intangibleman: Default. (Default)
intangibleman ([personal profile] intangibleman) wrote in [community profile] spira_rp2018-10-07 05:22 pm

Killers everywhere, it ain't no place to run.

The Desert Palace, all in all, wasn't such a bad place.

Tyki rather liked it. It was almost lively under the near funereal, subdued air. There might have been a fog hanging over everything, the heavy weight of a member missing, but underneath that was a subtle layer of anticipation, a mountain-stream burble of excitement at what the meeting might hold. For those normally resident, the reaction to strangers was mixed. Some approached the situation with their heads held high, giving no indication one way or another how they felt about the sudden intrusion. Others seemed nervous, the unknown quantities enough to frighten them, not that they broadcasted it. For the minions, there seemed to be a novelty to it. It almost seemed to take the edge off the fear the Arrancar were harbouring.

Almost.

Neliel, however, apparently Sosuke Aizen's biggest fan, seemed positively mired in it. There were moments when she came out of herself a little, but it was obvious that he was on her mind. Him, or her precarious position.

The young girl Road had taken to seemed less concerned, but it was possible she didn't understand the gravity of her situation. The short man with the pet Malboro covered whatever worries he had with a bright veneer of smirking sarcasm, but Tyki could practically smell the fear on him. The lanky Tag with the attitude problem didn't give anything away, instead choosing to sneer one-eyed at everybody, teeth grit and bared like an animal caged, as though he didn't care whether he lived or died so long as he got to sink his teeth into somebody. It was possible this was the case, but Tyki had rarely seen somebody who didn't care when it came down to it. Perhaps he'd get to see his real feelings on the matter after the meeting's conclusion. That might be fun.

The others hadn't presented themselves for inspection.

Tyki found himself enjoying it all. Road was keeping an eye on things, doing her best impression of a precocious young girl there under Tyki's watchful eye, but the reverse was probably more true. She knew more than he did, about everything. It was her who told him what would become of the Arrancar if things went south, her who told him about the members he had never heard of, who he'd never bothered to read the backgrounds of. He simply watched and enjoyed.

What had surprised him was that the majority of the members present and, indeed, those expected, were natives of their own floating continent, and not Ivalice. Some of the residents were certainly lowerworlders, but all of the visitors seemed to come from Niflheim, Lucis or the Jyllandi Union. Was it merely a trip for them, a chance for the to size each other up on neutral ground, with Aizen's imprisonment serving as little more than window dressing? That was possible. None of the had any real personal investment in the man, nor his continued safety, or that of his underlings. He suspected Kreeth was simply there for the holiday.

There hadn't been any newcomers for a few days. The last had been the two from the Union and before those, the Lucian envoys, apparent nobodies there in the stead of somebody important. It was probably fortunate the absent lowerworlders didn't send the same in their places, or the palace would run the risk of being standing room only, with underlings turfed out of their rooms to house the temporarily higher-ranked dogs of members. Road said they were still waiting on a woman from Reseune, a town that bordered the two major halves of the Niflheim Empire, and some mid-tier noble from Nagapur who Road, all full of childlike delight, was expecting to kick off at some point during her stay.

There had been some arrivals last night, but they'd come in without fanfare, or announcement. They felt familiar, so Tyki assumed they were residential minions, gone and returned. He'd soon find out, anyway. He'd left his hat and cane in his room, but still made sure to dress nicely. His white side wasn't welcome in such a place, and the black was far, far classier. He found himself gravitating to the kitchen without effort and he was almost surprised how quick such a thing had happened. Perhaps that was how the palace got you.

He pushed open the door.

"Good morning," he said.
shieldoftheprince: (02)

[personal profile] shieldoftheprince 2018-10-11 02:07 pm (UTC)(link)
The bed the Lucians had been given in the palace wasn't so bad.

It wasn't as comfortable as Gladio was used to, but he put that down to them being probably old. Fortunately, there weren't any errant springs jutting up to give him a bad night, but he couldn't speak for Ignis's experience. Maybe his side of the mattress was like the Mencemoor, who knew? He complained of sleeping badly, but that was nothing new. He'd joked about it being Gladio's snoring, but that was crap. He barely snored. Most likely, it was his dependence on coffee. He drank too much, slept badly because he was always hopped up on caffeine, and then had to drink more the next day to function, making it an endless cycle of insomnia. No capital letter.

Sharing hadn't been too bad. The beds were big enough to accommodate both of them, which was fortunate. He doubted he'd be as bright eyed and bushy tailed if he'd slept on the floor, but he had packed camping gear. The boot was full of it, well. It was full of that, and cans of ebony. He wondered how many of them were left. Nel, angel of the Lowerworld that she was, had been sweet enough to get him some half decent coffee, but Morrid Coffee, not even the top tier Kirman variety, wasn't Ebony.

Nice as the beds were, the shower left a lot to be desired. He supposed it was good that they didn't have to deal with communal showers, and that all of the rooms seemed to have an en suite, but the shower itself was old fashioned and there didn't seem to be much space between the 'The Searing Cauldron' and the 'Greyshire Grotto' settings.

Ignis had long been up by the time Gladio crawled out of bed, limbered up for the day ahead, and fought the shower. He was an early riser, which was fine by Gladio. He wasn't a slugabed himself, but he wasn't exactly up at cock crow either.

He could smell the scent of breakfast on the air as he crossed the hall. It made his stomach growl. The kitchen felt full of people, partly because of the concentration of mostly-concealed reiatsu, and half because of the sound of voices coming from inside.

He pushed the door open and looked around. Two women, one Nel, one new. Ignis, the Nif man, and a pink-haired stranger with glasses that even Gladio knew Ignis would consider virtually a crime to own.

"Morning," he rumbled, voice still half sleep-deep in spite of everything.
declaregamuza: (You'd never dream of)

[personal profile] declaregamuza 2018-10-11 05:53 pm (UTC)(link)
Nel looked up when Gladio entered. She'd started to learn to recognise when he was nearing, now. She'd pick up on the unique signatures of the others as time went on, too.

"Morning," she replied, with a bright smile.

The realisation that Gladio had just walked into a room with Szayel present hit a second later.
sipthehoneylikeabutterfly: (pitifully predictable)

[personal profile] sipthehoneylikeabutterfly 2018-10-11 05:58 pm (UTC)(link)
Szayel cast little more than a curosry glance in the direction of the door when the newcomer strode in.

Then he stopped and looked again, this time raking his eyes up from the feet, and over thighs, and groin, and stomach, and chest, and continuing upwards, which there was rather a lot of, to the man's face. He dragged his eyes back down again just to make sure he hadn't missed any details.

Well, they'd kept that one quiet. He had half a mind to check the dates and see if it was his birthday, just in case. It certainly wasn't Warsend, but somebody had left him a very nice gift of eye candy.

He pushed his glasses up with the fingers of one hand and took another lingering look at everything that was this newcomer to the kitchen. "Good morning," he said, breaking into a very pleased smile.
thatsit: (to my future)

[personal profile] thatsit 2018-10-11 06:04 pm (UTC)(link)
Ignis had felt the comforting presence that was Gladio, the only other Lucian in the place, and only other person he could fully trust. There wouldn't be any more dangerous little questions from Tyki Mikk regarding Ignis's sole presence now.

"Ah, Gladio," he said, brightly. Gladio's greeting sounded like he was still asleep, but he'd probably perk up after breakfast.

The tone of Szayel's voice dripped and oozed unpleasantly down Ignis's spine, and he fought the urge to shoot the man a look. Given his assertion that speaking to people constituted flirting, the way he addressed Gladio probbaly constituted sexual assault.

Ignis gestured to Apache with one hand, doing the polite thing and introducing the lady to his companion, "I'd like you to meet Apache," he said. Then he pointed a finger in Szayel's direction, "And that's Szayel," he added, with rather less warmth.
shieldoftheprince: (05)

[personal profile] shieldoftheprince 2018-10-12 12:36 pm (UTC)(link)
Gladio wasn't stupid. He might look like a six and a half foot wall of tattooed dumb muscle, likely only brought for the potential risk of taking punches and possible dealing them out, but appearances aren't always what they seem.

He was definitely smart enough to tell that We Don't Like Szayel. The less than glowing introduction said as much. It wasn't too surprising, especially when he'd practically licked him when he'd spoken.

"Szayel," he said, with a nod, by way of greeting. "Apache," he said, rather more warmly. And then... "Wow, your eyes are beautiful."

He'd never seen eyes not match each other before. They stood out, even more than the weird yellow-orange eyes of Tyki Mikk and Ignis's new pink-haired friend.
cierva: Smile in profile. (Coming slow and deep.)

[personal profile] cierva 2018-10-12 12:45 pm (UTC)(link)
Apache felt somebody approach the door, but wasn't particularly interested. Everybody in the palace she didn't recognise was going to be a stranger, so she wasn't going to get excited about it happening, especially since Khamja members were neatly universally creepy, or scary in some other way.

Of course, her opinion changed somewhat when Gladio walked in. Ignis introduced him to them as though he knew him, so he was likely his companion. When he spoke, though, he lacked the nearly cartoonishly Archadian accent that Ignis used. It wasn't too surprising, learning from different teachers could give you a different accent in a foreign tongue. Gladio's teacher obviously favoured the Bancouri or Landisian accent.

What he said, of course, made her smile. See, it was possible for people to notice straight away, wasn't it, Yylfordt?

"Thanks," she said, doing her best not to look too happy about the compliment.
thatsit: (Just not for long)

[personal profile] thatsit 2018-10-12 01:44 pm (UTC)(link)
Ignis smiled at Apache's poorly disguised happiness. He rather liked Apache, she'd certainly made a better first impression than others Ignis could name.

"Would you like some breakfast?" he asked, ready to jump up out of his seat and set to that. He'd already made breakfast for four, but there was a pleasure in doing it. Especially when the reception had been so resoundingly positive.
sipthehoneylikeabutterfly: (a lack of discipline)

[personal profile] sipthehoneylikeabutterfly 2018-10-12 01:56 pm (UTC)(link)
Szayel felt the dismissal that came both as part of Ignis's introduction, and Gladio's greeting. They were both fawning over Apache though, weren't they?

"Yes," he said, talking over Apache's head, "an interesting Mist Mutation." He eyed the back of her head. "I suppose that would make her a Tag, on Jylland." And hadn't she kept that quiet?
declaregamuza: (Be careful what you're wishing)

[personal profile] declaregamuza 2018-10-12 02:00 pm (UTC)(link)
Nel enjoyed her morning dose of eye candy for a second. Ignis really was going to make somebody a wonderful wife someday, too. Why couldn't they make them like this here? Attractive, and charming, and in the case of Tyki just a little bit dangerous.

Then she heard the words that came out of Szayel's mouth and she glared at him. "Szayel." She said his name like it meant 'stop'. It usually did, with him. Sometimes Nel wondered if he might have grown up thinking his name was 'dickhead', because he certainly spent most of his life trying to live up to it.
cierva: Mild glare. (Things I thought I put behind me...)

[personal profile] cierva 2018-10-12 02:04 pm (UTC)(link)
Apache's expression went flat for a second at Szayel's needling. The two didn't get on, that much was obvious to everybody. What wasn't obvious was that she could have mentioned that at any point since her arrival at the palace, and hadn't.
shieldoftheprince: (12)

[personal profile] shieldoftheprince 2018-10-12 02:14 pm (UTC)(link)
"Sounds great," Gladio said, grinning at the idea of breakfast.

He was never going to turn down food cooked by Ignis. He was a fantastic cook, even if the two never saw eye-to-eye on the subject of instant noodles. He sat himself in a chair and looked at Szayel, expression mild.

"Yeah," he said. "It would, the law makes no distinction between pretty eyes and shit like tentacles, but people do, so it doesn't really matter, does it?"

Gladio might have been biased, being a fan of the Kingsglaive, one of the sectors of society that would employ Tags without judgement, but they did strike him as a bit ... loose. It struck him as ridiculous that a non-Tag could be a despicable asshole and do all right, so long as they didn't break the law, but somebody with pretty mismatched eyes, for example, would be blocked from certain jobs and opportunities. Besides, ranking was way more important.

"Anyway, it's not like it applies down here, anyway."
thatsit: (Stand)

[personal profile] thatsit 2018-10-12 02:43 pm (UTC)(link)
Ignis smiled as he stood, listening to Gladio defend Apache. From the reaction of Nel it was a fair bet that Szayel was well known for this sort of catty outburst that smacked of jealousy and, well, bitchiness. It was merely another thing to add to the list of reasons to dislike Szayel; Ignis already had a short but compelling list and he'd only been in the man's presence for half a morning.

Gladio's reaction, however... It was both sensitive, and correct. "Perhaps," he said, slipping into their native tongue, "if such things aren't reviewed by the current monarchy, there might still be hope with the next?"

He understood the reasons for the law. On paper it made sense. Of course you wished to know if individuals held dangerous powers beyond the scope of ability of a normal person. And yet, as Gladio had said, the law didn't distinguish between differently coloured eyes, and tentacles, and, of course, if one received such strange powers from one's parentage, then one didn't need to register. The law made a mockery of itself that way.

He made his way to the fridge, collecting together the ingredients for Gladio's breakfast, and debated the merits of making another coffee.
sipthehoneylikeabutterfly: (a domestic disgrace)

[personal profile] sipthehoneylikeabutterfly 2018-10-12 02:50 pm (UTC)(link)
Szayel gave a one shouldered shrug. "Mores the pity," he said. "Having to declare things like that would have certainly cleared up a few misunderstandings," he added, eyeing Apache again.

She hadn't told them about the tag, and now she didn't want her new friends to know she was Jyllandi, so needling her over it was fun.

"It also makes potential subjects much easier to identify," he said, looking to Nel. She could tell him to stop all she wanted, she didn't have Aizen around to back her up, now. Even Ulquiorra wasn't here to enforce Aizen's will with his weird little all seeing eye nonsense.
declaregamuza: (I want the friction)

[personal profile] declaregamuza 2018-10-12 02:54 pm (UTC)(link)
Nel sighed at Szayel. He hadn't got his way, so now he was just being a catty bitch in general, saying things he thought might wind people up. Things like this were exactly why she'd had Grimmjow and Yylfordt take him out of the Palace.

"Szayel," she said, wearily, "can you please stop doing your best to die before Aizen gets back?"

If he went around calling people subjects, and she'd met some of the people he might imply are subjects based on the fact they were Jyllandi mistants and death was a very real possibility, then he was definitely on a suicide mission.
shieldoftheprince: (28)

[personal profile] shieldoftheprince 2018-10-12 03:16 pm (UTC)(link)
"Only if it won't have a negative effect on the trade deal with the Union," Gladio replied, matching Ignis's language, and managing not to roll his eyes.

His father had mentioned that, the agreement between Lucis and the Jyllandi Union. He wasn't entirely against the import of the Tagging law, but that was Clarus for you. He was a bit stuffy, if a good man overall, but he had Views. He'd told him once that Mist Mutations were seen, historically, as gifts from the Goddess, but that now... after all that had happened, they were less a gift and more an unwanted present it was impossible to return. Occasionally, he'd expressed the sentiment that he felt sorry for Tags, but as a member of the Lucian Council, however, he did rate the prosperity of the kingdom above the comfort of the kingdom's disenfranchised minorities. Especially when those minorities had a tendency to gravitate towards crime.

Gladio hadn't pointed out that they didn't have much choice if nobody would employ them because they had funny coloured eyes or webbed hands, though.
cierva: Being brave. (Have to stare it in the eye.)

[personal profile] cierva 2018-10-12 03:21 pm (UTC)(link)
Apache turned towards Tyki and blinked upon seeing the smirk on his face, the white shark smile very visible in his dark grey face.

"Uhhh... what?" She asked, suddenly interested.

Who'd soaked a scientist? Which scientist? A new one? Who had even turned up anyway?
declaregamuza: (You will be)

[personal profile] declaregamuza 2018-10-12 03:32 pm (UTC)(link)
Nel tilted her head and gave Apache a faux-innocent shrug. She'd sent the others away to stay out of trouble, but she couldn't exactly send herself away, and Hojo wasn't the first to fall foul of her.

"Hojo wouldn't stop smoking in the kitchen," she said, appending a bright smile to the end of the sentence. "If I catch him again, he'll be eating the cigarette." While it was still lit.
sipthehoneylikeabutterfly: (instructions will repeat)

[personal profile] sipthehoneylikeabutterfly 2018-10-12 03:39 pm (UTC)(link)
Szayel folded his arms, coffee cup still clutched in one hand. Nel had shown flagrant disrespect to Hojo, had she?

"That's behaviour unbecoming of the Tres Espada, don't you think?"

He wouldn't call himself Hojo's number one fan. The man did want to pick an Arrancar apart, and Szayel considered the Arrancar his personal project. Kurotsuchi could go to hell. They were developed in his labs, certainly, but he hadn't been invested enough in the project to become part of it like Szayel had.

Still, Hojo was a great scientist, and simpletons like Nel should afford him the respect he earned as such.
thatsit: (in the bottom half of the hourglass)

[personal profile] thatsit 2018-10-12 03:46 pm (UTC)(link)
"An unfortunate consideration," Ignis agreed, in Jyllandi, "but not an insurmountable one." Lucis had never joined the Union in the end, and their adoption of Tag laws being predicated on that it gave them some maneouverability. They'd have to be careful not to offend, of course, but with the right attitude and flexibility of approach, it could be taken under review.

He caught the discussion between Nel. Szayel's comment was interesting, certainly, though Ignis didn't comment on that.

"And rightly so," he said, turning the stove on to begin preparing Gladio's breakfast. "Such habits should be kept away from food preparation areas."
cierva: Cocky remark. (No more denying.)

[personal profile] cierva 2018-10-12 03:56 pm (UTC)(link)
"Oh, him," Apache said, rolling her eyes. "He's a creep at the best of times. Thinks being some hasbeen scientist means everybody he's threatening to dissect should be falling over themselves to pay homage to him."

Hojo, in Apache's opinion, could kiss her arse. People didn't just get showered in respect, they had to earn it. Scientists could earn the respect of other scientists simply by existing, same as famous mages, actors or whatever else, but to everybody else..? They had to earn respect, and people didn't earn it by being an asshole to everybody and acting like you were beneath them.

"If he's been smoking in the kitchen, I'm surprised he only got wet," Nel could be scary in a bad mood.
shieldoftheprince: (08)

[personal profile] shieldoftheprince 2018-10-12 04:02 pm (UTC)(link)
Gladio gave a 'maybe' tilt of the head about Noct's potential to rescind that law, and turned his attention to the other conversation in the room. He grimaced.

"Yeah," He said, his nod agreeing with Ignis. "If you wouldn't do it in a lab, don't do it in a kitchen, right?"

Contamination, and all that. You'd think a scientist would know better. Not that Gladio knew many scientists, if any, but it seemed like a basic enough rule. Szayel seemed to want to defend him, so he decided to add something that would make anybody disagreeing with the sentiment think again. He wasn't stupid, but he knew how he looked. Relied on it, here.

"Even I know that."
Edited 2018-10-12 16:03 (UTC)
sipthehoneylikeabutterfly: (direction)

[personal profile] sipthehoneylikeabutterfly 2018-10-12 04:21 pm (UTC)(link)
Szayel was prepared to open his mouth and speak, and then Gladio added that to the end of his statement and he paused.

He had been mentally preparing a lecture about how it all rather depends on the nature of your studies. Szayel didn't smoke; he found the habit noxious, but he also understood why Hojo did. Szayel had the same tendency to skip meals as Hojo evidently did, as Even did, as, really every dedicated scientist did. Science sustained you, food was a distraction.

But this meaty lunkhead, attractive as he was, thought he knew something did he?

"A kitchen is hardly laboratory conditions," he sneered. "If you'd ever been in one, you'd know."
thatsit: (Of our version of events)

[personal profile] thatsit 2018-10-12 04:28 pm (UTC)(link)
It would be hard to pinpoint what got Ignis's back up more: the dismissal of kitchens and cooking in favour of laboratories, or the implied attack upon Gladio's intellect that came with the statement.

Calm, cool, and collected. It would be extremely bad form to suggest that Szayel put his viewpoints to the chefs in Altissia, who would make their opinions known and who were all very good with knives.

"A good kitchen should still be a place with a carefully controlled atmosphere," he said, transferring his irritation directly into the cheese he was grating. "Humidity, temperature, and lighting can all affect ingredients and since cooking is, explicitly, the act of mixing different parts together and applying carefully controlled heat in order to activate a chemical reaction with the desired aim of producing consistent results," he looked directly at Szayel from the side of his glasses, "what would you call it, if not science?"

Page 5 of 6