Foxside: The Temple of Inari 51

[Fenric]

[Sanctuary]

Verise nods to Hikari, then looks at Sunder

You about done? Shuttle's waiting...

---

[Caroline's Room]

Mouse-Caroline laughs softly and hugs Steven

You've heard how my insane week was. How have you been?

---

[Hospital]

Dark Dreams shakes her head

It was not an agent: it seems one of the acolytes from this temple was kidnapped and mind-controlled somehow.

She looks thoughtful

It seemed that most of the people were surprised and frightened by that display. Is Tsukiko not normally at this facility?

[Rebonack]

[Sanctuary]

Sunder makes a shooing motion at her friend and the werefox with one wing. "You have little need of me there. And it would appear I have some... business to conclude here? I'll remain at the temple until you return."

The nightmære gives a small laugh. "And try to refrain from infecting my friend with a bushy tail. She has gone through enough strange transformations already."

Jokes!

Making light of an awful situation can make it easier to deal with.

[Baeleck]

[Hospital]

'Oh.' Urias isn't quite sure how to react to the mind control part. 'I was not expecting it to be one of our own - it was lucky they were noticed.'

As for Tsukiko, Urias pauses. 'I can't recall seeing her before now, though I've most certainly heard her name in passing. That said, I keep to the hospital mostly. No, I don't think she is regularly here, or at least, not since I've started working here.'

[Ionbound]

[Sanctuary]

Hikari frowns and says, "Indeed." She draws her swords as she follows Verise and mutters to herself as she examines them, flipping them this way and that, "Hmm...I wonder if these count as silver..." However, it is quite likely that Verise will be able to hear Hikari's musings.

[Deathkeeper]

Priest's Quarters

Steven returns the hug, and then goes back to twiddling his fingers.
"Well...my family had started negotiating with our old patron to have us released from our deal. We don't really need his help any more, and well, the folks were all a bit disillusioned at the idea of well, me happening every few generations. They don't mind what happened to me, but well, if I had the best result possible..."
Having some (most likely silly) were-critter in the family every century can get pretty troublesome.
"I don't know how it's going. I'm not in on the talks."

[Fenric]

[Sanctuary]

Verise leads the way back to the shuttle, figuring that Hikari and Sunder must mean to use the spell on a scroll or something since otherwise Sunder would rather need to be present for it to be any use. The implied threat from Hikari muttering about silver gets no response: no point trying to recover from a failed attempt at humor, that just makes things worse.

They stop off at the hospital and collect Dr. Johnson. A number of acolytes pull carts with boxes containing his personal belongings and such of his equipment as could be recovered.

The shuttle is a fairly sizeable vehicle with sleek lines and large windows. A cargo ramp in the back is open, and the folks begin loading the boxes on.

Find a seat, please.

Inside, it is spacious and comfortable with pleasant booths capable of seating sixteen or twenty people in a nearly restaurant like setting.

It was a diplomatic shuttle.

---

[Hospital]

Dark Dreams nods

I see... hopefully you will get your accustomed helper back soon, then. Farewell, Healer Urias: it was a pleasure working with you.

---

[Caroline's Room]

Caroline looks thoughtful

What will it mean if they do?

[Deathkeeper]

Priest's Quarters

Steven shrugs.
"Beats me. If the folks get their way chances are we just lose the benefits and that's about it. I don't think anything will change about me. At this point I'd have to be actively changed back to a human, and I think that's low on the priority list for requests. Especially since I told everyone that I didn't want that."

[Fenric]

[Priest's Quarters]

Caroline smiles

Well, good: it sounds like something that there is no need to be concerned about, then. Is everything else going well?

[Ionbound]

[Sanctuary]

Hikari nods and sits, saying, "Nice shuttle you've got here. No doubt the diplomacy works well, then." She looks around the shuttle curious but wary as anyone would be in a new environment.

[Deathkeeper]

Priest's Quarters

Steven thinks for a moment. "Well I've been reading-"
His thought is interrupted by the sound of his phone vibrating in his pocket. No embarrassing ringtone for today.
"Excuse me, Caroline, it's my folks." he says, taking a step towards the far wall.
What follows starts with "How are things going?" and progresses into the large number of pauses and "oh" 's and "go on" 's and other such things that happen in a conversation when it's basically one sided but the other person still needs to say something to let the speaker know their paying attention.
"I'm not- yeah, she is. ..... yeah, she is. Well, okay, I'll ask her. I'll get back to you once things are finalized. Okay? Okay. Love you too. Bye."

Steven hangs up, pockets the phone, and goes back to Caroline.
"So, um, turns out that the way the whole thing works is that the deal can't really be called off, and it also can't be just re-written on the fly. So um, the only real way to change the situation would be to have the deal picked up by a third party and altered as that party does so. And well, they don't really know anyone that qualifies as a sufficiently powerful being to take a divine contract so....uh....do you think Inari would be willing to accept a large farm's worth of folks for an exchange of favors? I think they don't mind the worship thing, they just didn't want the old-timey curse coming after them when they don't expect it." he says, a bit embarrassed.

[Fenric]

[Shuttle]

Oh no! There's a mini bar under the table in front of Hikari.

Verise sits down and stretches as the shuttle gently lifts off: straight up into the air for a time, then gently accelerating forward. The city of inside soon becomes a blur.

Used to. Haven't done any since we got separated from our home since we're just a base and don't have any diplomatic authority. Maybe now that things are picking up at the temple we can help out with security or something.

---

[Priest's Quarters]

Mouse-Caroline blinks.

Um... well... expanding the worshipper base is part of my job, so I suppose that is a reasonable request. Um...

She bows her head to begin a prayer, and in the blink of an eye Noriko is standing there with a huge and completely uncharacteristic grin

OH MY GOD! You're so CUUUUUUTE!

Mouse-Caroline freezes

Oh...

[Arkhosia]

[Sanctuary]

Sunder blinks.

Or more properly, the glowing orbs in her eye sockets briefly wink out so it looks like she just blinked.

It's kind of spooky.

"So... this is a job application? I'm hardly the one to speak to. Siegfried is the leader of The Last Hurrah."

Siegfried is a pretty cool guy.

He's a gun cleric!

Which is waaaaay cooler than a bashy-thing cleric.

Sophia nods.
Understood. I'll go look for him.
Sophia turns to leave, before stopping. She turns to face Sunder.
By the way Sunder, if you ever wish to, I'm always up for sparring.
And with that, Sophia goes to find Siegfried!

[Deathkeeper]

Priest's Quarters

Steven snickers. Personally, he doesn't understand at all how the foxes consider mice snacks but any mouse over about a foot tall is completely adorable. He supposes it's how people who eat rabbit see things?
"You probably should have gotten into something more formal before you went back to work things, my dear." he says with a laugh.

[Fenric]

[Priest's Quarters]

Noriko chuckles at Steven's comment

Yeah, might have been a good idea. So, what's up, oh Head Priestess?

Mouse-Caroline's ears are entirely red inside from embarrassment.

Oh... yes... I suppose I should have. Well, you see, Steven's family has this arrangement with a god who is not being entirely reasonable, and they want to change. But they have this contract, and basically need to be bought out, I guess?

Noriko looks at Steven, then into Steven...

Well... they'd be in good company: like ninety percent of our worshippers are farmers. And... huh... what's this?

AAAAH.

She looks back at Caroline, nodding her head slightly

That explains a lot... I wondered why you were so eager for this guy. Should'a paid attention earlier.

Caroline looks utterly baffled

What?

[Deathkeeper]

Priest's Quarters

Steven assumes the Messenger is doing some sort of magic thing judging from the inexplicable knowledge of his family's profession. Which probably rules out a euphemism, but he's still confused.
"What?" he echoes.

[Fenric]

[Priest's Quarters]

Noriko grins at Caroline

You recently found out you're in the Messenger training program, right?

Caroline nods slowly. Noriko nods toward Steven

So's he. That's why you two get along so well - you're classmates, in a way.

Caroline's eyes go big and round. Noriko addresses Steven

So yeah, we'll take you. And I do mean "we": you're on my team. 'Course, that does have a couple of side effects. For starters...

Steven just might find his fur turning black 'round about now.

[Ionbound]

[Shuttle]

Hikari listens as she pours herself a ginger ale (trust me, every bar has ginger ale. As someone under-age who's been to several, I know.) and says, "Mmhmm. I see. Well...I don't know. You're from Ravenloft, right?" She makes an annoyed face before continuing, "Eh, I'm sure you'll fine something."

[Deathkeeper]

Priest's Quarters

Steven wouldn't have looked down without being pointed to do so, but he does, and sighs. I'll assume he keeps his green eyes.
"Aw come on, I'll need to fix my whole wardrobe again now. And uh, is that it? I think they might be a bit angry with me if I did the whole deal on my own without any paperwork. Of course, the darn paperwork is what got us into this mess. Still, I need to at least make sure the curse clause thing is gone to satisfy them.
And uh, I know I was already dating Caroline but uh, am I gonna be okay for...this? I mean, I'm basically something your people eat. As a person, I can ignore that but...it might be a little weird if you're saying I'm important." he says, his mind still trying to process everything that's going on right now.

[Fenric]

[Priest's Quarters]

Noriko shakes her head

I don't care which shape you hang around in, or which color for that matter. Who can say what you really are anymore?

because now he knows kitsune magic, too.

Well... besides me, of course. I know: you're really a black-furred shadow Vulpan. But if you don't ever feel like looking like one, that's your business.

Then she yawns

Ok, ok... Yo! Liu! Contract time!

Did we all forget about poor Liu? Probably, because he's a pest. He's a human, wears brown and green Mandarin court robes complete with the hat, and is insufferably pompous. He has a scroll of purest white mulberry paper with a jade and gold rods.

Please review this, Steven: it details our assumption of your debt and details the terms of the new contract including the conversion of your former "Favoured Soul" template which we do not use, to our "Messenger Trainee" template, which is the closest equivalent. Note that there is no specific language regarding your relationship to Miss Primerra, as that is considered outside the bounds of this agreement.

---

[Shuttle]

Verise shrugs

Yeah, originally. I was pretty young when we left. That's not the place I meant, though - the old domain was destroyed: it's nothing but chunks of rock floating in space now. We had a place up north, that ended up gradually drifting away from the Nexus.

I take it you had a bad experience with the demiplane of crap?

[Rebonack]

[Sanctuary]

Sunder waves as the woman departs.

She... honestly has no idea who that was.

The comment about sparring suggests that she was someone Sunder had fought before, but that doesn't narrow the list down very much. Sunder has fought a lot of people and then laughed about it afterward. There are few betters ways to get to know who someone is than by punching them in the jaw, obviously.

The nightmære gives a small sigh, closes her eyes, and begins to meditate on her wuji. The aura of dawn slowly extends around her, filling her surroundings with a refreshing, peaceful feeling. Any other folks in the temple might find that doing their devotions near Sunder is surprisingly pleasant.

[Deathkeeper]

Priest's Quarters

Steven raises an eyebrow. "What? You did something like that just now? I didn't even feel anything. Are you su-"
Sadly, the mental consideration is all it takes for those magical instincts Noriko stuck into him to go off, and there's a small sound, somewhere between a squeak and a yip, as Steven undergoes the transformation Caroline just demonstrated, save in total reverse. Well, in everything save color. Caroline turned white, Steven is still black. Luckily, Vulpans are somewhat thin and Steven's mouse-shape was a bit stocky, so while his clothes are much too short for him like this, they don't burst from the increase in size.
"Confound it all. Anyway, let me read all of this, hang on a second." he says, quite ignoring how his silly too-small clothes make him look. He's satisfied with the lack of mention of Caroline. If they don't say anything, he assumes that the small split of allegiance isn't an issue. After all, if it would be surely Caroline would have spoke up about Noriko stealing the proposal so fast.

[Arkhosia]

Somewhere I guess

Sophia goes somewhere where she won't disturb Nyone and calls Siegfried!

[Fenric]

[Priest's Quarters]

Mouse-Caroline sighs

Noriko... do you not think you are rushing things just a trifle?

Noriko tilts her head

What? Giving him the powers before he even signs? Eh... yeah, I guess. If he really doesn't want them, I can put him back to a plain brown mousie. But we're so much more fun than that stuffy old skinflint he was stuck with before! Besides, I only have one disciple here right now. Helen is awesome, but now Tsukiko has two.

Caroline shakes her head

Sibling rivalry, Noriko? Really?

It's a pretty boring and straightforward little contract, really it would be hard to ask for anything more fair.

[Deathkeeper]

Priest's Quarters

"It's...certainly a lot to take in, but if you really want me for this, I suppose it'd be terribly rude to turn down. And I don't mind the powers just, well...I really do feel perfectly normal like this. Sorry, Caroline, but I can't promise I'll be as comfortable as other things, even what I was before. I hope you don't mind if your boyfriend actually ends up as someone normal looking." he says, skimming the document. That "normal" had at least three different levels of sarcasm. Eventually he nods, and pulls out his phone, and goes through a very long conversation, which at one point involves reading out almost the entire contract, notably save for anything that involves himself. And after that, he seems to get a response he likes, and hangs up.
"Yep, everyone's on board. Probably wouldn't be so fast normally, but they don't have a reason to mistrust Tamamo over Inari herself, and well, they assume that my *ahem*...relationship status must mean something." he says.
And with a few little pen-strokes, Steven signs his name on the paper.

[Fenric]

[Priest's Quarters]

Liu reaches out and takes the scroll, leaving it in Steven's hand. The duplication is so smooth and unsettling to see that even Noriko winces

Ugh! Liu, there's a reason for special effects.

I would not expect anything else from a nogitsune: always tricks and nonsense.

and he vanishes. The room is instantly 20 percent cooler... oh wait, wrong plot.

Mouse-Caroline shakes her head

I don't care what shape you take, Steven. These last few months have been wonderful, you have been an anchor of stability and a voice of reason for a flighty fox like me.

Noriko rolls her eyes and shudders

Ugh, again! Enough sweetness to give all of Inside the sugar-sickness. Later, lovebirds!

and then the pair are alone once more.

[Deathkeeper]

Priest's Quarters

Steven runs a hand through his hair bashfully.
Oh look, he still has that. Noriko must have given him a more appropriate age for his body. Good, if she'd been literal he'd have been the equivalent of a pre-teen at less than thirty years.
"Well, I just signed a contract that makes me basically immortal if I don't flub any training, even if I'm well, a few hundred reincarnations behind you. I'll catch up! And maybe you can get them to let me skip a few parts so you don't graduate multiple millenniums before I do. But in the meantime, well. I think we're...awfully close for people who met less than a year ago. You gave up your home for me. You helped me feel fine about losing some of my humanity. Well, pretty much all of it now if you're being technical. And well, now we're talking about forever's here. I guess things could still not work out, but in the face of all of this, I don't really think that there's much room to worry about that.
So, uh, I guess what I'm trying to say is that, well, in the face of forever, uh, well...I don't really that sharing a room for a century or two is really all that big a deal. Do you?"
Aw come on Steven, you didn't even say it!

[Baeleck]

[Sanctuary]

The gardens are Urias's usual place of training, but the mystical aura that Sunder was creating has led him to venture inside and take advantage of the peaceful resonance. He'd wanted to catch up on his martial practice since breaking his usual routine, and had found a spare hour or so between his duties.

His movements are fluid and graceful, his breathing deep and controlled. He's working more on his upper body at the moment - he didn't want to be getting in people's way by wandering all over the place. That would be rude of him.

Oh, he's also wearing his new Camelot wristbands with pride. Woo band merchandise!

[Fenric]

[Priest's Quarters]

Caroline is back to her usual self in an instant. And yeah, the bathrobe is pretty daring.

Now, the Vulpan culture is matriarchial:

foxes don't propose...

vixens do.

And so for Caroline Steven's little speech is, quite literally, perfect. She cups her hands together and mumbles a spell... and for once, Steven can understand the quietly spoken Vulpan words:

Now power grow and matter flow; now not too quick nor yet too slow: within, without, and round about, retrieve!

She opens her hands and there is a box of midnight blue, that she opens and holds out to Steven. Inside, a thick ring of brightly polished, white-silver metal that has a large cushion-cut diamond set nearly flush with the surface, and bordered by two smaller (but only barely) baguette cut sapphires of deepest blue.

Steven Linde: will you marry me.

---

[Sanctuary]

Caroline is here, enjoying the peaceful atmosphere, and smiling like she is in heaven.

[Deathkeeper]

Priest's Quarters

Steven gives a mock frown.
"Aw come on, you had one on hand? I really must be predictable. My human upbringing is saying I should be on the other end of this, but my fox everything else is telling me to shut up and go with it. So of course. I mean, I sorta asked first, didn't I?"
he says, taking the ring. Caroline better get used to this statement; it's likely they're going to disagree on who asked who whenever this story is told. After all, you can't quite take the upbringing out of Steven, even if he can already tell his altered body and mind have very different definitions of masculine and feminine that he remembers.
He looks down, admiring the shiny little thing. He might need some help bringing himself to put it on.
"But if the vixens are the ones who give the rings, than you were probably supposed to ask my family for their blessing. Well, it'll take them months if not years for them to wrap their heads around the whole Matriarchy thing, so we'll just pretend that it was perfectly normal, shall we?"

[Fenric]

[Priest's Quarters]

Caroline smiles as she takes the ring from the box and slides it onto his finger

You asked quite eloquently, my darling.

This is a family heirloom, and I have had it carefully hidden away for over a century. Blessings are for fifty year old kits, not full grown adults, and besides: my Aunt blessed you since my mother isn't even present in this universe.

She smiles gently, holding Steven's hand and admiring the ring's contrast against his dark fur.

Out in the wild, the vixen chooses a fox and then she leads him on a chase to test his health and his resolve, and if he passes she will have his kits. The fox has a lot of work cut out for him, though: A den must be dug, and he is expected to do his share. And then, once the vixen can no longer hunt due to the kits growing inside her, it is his job to bring her food from then until the time the kits are old enough to be left without the constant care of their mother.

And so, there are a number of things in our courtship that revolve around that concept. It's why I kept asking you to feed me little tidbits sometimes, it's why I always liked to go first when we walked around... It's why you got your ring first.