[Fable]

WORD COUNT: 690

Total:             690

TAGGED: Fluffy

A pair of legs poked up over the edge of the couch, with a pair of high heels securely fastened on either foot. The heels weren't extraordinarily slanted, just ever so slightly. The laces were tied meticulously, almost seeming pedantic. From the boots, a pair of stockings went down over the edge of the couch, to the person lying there on her back, sideways. All in all, it looked slightly uncomfortable, yet also extremely comfortable at the same time. Like someone had simply allowed the world to drop her onto the couch, and she hadn't bothered to move since. If one was perceptive, they might notice a few skid marks on the floor where the couch had it's legs, indicating that the young female had very much catapulted herself lazily into place. More interesting perhaps, was that out over one side of the couch, was a large white bushy tail, currently swinging idly from side to side. Out over the edge of the opposite side - only visible because the couch had been moved from its intended position - were a pair of large fox ears. White as the tail, yet with black tips, that even spread a pattern down to the root of her ears. Kurama, or Fable as she was known by friends, people she told, people she didn't tell, people she shouldn't tell... was lying there, almost uncharacteristically quietly. Hardly moving, breathing focussed, eyes peeled, as she stared directly at a manga. The Black Kitsune Ninja. It was a manga that she had, incidentally, began reading while travelling around together with Okami-kun. Often times there would be a long period in which she couldn't be doing things too far away from their means of transport, without getting lost and subsequently having to find her way back... Finding her way back still happened, naturally, for the mangas could only contain her for so long, but at least it wasn't constantly anymore. 


Everything was fine. Everything was dandy. Everything was good in the world. Untill suddenly the manga was flung across the room, as Fable let out an ear-destroying scream of pure agony. "No! Thats not fair, how dare they?!" Realizing almost immediately that she couldn't finish the manga if it was yeeted across the floor, the girl pushed her weight against the couch, causing it to fall over backwards. Rolling along the floor, she picked up the manga, still muttering. "No no no! I will murder them! There is no way she is dead, it just can't be! No no no no..."Now on the floor, behind the couch that was tipped over, Fable had no intention of getting back up until she had finished her chapter. The voice as she spoke her threats were seething with venom. It absolutely seemed reasonable for Fable to follow up on her threats with how invested she seemed to be. Eyes peeled, she continued reading, gripping the manga as if she was choking the life out of an enemy, heart racing through her chest, breath excited and desperate, seeming on the verge of tears. Until the next relevation. Of course Kitsune-chan was okay! So clever, so tactical, she had only pretended to be dead to get the upper hand! Letting out a joyous squee, Fable continued talking to the manga, as if itt could hear her. "HA! Take that! You dumb monkey! You never stood a chance vs Kitsune-chan!"...


Turning the last page, Fable got up with a big, stupid, smirky grin on her face, as if she had just accomplished something impossible. Walking back over to the couch, the mildly exhausted fox dropped down on the couch, not bothering flipping it to it's correct position. Content, she placed the manga on her chest, taking a few deep breaths to calm down. "..No one can beat Kitsune-chan.. We Kitsune are the best! Big brain! Like, the literal best, ha!" Grinning to herself, she rocked back and forth on the downed couch, having made quite a ruckus in the Asche Headquarters, kind of treating it like her own home, without a singular care in the world for anyone that might have noticed her... interesting behavior.

[Sinopia DeStellanova]

Red was lost in thought as she rifled through some of the nearby boxes to see what parts they had. She had been tending to the machines in the newly created Asche HQ, and working with machines older than she was (possibly even more than twice as old in some cases) proved more interesting than she thought it would be. In general, she was far more interested in modern technology, especially the cutting edge stuff she probably wouldn't get to see for another ten years when it inevitably became more common, but there was something strangely fascinating about older machines. About being able to see how people dealt with the limitations of the time and what they did before the minor, incremental discoveries that fueled advancement in machines and computers. Plus, trying to get them up to par with modern tech was an interesting challenge. She didn't expect to enjoy working in these dinosaurs, but she wasn't about to complain that she did.

She was interrupted from her work by the sound of someone nearby screaming followed by a thud. Even though she was in an entirely different room, her ears were sensitive enough that she could hear it clearly, even with the scream being muffled by the walls and her hood pushing her ears down. Screaming was also one of those sounds she was especially sensitive to and could pick out when it was far more distant and quiet than it was now. Even small children happily screaming while playing was enough to make her horribly uncomfortable and put her on edge, so hearing this agonized screech was enough to make the hair on the back of her neck stand up. Red dropped what she was doing and darted off in the direction she heard the scream from.

It was a bad idea to run as fast as she could in closed spaces that might have people walking around in it, but it still didn't take long for her to get to where she was pretty sure the sounds came from. Throwing open the door, she rushed into the room with one hand on her hood to help keep it up and looked for potential threats or problems. Given she didn't hear anything else on the way here, no gunshots, no screaming, nothing of interest, she didn't feel the need to hide herself or enter cautiously. It seemed like it was better to find the source of the problem as quickly as possible, and that was easier if people knew she was there and she could talk to them.

"Is everything okay?"

She barely raised her voice, but tried to project it as best she could so everyone in the room could hear, even if they couldn't see her. From there, she started scanning the room, but didn't see anything of interest. There was nothing on fire, no intruders, nothing that she could see that would make someone scream. The only thing that even looked slightly out of place was that the couch had been knocked over. Red blinked a few times, then started sheepishly slinking back towards the doorway embarrassed by her unnecessary outburst. She still waited by the door just in case something really did happen and she was too blind to see it though. Better safe than sorry.

---

552/552

[Fable]

WORD COUNT: 690

Total:             690

TAGGED: Fluffy

The adrenaline was coursing through her system for a few moments. Heart pounding so joyously away in her chest.  It was very much akin to getting an immediate high off of a substance, Fable had tried that a couple of times. Though she honestly didn't like the feeling that came after the high when doing a substance. On the other hand, the feeling of waiting for the next weeks release of the mangas she liked reading wasn't much fun either.  Though on this particular occasion, the next couple of chapters ought to be out already. The only reason Fable hadn't acquired any of them was due to time constraints. The little incidents that made her join up with the Asche Syndicate - at least for a brief spell - needed to be repaid for and taken care of. Stretching tiredly, the fox smacked her lips together, slowly coming to realize that she wasn't in the most comfortable position. Also that she was thirsty. Also that she was hungry. Also that she was bored. Horrible!


That is when a voice cut through the entrance hall of the syndicate headquarters. Ever since Fable had stopped her shenanigans, the place had fallen rather quiet. So the inquisitive question travelled unabated through. Without turning her head, Fables' ears honed in on the sound like a radar, almost able to turn a full 180 degrees. Getting up in a dramatic fashion, Fable declared: "No! Everything is bad and sad and not nice!" Fable began, quietly meandering across the floor of the syndicate entrance. Getting closer to Red step by step. "Tragic, awful, horrible, sad!" Continuing, the white furred fox soon found herself standing in front of Red. "If you are friend, you will help Fable! Fable needs to go to town, right now! Its urgent, many urgent!" Fable attempted to convince her new friend that taking her there was a great idea.

"Fable not know consequences if not get help! It could be... very catastrophic! Will new friend take Fable to town?" Fable's bushy tail was practically wagging at this point. Ears were pointing directly at Red, as Fable, now finally done with regurgitating garbage, began inspecting the other female. Tilting head slightly to the side, Fable simply spoke the first words that came to mind. "You are kinda weird, arent you?"

[Sinopia DeStellanova]

Red didn't have to wait long for a response, and strangely enough the response she got was relieving despite it being loud enough to hurt her ears a little. Even if she didn't like seeing anyone sad, she was expecting far worse. The girl that approached her did not appear to be hurt, and she was describing the situation as 'not nice' which meant it couldn't be anything too serious. It'd be such a strange turn of phrase otherwise. She relaxed a little, though she didn't move from her spot in the door frame.

The girl's grammar took her a second to parse. It wasn't that bad, she'd certainly heard worse in the past, but there were a few words missing here and there that made her speech sound a little confused, especially around what 'fable' was supposed to be. Fable was probably not a story in this context. The word was used too many times in too many contexts for that to make sense. So a name? While the girl's speech was a little bit odd, it wasn't bad enough for her to be referring to any kind of object as far as Red could tell. Not with the context of needing to go to town. There wasn't anyone else with this girl, which left only one obvious candidate for what fable was supposed to be. Red tapped a finger against the door frame and chose her words carefully just in case she was misinterpreting all of this.

"Your name is Fable? I'm Red. It's nice to meet you," she paused and bowed her head slightly. "Sure, I can go with you. I have a few things I need to pick up. What happened?"

Her work wasn't super time sensitive at the moment. It'd be nice to get all those machines up and running, or at least properly decommissioned if she couldn't, but there was no reason it had to be done right this second. She could easily finish up later, or even tomorrow. Though she had no idea why this girl needed someone to take her back into the city proper rather than just going there herself. Given how strange she was acting, Red wouldn't be surprised if she was just lonely. The girl was a bit strange and was a bit rude, so while Red was okay with brushing off such comments, she wouldn't be surprised if the girl had alienated other people. Besides, she was making a point to at least be on friendly terms with the other people in Asche and this seemed like a decent way to do it for this person.

Her gloves, shirt, and face had a bit of grease on them from her work though. It didn't stand out too much on the brown gloves, especially since they had a few stains on them already, but there was a pretty big gray blotch on her white shirt. She doubted she could get the stain out now, but she wasn't concerned about that. She just wanted to make sure it was dry and wouldn't get on anyone else if she bumped into them or something, and it'd be a bit uncomfortable to walk around with stuff dripping off her shirt.

"Just give me a sec to clean up."

After pausing for a second to remember where the bathroom was, she turned to head down the hallway she came through. It wouldn't exactly take her a long time to clean up, but she didn't see any reason to rush either. On the off chance the girl's words weren't as hyperbolic as they sounded, she doubted the girl would have any problem letting her know.

---

611/1163

[Jay]

XP Distribution:

Sinopia DeStellanova: 11 XP
352 + 11 = 363 XP Total

Fable: 7 XP
803 + 7 = 810 XP Total