Tale as Old As Last Wednesday II [Maid IC]

[Lycan 01]

Yuki stares flatly at the little wooden barrier. She then turns slightly, looking down at Grundle for a moment, before turning to stare at the wooden barrier again.

After a long moment of silence, she finally turns to face Lune and her monster-buddy. "Shall I eradicate the obstruction? Or would you and your friend like to do the honors?" she casually inquires.

[Deme]

"At least he's making a show of helping out." Ante says, taking note of Mozart's small hand at work with a slight smile. "I've known...individuals who were far less prone to work, believe it or not."

When you've tried to force literal imps to work, the most lackadaisical, careless, rude and petulant creatures to ever exist, you can say that you've known worse than Mozart.

"Oh, so have I: infants, fruit, very small rocks...Nobility."

He shakes his head wryly.

"...Though I take it thy tales of workplace-horror are of a different stripe?"

He was not talking about the devil thing; he was talking, generally, on the assumption she had not been employed by nobility previously. He did at least that much vetting for spies when he looked at applications.

--------

Merry and Hani would notice something skittering around where they are sweeping, its form vague and indistinct.

---

"Please don't! It's very important for keeping us safe from the Monster!...The other monster!" Grundle adds at the last minute, looking at Lune's friend.

[Trobby]

"Oh, so have I: infants, fruit, very small rocks...Nobility."

He shakes his head wryly.

"...Though I take it thy tales of workplace-horror are of a different stripe?"

He was not talking about the devil thing; he was talking, generally, on the assumption she had not been employed by nobility previously. He did at least that much vetting for spies when he looked at applications.

Ante freezes but momentarily as she lifts the wheelbarrow load into her arms, but allows herself to relax, when she remembers that there is no way Terran could possibly know.

....Unless Leon told him...but he wouldn't...would he?

"Ah, I have not had the displeasure to work with very small rocks, no." Ante concedes humorously, masking her nerves as having difficulty with the heavy wheelbarrow.

[Atreli]

Lune just smiled mischieavously.

Aroime straightened up, which was somehow a little eerie, given how natural the constant movement had looked a moment ago.

Opening his mouth up wide he breathed fire on the barrier.

[Deme]

((Can you give me a check there, Oh fire-breather? I...I have no idea what ability pertains to breathing fire, so pick what you think is suitable. Aroime uses Lune's scores.))

--------

Terran leaned down and tossed a small rock onto the wheelbarrow.

"...Now, I suppose, we both have."

Still, looking at her struggle, he paused.

"Allow me, Miss Ante."

[Trobby]

"Ah, but of course, Terran." She nods, offering him the wheelbarrow she could honestly have handled on her own to keep up the appearances. "What shall I do until you get back with it?"

[Deme]

The Book

The barricade burns down... But the ground catches fire. And the sky.
You're in a book. Remember that?

---

Terran took it easily, never guessing her deception, and moved to wheel it out.

"Hm...Well, see if there's any rubble thou canst preparest for the next load-out, and or...Well, there art materials for masonry in the work-room -- I'll bring them back if thou examinest the walls for damages."

[Lycan 01]

Yuki gives a long, beleaguered sigh. "Well, that could have gone slightly better. Time to abandon page, I suppose."

The assassin then quickly darts over to the burning page corner, and plunges her left hand into the flames, attempting to grab the page and pull it back before the flames can do much damage to her hand or uniform.

Spoiler

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Athletics: (1d6x2)[4]

[Deme]

She can't do it; her arm is too on fire! Or at least really hot, since metal doesn't catch fire easily. The sleeve, however, is going up. Stop, Drop, and Roll, Yuki!

[Lycan 01]

"...unfortunate."

Cue Yuki hitting the floor and rolling around in a very measured, precise fashion. Her movements seem almost practiced. This is probably not the first time she's been on fire.

Spoiler

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Stop drop and roll!

Athletics: (1d6x2)[10]

[Trobby]

"As you say, sir. I shall examine the walls for any damages we need to repair!"

Ante should be pretty good at this, she wagers. She'll simply survey the damage done to the area, and determine where and how it needs to be repaired. This shall assist them in repairing said damage to the wall.

...Of course, easier said than done.

Spoiler

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Cunning (To assess damage with her intellect): (1d6x2)[2]

[Atreli]

" Oh...oh...no"

Lune panicked for just a moment.

" I can fix this. I swear I can."

Quickly she recalled Ariome and summoned what looked like a bubble with a large mouth.

" Rokadoe! Please help me!"

He bounced up and down happily while preparing a blast a water.

[Deme]

She puts herself out, and Lune's efforts make everything...Slightly soppy, but no longer on fire. It smells like burnt paper in here.

But hey. The barrier is gone.
-----

...There's a wall. It appears wall-like. Maybe. It occurs to Ante that she's staring at the wall going the wrong way...
And this, too, has something small and indistinct, at first, scurrying in and out of the shadows.

[Trobby]

Ante considers the fact that she has never once learned masonry in her hundreds of years of existence, but is then distracted by the motion of a small, indistinct thing.

Her eyes try to follow it to find out what this small thing could be.

[Atreli]

Lune winces sharply.

" That could've gone so much better..."

[Benson]

Merry and Hani would notice something skittering around where they are sweeping, its form vague and indistinct.

Merry, sweeping, snerk. The devil girl froze and gripped the broom. "Eeh..I think I saw something...eeh."

[Deme]

The skittering thing circled around Merry's feet... And paused for a moment, cracking its mandibles at her. It was... Well, it looked like a roach. If roaches were red and purple and stared at you with deep malevolence.




And the one Ante was following, when she drew near to its crack in the wall
(Give me a roll! Athletics default.)

[Lycan 01]

Yuki is left sprawled out on the floor, her left sleeve scorched and tattered, the metal beneath it ashen and brazed. And she's also drenched as well, her uniform soaked and her hair dripped with water. The assassin sits up, her expression totally flat and deadpan. She lets out a low sigh, before standing up and turning towards the scorched page-edge. "I suppose we should be moving along then, yes?" she deadpans, trying not to acknowledge how cold and drenched she feels right now.

[Hawkflight]

Merry and Hani would notice something skittering around where they are sweeping, its form vague and indistinct.

While Hani was sweeping, she was distracted by something skittering around. Distracted, she set down the broom and leaned in for a closer look.

[Atreli]

Lune runs up to her and offers a hand to the other maid.

" I am so sorry Yuki!"

She laughs half heartedly.

" Worst idea ever huh?"

[Lycan 01]

Yuki cracks a faint smirk. "I've had worse, myself, actually."

Much worse. Like the time she lost her right kidney.

"At any rate," the assassin muses, reaching for the page-edge with her right hand. "Let's see what the turn of the page brings..."

[Benson]

The skittering thing circled around Merry's feet... And paused for a moment, cracking its mandibles at her. It was... Well, it looked like a roach. If roaches were red and purple and stared at you with deep malevolence.

Merry winced as the upper half of her face turned a grim shade of purple as she defensively wielded the broom bringing it close to her chest along with one leg.

[Deme]

Yuki is left sprawled out on the floor, her left sleeve scorched and tattered, the metal beneath it ashen and brazed. And she's also drenched as well, her uniform soaked and her hair dripped with water. The assassin sits up, her expression totally flat and deadpan. She lets out a low sigh, before standing up and turning towards the scorched page-edge. "I suppose we should be moving along then, yes?" she deadpans, trying not to acknowledge how cold and drenched she feels right now.

"Wait, stop!"

Grundle cried.

The page turned to a fresh, clean one. Standing in front of them was an exasperated and exhausted Grundle, brick-laying tools in hand. Behind him, between them and the next page corner...
Was a brick wall.

"There's only 3 pages between us and the monster! Are you trying to get us all killed?"

----
Ante

The nightmare-roach leapt out at her (which I realize only now I forgot to actually say, getting distracted mid-sentence)!

(1d6x2)[2]

...But she dodges easily, and it lands helplessly on the ground. On its back, even.

---

Hani/Merry

The insect looked between the defensively-positioned maid and the curious cat-girl. It skittered behind Merry, trying to see if it couldn't lure the cat-girl into forgetting her surroundings and chase it, wiggling its body in and out of her line of sight as if taunting.

Cunning Roll to lure: (1d6x2)[6]


((Give me a roll to resist, Hani. I'd call Will to not fall into temptation the default, but if you can think of other ways around it, lemee know))

[Atreli]

"According to you, we should never turn any pages and live here forever. Think about it. Mull that over Grundle. The two of us HERE with YOU. 24/7-365. "

Lune put her hands on her hips.

" The faster we get through those pages, the faster we can get out of here and on with our lives and you can get on with yours."

[Trobby]

"Tch. Such a worthless little creature..."

Ante's hair starts to rise as she prepares a hellfire scorch for the roach, but ceases, as she realizes that calling hellfire in to destroy the bug would oust her immediately.

So, despite her desire to avoid even touching the thing, she lifts up the edges of her skirt, raises her foot, and aims a firm stomp right into the center of its abdomen.

Spoiler

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Athletics: (1d6x3)[18]

[Deme]

"Oh, I wouldn't mind that!" Grundle was all smiles at the prospect. "I'm sure once we reach agreement about this, we can all be good friends and play lots of games."

Grundle was sort of a cuddly little thing -- estimates would suggest half his mass was entirely soft, fleecy fur.

"Besides...Isn't life more important than something like comfort? Even if I didn't like you, I wouldn't want you to get hurt." He looked uneasily at the sight of Yuki's arm.


--

The nightmare roach tries to flip over and escape!

(1d6x2)[12]

...It goes smush.

[Trobby]

"...Ugh....I wish now more than ever that this bath was working properly." Ante says, as she does her absolute best to scrape the roach goo off her foot.

[Lycan 01]

"Oh yes," Yuki deadpans flatly, "We can play lots of games. In fact, I have a game we can play."

She then proceeds to reach over with her right hand, pluck her left robotic hand from its socket, and fling it at Grundle's face. "Catch," she states, as the cybernetic hand claws at the air on the way towards its target.

Having a robotic hand stuck to his face will probably be enough to convince Grundle that spending an eternity with Yuki would be a fate worse than death.

[Hawkflight]

Hani/Merry

The insect looked between the defensively-positioned maid and the curious cat-girl. It skittered behind Merry, trying to see if it couldn't lure the cat-girl into forgetting her surroundings and chase it, wiggling its body in and out of her line of sight as if taunting.

Cunning Roll to lure: [roll1]

((Give me a roll to resist, Hani. I'd call Will to not fall into temptation the default, but if you can think of other ways around it, lemee know))

Hani was very tempted to give chase. Very tempted. But she kept a grip on her impulses this time, remembering how sad it made everyone when she'd disappeared last time. Besides, bugs were kinda icky. Now, if it was a mouse....

[Deme]

While Hani had that willpower... Another cat-person didn't, and came barreling straight at Merry's legs, in a graceful dive sure to cause slapstick.

(1d6x5)[10]

----

While this was happening, due to the confusing nature of RP space-time, Terran came back in with the cart and some cement and trowels. He watched Ante try and de-bug-goo her foot with some confusion.

What art thou doing, Miss Ante?"

----

Grundle tried to catch the arm.

(1d6x3)[9]

He gets the arm on his face, but removes it too quickly to be bothered. Both take 1 stress.

"We shouldn't play catch with your arm, miss! I'm afraid to damage it by throwing it back."