[Kazuma]

OOC: continued from here

They talked a little more about Vera's friend on their way down the apartment building but before they left had ended the topic and returned to the concern at hand. ““Anyway, I imagine I'll have to tell him about these recent developments and see if he knows anything about this scourge friend of ours,”” Vera said, still in Japanese.

“I thought he liked to keep his head low?”

Vera gave her male companion an unimpressed gaze as she said, ““Even so, after how our brethren has been attacked with the incident of Oisin, we shouldn't be too careless. It may already be better times but keep in mind that vampires are still some of the most hated creatures in the realms, Kazuma. Anyone would jump at anything to incriminate us for our nature.””

Kazuma nodded at her. “I'll keep that in mind.”

““And one other thing: try not to do anything stupid.””

“I've always kept that in mind,” said Kazuma, smiling.

Vera smiled back at him. “I'll go ahead now, then,” she said again in Elysian. “If you need me, you know where to find me -- or I'll find you.” As she turned to walk away, she waved to him over her shoulders and said, ““Goodbye,”” in Russian.

“Goodbye,” Kazuma said to her in the same language with a bow as she watched her figure sway out of the block. On his own now, he turned and walked to the opposite direction, slipping out one glove from his outer pocket and then putting it on. He was mulling over the things he and Vera had discussed -- about the scourge's reappearance and how timely it all seemed given it had to wait until the incident with Oisin had turned tables. He had asked her of Bailey's opinion on the matter but Vera couldn't give him anything. Much like him, she had disappeared from Alexshire when the marshal's men were on the prowl and had had only so much time to catch up on their Queen.

If he were to be asked, however, he would dearly want to get on top of things, as well. Two years was a very long time to catch a monster and after everything, Kazuma would want to keep his back secured without having to go out on another impulsive vacation -- because hiding is never the best way to avoid accusations. Once would be enough, twice too much. However, a man of his profession could only do so much. He had a reputation among his clients that he was a decent, sane vampire (to those few who knew) and to poke his nose into this matter -- although helpful for his safety -- might only put his name out in places he had worked hard to avoid. Kazuma would hate for that to happen.

And Vera's advice for him to keep his stupidity to himself was not without reason. Kazuma knew this as much as she did.

A small tink! would pull him out of his thoughts and he looked down to his feet to see a lost button -- a black orb rimmed with a golden frame. He looked next to his left glove and found that unlike his right one, there was no button to be found by the wrist and only a stray thread in its place. “Oh dreadful,” he said to himself in Japanese as he bent to pick his lost accessory up.

[Euphenia]

Pale and slender fingers were likely the first thing that slid into Kazuma's view when he bent to retrieve the button. Silver gleamed dully on the thumb belonging to those fingers' hand. The ring was simple, a battered band of common make, and the nails of those fingers were no less unadorned, yet immaculate in their shape and state of health. Delicate perfection sought Kazuma's dropped button, the sight ruined at the wrist were thick gray wool sleeves hid the rest of the feminine limb.

Euphenia was strolling, off on an errand for Soren, her friend and manager at The Birdcage, and had been passing Kazuma by, when she'd heard the same tink! that had alerted the vampire to the button's plight. Having half of New Alexandria's guards hot on her trail on false charges had made Phen a bit more paranoid than usual, which was really saying something, so just that little sound had snagged her attention about as fast as a hummingbird spotting a source of sugar.

If she had listened to the little voice her mother had long since "installed" within the nyad's brain, Phen likely would have just kept walking, minding her own business. It was the softer side of the winged nymph that made her stop, step out of other passerby's way, and bend at the knees to try and scoop up the dark object before the sharply dressed man that had dropped it could. She wasn't thinking about how drab her long gray wool overcoat would look when compared to Kazuma's fine taste in attire, nor was she contemplating how her gray wings would become somewhat untucked on her way down. Blowing some flaxen strands out of her field of vision, Phen considered the only thought that seemed valid at the time, "What language was that he just spoke in?"

Piper's Boutique # Raine # Celestial Star # DaFont # Angel

[Kazuma]

Kazuma thought that she was definitely a "strange sight to behold", especially after how she pretty much just came out of nowhere. Her wings were the first thing he took note of, next her lovely, pristine locks and then her delicate hand. He'd almost asked her to step aside and leave him to do the work, but she was faster, lither and smaller than he could ever be. The "winner" was obvious, and he didn't want to offend her.

“I apologize for the trouble,” Kazuma said with a small bow as he took his button from her slender digits and smiled, careful to conceal his fangs when he did so. “You shouldn't have bothered yourself over a petty little thing, Madam.”

There was something about her that tickled a recent memory in him, however, and if he thought this was a passing mistake, seeing more of the lady only confirmed his suspicions. But where? Being a vampire, he'd met any number of names along the way and had done his best to keep up with everything (and hide the truth if he so ever forgot). This lady who was kind enough to assist him...brought with her the feel of mystery and darkness...he remembered the word 'mystical', as well.

“I'm sorry, but have we met before?” Kazuma ended up asking, brows arched, the smile still on.

[Euphenia]

Her good deed done, Phen prepared herself to say a quick "You're welcome" and be on her way. Normally she wouldn't be so short with anyone, even if they were a stranger, but there was no telling when Dante would catch up with her, and the spirit monkey had a tendency to offend even the most forgiving of folk.

Kazuma's bow, however, threw her off. Random facts fluttered through the nyad's brain, till she pinned down the most likely of choices. "A gesture of respect, usually reserved for those of nobility," Phen mentally recited, though her body had already adapted to the situation. Full lips offered a sweet little smile, and she dipped in a bow aimed to perfectly mimick Kazuma's as her hands came together before her. The instinct to adapt and be like those around her often served the winged nymph well, so she was encouraged rather than alarmed by her reaction. "There was no trouble," Phen murmured reassuringly as she straightened to better look up and into Kazuma's eyes.

There she paused, and the smokey gray of Phen's own irises became a bit more prominent as she puzzled over the features of the man before her. Since he'd mentioned it, he did seem somewhat familiar. Surely she would remember someone like him had she met him before? Phen's ingrained appreciation for the unique beauty of all beings that she encountered, a list from which she was of course excluded, served as a catalog of sorts. She rifled through her memories of comparable faces and came up with only a hazy recollection of jubilation and the feel of water beneath her feet.

Oh. Phen's cheeks took on a pink flush as she came to realize just where they may have met, so to speak.

"Have you, perchance, visited The Birdcage within the last four months?" she asked as serenely as possible as one could when they wanted the very earth to open up and swallow them whole.

A slender serpentine head poked out of Phen's hair about the time the word "Birdcage" left the nyad's mouth, soon followed by a single white wing that half folded itself over Euphenia's adjacent wool covered shoulder. Sanna flicked her pink tongue at Kazuma, her blue eyes fixated on his chest. Much as Phen had instinctively responded to Kazuma's bow, her right hand casually went up to stroke under the snake's chin with a dexterous finger, though her attention obviously still belonged to the vampire. Sanna hissed very softly and rubbed into the offering of affection, her visible wing twitching ever so slightly.

Piper's Boutique # Raine # Celestial Star # DaFont # Angel

[Kazuma]

“Four months,” Kazuma repeated carefully, allowing himself to be visibly taken half-an-inch aback when the dancer's (yes, she was a dancer, wasn't she?) hair moved although only his contemplation lingered in the features of his face. An odd little thing she has right there. “Four months, no, I was out on a vacation until this late,” he explained eloquently as, after dumping his loosened button in his right pocket, he began to remove his left glove. No use wearing the pair if they had become broken. He will have to repair them first. “But the Birdcage, yes, I seem to remember...”

Finally, Kazuma smiled wider as his eyes registered the soft eureka! that might have come along as a relief of discovery. He remembered the streaks of waters and the swaying, dainty body now. “You are a dancer in there, are you not? I think I recall seeing you dance with waters just before I left. You were my client's favorite performer and he insisted we meet in the Birdcage particularly for you. I must say, the performance was a most enjoyable experience.” By now, both gloves had been removed and he entertained half-a-second to be ascertained of his manicured nails before he returned his gaze to this lovely anyelos-nymph.

“Oh, where are my manners? I must apologize, Madam, I must have forgotten it...well, my name is Kazuma. A pleasure to finally meet you like this, Madam.” He gave another bow. He was careful enough to keep his hands to himself, well-aware of the politics between handshakes and women.

[Official NPC]

Because Euphenia's stalker had lost sight of her for a few seconds, the monkey's aggression levels went through the roof. The moment it spotted her, it swooped in with its wing claws twitching, screaming and shrieking. It grabbed onto whatever of her it could, pulling and bouncing and flappings its wings.

[Lazuli]

"Oh no no, that's not good at all, Monkie!" Lazuli scolded as her deformed spirit monkey pulled and twisted a strand of her hair. "That hurts quite a bit. Please stop right now!"

The nyad had been walking down the street, her destination long forgotten due to the havoc-wreaking tendencies of her new stalker. She had been unusually patient with it up till now, but Lazuli wasn't sure how long she could treat it nicely if it did not learn to behave. "You are like a little disobedient child," she said in her feathery light voice, so that the words seemed more comment than reproach. "People do not like so."

She wobbled as the monkey flew from her hair to her feet, apparently trying to trip the nyad. Lazuli nearly fell over as she tried her best not to step on the creature. Somehow, walking unsteadily made her gain speed, and at one point she somersaulted over the monkey before landing on her feet and one hand. Looking up, she spotted Phen.

"Hi there, Phen!" Lazuli immediately called, beaming with happiness at having discovered her friend. Her smile quickly faded however, when she noticed the other monkey dividing in with assault clearly its intent.

"No, no! Xanth's grace, no!" Lazuli cried, eyes widening in horror. She sprinted toward Phen with astonishing nymphly speed, arms half flailing as she called forth water from a pouch she wore around her waist. It looked more like a dance due to her nymphliness, but the ferocity of the water was the same. The liquid shot like an arrow in a thin, steady stream to hopefully blast Phen's monkey out of the way. Lazuli had molded the tip of it into a smooth surface to avoid piercing the creature. "Forgive me, little one!"

anime rain | discolore | celestial-star | night-fate-stock

[Euphenia]

Kazuma's words were like gentle rain, they cooled and comforted Phen's embarrassment till her blush was merely a delicate shade of pink. The nyad's eyes sparkled with delight at having heard of someone who associated with this debonair man as being an admirer of her talent. Such was high praise to be sure! "You are too kind," was her immediate soft reply, "Though I thank you for your evaluation of my work. Please, extend my gratitude to your associate for his patronage should you see him again."

Phen had noticed Kazuma's quick but deliberate actions in removing his gloves and even the glance to his nails, but that only reinforced the impression of gentile sophistication that the vampire was steadily erecting. She found him to be much of what she felt she only refined when performing: Confidence, keen fashion sense, and perfect manners.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Kazuma. My name is .. Bad Dante! No, no, stop it!"

She'd gone from a dulcet murmur to a shriek in less than a second, and Sanna was hissing the loudest that her tiny self could manage as the angel snake slithered out of Phen's hair and down into the shadows underneath the front of her nyad's long coat. The winged spirit monkey, having long been washed free of its previous clinging mess of drying blood and other gunk, had snared clumps of Euphenia's hair with all four clawed appendages and was flailing like a lunatic coming down from a fever dream. Phen darted her hands up and instinctively tried to wrest the monkey out of her hair, to no avail. Tears misted her vision from the pain of having her hair wrenched and tugged, something that she hadn't suffered for years.

"Lazuli!" Phen cried out with obvious relief, then grit her teeth to stifle most of an agonized scream when the spirit monkey she'd affectionately nicknamed "Dante" was torn away from her by the force of her friend's well aimed blow. "Lazuli!" she called again before breaking into a run, her abused hair flying behind her as well as her outstretched wings. The latter flapped in an effort to get her to her friend faster.

Phen's hairstyle was wrecked. Pale gold stuck out in nearly every direction. There were streaks of dirt wherever the monkey's paws had touched. Phen slid the last couple of feet, her boots' traction still new enough that she wasn't in danger of her motion going off-course. "Thank you," she gasped once the safety of being near her fellow nyad was achieved.

That's when she remembered Kazuma.

"Kazuma, if he attacks you, please don't hurt him?" Phen pleaded as she tried to smooth her hair down about her ears with both hands. Naturally, it didn't do her much good. "We can handle him. Oh, and my name is Euphenia, but you can call me Phen!"

"So, how are we going to handle him?" she muttered so hopefully only Lazuli would hear. Just in case, Phen Called a tiny stream of water from the pendent she always wore under her clothing, and it came winding out the top of the nyad's long coat to start bobbing and weaving around Euphenia's head in a fair imitation of an angel's halo. "Sanna, please stop squirming," she added in Sylvan after a couple more attempts to pat down her hair.

Piper's Boutique # Raine # Celestial Star # DaFont # Angel

[Kazuma]

Kazuma had mostly entertained a formal smile on his pale face, a thing that had attached itself to him when he bowed to Euphenia and affirmed that he would pass her message to his colleague when the time came. The whole handsome, collected appearance was shattered by a single shriek, however, and Kazuma was embarrassed to admit that he had mostly watched with his jaw dropped during the period that the monkey -- was that a monkey? -- had laid claim on her beautiful locks. Had he brought his sword along, he might have made a movement with it that would dissuade the simian's attack but what mad man in this society brought around his sword for no apparent reason? He realized he was down to his bare hands and fleeting luck and the anxiety as to the resulting state of his costume. Such was the mind of one Kazuma Uemori.

He was quick to step two paces aside, half-spinning, when the torrent of magical water tore the offender away from his victim and he watched with an equally stunned face the monkey struggle to cope with the change of settings while he listened to Euphenia run away from her attacker. He thought he might use his hands to keep the monkey at bay but good Goddess, it looked utterly disgusting! Why did it have wings? And it looked so angry, too! Only Xanth knew what might have happened to such unfortunate creature and effect. So instead, he stepped forward and laid a firm foot upon the monkey's back -- right in the middle, where its spine might be. He was not much for strength but he liked to think -- and hoped -- he had some kind of superiority over this mad creature, intelligence aside.

“Kazuma, if he attacks you, please don't hurt him?”

Kazuma flashed his round eyes towards the two lithe ladies at Euphenia's request -- a rather strange one, he thought, unless the monkey was one to grow wilder or stronger once harmed. He listened on to the rest of her words, earning her name along the way and when she allowed herself to be distracted by her friend's -- Lazuli, wasn't it? Kazuma pretended he didn't know her name -- presence, that was when he caught sight of a similar animal just around their perimeter and he looked down again to the squirming animal he had been holding down by his foot which he pressed harder if that would save his balance and face.

“I must say, ladies, this is a most odd fad to be entertaining this season,” Kazuma said this with some chuckling as he looked back up the women, a slightly amused smile on his face, the foot still fighting well. “How long has this trend been around, if I might ask?”

[Lazuli]

Lazuli put a comforting hand on Phen's shoulder when her friend came to her. She felt protective of her fellow nyad and was determined not to allow the spirit monkey to hurt her again. She spent a moment looking at Phen's tangled head in sympathy. "Oh Phen... your hair!" she murmured mournfully. Then, "Worry not, we'll make it clean and beautiful again."

Her own hair had suffered its own share of messing after the little stunts she'd done hobbling down the street and the monkey's antics, but it wasn't in nearly as a chaotic state as poor Phen's. "Oh yes," she nodded to the other nymph's assertion, "we can definitely handle the little guys!"

Speaking of which, Lazuli's own monkey had been hovering carefully at the side while its "owner" had attacked Phen's monkey with her water arrow. It flitted angrily about in the air, unhappy about what had just happened. If anyone payed close attention, it was planning its next move while staying back.

Lazuli turned to Kazuma when Phen addressed him. So they were new acquaintances. That was exciting! Lazuli smiled her usual brilliant smile. "Oh, it's not a fad, I don't think," she explained nicely to the gentleman. "These creatures chose to follow us. It was a week ago when they first appeared... And nice to meet you, Kazuma, sir! My name is Lazuli."

anime rain | discolore | celestial-star | night-fate-stock

[Euphenia]

The winged nymph's smile for Lazuli was small but no less full of gratitude. "Perhaps today is the day we'll get to try out those braiding techniques you told me of, Lazuu," she murmured. It was nice, to have something pleasant to look forward to during a time of stress. Phen was used to making up her own delights, but to share them was far better. A pale hand sought to brush a forlorn lock of Lazuli's hair. "For the both of us."

Just then, Kazuma's voice drew the nyad's attention. Her eyes darted from the monkey that had made a bird's nest of her hair to the man who had pinned the shrieking creature to the ground with a boot that likely would have cost the nyad a full month's earnings. Sanna's peach toned face peered out of Phen's ruined hair soon after, though not very far. Her tongue was working double time, as if to make up for the angel snake's lack of bravery.

There was little doubt of what Sanna's opinion of the loud creature thrashing under Kazuma's footwear was, but Phen actually looked concerned for the wretched thing. "Lazuli's right, they aren't a trend at all," she agreed with her fellow nyad, nodding for emphasis, "Mine came to me not long after I left several ingredients with the Xanth statue in the quadrangle, as the Goddess requested. I suspect a connection."

"I'm going to try to calm him down," she said aloud as ideas bobbed like painted horses on a carousel within her mind. She selected one and hopped aboard, holding fast to the notion till the end of the ride.

Though she wanted to remain by Lazuli's side, a feeling that she expressed with a tight little smile for her friend, Phen forced herself to begin slowly approaching the trapped and chattering monkey. Sanna would have none of that, and quickly ducked back into the relative safety of her nyad's dirt streaked mane. "Dante, I'm sorry that I left you behind. You're such an independent soul that I thought you'd want to explore on your own for a time. I never meant to insult you," Phen crooned sweetly in Sylvan.

The monkey's fighting became a bit less frantic, but it didn't look any less feral. Could it have been listening?

"I'm not angry over my hair. You were upset. You're likely still upset. You are wanted, and I'm not ashamed of you." With every step, Phen was bringing a hand closer to the dark gray wool satchel she had over one shoulder. There was a snack in there that Dante loved, and food had always gotten him to behave far quicker than words ever had.

"When I get the banana out of my bag, sir, would you let him go?" she asked once her hand had made it inside the bag and her fingers had found the familiar contours she was searching for. There was no time like the present to try her idea, and it wasn't like her hair could get any worse, right? "Though I would suggest that you move away when you do. Dante has a horrible temper. Lazuli, would you cover me, adelfe?"

Hah! Cover her. She was using one of her mother's phrases again.

"You're hungry, aren't you, Dante?" Phen asked as she carefully drew out the slightly bruised piece of fruit. That was no matter, as the spirit monkey seemed to like them better that way. "Come and get it." She swished the banana side to side. All her little display needed was some music and it might have passed for a street show.

(( *adelfe = I should use this more often. It's the word I found a la Google that means "sister" in Ancient Greek. Lazuli is most certainly regarded like a sister by Phen, and I imagine this is something that one nyad would call another if they are fond of one another. Sky may remember this word, as Phen used its plural in The Glowing of the Fireflies. ))

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[Kazuma]

Kazuma smiled pleasantly and with closed lips to Lazuli as he bowed. “Pleasure to meet you, Ms. Lazuli.”

Somehow, finding out that the whole monkey business was not a fad was something that Kazuma took with good note, though -- because really, how could rabid, disoriented monkeys make for good pets at all? It just wouldn't do, wouldn't make sense. Kazuma decided that he really hadn't missed much yet and that he wouldn't have to get one for himself. Not that he had already been thinking about it (and he was never the most faithful of Xanth's children. Old religions die hard, after all) but if necessity forced him to...

He listened to the dancer hum -- or sing softly as that seemed to be what she was doing and he noted this with pleasantness. What a very talented character! It was probably some ancient song or hymn or chant to calm these crazy folks, Kazuma figured, and he listened and appreciated as best as he could while he maintained his weight and his shiny, leather, pointed shoe on the shuddering creature underneath.

After the song, Euphenia had made a request which he only obliged with a smile and a shallow bow. “Most certainly,” Kazuma said in his baritone voice, eyes returning to the furry rag he had been stepping on. He would have held his hands behind him as he watched the winged lady extract the sad excuse of a banana out of her possessions but there was the possibility that this...hellish thing could leap to his full height and he worried that no one of these ladies -- even if clearly they had every responsibility over it and should learn how to tame it -- would be able to hold it down when that happens so he kept them available.

When the banana was finally revealed to the creature, Kazuma retrieved his foot and danced two steps back, arms tensing slightly as he watched for the monkey's reaction as well as Euphenia's and her friend, Lazuli's...and Lazuli's pet? An interesting stance it held back there. He pointed vaguely to its direction as he said audibly to the nyad, “I believe your little furry friend, too, has something it wishes to share, Ms. Lazuli.”

[Lazuli]

Lazuli nodded to everything Phen said. She agreed about the connection with Xanth's quest -- the timing was too suspicious. But why would Xanth give them these creatures? Lazuli didn't know the answer to that, but she would take good care of anything that Xanth presented her.

When Kazuma bowed, Lazuli smiled and bowed back. He seemed so respectable! She would have to be careful not to let her monkey inconvenience him or Phen. "Yes, I will protect you," Lazuli said earnestly to the other nyad.

She looked around for her monkey when Kazuma brought attention to it. But where was her monkey?

"Monkie? Monkie?"

Lazuli didn't see it until it was too late. Her monkey had been sneaking around shadily, and when Euphenia unveiled her banana to hold it in the air, the monkey made a nose-dive for it out of seemingly nowhere. "Oh no!" Lazuli cried out. She had no time to utilize her element, for the monkey in all its speed was just about right upon the banana by the moment she could draw out a bubble of water.

anime rain | discolore | celestial-star | night-fate-stock

[Euphenia]

The banana was in mid-waggle when Lazuli's monkey snatched it right out of Phen's hand. The nyad stared at her suddenly empty digits for a second as her brain tried to catch up on recent developments.

Phen's thoughts realigned in a hurry when her spirit monkey gave an unearthly screech and started to hop at an ever quickening pace in the direction of its stolen treat. "Dante!" she called, diving her hand back inside her satchel, "Wait! I have more bananas. Just give me a moment."

Dante wasn't listening. Shrieking in outrage, he fully extended his wings and fluffed out his neck ruff. He was hungry, frustrated, and jealous of anything that took his person's attention away from him, but mostly hungry. That banana was supposed to be his! "Mine!" he screamed in a language only he and his fellow simians could possibly understand, "Mine, mine, mine!"

"Look, Dante!" Phen tried again, this time with a banana held out in each hand. Praise Xanth that she'd been to the market that morning! "See? All for you! Let them keep the other one. These are faaaar better."

The nyad made the fruit bob up and down in a kind of dance routine, for once not caring how silly she might look. All that mattered was to prevent her monkey from starting a fight.

Piper's Boutique # Raine # Celestial Star # DaFont # Angel

[Kazuma]

Kazuma winced and turned away as Euphenia's monkey threw an ungodly tantrum. Talk about childishness. He was pressing on the bone of his ear when he moved away, going around Euphenia and walking farther back lest one or the other monkey would get the idea to soil his coat and if that happened, no one in this entire street would go home happy.

“Luckily, your friend seems to know what she's doing,” said Kazuma with a sigh as he approached Lazuli, dropping his arm as he watched the two monkeys for a while. “Better someone than no one, don't you think?” He looked at the nyad beside him. “Not that I'm saying, of course, that you lack the skill. That thing that you'd just done with the water was quite impressive.” He made sure to note that. Then again, anyone who could control these things always impressed him. Because he couldn't. And it was magical.

“So these things are gifts from your Goddess?” Kazuma asked to clarify his ears when he turned to watch the monkeys and the anyelos-nymph, again. “I must say, she's very thoughtful in her presents...”

[Lazuli]

Since Phen seemed to have gained the monkeys' attention, Lazuli didn't want to interrupt lest she accidentally provoked the creatures with her added presence. So she waited patiently, standing by Kazuma and watching just in case she needed to step in and help.

"Oh yes, Phen is very clever!" she said in agreement to the man. She turned to smile at the compliment. "And thank you! Phen is, however, more talented than I am. She practices very much with her element. She is especially good at Shaping it."

While such thoughts might have evoked feelings of jealousy from some people, Lazuli's voice was only filled with praise and admiration for her friend. Phen was always so active and inspiring.

Lazuli tilted her head in thought at Kazuma's next words. "I suppose they could be," she replied truthfully. "They're not quite the conventional type of gifts, but I trust in the Goddess to know what she is doing. I'm sure she would never reward unfairly." Ah, Lazuli's faith was great.

She looked up at Kazuma in wonder. "What do you think?" It was a general question.

anime rain | discolore | celestial-star | night-fate-stock

[Euphenia]

Kazuma and Lazuli let Euphenia handle the monkeys, seeming to have the utmost of confidence in her. Phen was grateful for their belief in her abilities, though even as she waved both bananas and made what she hoped were enthralling noises to the monkeys' ears, the nyad admitted that she wasn't sure of what she was doing. This was her first time dealing with monkeys, and that they were spirit monkeys that had gone through who-knew-what and came out resembling a half squashed tomato patch that smelled like her old crush, well, Phen was out of the loop. She only had her "secret weapon" as Dante had reminded the nyad of a monkey's love of bananas by stealing the bunch she'd brought home the day before. In a roundabout way, she felt as if she ought to thank him for that.

While simultaneously waggling yellow fruit at the two simians, Phen tried to keep an ear on the conversation going on between Kazuma and Lazuli. Her cheeks regained their dark rosiness when she overheard Lazuli compliment her over and over. The words held great meaning for Phen, partly because she considered Lazuli to be one of the most talented people she'd ever met. "I can't hold a flame to Lazuli's creative vision. She amazes me," she directed back to her observers, slipping the words between her cooing at the monkeys.

Phen didn't get a chance to say much else, for her monkey had decided that he'd heard enough. His feathery female was offering him two sweet things, so the other could keep its one. He deserved two, no, four sweet things! Dante bounded straight towards Euphenia, who knelt down and held out the fruit as she smiled without showing her teeth. Dante accepted the peace offering, snatching both right out of Phen's hands, but he didn't stop there. As she was already conveniently closer to his height, Dante hopped up and scrambled to sit on her thighs. As he figured she would, Phen opted to sit down and let Dante keep her lap for his "chair" rather than risk knocking him off and sending him into a rage. He patted her hair with a half eaten banana slimed palm. She could be such a good girl sometimes.

"Ew," Phen muttered under her breath, then renewed her non-aggressive smile. "Is yours behaving itself, Lazuli?" she called, hoping for a positive response.

Piper's Boutique # Raine # Celestial Star # DaFont # Angel

[Kazuma]

Kazuma was amused with the quick friendly banter that had just been said of each other, an appropriately banana-shaped smile on his face as he held his hands at his back. “I see you both complement each other rather well! What a good thing, then, that you should be with each other during your times of need.” It was easy to tell by his features and voice that he meant nothing more or less than what he said. To see two things in good symmetry was always a pleasant thing, wasn't it?

“What do I think, hmmm...” He arched his brows and pressed his lips together as he hummed and thought...or pretended to. Being outside the faith, he didn't have much to get around with. “Well, no god or goddess should,” note: should, “desire the misery of their believers, neither should they yearn for the destruction of their very own creations. I seem to have the impression that powers such as your goddess tend to enjoy creating trials or challenges for their faithfuls to undertake -- case in point,” he gestured to Euphenia the Dancer-Singer-Circus Performer, “what you are going through right now. Except this seems to be a rather deliberate route your goddess has taken while other deities might prefer something a little subtler. Either way, perhaps it's a test of faith,” he said as he returned his hand to his back.

Turning to Lazuli again, he said, “You don't look one to lose heart so easily, however. I think it's a streak among creative people, don't you think? Always looking at multiple mirrors, never at a single kind...and might I ask what do you make exa--” his question had been interrupted by Euphenia's own: “Is yours behaving itself, Lazuli?” and while he glanced to look at the anyelos-nymph's compromised position, he turned just as quickly to watch the nyad's reaction.

[Lazuli]

The nyad smiled at Kazuma's remarks about her and Phen. It was nice that other people could see the wonderful nature of their friendship. His next words made Lazuli go into thought. "That makes sense!" she declared happily as her mind wandered into deep religious and philosophical avenues. Her words, however, were simple. "I suppose it's their way to keep us on our toes. Lady Xanth is quite special, too. She isn't afraid to show her love."

Meanwhile, Lazuli's monkey had been hopping with cheer after the successful banana-stealing maneuver, and it happily swallowed the entire thing within a matter of seconds. But with all good things, in the end a person (or a monkey in this case) only wants more. Squealing at the sight of more goodies, the creature darted over to where Phen's monkey had seated itself. It zoomed into the air to whisk around annoyingly about the two's heads. Give me some! Give me some!

"Oh my, he's a needy one," Lazuli commented serenely. She took a few steps forward to Phen's vicinity in case she should lend help. At least for now though, everything seemed to be going rather smoothly. As long as Monkie behaved. "Be polite when you ask for things!" she reminded him. "And thank you, Phen, for your quick thinking. I really should buy some bananas too..."

She turned back to Kazuma. "What do I make?" she repeated cheerfully. "Well, I'm mostly a painter. I have a store -- Colormints. It's relatively new." She beamed.

anime rain | discolore | celestial-star | night-fate-stock