked the social skills nor the courage to walk confidently into a party involving people she absolutely had no connection to sans the host. An almost turned tail and fled back to the comfort of her empty shop when the NPC(?) guards eyed her as she entered. No, seriously, guards? By IRL standards, Shion would be as rich as...

The smell of barbecue wafted over to her and the teenager hesitated no more.

"Good day, Miss Shion!" She spoke up when the conversation reached a lull. It was common courtesy to greet the host first and then slink off to a corner and quietly eat food for the rest of the party. The casually-dressed woman was already surrounded by a small circle of partygoers -- friends? -- and unsurprisingly, An recognized none of them. "Good day to you too," she acknowledged the rest with a nod, but for the moment, her attention remained on Shion. The road to her food was hopefully a short one and she already had a plan in place:

Step 1: Make polite small talk.
Step 2: Excuse herself, somehow, and make a beeline for the food.
Step 3: ???
Step 4: Profit.

Perfect.

"I never knew you had a fancy place like this!" she said with a sincere smile... then almost immediately backtracked. "Ah, uhhhh-- I mean... I didn't meanyoudidn'tlookthetype, but this must have cost a fortune! You even have guards and everything! Any special reason why you chose this floor?"

[ooc: @Azhoda tag for direct interaction. i actually had this post saved up in my docs ages ago when the thread was first put up, so oop-- let's hope this isn't an unnecessary bump.]

[Bistro 0]

Thread Summary

# this thread hasn't exactly seen activity and i doubt it'd be up for it in the future. on the other hand, there's a few players who'll receive sp from it, and since they're taking part in the floor boss fight, i hope this little boost may help. feel free to contact @NIGHT with regards to grievances.

Quote

[Total]
Azhoda, Calrex, Pinball, Bistro
+2SP

Spoiler

[Thread Tally]

Player	Count
@Azhoda	4
@Calrex	3
Cordelia	1
Spangie	1
Raina	2
@Pinball	3
Atzo	2
Baldur	2
@Bistro	3
Andromeda	1

[Misc]
Quarantine SP Bonus!
+1SP