15[20:39] Rinca insisted on a cleared locker room for an hour before the fight. Where and how does Piu spend the time until first bell? Fending off fans and suitors? Signing autographs? At one of the fancy restaurants Dryas's tab entitles her to enter? 15[20:41] Meanwhile, the aftermath of the meeting with Falen is still ringing through Dryas's suite, even as people come in to clean up and prepare for the banquet later tonight. Somehow despite it being dark outside when they went to receive her, in the Saucer their internal clocks only feel like early afternoon. [20:41] 4Why not all three? Ten minutes flirting with the suitors (and making it clear to Galad that as long as he stays respectful, she can be quite the pitchwoman), twenty for the autographs, and then...she could use a bite to eat! Lot of exercise over the past couple hours. Relatively little of it in the ring. 15[20:41] Zhangyu kind of sat through it all, and Dryas... well, how are they holding up? [20:42] 6He's... trying. [20:42] 4Presumably she'll have had time to zip in, freshen up, and maybe get fucked hard against the lockers before Rinca cleared out the locker room. Perhaps not necessarily in that order. 15[20:42] That's why Piu's the fast one. [20:42] 4She's not fast. It's the boys who all end up fast. [20:43] 4Rinca's better than most, though. 15[20:44] What's Zhangyu doing, and where is he, when Sadako finds him? She seems to be the least put out by the evening/afternoon's events, which is maybe a bit odd considering what happened. [20:45] 4Anyway she's in something sexy and presentable, but perhaps not quite as risque as the sideless dress from before, when she orders spicy dumplings and cool tea at the restaurant. She's just as radiant as before, however. [20:45] 6He's gone back to -- well. Fallen gong. [20:45] 07Dryas is drinking. 15[20:46] Sadako rounds them both up. "Hey. You guys look bored." [20:48] 6Neutrally: "Yes...?" [20:49] 07Dryas is incredulous. "You want anything to do with us after that?" 15[20:49] Sadako: "There's a fighting arena! They're doing fights tonight." 15[20:49] To Dryas: "What?" [20:50] 6Thoughtfully: "I do like fights." [20:51] 07Dryas: "The House matriarch looking at you like a horse? Ah, fuck it. Recreational fights before the main bout, why not." 15[20:52] Piu finds herself eating alone; it seems like there's a strong etiquette against bothering fighters outside of the pit area. Well, that is until the scrawny guy hops into the next seat over, seemingly unbeknownst. "I'm so hungry." 15[20:52] He doesn't really invade Piu's personal space aside from sitting at her table, unless you count the shadow the brim of his big straw hat throws on her. 15[20:53] Sadako: "Was that not normal? In stories you always see the grandmother pinching kids' cheeks and stuff." [20:53] 4She'll glance over. Is he immediately recognizable as a fighter? There's a lot of guys working who pull this 'oh look at me, Great Uncle String-pole, buy me a pork bun young lady' nonsense just ready to start throwing Crane Style the second you do your aunt's best imperious laugh in their faces. [20:55] 07Dryas: "It was a little... invasive. But if we are to get you made a Patrician at least, these are the petty indignities you'll suffer, for a time. I'm surprised you take it in such good humor. One good sign, I suppose." 15[20:56] He doesn't look that wily. Or that old. He's younger than Piu, she'd guess. But I guess you never really know with these qi cultivators. He's got a lean, muscular build, and a scar on his face, but he doesn't carry himself like a fighter. 15[20:57] Sadako shrugs. "Yeah alright. Come on! Piu already won one. Everyone was talking about her and Master Zhangyu's unbeatable technique!" [20:57] 4Then she'll just continue to look at him expectantly, waiting. He certainly did not just choose accidentally to slide into the seat next her, the woman with the double-order of dumplings, and then state to the air that he would like some dumplings. If he wants dumplings, he is going to have to ask for dumplings directly. [20:57] 6Oh dear. 15[21:00] Finally the man(?) looks over at Piu. "Aren't they supposed to bring you food?" He stretches his arm up to wave at no one. "Hey! I'm hungry!" [21:01] 4She rests her chin on the palm of her hand, idly eating one of the dumplings with chopsticks while continuing to stare at him. [21:01] 4How hot is he? [21:01] 4Scars are good, wiry is good. 15[21:01] Does Dryas do anything to hide the nasty, painful bruise forming on her neck before she goes out? Does she bring the bottle? 15[21:05] This guy's got a nice body, but his face (or more particularly the vague, dreamy enthusiasm painted in broad strokes on that face) undercuts it. 15[21:06] He points at Piu's bowl. "Where'd you get those? Did you bring them in?" [21:07] 6Zhangyu: "You're okay, right? Not just saying so?" [21:08] 4Well, not the traditional mold for a killer, but one supposes not every male assassin is a masc mortale. [21:08] "I did not!" 4she says, popping another into her mouth, not clarifying further. 15[21:09] Sadako: "Oh come onnn. Not you too." [21:09] 4Is the waitstaff just kind of anxiously sitting this one out? 15[21:10] Yeah the staff seem to be giving the two of them a wide berth, which they were not doing for Piu alone. [21:10] 6Zhangyu: "Was someone else upset?" [21:10] 4It'd be an extremely understandable reaction, but, one presumes everyone knows what happens when you get rowdy in Kiriglace's establishment. 15[21:11] Maybe that's why. No one wants to be in the crossfire when security kicks in. [21:12] 6Lets, um, not fight it out. 15[21:12] Either way, he doesn't seem to notice, and instead props his head up on his hand, letting his cheek bunch up under his right eye. "Oh hey, we're twins!" he says, apparently only just noticing Piu was doing the same thing. [21:13] 4Piu, conversationally: "I'm trying to figure out how completely full of shit you are." 15[21:13] "...no," replies Sadako with the air of someone trying to make a save and not quite managing. "Apparently Piu beat her guy in five seconds or something." [21:14] 6Zhangyu: "Huh. Yeah, she probably could." [21:16] "Like. She hangs out with us and doesn't die? And won the five day fight? Hoo-wee." 15[21:17] The hat guy's brow knits briefly. "Huh? No, I'm really hungry!" [21:18] 4Piu: "I don't really see why you'd try so hard to convince me you don't know what a 'restaurant' is or how it works unless you really didn't know, but then, if you didn't, how did you manage to get inside one on a floating casino?" [21:18] "And are you not asking if you can have some of my dumplings as part of some weird power game, or has the idea really not occured to you?" [21:19] 4She pops another one in her mouth. "That kind of stuff." 15[21:20] As the three of them approach the pit, the conversations they overhear start to sound familiar. "Maybe she's going to fight her sifu! Maybe Zhangyu can beat her in five seconds!" "I dunno, I got a buddy who runs a crew out of Abalone and he told me about the fights there and says Zhangyu's not so tough." 15[21:21] Hat guy, defensively: "I know how a restaurant works! You sit at a table and someone asks you what you want. They forgot." Then: "...can I have some dumplings?" [21:22] 4Piu, who got a double-order, pushes the plate she hasn't touched yet to him, then signals for chopsticks, an additional cup, and another double-order. [21:22] 4If he's about to pick up the plate and just tilt those bad boys all into his mouth at once like she thinks he might, she'll wave off the chopsticks. [21:23] 07Dryas has changed to a gown with a swooping neckline. But it's not the swell of her body, nor the orichalcum amulet she bears that will attract the first notice, she imagines. The bottle's along for the ride. Rum! Piratical. 15[21:24] Piu they listen to. When she pushes the plate over and he does what she expects he will, making a lot of very unattractive noises, the expression of the wait staff gives her maybe a better idea of why they didn't want to deal with him so much. After slurping and smacking and haumphing through the dumplings, he covers his mouth with a napkin to burp. "Thanks!" [21:25] 4Piu, amused: "You know, people only put up with shit like this in places like this for one reason. Wanna guess what that reason is?" 15[21:25] Question for Piu: if Ragara Galad had asked for a description of Tepet Zhangyu, he with the killer technique, would she have supplied it? 15[21:26] Hat guy: "...to be neighborly?" [21:26] 4She would have, and she would have told him to be on his best behavior and not try to talk business. [21:26] 4To Hat Guy: "Nah. It's because you can fight." 15[21:27] A high, courtly voice cuts through the din: "I say, is that Tepet Zhangyu? The Tepet Zhangyu?" 15[21:28] The crowds turn to follow the extended arm of the lightly-suited fat man, whose other hand is holding a turkey leg in a defensive posture. "I do believe it is!" [21:29] 6...That turkey leg on offer? 15[21:29] The crowd presses in on him, Dryas, and Sadako from all sides, asking questions about esoteric martial arts, and asking for autographs and who he's here to fight. Who does he like for the main event? Trinity or the Mouse? 15[21:29] The man does not seem inclined to share it, but maybe Zhangyu can persuade him. 15[21:30] Hat guy's eyes go wide. He whispers, "How do they know?" [21:30] 4Piu, whispering back: "Because if you weren't, someone would've knocked your block off by now." [21:31] 4All thoughts of sex are gone. Clearly she's having no effect on him, and he seems to have the mentality of a giant eight-year-old. 15[21:31] Hat guy: "Ohhhh. But you know how to fight too. So you must be really nice!" [21:32] 6Um, the Mouse seems like bait? Like zero chance whatsoever. [21:32] 4Piu, airily: "The dumplings are the second-least expensive item on the menu, the tea is cheap, and I'm not paying." [21:33] *someone else is paying [21:33] 4Hopefully she doesn't have to explain the concept of a 'tab.' 15[21:33] "Ha! I knew it!" That guy's razzing his buddy all the way to the bar, while the fat guy pushes through the crowd to Zhangyu, Dryas, and Sadako. "Please allow me to escort you all to more favorable terrain. My dear sir and madams, my name is Ragara Galad. To whom do I have the pleasure of speaking?" 15[21:34] With his mouth full, hat guy responds: "You still didn't have to offer!" [21:36] 07Dryas: "Cynis Dryas, Grandmaster Tepet Zhangyu, and Sadako," 07she answers. [21:37] 6Tepet Zhangyu is about to respond, but he doesn't have to. [21:37] 4Piu: "I didn't! But I did, because that's who I am. I'm V'neef Piu." 15[21:38] Hat guy beams and sticks his hand out. Thankfully this is the dry one, and not the one he was barehanding potstickers with. "Call me Jing!" [21:38] 4She will shake once, firmly, taking this as seriously as he is. "Well met, Jing!" 15[21:38] The Ragara man doffs his hat. "My elegant lord and ladies." 15[21:38] Ragara Galad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGmmLE8qDoM - Come, admit: who gives a shit for Elo rating? [21:39] 4That's what you're supposed to say in moments like this in the scrolls, 'Well met!' 15[21:41] He's leading them up the steps to a restaurant overlooking the pit as he does this, where banners hang with the local champs - King Shenmi; Beautiful Tav; and "3". 15[21:42] Jing: "Well met, V'neef Piu! That's a fun name to say." [21:42] 4Piu: "I've always enjoyed it." 4Not a lie! 15[21:45] The four of them walk into the restaurant and Piu sees them over Jing's shoulder. Dryas is looking classy, but also nastily injured. Zhangyu looks bashfully grumpy like he always does when people he's not allowed kill are around. Sadako's face is almost entirely hidden, as usual. Galad is gesturing around expansively with a half-eaten turkey leg. 15[21:45] "This is my favorite place to eat in the whole Saucer. Not its very finest establishment, but a fantastic kitchen and unparalleled ambiance." [21:47] 4Piu will smile and wave them over. "My friends are here. You're welcome to join us, or I can just leave you with the double-order of dumplings that's coming." 15[21:48] Jing turns around to look, his neck rotating like an owl's while his shoulders barely move. His eyes lock in on Dryas's chest. "Whoa!!" 15[21:48] "Is that real gold?" [21:49] 4...That's interesting. [21:50] 6To be clear, he just kind of always looks like that. 15[21:50] Jing only belatedly meets Dryas's eyes, and then grins widely. 15[21:50] Jingasa, "the Long-Armed Gibbon": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-Tp8mjIMbg - Talk with your mouth full; bite the hand that feeds you; bite off more than you can chew; what can you do? [21:51] 4Piu: "This is Jing! He was interesting, so we were having some food. Let's push some tables together, get something to eat real quick -- Rinca's match is starting soon." 15[21:53] Jing waves them over. Sadako's one visible eye flicks from him to Piu like, really? [21:53] 07Dryas: "What's the best dish, Galad? And it's demon-gold, Jing. Whose ship did you come here aboard?" 15[21:54] Galad: "I recommend the black pepper beef, personally. You won't find better outside the Isle." 15[21:54] Jing jabs a thumb in his chest. "I'm the captain of the Sunlit Thousands! My crew's the best in the West! What about you?" [21:59] 6Yeah, we aren't stealing that one. [21:59] 6Cause uh. He's right here. [21:59] "Bl-Black pepper beef, enough for all of us!" 07Dryas roars but sputters at the wait staff, before repeating it more quietly. "You having anything to drink? I'm carrying my own." [22:00] 4Piu: "Just some tea for me." 15[22:01] Sadako: "I want their strongest drink." [22:01] 07Dryas: "There's a lass!" [22:01] 6Zhangyu: "Same." 15[22:02] Big dishes of black pepper beef are served up, along with tea for Piu, water for Jing, and two frosty glasses of what the menu behind the bar helpfully calls simply "The Medicine". [22:03] 4Once the food is there, with significantly less pep and cheer: "So. I've heard that Cynis Falen won't be joining us for dinner." [22:03] 14Piu: "Pity." [22:04] 07Dryas: "She's a busy woman," 07Dryas observes. 15[22:04] Sadako: "What did you guys talk about?" [22:05] 07Dryas eyes their meal companions "I think we should still have the feast later. Bring the whole crew. We have a lot to talk about." 15[22:05] Ragara Galad's eyebrows go up a bit. [22:06] 6Zhangyu: "N-not much." 15[22:06] Sadako tries the drink and scowls. "This tastes like a swamp fire went bad." 15[22:06] Then she takes another, larger sip. [22:06] 4Piu nods, then gestures graciously to Galad. "Given that we might be in the mood to make a bunch of money in not a lot of time, I've already entered a limited promotional partnership with Ragara Galad here." [22:07] 4To Sadako: "Oh that's how you know it's the good stuff, babe." [22:07] 6Um. Atta... girl? 15[22:07] Galad: "That's right. Have you had time to review the materials?" [22:07] 07Dryas smiles sweetly at their Dynastic companion, the purple-black bruise under her chin like a punctuation mark. "Great!" [22:08] 4Unless he's intentionally swamped her with a bullshit contract, she has. If he's given her an intentionally bullshit contract, now will be when she mentions it. 15[22:08] Galad so far has not acknowledged the injury with so much as a glance. Whatever his boorish demeanor suggests, he was clearly properly brought up. [22:09] 07Good for him! Smart enough to avoid offense, with Zhangyu at her elbow. 15[22:09] The paperwork all seemed to be in order. He wants Piu to promote some land he's acquired a claim to in the Southern Threshold, some coastal fishing communities he's trying to pitch as future resort colonies. [22:10] 4Seems easy enough, then. [22:10] "So what are you promoting?" 07Dryas will ask. [22:10] 4She will ask Dryas to take a look before signing anything, though. 15[22:12] Galad: "I've acquired a land claim in the Southern Threshold, beautiful country. Sun and salt air. The perfect to restore a constitution. Our esteemed Lady Piu, the picture of health, beauty, strength, is the perfect face for the deals I intend to solicit." 15[22:12] "Little villages and islands all along the sound. Tribiza. Sailors' Rest. Camon de Vec Baalshamos." 15[22:12] "All ready to build on." [22:14] 07Dryas, curiously: "You've come to an arrangement with the Lintha?" [22:16] 4Conversationally: "You know, before the House and before my time at the Stair, I was from Camon de Vec Baalshamos." [22:16] 07Putting a note on that one for later. [22:16] "Generally, adoption cases aren't supposed to have much attachment to such places. But I think it will be helpful here." [22:17] 07Dryas takes a big swig from the bottle for that one. [22:17] 4She smiles. "It also means I have a personal investment in making sure this project is everything it aspires to be." 15[22:17] Galad: "Yes, and the ones that can't be bought off can be defeated. Particularly with robust investment. Imagine the kind of refuge daring souls can establish with a proper commitment of time, money, manpower. A place to ride out inclement weather. Natural, political, or otherwise. A haven off the shores of the Isle." [22:18] 6Zhangyu: "Hrm." [22:19] 07Dryas smirks. "Hey, not bad." 15[22:19] Galad switches gears to talk to Piu: "What a wonderful happenstance! You can speak with authority on the beauty of the land, the peaceability of its people." [22:20] 4Piu: "The first one, certainly. The peaceability of its people...that might seem a bit hypocritical, coming from me." 15[22:21] Galad waves a hand. "People understand the character of our nation. We take pride in it. The Southern coasts may have produced a beauty and a genius... but it was our Dynasty that made her a weapon." [22:23] 14Mmm. Truer than you know. 4But: "I have no intention of moving back there permanently, of course. A few visits when our business is fully concluded here -- perhaps, in time, a sometimes-used winter estate -- that wouldn't be out of line." 15[22:24] Galad: "That's fine by me. At this early stage I would be happy with signed testimonials, some tasteful portraiture. Perhaps the odd meeting with interested donors down in Abalone. I understand you have a residency there?" [22:24] 4Piu: "Oh, yes, for the time being." 15[22:24] "I was headed that way myself in hopes of meeting you. I'm very lucky to have met you here instead." [22:25] 4Piu simply smiles through that. No need to get into the weeds there! [22:25] 6We could, maybe possibly, send some fighters over here. If that's a thing. 15[22:26] Jing finally found an angle he can lean at (one that'd crack a man's vertebrae to hold like he's doing) to look around Galad and see Dryas. "Demon-gold, huh? Is it magic?" [22:28] 4To Dryas, ruefully, about Jing: "He is rude, but as far as I can tell, exceedingly simple. Don't overthink him." [22:29] 07Dryas is in her cups and marginally less subtle: "The Guild Factor there is a hoot. You had any dealings with him?" 07To Jing: "I like it because brings out my eyes. It was a gift from my aunt, Cynis Cerise." 07And my ears! 15[22:30] Ragara Galad: "In Abalone? Not in some years. Is it still Obol Kenichi?" 15[22:31] Jing: "It's really pretty!" 15[22:31] He leans back contendedly. "Someday I'm going to have big piles of demon-gold, and moonsilver, and jade..." [22:31] 07Dryas: "For now, it is Nn Tloc." 07to Jing: "How big a pile do you have now?" [22:31] 6Um, try harder? [22:32] 07Dryas: "And, thank you!" 15[22:33] Jing: "We traded it all for our ship! It's kind of a long story, actually..." You're spared from whatever laboriously-paced adventure tale he was about to spin, because the warning bell has sounded, letting everyone know it's time to find your seats for the main event. [22:33] 6I know you're thinking about trying harder. Now try harder than that. No, harder than that. [22:35] 07Dryas: "Oh, how delightful! Tell me Piu, on who is the smart money?" 15[22:35] Jing lets the Dynasts and Sadako go, preferring to watch from up here, where the food still is. Galad breaks away as they enter the crowd, having some business to attend to. [22:36] 4Piu: "That'll be Rinca." 4She'll settle up with a slightly larger gratuity than usual due to Jing. "Well, the smart money is usually on the champion. And Beautiful Tav is a Golden Anathema, so Rinca being Silver isn't going to give him an easy win. I think the house money will favor Trinity." [22:36] 07Dryas: "So, are we putting a bet on Rinca? Who's Rinca?" [22:37] "The Silver Anathema we've been keeping in the hold, and that I'm now sleeping with." [22:38] 07Dryas: "By the Dragons, girl, first Ratel with Bruiser, and now you and a skinchanger?!" 15[22:38] Sadako nods like this is just ordinary conversation. She ended up finishing Zhangyu's drink too. [22:38] 4Piu: "Telling you that to contextualize this: don't bet money on fighters you haven't seen. I'm fond of Rinca and think he's incredibly strong and tough, but I have no idea what Trinity is bringing to the table." [22:39] 07Dryas: "Is he the one who whistled?" [22:39] 4She grins at Dryas. "See, that's what I love about you, Dryas. Scandalized by sleeping with Anathema? You're just not a very good hedonist!" [22:40] 6Zhangyu: "Sadako. Please don't drink my drinks." [22:40] "They're bad." 15[22:40] Sadako: "You were just staring at it!" [22:40] 4Piu: "The very same!" [22:40] 07Dryas grumbles. [22:40] "I was staring at it because it's bad." 15[22:41] "The only bad drink is one that doesn't get drunk." [22:41] 07Dryas: "Galad is probably hurrying off because the civil war is about to start. Probably started the moment Falen slipped moorings." [22:41] 4Contra to her advice, Piu will in fact put a bet on Rinca, but it is a pittance bet with small change, nothing she'll gain or lose much of anything on. She just wants to be able to say she did if he asks. [22:41] 07Dryas: "So, we're betting on Rinca? We need to make big money, and fast." [22:43] 4Piu rolls her eyes. "I am betting on him, with a bit of paper money, because I am sleeping with him and men like it when you show confidence in them even when it's bad business. I can't make any recommendations without knowing Trinity's bullshit, which I don't!" [22:44] 07Dryas: "Piu, I just told you, the civil war is probably starting tonight. Falen called for three messengers - Belen, Cainan, and V'Neef. We don't have time to waste. Is Rinca good? Is he better than Bruiser?" [22:45] 07Dryas: "So am I putting one talent on Rinca, or all three?" [22:45] 6Zhangyu: "No one is better than Bruiser. He uh, sort of kicked the crap out of me." [22:45] 4Piu: "I don't know!! This is an insane blind bet!!! He beat the crap out of Beautiful Tav but that was an ambush!!" [22:46] "We're talking about Bruiser Khang, right?" [22:46] 4She's also probably being overdramatic about the civil war thing...right? [22:47] 07Dryas: "Yeah, Bruiser Khang! We saw him fight! Is Rinca better than Bruiser Khang?? We don't have all week to tarry here, as soon as word starts coming in these pirates with the fancy ships are all going to get to work too!" [22:47] 6Zhangyu: "Yeah he completely kicked my ass. Bet on him." [22:48] 4Piu: "Bruiser Khang isn't here!! I've never even seen Rinca in an actual stand-up fight!!!!" 15[22:48] Virumanda's emceeing. "Beautiful Tav couldn't make it tonight..." Scattered boos. "Because he could not withstand a challenge from his greatest rival!!" Moderate pop. "That challenger is fighting for his honor in the ring tonight. Who has so upset the order of champions? Who has come to stand in Trinity's Grand Cross?" 15[22:48] "Hailinnnng from the Sea of Rust... Rincaaaaaa Bleeding-Brow!!!" [22:49] 4Piu: "If you asked me straight up with my life on the line who I'd bet on? Rinca." [22:49] "But that's not smart wagering." [22:49] 4Piu: "That said...no ring-outs. That means no cheap wins like Bruiser got." [22:50] "Trinity has to actually beat a Lunar." [22:50] 07Dryas: "One talent then. Quick, quick!" 15[22:57] A runner for the book comes by as Rinca emerges. The wide-eared, smirk-snarling beastman lets his nicked black eyes dance over the crowd until he sees Piu. Then he looks out on the assembled spectators with a clean, simple, unnervingly wholesome smile. He waves. His teeth are back out when he's face-to-face with Virumanda. [22:58] 4She smirk back, and wink. [23:00] 07Dryas: "It's one thing to tolerate him, another to cheer for -- LET'S GO, RINCA FIGHTING!" 15[23:01] Virumanda doesn't miss a beat as he bows to the beast. After he rejects a clear invitation to speak, Virumanda turns away from Rinca. "And tonight he faces the greatest fighter to ever grace the Golden Pit! Coming down from Mela's Fangs, the Heavy-Handed Queen, the White Jade Machine, the Invincible... Trinity!!!" [23:01] 6...She gets all of those intros? 15[23:03] The woman who emerges is somehow more chiseled and brusque than the stylized tapestry bearing her face suggests. Her face, her posture, the movement of her limbs, all at right angles. Her bare shoulders and arms are nicked with dozens of little scars, but her square, hard face is unblemished. Her eyes flick across the crowd, lingering on Dryas, Sadako, Zhangyu, and Piu. [23:04] 4Piu's smile is smaller and more reserved -- but also more satisfied -- for this woman. 15[23:05] Virumanda: "A surprise challenger, a first-time entrant, against the Hero of the House! Tell us, Trin — will you show any mercy?" 15[23:06] Trinity looks down at Virumanda, then over at Rinca. Her upper lip twitches just a bit as she sniffs. 15[23:06] "If he dies, he dies." 15[23:06] Trial-Triumph-and-Tragedy "Trinity": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aQRq9hhekA - Nobody helps him; now, he has his revenge. [23:08] 07Dryas stares at her, idly stroking her amulet - then starts with surprise and, perhaps, fear: "She's not a Golden Anathema at all. What? She's a deathknight. Wait, what?" [23:08] 4Piu, smiling with gritted teeth: "And this is why you don't bet until you have all the information." [23:09] 07Dryas: "How could someone possibly make that mistake?! Okay wait. She's, she's obsessed with physical violence. She will go on tilt if people solve problems without it. How do we use that, in a pit fight?" [23:10] 4Piu: "We don't?" [23:11] 07Dryas: "Wrong!" [23:11] "Do you want to pantomime getting a cold one from the usher without decking him?" [23:11] 4Piu: "Also, do we WANT to put her on tilt?" [23:12] "I don't actually want Rinca to die!" [23:12] 6Zhangyu: "No. Because I might fight here someday." [23:12] "Right? This is a thing?" [23:13] 07Dryas: "It can't be worse than what Rinca would face anyways. Hey, sweetie!"07 Dryas waves to Trinity. [23:19] 4To Zhangyu: "Yes, brother, it is a 'thing.'" 15[23:22] Trinity's body doesn't deviate, but Dryas sees her cold eyes fix on the taunting drunk woman in her periphery. [23:24] 07Dryas pulls something small and leathery from her coinpurse, and gestures at Piu when appropriate: "Hey! Sweetie! We got this from Brightwork, it's your friend's! I want you to know something! We've been going through a lot. She killed my cousin! I was real upset about it! But you know what? I thought about it a lot today and I realized that I forgive her! I get it! I just want you to know that we can move past bad times! You [23:24] can too!" [23:25] 07Dryas embraces Piu drunkenly. [23:26] 4Piu grins and gets into it. Whew. I mean, good to hear, but whew. [23:27] 6Zhangyu absolutely beams at being called "brother" on account of, uh, I think this is the first time he was called brother? Which is wild? [23:27] 4She will now hold Dryas upright, since that might be required. [23:32] 07Dryas doesn't look at the fight. "Who's winning?"07 she asks the lot. [23:32] 4Piu, grimly: "Not Rinca. Ow." 15[23:42] Rinca has the upper hand immediately, but after he and Trinity trade a series of forearm blows he hasn't gained any more ground. She manages to get the bigger beastman in a lock. It's not clear what she's doing to anyone whose eye is less sharp than Zhangyu's, Piu's, or maybe— "Is that a piledriver?" Sadako asks her tutors. [23:43] 4Piu sighs. "It's a variant. One intended to really fuck up the neck." 15[23:46] There's a heavy crack as the floor drives Rinca's skull back along his spinal column, and cold-burning violet fire spills out from the point of impact at cardinal angles. Rinca hits the floor on his back, but springs to his feet immediately. The crowd goes wild at him shrugging off a very obviously broken neck. But the flames fly free from invisible moorings to wrap around him, and 15[23:46] even as Rinca's sudden recovery lets him get Trinity right where she wants him the smell of cooking flesh fills the arena. 15[23:46] *right where he wants her [23:47] 4Piu makes a face and falls quiet. She is now officially worried. 15[23:49] The fight continues like this, with Rinca hammering a defensive Trinity while the ghostly fire burns him alive, but it seems she's not content to win by attrition. It's *her* brow that bleeds, a lurid red more appropriate to brandy than blood, from a wound in the shape of a setting sun. Her eyes are pitiless hollow sockets that reach into the void beyond dusk. She smiles with iron 15[23:49] teeth. 15[23:51] Sadako gasps. [00:00] 07Dryas, in Piu's ear: "I'm sorry Piu, I'm sorry about Rinca and I'm sorry about Falen. I didn't want to tell her." [00:01] 4Piu, quietly: "It's fine, babe. It's fine. Rinca will be fine, and if not, I'm going in there to make Kiriglace ensure that he'll be fine. And I know you didn't." 15[00:01] Bleeding Trinity meets burning Rinca grip for grip. At first there's just the immense spiritual pressure of two animas swelling to fill the pit, and then for a moment it looks like Rinca's got the edge to do some damage, maybe even things up... but his strength flags while hers is unrelenting. He gives ilm by bloody ilm until she breaks the grip, braces her knee against his torso, and 15[00:01] rips his arms clean off his body. [00:01] 4Piu: "FUCK!" 15[00:01] Curiously, he doesn't bleed a drop. It's like taking a doll apart. 15[00:03] After trial, triumph, and tragedy, only silence remains. Rinca falls to his knees before the victor, and his arms fall a moment later, before him. She spits rust-colored spit on his bowed head and walks from the arena without another word. Whatever she said would be lost against the ballistic crowd anyway. [00:04] 4Piu will leave Dryas to Zhangyu and bolt for Rinca. 15[00:04] Rinca's arms wriggle to grotesque life independent of his body, and crawl back toward it. There's a wet pop as they reattach, and the beast collapses back into a man. [00:05] 4She doesn't pause when she sees that, but she does blink. [00:05] 07Dryas settles back in her chair and kicks the bottle down the steps. "Zhangyu... brother... I told Falen about what happened. Did Mushi ever use that trick with you, a strike to make you talk?" 15[00:05] Rinca... could look worse, honestly. He's got a bunch of broken bones and some very nasty burns, his face is a warzone, eyes almost swelled shut... but any other man Piu's known would be in five different pieces right now. [00:06] 4Piu, to the mess: "Hey. Hey, baby. Hey." 15[00:06] Sadako's eyes widen. "She hit you?" 15[00:06] Well, at least one of her eyes widens. 15[00:07] But you can safely speculate. [00:07] 07Dryas: "Where do you think this came from?" 07she asks, gesturing to the fading mark on her throat. [00:07] 4She'll give the arms a slightly-untrusting prod but if they seem...fine...she'll haul him up and drag him back to the locker room. 15[00:07] Rinca looks up and grins a bloody grin. "Gave 'em their money's worth." 15[00:07] His arms seem totally attached. Not even any sign of dislocation. [00:08] 4She grins. "That you did. Dryas was drunk enough to let her heart get out in front of her head and she bet a talent on you, so, I'm gonna have to try to earn that back at the tables somehow." 15[00:09] "Piece a cake." 15[00:09] Sadako: "I don't know! Maybe a jellyfish kissed you. I'm not a doctor. But what the fuck?" [00:09] 4Piu: "Hopefully that dead bitch doesn't hold a grudge. Alright, let's get you somewhere flat to lie down..." 15[00:09] "She can't hit you." [00:11] 07Dryas: "Well, I did cover up the murder of her daughter. Tried to, at least. I guess she didn't have the courage to ask Piu herself, woman to woman." 15[00:11] Sadako: "Where is she?" [00:12] 07Dryas: "On her way back to Wu Jian, probably. Then Bittern, maybe? They left as soon as they found out what happened." 15[00:13] Sadako, incredulous: "She hit you. She hit you and you were worried about what she did to me?!" [00:15] 07Dryas: "You're so young." 15[00:16] Sadako: "You sure got old fast." [00:16] 4Probably not worth trying to keep the locker room to themselves -- there are other fights -- so Piu will drag him back to one of the suites they've commissioned. He'll probably want to actually sleep here, not sleep with, so he'll get his couple hours and she'll slip back to the Fangs or...Caedus. She needs to check in. 15[00:16] "She better hope she ran. That's all I'm going to say." [00:17] 4She doesn't feel guilty sleeping with another man, precisely. She does feel like she should report it, though. It is the mission. 15[00:18] Caedus has a suite among the crew suites. They're exorbitantly lavish compared to the kind of places they typically sleep, but they seem quite modest after seeing where Dryas is set up. He opens the door and steps back briskly when he sees Piu's covered in blood. [00:18] 4Brightly: "Rinca's, not mine." [00:18] "And he's fine." [00:18] 07Dryas: "The bruise wasn't even the worst part. I had worse than that on Mionxi, from that war machine. It was what she said afterwards." 15[00:18] Sadako: "What did she say?" [00:20] 07Dryas: "'Cynis blood can filter a monkey's clean.' She was referring to my mother's mother, who was a Haltan." [00:21] "Just got his ass kicked by the...I dunno what kind of Anathema they are. Like the opposite of the Golden. Big ol' dead bitch." 15[00:21] Sadako: "I'm sorry, I don't understand. She said your grandmother was ugly?" [00:21] 4Piu slips past him, already getting naked. "I'm going to wash up." 4She leaves the door open. [00:22] 4To the suite's bath, that is. 15[00:22] Caedus leans against the door, watching her. "I heard you put in a showing at the pit yourself." 15[00:22] "Came off better than our silver friend." [00:23] 4Piu: "Yes; I picked my opponent much better. I'm much easier to kill." [00:23] "He quite literally had his arms ripped off. They just, crawled back over and reattached themselves." 15[00:23] Caedus: "Wow." 15[00:23] "I'm glad he likes us." 15[00:23] "Likes you, anyway." [00:24] 4Piu smiles. "Dryas put a full talent on him to win, because she was drunk as shit. I managed to talk her out of all three, at least, so we just have to be that much better when she's sober. I think he appreciated the gesture, though." [00:25] 07Dryas: "Haltans, they live in the north, many of them are apefolk, have fingers on their feet, that kind of thing. My mother's mother wasn't a Dynast, she wasn't even from the Realm. The outer periphery. It's just one of those things." [00:25] "...I turned on the full package and got him into bed. Three or four times. Without any actual beds. So that's been achieved." 15[00:25] Caedus: "After your bout but before his. Think that was a tactical factor?" 15[00:27] Sadako: "Oh. I get it." From the change in inflection it sounds like she might. "Like Seiri, kind of." 15[00:27] "Not the monkey thing but just... some people don't count as much. The Hierarchy." [00:27] 4She sighs. "No, he gave it his all. I've just never seen that raw power. She looked more comfortable than him on his own turf -- up close and grappling. Rinca's clearly a guy who has gotten by...well, basically until now, on low cunning and raw power. Not a lot of training or discipline in that body, and there doesn't want to be. Since he's a Lunar, that's great against just about [00:27] anyone he's likely to run into on the street, and the rest he can usually ambush or otherwise do dirty with the shapeshifting." [00:28] "A stand-up fight with a Deathknight who does professional combat for her living?" [00:28] "Probably the worst use of his skillset." [00:29] 07Dryas: "Two generations running! And when I have kids, they'll hear it too?" [00:29] 4Faux-innocently: "You can wash my back if you want." [00:30] "Otherwise I'd have to get the reaching brush..." 15[00:31] Caedus squats down beside the bath as Piu slips in. "I was just thinking that. Heard about the banquet, too." He kisses her neck. "Long night yet. Let me handle this." 15[00:31] Sadako: "What does your mom say about it?" 15[00:31] Weird emphasis there. Your mom. [00:32] "Please do," 4she purrs. [00:34] 4Pausing. "I have a feeling it's going to get serious with Rinca. He doesn't seem like a guy who takes things halfway and...well, I won't say there's not substantial chemistry on my side." 4She reaches back and squeezes his forearm. "I just thought I should say that explicitly, and let you know I've never seen this sort of thing as a zero sum game. Even when work becomes more than [00:34] work." [00:34] 07Dryas: "She always said it's why she did what she did, how she became a doctor. Any time people talked about her like that, she would watch them eat their words later. It's how she became the best. Never let 'em see you sweat. If you're the best, what can they do but respect you?" 15[00:36] Caedus: "Think he's the same way?" 15[00:37] Sadako: "She sounds smart." 15[00:37] "Are you gonna tell her about what Falen did?" [00:38] 4She sighs. "I dunno. Doesn't strike me as the possessive type...but you never really know until he sees you with another man. And I don't intend to stop being seen with you. Not entirely, at least. Even a trooper like me might need a little more recovery time from both your demanding schedules." [00:39] 07Dryas: "I don't know. Maybe Falen will tell her, herself. But I can't keep her and Cerise protected from out here. I could barely keep you from being sized up and hauled off for sale, and I was standing right there." 15[00:40] Caedus: "Well, you know *I'm* flexible. This sounds a little different from our usual arrangement though. You're fond of him?" 15[00:40] Sadako: "Dryas, come on." [00:40] 4Nuzzling back into his arm. "Not as fond as I am of you. But yes." 15[00:40] "I was not in any danger." 15[00:40] "She was." 15[00:41] Caedus: "Sounds worth the effort then. We gotta find our happiness where we can, when we can." 15[00:42] "There's a lot more pain coming." [00:42] 07Dryas: "What, even with a sorcerer standing right there?" [00:42] "Yeah," 4Piu murmurs, and relaxes backwards into his arms. 15[00:42] Sadako: "What's he gonna do, send me a rude letter?" [00:43] 07Dryas: "What are you going to do, bite her?" 15[00:43] Sadako, simply: "The same thing I did to that bitch who shot Seiri." 15[00:43] "She thought she was hot shit too." 15[00:45] "Maybe she even is. I don't know. But you ask me what I'm gonna do, and the answer's always the same. There's only one sure way to bring a giant down." 15[00:46] NEXT TIME: Dinner and games