Friday, April 5, 2013

Books And Covers Thereof (1.20)


>Attempt to sasshay over to them nonchalantly and full of selfconfidence. Fail

Kitty tries to hold it together as she approaches the bartender.  She pauses and looks down, examining herself, thinking...Okay, how do people...Let’s see...Sway my hips from side to side, one foot in front of the other, kind of a general wavy motion...Lead with your chest...

Kitty gives her best seductive lurch over to Meb, attempting to adapt a walk she’d seen Annie perform a few times while also attempting to not fall over in high heels.

She makes it right up to the bar before one of her heels slips out and she falls.  She grabs the edge of the bar on the way down, holding herself up by her elbows and adopting a wry grin in an attempt to allay suspicion that anything had gone horribly wrong below her torso.

Kitty drops her voice low.  “Hello,” she says, attempting “seductive temptress” but actually arriving at “cyborg with asthma”.

Meb raises an eyebrow.  “Hey?”

Kitty feels a presence behind her.  She glances back and sees Annie’s face watching from the bathroom door with great interest.

“What are you looking at?”

“Nothing.  Erm.”  Kitty turns back around quickly.  “Sooooo, I hear you have an...invitation to the party we’re trying to get into.”

“Yep,” says Meb, matter of factly.

“Does that invitation happen to account for...” Kitty wiggles her eyebrows in an uncomfortable fashion.  “Guests?”

“Yep.”

Kitty looks down at the bar, stands back up, puts both hands on the table, and tries to hoist herself up onto the bar.  Her hip bumps against the side and doesn’t really make it.

She tries again, getting only a little bit further before sliding off.

“What are you doing?” asks Meb, incredulous.

“Hold on, I’ve got it.”  Kitty rears back, grips the bar hard and jumps up onto it...

...And slides over.  Meb takes a step back before Kitty crashes to the ground.

“Are you all right?  Do I need to help you up?”

“No!  No, no, I’m fine.”  Kitty struggles to stand up, straightening out her dress.  She turns back towards Meb and...Puts a hand on her face.

“What are you dommmmph,” says Meb as Kitty puts her hands on her face.

“Shhhhhhh.”  Kitty paws her face.  “Why don’t I go with you?”

Meb blinks.  She reaches up and pries Kitty’s fingers off her face.  “You know, I really don’t feel like going.  The parties aren’t that much fun anymmmmmph.”  Kitty’s hands cross her mouth again, more firmly this time.

“We could, er, have...”  Kitty glances back at Annie.  Annie gives a thumbs up.  “...Fun?  At the party?”  Kitty screams a little on the inside.

“Hmmm.  That’s true, I guess.  But you know, I’ve been here since late last night.  I don’t really feel like going to a party.”  Meb suddenly leans against the bar.  “But you know, I wouldn’t mind having a little fun at home.”

“Errrrr...”

“Or we could have a little fun in my office.”

A few things occurred to Kitty at this point.  For one, she can’t wait to get out of this bar and somewhere with less perversely minded people.  For two, Annie has pulled a camera out of her purse and is presently taking photos.  For another, she’s going to have to pull off some quick thinking here.

“...Could I see your office?”

“...Really.”  Meb seems genuinely surprised.

“Yes, I would like to.”

A smile crosses Meb’s lips.  “All right  then!”






* * *


Kitty finds herself in a back room, after a quick walk down a hallway.  It’s a fairly messy office.  Paperwork is strewn about haphazardly and post-it notes are everywhere.  Several bottles of various alcoholic substances lay around in various states of fullness.

More importantly though, she can see it on the desk - a little rather officious looking envelope, sealed with the image of a red wyvern. She only has to reach out and touch it.

But the issue is complicated by the fact that Meb is presently sitting on a couch, looking at her rather hungrily and patting the seat next to her.

There are a wide variety of ways she could approach and get out of this situation, as long as she leaves with that invitation.  Of course any number of these solutions could have various consequences somewhere down the road.

What will she do?

Monday, April 1, 2013

Books And Covers Thereof (1.19)



Anilin: Somethin' shark-y, duh.

Kitty: Tiger. 




“Do I look all right?”


“You look fine, Kitty! Your dress is pretty!”


“It’s a variety of qipao, also known as a cheongsam, in particular a somewhat westernized variety popular before the apocalypse, around the years-”


“Pretty!”


“I thought about a kimono, you know, but it didn’t seem quite right I suppose.”


“You look fine! Is the tiger on it traditional too, or-”


“No, that’s just clan pride.”


“Ooh, like the mask.”


“Yeah. And it’s, you know, identity concealing”


Kitty looks herself over in the women’s bathroom mirror. It was just as she said; a short, dark blue qipao ending just past her thighs with a rather aggressive looking tiger on it, Long black stockings. High heeled tiger striped pumps. And, of course, a little tiger mask covering the top of Kitty’s face. She thought it was cute.


“So, uh, Annie,” she says, re-applying her lipstick in the mirror. “What’d you go with?”


“Oh, I just decided to go for a sort of magical girl manga thing.”


“...Really? I figured you were going to go, I dunno, sexy witch or something.”


“Eh!”


“Where’s Rhoda, by the way?”


“I tried to bring her along, but she freaked out a little too much at the last minute.”


“Oh.”

“I’m not looking forward to all the apologizing when I get home. It’ll be all night long, too. Maybe I should just stay overnight or something, eh?”


“Heh.”


“But then they’d probably think you’d kidnapped me or something.”


“Yeah. ...Where are you, anyway?” Kitty turns around to look at Annie, and stares straight into a shark mouth presently devouring Annie’s head from behind.


“YAAAAAAAAAH!”




*     *     *



Kiplin was staring at the sky outside the the garage when she felt a tap on her shoulder.


“I did something stupid,” says Mindy.


“Cool.”


“Let’s go before someone finds out.”


“What was it?”


“It’s between me and Dante.”


“Uh...huh.”


“Let’s hurry.”


“...Okay.”



*     *     *



“Why’d you scream, Kitty? Is my outfit that bad?” Annie frowns, visibly hurt and not by the two massive jaws encompassing her head.


“No, no, it’s...It’s great! You absolutely look like an old world Japanese school girl with a short skirt. Only,” Kitty adds quickly. “Why the Shark head?”


“Shark pride!”


“Okay, right, um...Okay. It just looks like something’s biting your head off.”


Annie shrugs and slams the jaws down. “Now I’m an anthropomorphic shark magical Japanese school girl from old world Europe!”


The door opens, and Pamela walks in. “Dames, we’ve got a-Ahh!”


“Hi Pam!”


“...Hello, Annie. Ahem,” Pamela readjusts her hat. “I was just gonna say, we have a problem. Well, good news and a problem. The good news is the fella’s woken up in the other bathroom. He’s not saying much, but he looks okay. The french dame’s busy feeding him food from the bar and water right now. He doesn’t seem to have any useful information related to Dante. Only...I think he’s a vigilante.”


“Why was he being chased by a police robot?”


“I questioned him for a little bit, but he didn’t say much. He must have pissed off someone in charge with his antics, though. I’m not even sure he has a home anywhere. Someone’s going to have to put him up for a while.”


Kitty squints at this, studying Pamela’s face closely.


“...You want me to put him up for a while.”


“You have a lot of unused space in the upper rooms, you know. And he seems like a nice guy. I can’t put him up, I live in the Dragon district. And you could use the extra help.”


“I don’t know, Pamela...”


“I’ll talk about it with Lady.”


Kitty sighs and shrugs. “Whatever.”


“Now, the bad news-”


“There’s more?”


“The bartender has an invitation, but she doesn’t want to give it up.”


“What? Why?”


“I have no idea. She’s just...Being a pain! But I have a plan. It requires you.”


Kitty sighs heavily. “All right, what is it?”


“I need you to talk to her. She seems to like you. Either convince her to give up the invitation, find out where the invitation is, or...Ahem.”


“What?”


“Or, you know, romance her a little.”


Kitty’s cheeks go red. Annie, surprisingly, laughs.


“Just as long as I can watch,” she says. Kitty turns and glares at her. “What?”


“However you want to do it,” says Pamela. “I don’t think we’re going to get it any other way.”


“Yeah, okay, fine. Fine! Fine. Annie, take care of Pamela’s costume, will you?”


“Aye aye, captain!” Annie salutes Kitty, her face scrunched up seriously. Kitty smiles a little at it and opens the door, walking out.


As Pamela said, the man is indeed up and about, presently sitting in one of the comfortable leather booths in the corner while the French woman attends to and sweet talks him. Kitty is in no way hurt by this shift in attention.


She takes a deep breath and strides up to the bartender.


How will Kitty handle this?

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Books And Covers Thereof (1.18)


>Kitty: COSTUMES COSTUMES COSTUMES you love costumes and it shouldn’t be scary or embarrassing!
>Kitty: Suggest that you help with costumes. Pam and the officer can find the invitation. Mindy can search the day job.




“I’d like to do costumes!” says Kitty, immediately. Every turns to look at her.


“Costumes!” shouts Annie.


“Costumes!”


“Costumes!”


They both high five.


“That answers one question,” says Pamela. “There’s a costume shop just down the street. You should have no trouble there.”


“I need everyone’s sizes!” proclaims Annie. “And I have no trouble invading your personal space to find out!”


“She’s not lying,” says Kitty.


Against a background of suddenly frantic scribbling, Pamela continues talking. “I believe Mindy and Kiplin should handle Dante Ilucis’ day job. I will take care of the invitation.”


“You want me to go to his job?”


“Is that a problem?”


Mindy grinned. “Not at all.”



*     *     *


“Hey, barkeep,” says Pamela, sitting in front of the bartender.


“What’s up?” she asks.


“Do you have an invitation to the party?”


“Duh,” says Meb Faust.


“Right. Were you planning on going?”


“Nope.”


“May we have your invitation, please?”


Meb considers this for an entire, agonizing minute.


“Nope.”


“What? Why not?”


“Because.”


Pamela stares straight ahead.


She slams her head on the bar.


“Ugh.”






*     *     *




>Be Officer Kiplin



Ilucis Auto-Repair And Robo-Shop stands only a short distance away from the bar. It is a large, rectangular building with two large garage doors, revealing a small group of people crowded around someone’s sports car.


Mindy and Kiplin are inside the front office now, waiting at the desk. Mindy rings the bell.


“Let me do the talking,” says Mindy. “They know me here.”


A woman wearing a white shirt with overalls, her black hair tied up in a bun and covered in grease, pokes her head in through the back door. She looks a Mindy.


Mindy waves.


“Hey! Remember me?”


“Boss isn’t here,” says the woman flatly, and slams the door shut.


Kiplin slowly looks at Mindy.


“What?” asks Mindy. Kiplin rolls her eyes, vaults over the counter, pulls out her badge, and kicks the door open. She runs in, flashing it at the gaggle of confused mechanics.


“”Did Dante die?” asks a woman in jean short shorts.


“No,” responds Kiplin. “But we’re looking for him-”


Kiplin is rather nonplussed to discover that all of the mechanics have gone back to working.


The overall-clad woman storms up to Mindy and Kiplin. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on, but whatever it is, we’re very busy and we’d appreciate it if you would just get it over with and leave. All right? Dante’s office is in back, our newest hire is miss ‘Oreo’ in the short pants over there, Andrej in back probably hates our boss, and if this is some kinda murder investigation the boss is a die-hard pacifist so the most you’re gonna get on him is accidental manslaughter or negligence.” The woman blows a large pink bubble from her mouth, pops it, and then walks off.


Mindy and Kiplin glanced at each other, and then ran to the office door, Kiplin literally punching it open. Mindy shuts it behind them as Kiplin flips the lights on.


It’s a small but cushy office, soundproof and safe away from the hubbub of the garage outside. Air conditioned, too. A large mahogany wood desk dominates the area, with a television in the corner. There’s no computer visible, but the top of the desk has a variety of what are probably family photos. On one wall is a calendar. A disrobed woman appears to be attending to a car engine on it.


Behind the desk lurks a picture of Dante Ilucis himself, as noted by the plaque underneath it. He’s wearing a finely pressed suit, arms folded. A small amount of make-up appears to have been applied to his face at some point, culminating in an accentuating green on top of his eyelids, bringing out his also-green eyes.


Mindy flops in the chair before Kiplin can say anything.


“Ahhhhhh,” she says, putting her arms behind her head.


“What are ye doin’?”


“Sinking into his well-worn butt prints, presently. It’s magical.” Mindy opens up the desk drawers and begins searching through them at high speed as Kiplin moves around to look at the photos.


“...Why does he have two photos of himself in dresses?”


“Those are his sisters.”


“Oh.”


There are, indeed, two photos of woman strikingly similar to Dante aside from a few obvious areas. Olive skin, green eyes, dark hair. One of them is nearly identical. The other seems to be nearing the end of her teenage years. A third photo is of a young girl with similar features but shorter hair, around the age of twelve.


“I’m not finding anything so far,” mumbles Mindy. “But he’s probably got a key in here somewhere. You know, to his apartment? He tends to keep spares of things.”


“Ye know that?”


“I know a lot.” Mindy chuckles. “Oooh, here we go!” She pulls a key out from a stack of important looking papers, waving it triumphantly. “Little genius can’t even hide a key from me properly. Can you believe that?”


“I guess?


“Don’t think he left an invitation here, though.”


“Great.”


“Why don’t you wait outside? I want to do something stupid while I’m here.”


“...Okay.”


*     *     *



“Do you think we bought too many costumes?” asks Kitty.


They had to smash several tables together, such was the volume of costume bits that presently lay in front of them. Masks, hats, dresses, shoes, and other assorted, frequently animal themed costume pieces were piled together.


“Nah,” says Annie. Judging from the look on the shop owner’s face as they left, it had been the best day of his life.


At the bar, Pamela continued to try and argue with Meb.


“Could we just borrow it for five minutes?”


“Nope.”


“...Could we pay y-”


“Nope.”


Pamela slams her head down again.


“So,” says Kitty, impressively resisting the urge to leap out of her chair at the noise. “We should probably figure out what everyone is wearing.”


“We should, yes.”


“Yes.”


“Yep!”


“Yeah.”

Friday, March 22, 2013

Books And Covers Thereof (1.17)



>Kitty: Try not to combust with embarrassment as you approach the police officer



Kitty walks towards Officer Kiplin’s table, the scent of alcohol thickening into a musty soup around the cop. This seemed like a rather curious scientific phenomenon, and Kitty begins to wonder if she should tell someone. Maybe they would name it after her. “Kitty’s Beer Singularity Theory.”


The woman looks...Not as if she has seen better days, but as if those days had not existed at all. Her eyes have thick red cracks running from the edge to her irises, over pink eyeballs. Up close, Kitty can see that her nose has been broken before, probably more than once. Faint white lines on her cheek reveal old scars, and a bandage near her eyes hides a new one. The skin on her head and neck is pink, and peeling. Her red hair is short but wild, clearly presently uncombed.


The palms of her hands are covered in calluses. Her police uniform has clearly been ripped and sewn back up on multiple occasions, and this woman appear to have been built entirely out of muscle. She could probably break Kitty’s neck without a thought.


>Kitty: Attempt to speak with the officer. Fail to do so in the most dramatic way possible.


Kitty opens her mouth to say: “Hello, respected and hard working officer of the law. I see that you are clearly having a bad day. I am sorry, but there is an important matter upon which I must insist on speaking to you about, posthaste.”


With mounting horror, Kitty soon realizes that she actually said was: “Oh my god, you are an absolutely gargantuan person!”


The officer’s head turned up towards her, regarding her quietly behind thick blue glasses. “Ye weren’t usin’ that neck, were ye?”


Oh dear Lord. Kitty’s hands clasp around her neck. “Oh, no, no ma’am! I mean, yes I am, yes I am! I am quite fond of me neck. I mean, my neck! I meant no offense! I merely intended to compliment you on your well-defined and intimidating muscles!”


“...Oi, fancy gal,” says the officer.


“Er, me?” asks Pamela.


“Does yer friend always talk like that?”


“Only when she’s nervous.” Kitty nods emphatically, still clutching her throat.


Officer Kiplin regards Kitty a bit longer.


Kitty gulps.


“Ya!” The officer lunges forward suddenly, causing Kitty to jump back with a yelp and hide behind Pamela. The officer giggles uncontrollably, in a way Kitty did not expect from a muscular police officer.


“Yer all right,” says the officer.


“What’s wrong with you? Are you twelve?!”


“Yeah.”


“You’re just as weird as Mi-Yargh!” Kitty is momentarily interrupted as Mindy shoves her face into her field of view.


“Hey!” says Mindy.


“Don’t do that!” Kitty shouts. Pamela puts an arm around Kitty, gently moving her to sit down in a chair.


“You know, Kitty, maybe I ought to talk to them.”


“These people are insane!” Kitty shakes with panic and frustration, sweating.


“It’ll be all right. You did good. Lady’d be proud of you.” Pamela gives her a tight hug. Kitty blushes, putting her head down as Pamela lets go of her. She listens to the rest of the conversation with her eyes shut, trying to control her breathing.


“Mindy.”


“Snrrrrrk-What?”


“You know what.”


“What’s goin’ on ‘ere?”


“Don’t worry about it. Officer, miss, my associates and I-”


“I’ve always wanted to be an associate.”


“...Mindy. As I was saying, my associates and I, that is, Mindy and Kitty-”


“That rhymes.”


“-are trying to get into a party so we can confront Dante Ilucis.”


“...Th’ well-known playboy son of Lord Ilucis, well-known middle-aged playboy, himself th’ son of the late well-known senior citizen playboy Lord Ilucis?”


“The very same.”


Kitty jumped a little as Kiplin’s bottle of alcohol was slammed on the table.


“I’ll do it,” she says flatly.


“...Do what? We were just going to ask if you knew anyth-”


“I heard ye talkin’. Everyone else’s goin’. I’m not doin’ anythin’ better. Should probably investigate it anyway, as long as I’m on duty.”
“You’re on duty?!”


“If ye were on th’ traffic assignment my squad was on, ye’d be drinkin’ too.”


“...So do you have any information-”


“Probably nothin’ ye don’t know already.”


“...Anything useful you can do?”


“I can knock down doors and have a cheerful an’ sunny disposition.”


“...I will just jot that down.”





* * *



Within minutes, the bar - it’s patrons having realized they were all in on this conspiracy together, and having also realized that Meb Faust didn’t really seem to care much as long as they were shoving coins into her hand periodically - was a hub of activity. Annie and the mysterious unconscious man had both been brought inside. Presently, the latter was in a backroom, laying on the floor and being watched in shifts to see if he would wake up. The former was currently firmly attached to Kitty’s side, arms wrapped around her and leaning on the side of her head.


Mindy and Kiplin watched in fascination. Pamela quietly went over her notes next to them. The french woman was presently watching the unconscious guy.


“Ye an’ th’ princess, eh?” asks Kiplin.


“No comment,” clarifies Kitty. “It’s complicated,” she says, backpedalling quickly.


“It’s an open relationship,” responds Annie. Kitty rolls her eyes.


“How do you know each other...?” asks Mindy. Over the course of idle conversation, Kitty had gathered that Annie knew each other. Not in a very personable way, but in the vague way that people who are forced to go to the same parties growing up are required to know each other.


“We played together as children,” said Annie.

“Er, what? How would you have met-”


“Ahem,” says Pamela, putting her notepad on the table. “I have outlined our goals...” Everyone leaned over to read it.




1.) Acquire someone’s invitation to the party.


2.) Search Dante Ilucis’ day job next door for any clues.


3.) Purchase costumes at the shop down the street.


4.) Enter party in a convincing fashion.




“Where would you like to start?” asks Pamela.

Monday, March 18, 2013

Books And Covers Thereof (1.16)

> Ask about the ring.




“That’s an interesting ring you have,” says Kitty, eyeing it. “Kind of have a...double Ouroboros thing going on.”

Mindy just grins, the same one as before. Kitty begins to wonder what it’s hiding.

“You like it?” Mindy says, cheerily.

“It’s...interesting. What does it mean?”

“You don’t know that, either?” says Mindy. Pamela rolls her eyes. “Oh,” says Mindy, seeing this. “Right.”

“It’s a symbol of marriage in the Dragon tribe,” Pamela explains. “At least, among members of it.

“You’re married?” asks Kitty.

“Did you also guess that I’m still hispanic, or do I need to fill my conversation pieces with random Spanish words and phrases to remind you? Hermana. Biblioteca. El gato. La chica afirma lo obvio.”

Kitty frowns, staring at Mindy for a moment. “...Sorry. Um. Sore subject?”

Mindy tapped her orange nails against the table, thoughtfully. For once, the grin falls. “Arranged marriages often don’t go as well as people hoped,” she says.

“Oh. I’m sorry.”

The barest glimmer of a smile returns. “Anyway, it’s not important. Just let me know when you’re ready to leave.”

“...Yeah, okay.” Kitty gets up, and Pamela follows.

“We just need to talk to the officer,” says Pamela.

“Yeah. But, um, first...”



> Ask the bartender about her comment


“Excuse me, um, bartender, ma’am?” says Kitty, walking up to her.

“Yeah?”

“Um.” Kitty shuts her eyes, taking a deep breath. “You, um. Said something interesting. When she said the Faust sisters work mundane jobs...”

“I did.”

“Um...So...What’s your name...?”

The bartender looks at Kitty, and smiles a little. It’s a smirk, one side lifted just a little more. Kitty feels her face turn warm. The full lips, the confident grin, the tanned skin.

Are people outside usually this attractive?

The bartender takes out a notepad and writes something down. She slides it across to Kitty.

“That’ll answer your question,” she says, with a wink.

“Um. Thank you.” Kitty blinks, taking a step back and turning around.

“What is it?” asks Pamela. Kitty unfolds the paper and looks down.



125-555-8390

Ex. 11
“Meb” Faust
Call Me ;)




Pamela leans over her shoulder, raising an eyebrow.

“You’re certainly popular, today. Must be a lotta dames around that’ve got shy librarian fantasies.”




There's just one person left to talk to: The ginger haired police officer with the peeling red skin and the beer clutched in a death grip.