|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sun Jan 25, 2009 4:59 pm
Scenario 11: ATTACK OF THE HOMEWRECKERS
... Just how anyone could've tracked them down to such a low key residence after months of unpredictable wandering from city to city, he would never know.
It had been a week since Yossarian-Lang Romanovitch Vandrooghenbroeck the Thirteenth (and company) bid farewell to one Hanna Leon for good as the little therapist went about her own way, leaving only a few books and praises and idle snippets of advice in her wake before practically disappearing into the void from whence she had came-- perhaps forever, perhaps not. Either way was fine with him.
But anyway... she wasn't the issue any longer. No, now it was all about that letter which had been shoved mysteriously under the front door to greet the quartet as they woke up that morning, laying oh-so-innocuously at the far corner of the living room floor and stamped with an elaborate looking red wax seal.
Even the address was neatly scrawled in a fine cursive hand, reading:
To the traveling company of:
Yuu Kanda
Yossarian-Lang Romanovitch Vandrooghenbroeck XIII
and Asteria Georgelas
... Funny, too, because Shae had been the one to find it first, stumbling blearily out of bed at dawn with every intention to brew some morning tea for two, not opening the mysteriously little letter (as it wasn't addressed to her for some odd reason), but carrying it off to Sir instead.
And from there it had all snowballed into a 'gather up the group for convening' meeting in the livingroom, flagging down Ma'am and Mister Yossarian to see whatever the strange parcel contained.
If only they could've known what was in store for them now.
IF ONLY.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jan 25, 2009 5:21 pm
While Asteria couldn't read most things worth a damn, she had learned enough to know how to recognize her own name on something, so when Kanda had dragged her out of the kitchen (Coooooookkiiiiinnnnng! WHINE) to look over the curious piece of paper that had apparently been addressed to them...
...
Her first thought was how did whoever or what know her full name? (Okay, so it was missing her middle name, but that didn't exist no matter what she was prompted)
But she'd at least been good enough to camp herself out.
Kanda, on the other hand, had been a little... mystified by the letter, but at the same time had been more than happy to leer at the paper with a nice and.... serious expression.
"... Nnngh.. I can't imagine what this would be..." he commented, slipping one finger into the space in the envelope and running it through to break that nice little seal it had there.
Of course, it broke without too much complaint, and he pulled out the first of...
...
one.... piece of thicker cardstock paper which was nicely decorated and there was a picture in the envelope.
"...... ?"
Aster beamed brightly, now free of nose soreness (it had gone away after a couple of days) and eying the envelope.
"Hmm, I remember getting something like this once... it was a wedding invitation.. I thought that perhaps they sent me the picture because I couldn't read and so I'd never be able to figure out who the bride and groom were, but seemed a normal thing."
Ah ha ha.
On that note..
Kanda... made an unpleasant face at the card and it was a surprise it hadn't been crumpled to hell and back by the time he'd skimmed it.
Mr. and Mrs. Daniel and Danielle Luusheng are pleased to announce the marriage of their daughter, Daniella Luusheng to Yuu Kanda, Son of Mr. and Mrs. Sheng and Minako Kanda -
Yeahno.
...
Date was moot point but seriously?
"............"
Uhhh, Aster'd just look to Hubbikins for help in why Kanda looked so pissed, as she was just a...illiterate kitten who hadn't been read to, so didn't know what was going on.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jan 25, 2009 6:34 pm
A wedding invitation.
....
...........
...................
They were staring at a wedding invitation-- and not just one addressed for them, but concerning a certain gray tabby as the groom of all things: a fact which left Yossarian absolutely speechless, and Shae quietly struggling not to gape from the shock.
"T-This can't--" Even her normally-so-articulate speech seemed to be failing once she'd laid eyes on it, ears flicking back and looking back to Sir as if he'd have some explanation to nullify what seemed so OBVIOUS in front of them. "This has to be some sort of mistake--"
"... Looks as if you're being peddled off for arranged marriage then, Swordsman," Yossarian chimed in bluntly (perhaps more for the clarification of his illiterate partner than anything), though his face didn't have a hint of smug amusement to it whatsoever.
No, in fact, he looked almost curiously frustrated by it. Sympathy for the rival, perhaps? The world might never know.
Of course, that was definitely something Shae hadn't been eager to hear right then, actually giving a visible cringe as her ears pressed flat back, still fighting the frown that was starting to win.
This was the General's fault. It just had to be; Sir wouldn't... not of his own accord!--
"So, how do you intend to respond here?" But it was Yossarian who took the real speaking reins again, looking straight at Kanda with a rather unusual serious disgruntlement. "Is this something you're simply going to ignore and pass off, or do you intend to confront it more directly?"
Or would he even go along with it, perhaps?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jan 25, 2009 6:49 pm
If the room hadn't been so glum, she might have peddled herself off to go and laugh her a** off about it. Because the concept of Kanda getting married ever was too funny to her. Like, insanely so.
Especially the look on his face.
Kanda actually was making a twisted face of 'The hell?' at the letter (and the peculiarly named family), before shoving the piece of paper into the envelope and pulling out the picture.
There was no way in hell he'd be in it. And sure enough, he wasn't. There was just a little Golden-Tiger Koshka girl in it with curly red hair and showing off WAY too much in the cleavage department with this look on her face.
..
...
It was like that picture had been taken just for him to try and 'coax' him home.
"......... Disgusting.." he hissed disapprovingly.
"I dunno, she'd be kinda pretty if she didn't look like she wanted to do the Cameraman..."
.................
He hadn't been expecting her to actually say such a thing. Ever. So the fact she had was actually semi-amusing. Though he was too frustrated to enjoy her quip.
"... I think we have a situation to smooth over."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jan 25, 2009 7:13 pm
Even Shae couldn't keep her expression neutral anymore as she saw the picture being drawn out, making the mistake of glancing over his shoulder just in time to see--
Huh, some kind of odd significantly buxom red-headed and golden-striped girl. Sans that overly sultry staring at the camera, she was actually rather attractive, so far as women went... she certainly exuded femininity to the umpteenth degree.
Yossarian didn't give the picture quite as much thought as his rival did, giving it a brief peek-- though the hiss of 'disgusting' was an obvious enough sign that Kanda was NOT enticed by it in the slightest... that and Aster had made him cough to avoid a little cynical semi-amused sound with her commentary.
"Wise enough," he agreed as solemnly as he could, "though such a thing would require you to confront said situation directly, you realize--"
"Oooh, goodness, are we attending a wedding? How utterly delightful!" O SHI--!!!
And of course it was right then that Daddy Dearest had to sneak up behind the couch and loom over everyone's shoulder, beaming with such overwhelmingly blissful unawareness that Yossarian had to grimace and look away.
"I-I think you might be slightly m--... misinformed, Sir..." Shae tried to mumble, though he just chuckled and seemed to brush it off completely.
"Well, this means you four will be journeying out soon then?" Good suggestion, sans the addition of-- "Ha, perhaps I should come along to chaperone the festivities!"
... Oh god.
GOD NO.
LANGSTON WAS ABSOLUTELY NOT GOING TO BE HEADING OUT WITH THEM. NO WAY IN HELL... right?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jan 25, 2009 7:41 pm
Oh ho ho, Aster totally could tell he'd wanted to laugh at her timed statement, just passing him a glance (She'd come to notice he reacted more to her little looks than her purrs or other physical approvals), befo-
FJKLJSLAKHFLKASSDJKSDHLSKA!!!!!!!!!!
There went her tail prickling automatically at Langston's 'surprise entrance' (he sure was good at making those), the butterfur looking over her shoulder with a big frown on her face.
"Didn't you learn to not sneak in places?!"
"He didn't sneak." Kanda said flatly, his ears flattening back against his head. Oh yes, he'd heard the man walk in and had been pondering the best method to shut the discussion up so this wouldn't happen.
....
......
Yeah, it hadn't really come to him like he would have liked.
"However, I do think we can go to tell the bride's parents that I am unable to marry their daughter..." Another disgusted look towards the golden tiger, before continuing on, "without a chaperone, Mr Vandrooghenbroeck."
Bit of a mouthful that name was. Who in their right mind would have given their family such a long name? Certainly flashy, but too much to say.
"Which will require me to see when the next departure for Xorosho is.."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jan 25, 2009 8:04 pm
Oh, and imagine the romantic father's disappointment to hear that Kanda didn't wish for a grandiose wedding!... Well, no matter; he could certainly understand the want for true love over arranged marriage, after all! It was the only way to truly be and feel fulfilled in one's life!
... Though the raining-on-his-chaperone parade did earn a little pout of discouragement.
"Then you'd prefer to visit the flying city without extraneous company in tail?"
"That would be correct, Father," Yossarian jumped in to drive the point home (as soberly as possible), "we'll happily take out leave unattended." Or in laymen terms: SIT AND STAY HOME, DAD. God forbid the fruit bar of a man ever found his rival's father to (attemptively) gossip with; it'd be nothing short of disastrous...
"... If you insist, dears," the sandy male frowned, finally (seemingly) put in his place and slinking off to go console himself with some doting over his own personal goddess in the kitchen (of whom was also listening in on things while Roselyn helped her with some breakfast-making procedures, just with far greater discretion).
Which just left the quartet to brood by themselves again, huh.
".........." Poor Shae was still looking a little too blindsided by it all, finally having more or less steeled her expression for some thoughtful commentary. "I think... it would certainly be wise to handle this as quickly as possible..."
Even if it meant returning to the city she'd sworn off ever visiting again.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jan 25, 2009 8:16 pm
Well after some followed along 'Awwww' to make sure Dad hadn't felt too rejected, on Asteria's part, Kanda had gone out to see when the next departure to Salig had been (as it was much cheaper to just go to the next city over and then wait for the flying capital to make it's landing for fuel and supplies: Something that hadn't been too horrible to figure out..
..
And then it had only been two days in Salig of waiting before everybody (Langston included as Asteria had felt guilty about rejecting his want to just SPEND TIME WITH HIS DAUGHTER AND SON.. and see a wedding, as who knew how this was going to turn out).
Then it was on to the city, with very little effort, sadly, to go and hunt-down a crazy.
AND WITH ANGRY KANDAS. RAWWWRGH.
Okay, so he hadn't been preparing himself to go and kill everybody on board the ship, but he had been making a point to keep himself rather close to Shae's side and leer at everybody they passed who was bigger than him in an assertion.
Nope.
Nobody touching Shae this time. He'd been too pissed the last time about it. Not to mention who knew what crazies were on the ship (like his sister.. ohhh that girl wouldn't approve of him getting married)
OgodangryKanda.
Yep, the kitten had glued herself right to Yossarian's side once Kanda had started LEERING ANGRILY at things, frowning and looking up at Hubbikins with a 'WHY IS HE ANGRY AT EVERYTHING' look on her face. One he wouldn't be able to answer for her.
Ha ha.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jan 25, 2009 9:41 pm
... And of course Langston-Kai Tsholofelo Vandrooghenbroeck the Twelfth had enjoyed every soppy moment of bonding time with his dearest daughter and son (sans the occasional wibbling over how gravely he missed the rest of the family-- as Moacyr had stayed home with little Roselyn to make sure the girl didn't freeze), even going so far as to foot the costs of their little excursion to Salig.
See? He was entirely useful! He just... happened to come with a lot of girl-gossip-esque chatter on the side, that was all!
It was all benign enough, the poor son was damn near ready to headwall his skull into a bloody gelatinous pulp by the time Xorosho had finally docked for its usual refueling stop, the dark male secretly praying that his father would stay behind, but...
Nope, that was just a foolish fantasy and he was plucking RIGHT ALONG ALL THE SAME.
But Yossarian was still far less tense than a certain rival as they finally boarded the grand floating city-ship, making sure to keep an eye on Aster (who made it just that much easier by sticking close) as they wandered the streets, but otherwise staying more or less relaxed.
Shae, however, was (unfortunately) a far different story.
She'd been usually quiet since the departure from Porooskia (which said something for her) and had barely spoken a single word since passing through the docks to board, ears set back in a (seemingly permanent) position of stress-- though it was the kind of body language only someone who knew her closely would possibly pick up on.
This place didn't sit well with her in the slightest, nor did the situation... and the fact that she had to deal with both at once was just... just..
Yes, best to keep close at Sir's side in turn, keep her mouth shut, and keep her eyes on the ground.
Just looking at anyone wrong here felt potentially dangerous inside, ugh.
It was enough to keep a person from ever sleeping at night-- and to think, they hadn't even found their real destination yet.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jan 25, 2009 10:03 pm
And Asteria had tried to be pleasant conversation for Daddy dearest (and damn if someone should have been proud of how far she'd come from hiding under the table from him), though the odd COLDNESS (though the fact she now had a coat of her own as well as a couple of changes of clothes thanks to the parents kept her warm) felt like..
..
Well, it felt like more than just the snow of Salig was bothering them.
Although, she did seem to have a nice thought to perhaps.. alieviate the stress of location a little bit.
"So..uh... Is Xorosho... particularly...."
... Thinking of a word, thinking of a word, thinking REALLY HARD for a word...
..
"Errr.. Turbulent?" Pause, "Is that the right word for it?"
Oh yes, good observation: WILL THIS MAKE ME SICK?
Kanda actually could care less if people in public spoke of whatever scandal because he was caught HOLDING HANDS WITH A LITTLE BOY. Because he'd grabbed onto one of her hands if only to keep her secured to his side.
And of course to offer a squeeze of reassurance.
Because...
....
Well, he wasn't sure what to do first. Get them all settled in an Inn somewhere (with a kitchen so the 'Demi Goddess' could cook to her hearts content) and then go to hiss at his father on his own..?
..
Seemed like a pleasant idea.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jan 25, 2009 10:34 pm
Was Xorosho turbu-- hey, she really had used the proper word for it without any prompting or correction! Though he didn't show it in any particularly dramatic way, Yossarian was actually rather impressed by her use of vocabulary; in fact, he'd been noticing a steady expansion of it in her speaking abilities over the past several months now...
"Not--"
"Not particularly, my dear!" Though naturally it was Langston who had to chime in from a few steps behind the couple, beaming so sweetly that Yossarian felt the sudden urge to wretch and smack his palm on his forehead. "In fact, the ship is remarkably stable in flight-- which is of course only doubly admirable when one acknowledges how ancient it is in comparison to most--"
"Thank you, Father." Well, at least he'd been cut off before he could start rambling enough to make their brains all liquify.
"You seem a little tense, Yossarian," but of course it didn't stop there, nope, he got all the fatherly DOTING AND CONCERNS now. "... Does something happen to be the matter?"
"I'm fine."
"Really? Your posture seemed t--"
"I AM FINE, FATHER."
Oooh, touchy, touchy!
While any 'scandal' the would-be press caught of The General's Estranged Son not only having shown back up, but done so DISPLAYING QUEER BEHAVIOR WITH A LITTLE BOY, would probably come back to haunt them later... to be frank, Shae didn't give a damn right now about it either.
Nope, she was just as conscious of securing herself to Sir's side as he was to making sure she stayed there, and holding hands just meant one more thing to keep them from getting (very literally) torn apart.
"Sir?" It was only a few minutes after they'd discretely exchanged their little reassurances (which Langston no doubt fawned over) that she could finally speak up, and even then, it was barely a mumble. "Where are we headed first, i-if I can?..."
Yes, she didn't even know where they were destined to go. It was that much of a blind fight against the FAIL.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 8:17 am
Asteria had actually been quite interested in what Dad was saying before Hubbikins had cut him off. But at least the concern on whether or not the kitten would be hiding in the hotel with motion sickness was out of the way.
"Well, either way it might be better if I sit down somewhere when it gets ready to leave."
Yes. No need for the little tourist to be sicky at take-off (as who knew how effected she would be no matter how stable the airship was), but alas, very little she could do about her ineptitude in that department outside of what she alread couldn't do (See: 'Don't Read while moving' ).
"He's really fine, Dad. He just seems tense. It happens." She enforced a little more gently than Yossarian's 'BACKOFFD<' had been. But following that, she'd been more than happy to link her arm with Yossarian's ever so spousal like and...
..
Continue chatting up Langston.
"So how old is Xorosho in comparison to most......"
Yes, a cut off invitation for him to continue his earlier thought. "Unlike some people," a smile aimed at her more learned other half, "I've never learned geography."
Fortunately, Kanda could hear her little mumbles with his large ears even if she didn't want to speak up.
"We're going to find a place to stay for the night, as far from the district as possible, and then I will be going to discuss things with my father." he emphasized, making a point that Shae would not need to accompany him into the presence of the MONSTEEEERR.
Which was both fortunate and not. Because who knew what card the General would pull on him without his 'company'.
...
.....
Probably something horrible.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 4:16 pm
Nnn, and there the woman went, both distracting (which was good) and encouraging (which was not so good) the infuriating chatterbox of a man, leaving poor Yossarian to just keep walking, keep walking, don't turn around to throttle him and keep on walking...
"Oh, many generations older," Langston all the while was (of course) blissfully unaware of any annoyance on the part of his dear son. "This city is quite a marvel in itself, you know; I would stand to profess that the graviga crystal which runs it has never found an equal, nor has the elegance of construction been paralleled..."
Well, nice to hear that someone was enamored by the place, because Yossarian felt no such admiration-- and Shae definitely didn't hold a scratch of warm feelings for it, to put things lightly.
Though the former mentioned party seemed 'content' enough to let Aster hook arms and bob along like some sort of happy wife figure... even if it earned a whole new batch of nauseating gushy waves from Daddy.
"Ah.. I see." And of course the latter mentioned party was relieved to hear that her presence wouldn't be needed while Sir had his 'talk' with The General, although, on the other hand, it... meant she'd have to brave things all by her lonesome (sort of) for a bit, and he wouldn't have any moral support for the throw-down, either...
One way or the other, it still felt like a big heap of potentially deadly FAIL all over again.
....................
... Could they go home yet?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 4:34 pm
Langston's answer just earned a vaguely perplexed look from Asteria...
....
.....
Oh lord..
..
Could it have possibly been that his 'generations' wasn't an amount of time in her head and that she didn't even know what a 'Graviga Crystal' was? Certainly the kitten was familiar with Yrova's crystals in their basic form: She used them back in the highway.
...
....
But little barmaids had no use for Graviga Crystals. Which of course prompted her to look up to Yossarian with a frown. HALP THE KITTEN PLZ.
Technically, Kanda was 'home' more or less. However, it wasn't exactly the most exciting 'home' of all things. Because right now he could just feel the excitement of 'OH MY GOD THE GENERAL'S SONISGETTINGMARRIEDSOJEALOUSOFTHEBRIDEEEEEE'.
...
..
Yeah, he was a touch popular even as the son of General Dickface.
But it was an easy enough side-step down an oddly placed backstreet that took them far enough away from the chatter, walking quietly and looking at people who passed them by.
"I can't guarantee that I'll be able to get to my father for this talk today, however."
Feh.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 5:31 pm
As usual, Langston failed to register that his overly floral commentary might have gone over certain people's (... namely Aster's) heads and left them even more clueless than they'd been beforehand-- though his son certainly recognized it, and felt a sad pang of obligation to 'remedy' things.
... Even if it would just earn him more gushy love vibes.
"... Graviga crystals are responsible for exactly what their common name implies-- defying gravitational forces." Awww, so nice of him to mutter it to her like that! "They're particularly dangerous and... to find one with enough lift potential for carrying such an enormous weight as this vessel is almost unheard of-- hence why the majority of airships are far smaller in scale."
There, now she had learned something new and vaguely semi-useful!
Now, if they could just get to their damnable destination before he punched Langston in the teeth, all would be well... that, and he was just getting eager to bail on the absolutely BIZARRE environment they were slogging through. It was a strange kind of electricity in the (frigid) air, and he noticed people very keenly eyeing a certain swordsman with smug, giddy or otherwise amused looks on their faces...
Huh, news of the knot-hitching must've traveled fast.
They really were giving Sir the strangest looks, Shae noticed... and her too, even, eyeing the scrawny 'boy' in the same way one might look upon a strange circus act passing through. It was probably just a case of who IS that little BOY the groom's toting around? or something, but that didn't make it much easier to tolerate.
She resisted the urge to hug his side (... metaphorically) even closer, though, as such a thing would've just made the situation even worse. Hand-holding probably looked strange en--
... ohthankGODtheywouldn'tbedealingwiththemonstermantoday. Or thank god there was a chance for delay, or... damn, either way was fail in its own right.
So uh... yeah, wise to just nod, stop talking again and keep her pace swift so they could make it to whatever residence for the night (and takeoff) to settle in.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
