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No title.
(2013-05-28 - Now)
No description.
Emi Dennou Emi and Shida are sitting iin Cloud Nine. Emi is fiddling with the jukebox whereas Shida has somehow procured what is, basically, a white mage's outfit. She is wearing the latter with the hood back as she sits down in a nearby chair. "Freebird?, Shida of the Network requests this song having heard that it is a popular song to request."

Emi looks back and then rears back with a foot and--

SHIDA INTERRUPT. "Don't kick it. Tifa will be unhappy, SHida of the Network will totally tell on you in other words."

She beams brightly, Emi scowls briefly before nodding to her.
Leida "What is... Freebird?"

The question drifts across the mostly empty room from the doorway. A small figure slips into the pub, its face hidden within the shadows of a deep hood which is attached to a simple cloak. The darkness that gathers beneath the cowl seems exceptionally dense and impenetrable, almost unnaturally so but that could just be a trick of the light. Whatever the case, the mystery of the person's identity is quickly dispelled as the hood is drawn back to reveal the curious gaze of the Asian princess.

Leida glides quickly through the small maze of tables and chairs to join her friends beside the strange boxy contraption. She gives the jukebox a sidelong glance, still not very fond of technology despite the weeks she has spent living in Manhattan.

"Emi-chan. Shida-chan." She greets them each in turn with a deep bow and a fain smile. "I was told I could find you here."
Emi Dennou Emi looks up and over to the doorway. She looks at Za Darkness, but naturally can probably tell from the voice if nothing else by this point. Even so, she doesn't comment until she can actually see LEida. "Leida-Chan, good to see you again. Are you alright? This one was concerned, before." She pauses. "In any event, The Network explains that Freebird is a song."

"I found these in a box, Shida of the Network helpfully informs Leida who was probably wondering." Shida adds.

Emi glances to Shida, frowns lightly, but then glances back to Leida. "Please make yourself comfortable." She adds.
Leida Leida blinks quizzically. "You found music... in a box? Oh... is it like one of those... um... radios?"

The princess is woefully behind on learning the terms for such things. Mostly because she's not particularly interested. She would like nothing better than to find some quiet town in the forests that contains the quaint qualities of life unburdened by techonology but there are a few things that keep her from doing so. One in particular.

She nods at Emi's question and moves to take a seat on one of the many chairs that fill the pub. "Yes... thank you for your concern, Emi-chan. Ah... I am afraid I did not bring any food with me today though. Ming-san has been keeping me busy."
Emi Dennou Radios?

"It is a jukebox." Emi explains. "Jukeboxes are--well, they were not especially common in our world either, but we know of them. The jukebox is a sort of musicbox, yes, in that it has a selection and you put money in to hear the music you'd like from one of the selection. Perhaps multiple selections, if the jukebox is so designed, The Network is compelled to add."

She looks back up and shakes her head. "Do not worry about it. We are glad you've come all the same."

"Come sit down!" Shida suggests. "Would you like us to get you a beverage from the bar?, Shida of the Network notes that it would be strictly nonalcoholic as we are disallowed from purchasing such beverages."

Emi shrugs a bit, apparently not especially invested in booze.
Leida Leida's face is lit up by a quick surge of hope that is short dashed as she is denied the sweet taste of booze. The sake here isn't the greatest but it's better than nothing. The very concept of being required to reach a certain age to be allowed its sweet succor is something that boggles her mind. Not all advances in society are actually steps fowards, she guesses.

"Oh... well... I suppose a drink... would be nice."

As she is already sitting down, Leida just clasps her hands in her lap and waits patiently. She hides a smile upon hearing that her presence is welcomed, tilting her head fowards so her bangs shadow her face much like the hood did before them. The faint hint of red can still be seen on her cheeks however.

"Um... so... how is your arm, Emi-chan? You never did tell me... how you got hurt."
Emi Dennou Emi can't treat to booze, sorry! Also Emi may have noticed Leida gets a bit sour when inebriated. But that's probably neither here nor there.

"It isn't especially notable." Emi begins, but cuts herself off, as if embarrassed, to add, "Though it has worried people, it seems. The Network was blocking an assault on Avira's person from some berserk girl. The Network does not know her story and, admittedly, is uncertain whether we should investigate it." Her arm has healed by now but she's not especially determined to risk it again.

"O, J, O, J." Shida sings as she sets down some money on the counter and pours a glass. "Free clothes thanks to a mysterious benefactor, Shida of the Network sings this song~"

"We are sorry for worrying you." Emi adds, glancing away awkwardly.
Leida "Ah... i-it is not your fault."

Leida looks up and waves a hand dismissively at the air. She puts on an overly sweet smile as well, using her tried and true court diplomacy to try and alleviate any blame that may have accidentally been created by her concern.

"I am... just glad you are well. Though I do wish you would not take such risks...."

And there she goes again with the worry. Perhaps some things cannot be changed. Fortunately, Shida's odd, or perhaps very normal, behavior draws the princess' attention away from such matter. "Oh...? Did you get those... recently, Shida-chan?" She eyes the white mage robes curiously, having seen the sort on occasion during her stay in Flourgis. "They're very pretty."
Emi Dennou Emi says, "This one wants to be of use...but we aren't very powerful or skilled. Of course, it's hard to say we have never been of use, we have helped save this city after all, but even so The Network feels this strange compulsion...Still," She smiles. "Avira said much the same."

Shida spins on her heels, "That's ri--yaahh!"

She hasn't, thankfully, picked up the glass of OJ yet but by spinning around she accidentally stepped on her robe and is tumbling over @_@_@_@_@_@.
Leida Leida sees the distaster unfolding before her. As something of a terminal klutz herself it is a familiar scene but it feels rather odd to be on the other side of it. Is this what she looks like to other people? The thought is horribly embarrassing.

But there's no time to be embarrassed now! The princess flies out of her seat, attempting to cross the distance between herself and Shida fast enough to stabilize the poor girl. But she's not going to be fast enough.

No one else is here. She decides to take a risk.

Leida's eye suddenly flare with dark light as she calls the shadows to her bidding. For a moment it appears as if she too has stumbled but instead the small girl kneels down and thrusts her hand into the tiles of the floor. The ground turns oily black at her touch and begins to flow like water and in response another puddle of darkness erupts from the below Shida.

Flowing like some viscious goop, perhaps reminiscent of pudding, the shadows shoot out of the floor and scoops the girl up in its sticky embrace. It wraps protectively around her in a slimey fist and Leida quickly hops up and makes the rest of the short trek across the bar in leaps and bounds.

"S-Shida-chan! Did you hurt yourself?"
Emi Dennou The Network is not especially sturdy but Shida is pretty unlikely to explode by tumbling over like this. Still, catching her is a reasonable thing to do since she could take a pretty nasty bump.

ZA DARKNESS erupts out of the ground and pudding protects Shida from bonking herself against the ground.

Her face is kinda still D: however--she is now stuck in darkness pudding. She didn't even know that darkness pudding was a thing, but apparently it is! After a few moments of shock she manages to recover enough to cough lightly and say, "N-no. This one is fine. Sorry." She remains very, very still. If she wiggles too much, ZA DARKNESS may become even puddinger.

"We are not accustomed to such long robes, The Network admits." Emi looks over to Shida for a moment before back to Leida. "Thank you." Pause. "You've gotten much more skilled at using that power, The Network notices as they breathe a sigh of relief." She sighs appropriately.
Leida Leida also heaves sharply as it turns out that the Dennou with the bestest smile has not suffered an unfortunate mishap. She also realizes she may have been slightly dramatic about the entire thing now that she has a moment to think about it. The look on Shida's face also tells her that she is not particularly comfortable with this form of rescue.

"O-oh... sorry!"

The princess quickly touches her hand to the pudding fist and it melts away like wax, slowly sinking back into the floor and depositing Shida lightly. Leida turns away from her, rather embarrassed. "I... uh... w-well... I have been practicing..." She twiddles her fingers together nervously. "I did not want anyone to know. I thought they might... i-it could be misunderstood..."
Emi Dennou Shida says, "Can I move or... will that um..." It was rather unexpected. "...uh don't apologize, you saved me!, Shida of the Network flails in an attempt to encourage Leida to not blame herself for doing the right thing apparently??"

Emi facepalms lightly. "...don't worry about it." She doesn't really care about whether someone uses ZA DARKNESS or not as a power set, it's more about what they do with it. "Nobody else was around so you can keep it a secret if that's what you prefer, The Network offers reassuringly upon remembering numerous individuals who seem to use that power but are not especially troublesome anyway."

"It could be misunderstood," Shida admits. "So we understand. But don't worry, haha, we're not bothered." Shida smiles. "I was just surprised that's all. Are YOU ok? Sorry to worry you again. This one will be more careful."
Leida Leida looks down at the floor as the last of the shadows melt away into nothingness. There are certainly others she has met who wield the darkness in one form or another, some of which are decent sorts. Atleast, she assumes they are from what she's heard. But as far as she knows none of /them/ used to be possessed by a malevolent entity that drove them on a slaughtering spree across half the worlds.

They don't have the spirits of countless fallen trapped inside of them, constantly whispering and scratching at the inside of her soul in an eternal reminder of her past deeds. They aren't forced to sit back and helplessly watch as their body mutates into something out of a nightmare legend.

"Yes... i-it does not harm me." She peers up shyly. "Thanks for understanding."
Emi Dennou "We do," Emi says. She thinks for a moment. "Listen, this one wishes to apologize. We have been reluctant to provide you with a clear answer regarding your earlier confession. That has been unfair of us, on reflection. Even so, this one admits with embarrassment that we are not sure on how to either proceed or whether we should." She bites on her lip faintly before glancing over to Shida. "What would be the appropriate sort of relationship for a Network such as ourselves?, The Network has no such answer. When inquired of relationship advice ourselves, our words seem to startle and trouble."

She looks down at the floor and adds, "This is all disregarding the potential risks to one's physical well-being should we engage in such relationships to begin with, but we can presume that it is worth the risk for the sake of argumentation and examination."

She goes quiet for a moment before looking back to Leida. "Finding consensus on how we should handle relationships has not, unfortunately, even close come to becoming a reality. Nevertheless, it is possible that we require experience before we can properly come to agreement. It is also possible we never will. Leida-Chan, how do you feel we should handle relationships? If that is a question you are not comfortable answering, we understand."
Leida The topic shift is so sudden and direct that the princess is startled into wide-eyed silence for some time. Even after several months out of her homeland she's not used to the way people approach sensitive topics here. The sound of fuses exploding and connections reforging in her head are almost audible as she tries to process a response.

"W-well..." She runs a finger through her long bangs, twirling the loose locks around and around in an endless cycle to distract herself from the heavy atmosphere that has settled in the room.

"I have only a little... knowledge of such things myself. I was married once... b-but you know that... even so... my station as royalty meant I had little experience with... um... c-courting..."

The tugging on her hair intensifies a little. She does her best to look at them while speaking but her timid demeanor constantly forces the girl's eyes downward whenever they happen to meet one of the Dennou's unabashed gazes.

"Relationships like this... are not normal. But..." She smiles weakly. "Neither are we. I cannot pretend to know what the outcome of... a union between us would be. Perhaps no one can..."
Emi Dennou Shida sighs lightly and wiggles out a bit to fetch Leida's OJ. Emi looks after and then back to Leida. "This one apologizes to the suddenness but it was a question we were considering for some time." She taps her foot lightly, tilting her head a bit to try and catch Leida's gaze. She fails pretty horribly. To make matters worse, she's not sure Leida is understanding what she means. Whether that's her fault or Leida's she isn't sure.

"Sadly, our uncertainty is even on a more general level than that." Emi says. "Perhaps to be more direct, The Network is not sure whether it should conduct relationships as The Network or as individual ... entities. Does that make sense, Leida-Chan? ... There is more to it than that, but that may be the most basic concern we have been arguing amongst ourselves about since...the possibility has come up."
Leida Again Leida fades into silence. But she is ready for this question. It is something that she has wondered about herself. Trying to think ahead of the implications that might arise from being with an individual whose consciousness is eternally linked with that of their siblings is something beyond her scope. She does not have any frame of reference by which to judge her thoughts.

"I have... wondered that myself," she admits. "It was Imi-chan who... who first drew my attention." The princess' cheeks flush slightly and she looks downwards again. "But Imi-chan is a part of the Network. And so are Emi-chan and Shida-chan... and the others. I do not pretend to understand what exactly that means."

"You have said that you are all one but at the same time different," she continues after a short pause. "Each of you have your charms but underneath... I am speaking to the same..."Leida fishes for a word. "...entity? Like looking at a flame through different colored lenses of glass. Is... that correct?"
Emi Dennou Emi seems intent on settling this. But she isn't adverse to handling questions. Better to be sure everyone's on the same page on this matter.

She doesn't answer as quickly as she usually does on this matter. She glances over to Shida for a few moments who is, notably, one of two rather individualistically minded Dennous. Shida gives Emi a meaningful look before fetching Leida's OJ. She turns, more carrefully this time, and makes her way back to Leida and Emi.

"In essence. But as it stands," Emi says. "We have been unable to reach consensus regarding this topic. This one believes because romance is one of the matters we have been rather individualistic over. This one isn't entirely comfortable in dictating where each particular 'node' goes to for such activities. It feels improper and impolite to us."

"Therefore," Emi continues. "We see four ways of handling the matter. One is to table the matter, but as it stands we have been in discussion on this topic for some time and it would require patience. The other is to simply disregard relationships for the time being."

She looks around a bit, perhaps a bit nervous. After all, The Network is being perhaps a bit 'alien' in how they handle this topic and they don't really want to be judged over it, they've seen enough daytime tv to understand this is a pretty private and complex matter that shoule be kept quiet.

"The other two options are as follows. Simply, The Network admits defeat on this topic and moves forward on relationships in an individualistic manner. That is option three. Were we to take such an option, we would not interfere in any relationships you happened to advance with any particular node. The fourth option...Is to continue forward on the matter as a Network. However do not misunderstand, this one still will not be preventing them from seeking their own romances in such a circumstance, but any particular node would be on call for you in such circumstances."

Emi looks down, rather red in the face. "Do you...have a preference? Or advice? This is rather embarrassing to talk about, THe Network admits bashfully but nevertheless as previously noted, normalcy is not neccessarily what we can expect from ourselves."
Leida The sudden surge in awkwardness is infectious to an impressionable girl like Leida. For every shade of red that Emi's cheeks become the princess goes one step further until it looks like she might actually fall over from lacking any blood circulating through her body.

She stares pointedly at the ground during the time that the hypothetical scenarios are laid out before her, not even able to lift her gaze upwards any more. As each choice is presented she remains silent but her body language gives away subtle signs as to her initial reactions for each.

Merely putting the matter aside will accomplish nothing but to extend the duration of the limbo she's been left floating in. She'd almost rather be simply told that things won't work out than that. But at the same time she still has feelings that cannot be merely pushed aside and being cut off from even the slight possibility of success is equally upsetting.

The last two choices once more draw attention to the dilema of the Network versus the Individual. She's not sure that's a question that she can or even should answer. The last thing she wants is to pressure anyone into doing something that they aren't comfortable with. But they do need an answer.

Leida ponders quietly for some time. That or she passed out on her feet. That would be a new talent to add to her list. But no, eventually she stirs, glancing slowly upwards at the two girls before her.

"Before..." She begins to speak in a soft voice, practically a dry whisper that would have been entirely swallowed up if there were any but the three of them present. "When I made the omamori for you... I made one for each of you. I think... even if I do not understand how it works... I know you are all a part of each other. Trying to love only one of you would be like... falling in love with a single petal on a flower. Certainly.. it is colorful and unique... but it is only when part of the whole... that it is truly beautiful."

She fidgets for a few seconds then lets her hands rest against her lap again. "W-well... that... that is what I... think..."
Emi Dennou Emi is quiet as Leida considers the situation. And then gives her answer.

"We understand." Emi says, as dispassionately as ever, though that's not really unusual for her. "Typically, that is how we comport ourselves. Nevertheles, this is an important matter."

She looks away for a moment, then to Shida--Shida seems a bit nervous, though she's keeping quiet. She offers Leida the orange juice, however.

"Are you sure?" She asks. "Do you accept everything that this entails? As this one said, this one has little intent on disrupting other members of the Network from seeking love. If you are certain, then we will try it."
Leida "Yes... I mean not really... but..."

Leida accepts the drink, suddenly feeling very parched. She tilts her head back and downs the entire glass like a shot of liquor, then ends up spluttering a bit because orange juice is much thicker than booze. She regains her composure after a few coughs and sets the glass aside. It's hard to tell if she did that on purpose to buy time.

"Nrggh...!" The princess suddenly looks upset. She digs both hands into her hair and ruffles it about as if trying to contain her sanity. "I do not know!"

Leida lurches from her seat and wraps her arms around Shida's waist, burying her face in her chest. "A-All I know is I feel an overwhelming sense of comfort... when I am around you. All of you... I do not care if you fall in love with others... just... do not leave me alone... please..."
Emi Dennou Emi blinks several times, now she's confused.

"We have no intention of leaving you." Emi says. "Even if you cannot love us in that way with these noted qualifications, we can still be your friend. Even if the relationship does not work out, we have no reason to abandon you. Please do not allow that to factor your choice. This is purely how you wish to handle romance."

She ain't gonna let you back out that easy!
Leida Leida doesn't let go. She's got ahold of something she wants now, she can see it falling into reach. If that means she has to put up with a little awkwardness or things that people might not understand, so be it.

The princess nods slowly. "I... I understand. I will... love all of you, even if you each... seek the comfort of other people."

It's certainly a complicated mess she's gotten herself into here. For some strange reason she suddenly wonders what her father would think of this. He would probably laugh. Just another foolish decision that will likely lead to more pain in the long run.
Emi Dennou The choice is confirmed. You can practically hear The Network's humanity bar dropping by one level.

"...Understood." Emi says after a moment of contemplation. Shida continues to be hugged all up. She is returning the hug with her arms, but looks over Leida's shoulder towards Emi.

"We can make this work." Emi murmurs, resting a hand on Leida's shoulder. "The Network will attempt seduction."

She gives a small nod to Shida, who returns the small nod and--very tentatively, she gives Leida a kiss on the cheek. Her face is bright red.

"Shida, The Network reprimands teasingly that we have already done more than that. More will be required." She wraps an arm around the nape of Leida's neck and leans in, whispering as dispassionately as ever.

"Would you like to come upstairs with us?" She kisses the back of Leida's neck lightly.
Leida Leida is kissed!

Atleast she got a warning this time. Still it's rather sudden. The tiny girl stares up at Shida and her wonderful smile. And then the another on her neck. If she wasn't completely embarassed before, she's positively paralyzed with the import of what it is that they are suggesting. Her cheeks heat up to what feels like the surface of the sun and she attempts to stare down at the floor to hide her eyes like always. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your perspective) while she is hugged closely to Shida this just ends up planting her face right back into her chest.

She mumbles something that isn't terribly clear but eventually lack of air forces her to surface again and she nods meekly over her shoulder at Emi.

"A-alright..."

 
This scene contained 26 poses. The players who were present were: Leida, Emi Dennou