[PP-F4] Discordant Meetings

[Shield 0]

Shield made loud and intentional retching sounds. "Honestly, the two of you love talking about me so much, why don't the two of you just get married so you can keep each other company and leave me out of it?" He didn't know his eyes could roll back this far in his head, but he took a moment to keep an eye on the ceiling. In the end, he was happy they were getting along so easily. He was sure there would be more storms on the horizon, but of a different nature.

Maybe she'll be able to help him in ways I can't I'm not good at this sort of thing. I never had any sons. I don't know how they work.

"In all seriousness though, you two had better watch yourselves," he said, cocking an eyebrow. "I can't speak for Mari's defenses, but I've seen your build in action enough to know how squishy you are, Beat. Better have something lined up." With that, he crossed back over to the table and pushed his cup over towards Mari for a refill, prepared to fully ignore whatever sass she decided to throw his way. The sushi platter was beginning to run dry at this point, but he managed to snag another few pieces of maki to make the best of whatever this little party was quickly devolving into.

[Mari 1]

 

Mari couldn't help but notice the way Beat smiled at her. The way such an expression seemed to lessen the tension in his shoulders; and with it - Mari felt her own tension melt away, much like the marbled meat on the plate before her.  The conversations earlier had been tense, and very stressful for Mari. But much like her previous discussions with Shield, once they were aired and out in the open it felt relieving to know she didn't have to relive things she'd rather not. Mari reached up and placed a hand over her heart, she could still feel it beating hard and fast within her chest - but it didn't ring in her ears. That was...good, right?  "Yeh. That's all." Mari said as she lowered her hand to gently rest upon the table. "But if I think of anything else later, I'll ask - same goes to you." Mari said with a small nod. "If you feel you need to ask me something, do so - I'd rather be as transparent as I can be."

Mari watched the interactions between Beat and Shield with amused interest."Naw Shield." Mari said as she traced the rim of her teacup. "I could never take away your dearly betrothed."  Seeing Shield like this amused Mari greatly, he had ribbed and grilled her so much in the past, so now it felt nice to flip the script and see him squirm.  As he kept his eyes to the ceiling, pushing his cup toward her like a spoilt child Mari couldn't help but snicker. She pulled the pot out from the center of the table and refilled Shields cup. "I'll make sure we're both adequately prepared." Mari said. "I have a decent stock of mitigation potions and crystals, along with Immolation potions. I doubt either of us would be dragging the other into danger any time soon."

@Shield @Beat

[Beat 0]

Beat continued to snicker as Shield did his best to keep his composure. Watching the stoic player attempt to handle compromising situations was a pastime of Beat's and it still hadn't gotten old. The added bonus this time was that he had someone joining in on the fun, only if just a little bit. Beat plated it up a few more pieces of sushi, glad that it seemed like there would be very little left over if any. He nodded to Mari as he took a sip from his tea, "Transparency is all I was after today. I'm just glad Shield was right about you. If I think of anything else, I'm sure it can wait until we go on that quest."

Beat's hand moved through the air again as he checked his dwindling food supply. Vanity food was overstocked for sure, but his supply of mitigation food was non-existent and the rest of it was getting low, "Yeah, I probably need to start cooking more. It's been a while since they nerfed cooking items. I'm sure we'll be fine as long as we make sure to get good info from the broker." He gave Shield a wag of his finger as he dismissed his menus, "You know what they say, a good offense is a good defense. Most things won't live long enough to inflict any real damage."

@Shield

@Mari

Edited May 20, 2020 by Beat

[Shield 0]

"Naturally, but there are some things built in with strong DPS in mind," Shield said with a shrug. "Bosses that can't be targeted by AoE and the like. They are rare, but checking in with a broker should make those easy to avoid." He was down to his last few pieces of sushi. Holding one of them up in front of his eyes, he examined it. "It seems there wasn't enough food to satisfy the guests. We should really have a talk with the cook." He fed the morsel into his mouth and took his time chewing, not only because of the shrinking number, but also because it was good food and worth enjoying. Particularly given that he had done his fair share shopping around to other less experienced cooks during some of Beat's absences, he had suffered enough bad food for a lifetime.

They really were trying... it was admirable.

Just not palatable.

"I suppose now would not be a bad time to ask you, Beat," Shield said, a thought crossing his mind. "Mari and I have had discussions with the other leaders about how each of us will take responsibilities in the guild. I haven't yet heard you speak much on what you plan to do with the guild. It's ground floor, so any players who are taking part now will have a very active hand in helping shape Jacob's Ladder." It was not intended to be a pointed question, Shield's dark eyes were not intent nor particularly concerned, though it did occur to him that it could be a sore spot how little Shield had included Beat in the planning of it all.

At the time, I didn't even know for sure whether Beat was really 'around,' and the whole thing just kinda happened without really trying. It was so different from last time or from the Ascendants...

[Mari 1]

That's right... Beat would be in the same guild as them. It warmed Mari a little to know she had people she felt she could talk to in the guild. She didn't know Beat, not really well - but if their conversation had anything to do with how things are...Then Mari felt like they would get along well; even with the tense conversation they managed to ....get along amicably - and it seemed that the two had more in common than first thought. Mari couldn't begin to fathom exactly what Beat had gone through; and whilst she was admittedly curious she wouldn't push it. If he wanted to open up to her, he would. When he was good and ready.

As Shield questioned Beat Mari used this chance to finish eating quietly - she'd had a pittance of the food provided compared to others. Mari clearly had a preference for the more meatier Sushi - ones with less rice.  "Beat..." Mari said with a content sigh, masticating the marbled meat in  her mouth. "You really gotta cook more for me again sometime, especially since I didn't get to eat much of it." She commented. Realizing she had interrupted their conversation Mari coughed and apologized before shoving a large Maki roll into her mouth. That would silence her.

She had been talking for quite some time, now - it was time for Shield and Beat to take the floor.

@Beat @Shield

[Beat 0]

Beat cackled as Shield complained about the shortage of food. It was impossible for him to be unhappy when people were enjoying his food and asking for more, "Well, I'm glad you have room for dessert then!" His hand moved through the air and appeared to press a few buttons before three pink sushi rolls appeared in front of each of them. "Now, this is a little special. I'm sure I'm not the first to think of a dessert roll, but this is certainly not what you think of when you think of traditional sushi." What sat before them was a deep fried roll of cheese cake and strawberry, wrapped with pink soy bean paper, topped with chocolate and strawberry sauce, "I call this, the Pink Lady. Other than me, no one else has tried one." 

Beat would refrain from digging in as he considered their words. His experience with the Celestial Ascendants had been less than impressive and had confirmed his belief that he and Shield needed little from other players in terms of cooperation and coordination. Still, Shield had sold the idea well enough to make Beat allow this new guild the chance to prove itself and he certainly approved of the members he knew of. "Well, my dps is towards the top on the frontline, is there a position for training recruits in the dps role?" He had once led one of the top guilds in Crossreign, so he felt comfortable training others. 

His eyes fell warmly on Mari, "I'd be happy to. I wish I had more people to cook for, honestly. Shield is a great taste tester, but more opinions and word of mouth advertising is always good for my cooking." He chuckled as he glanced back to his partner, "You have it easy too. This guy suffered through the grueling learning period at the beginning."

@Shield

@Mari

[Shield 0]

Shield had a piece of the new roll half way to his mouth when Beat mentioned his old cooking, and Shield silently retched involuntarily. He pretended to cough to cover it before popping the new roll in. It had a number of layers to it, first of all was textural, with a pleasant cross section of crunch to creamy to spongy from the different elements. The flavors came through second with the sweetness supported by the savory and lightly salty flavors of the tempura and cream cheese. He took a long moment processing all of it, making sure to probe and taste each element before moving on to the next and finally swallowing.

"That's not bad," he said, which was about as high of praise as he tended to give. "I think that served hot, this would be an interesting treat to serve with ice cream - a sort of pie-a-la-mode kind of experience. It stands alone just as well though," he concluded. Glancing down at his fingers, he realized how much of a mistake it was to have not picked up his chopsticks. He did his best to wait until Mari was occupied with her own mouthful before turning slightly away and sucking his fingertips clean as quietly as he could manage. Picking up his chopsticks, he used the backs of them to grab a second piece and plate it before addressing Beat's thoughts on the guild.

"Our primary focus is filling the needed positions on the front," Shield said thoughtfully. "That means a lot of emphasis on tanks and healers and their training. That said, having good, reliable DPS for training exercises and sparring would be valuable. Also, Beat with your past, I feel you might have a lot to share about how to be discerning with other players, knowing what to look for in those who aren't... to be trusted, if you will. Many of our players are... brash. Perhaps even a little naive."

[Mari 1]

"D-Dessert?" Mari said with clear surprise in her voice. Wasn't he...a sushi chef? Would that mean he'd have something bittersweet? Or Maybe like redbean or taro? Mari would like those. She was worried he'd pull out something grandiose like a seven layered cream covered cake that'd reach the exposed beams of her ceiling. What she wasn't expecting was some sort of pink sushi. "Pink Lady..." Mari wondered if Beat was aware how dirty that sounded. Mari snorted at the name,  quickly covering the amused expression on her face. "No one else? So I should feel pretty honored huh?" Mari said as she lifted her plate, closely inspecting it. If one didn't know - on first look it'd look like a regular sushi roll. But really, it held so many minute and intricate details. Mari carefully put the plate back down. "I don't think Shield would have had it that bad, he's just being a baby." Mari said with an amused grin.

"You know...it's nice to see people get excited about things." Mari mused as she prodded the strange 'confection' with her chopstick. Mari wasn't really a fan of overly sweet things. Maybe because she, herself - was so bitter. "LIke..." Mari pointed her chopsticks at Beat. "Like how your face lights up when you're talking about your cooking, and how you watch us for our reactions. It's sweet." Mari pointed to Shield, "Or how intense Shield gets with builds - and numbers. His intensity is probably off putting to smme, but really... Passion is nice to see."

Mari felt like she didn't really have much more to say at this point. So instead of contributing to the guild conversation; she focused on the food before her. Mari carefully sliced the roll in half with her chopsticks. Mari plopped the morsel into her mouth and let it sit on her tongue. It was a little more sweeter than she'd normally prefer - as she thought - the soybean paper had no real taste. But what Mari did like, was strawberries and that was the dominant flavour. She wasn't expecting the crunchy texture from being deep fried - her eyes widened in slight surprise at that. Despite it - she kept quiet. Letting the two talk among themselves.

"Mmmm.."
 

 

@Shield @Beat

[Beat 0]

Beat took a bite of his dessert confection as he listened to Shield explain what the guild was looking for. He was no stranger to training players of various roles. A tank in training would need a smart dps poking and prodding for holes in their defense, teaching them where their weaknesses were. A healer was a little more straight forward, but it was still a matter of pressuring them either by attacking their healing target or them, forcing them to prioritize properly. He gave a determined smile to Shield as he took another bite. 

Sounds like this guild will actually be able to put my skills to use. 

Beat took another bite and blinked as she talked about him. He felt his face become just a little warmer as gave her a grateful smile, "You know, I think I like the contrast between you two. Mari gives me a more visual, emotional reaction to the food while Shield is very analytical, which is also useful." He said lightly before returning his gaze to his partner, "I'm happy to go anywhere you need me, as long as I will be useful. Training a new wave of tanks and healers sounds like a good purpose to me. How many new recruits do we have?"

@Mari

@Shield

Edited May 26, 2020 by Beat

[Shield 0]

Shield listened as Mari talked about passion and the various things over which players take interest. He gave a nod. "Indeed," he agreed. "Players need something to keep them sane in here. That definitely needs to be something that we emphasize to the less experienced players. Means of finding fulfillment somewhere in order to fight off burnout and keep people sharp." He took another bite of the new roll, taking time to let both it and the conversation at hand marinate before swallowing and addressing Beat's inquiry.

"Hard to say," Shield said. "We seem to be growing by the day. At the moment, it's just a handful. Maybe half a dozen. However, there has been a lot more interest in the guild than I had anticipated, and recruitment has thus far been incredibly successful." He took up his tea cup and tilted it slightly, only taking the cooler liquid from the top that had been exposed to the air. He set his cup back down and leaned back in his chair, finally showing signs of slowing down for the first time since Beat had begun laying out courses for them. "It's been heartening to see, both the success in forming the guild and in watching it grow day by day."

[Mari 1]

Mari blinked, staring at Beat - trying to piece together what he had said about the contrast between her and Shield. Mari quickly glanced to Shield then back to Beat. Was he saying...Emotional? Was that what she was? Mari's brows furrowed as she unwittingly puffed her cheeks out in protest. Her? Her emotional? Hah. Still...At least he was smiling, right? That meant things were working out. Mari exhaled and offered beat a small grin. "Glad to help."

Mari shuffled, readjusting her seat. There was little more for her to do right now; and she had spent a large portion of the meeting talking. So to her, it was kinda nice to not need to worry about what she was saying. Shield explained their new recruits, answering Beats question. She felt she had nothing more to add. As her silence grew so did her wriggling, Mari had begun to tug at her hair. It was really nice to see Shield and Beat talk about the guild - to hear how much it meant to everyone.

"I just hope that feeling stays." She said quietly. "I'd hate for it to crumble because things changed or people began to doubt things. We just gotta..." Mari shrugged. Not sure where she was quite going with this. "We have a job to ensure there isn't unrest - and everyone feels equally heard, much like what we've done today."

The three of them continued; their  discussions, amicable and friendly till evening. Where Shield had told Mari that he and Beat best be off - before it got any colder once nightfall hit. Mari understood, and bid them goodbye. She felt....better. Much better now. 

Was this the start of something better than she deserved? Friends? Warmth? People she could rely on?


Time would tell.

Edited September 13, 2020 by Mari

[Mari 1]

RP COMPLETE


All Players recieve 3SP + 266 Col