the most predictable first intro

[ruatcoelum]

[ This... is not the Tower.

(it's... a hotel?)

(what the hell)

Thomas whirls around in the empty lobby, looking for anyone - particularly someone  she knows - and, when nobody materialises, sets off at a run to search the ground floor of the hotel. Anyone else who happens to be around might catch her in any of the stores or corridors or kitchens downstairs, or in the lobby itself; she circles back there a lot, calling as she goes. ]

Aniki? Michael?

...Kaito?

Comments

[ruatcoelum]

Wasn't a challenge. It was a statement.

[ She hops a little further up the banister. ]

Are you coming?

[hellkaiserin]

[She picks up her briefcase, raising an eyebrow.]

That statement is a challenge.

[Her posture is relaxed as she shrugs her coat back on, but her knuckles are white on the handle of the briefcase.

She starts walking upstairs again, keeping a sharp eye on the girl.]

[ruatcoelum]

[ Thomas shrugs, continuing up the banister. ]

Whatever. More trained than you. And I've got better weapons.

[hellkaiserin]

How many years?

[This is humiliating. But at least she's not a demon bird.]

[ruatcoelum]

Ten. Started when we were five. Trained specifically to fight.

[hellkaiserin]

Then it's the same.

[Not in content, maybe, but in length.]

Why do you assume I don't have your skill?

[ruatcoelum]

Your weapons are cards.

[ She flicks her tail, speeds up a little to perch at the top of one of the banisters. ]

Even if you weaved spells over a card, it'd be something more flashy than powerful. Cards are useful for magic, but... not combat magic, so much.

You're bigger than me, so more physical strength. But that makes you slower in a fight. And there's more of you to hit.

Plus, you're human.

[hellkaiserin]

Interesting, how you think.

[But she's not smiling anymore. She's scanning over Thomas, taking every step carefully.]

[ruatcoelum]

It's what we get taught. From when we're kids.

[hellkaiserin]

And if the rules change?

[She steps up onto the second floor landing and scans the doors. Looks normal from the outside.]

[ruatcoelum]

[ She blinks, perching on the banister just behind Kaiserin. ]

What do you mean?

1/2

[hellkaiserin]

[She leans forward, tries one of the doorknobs. Oddly, it's unlocked...]

If you end up somewhere where the rules are--

[hellkaiserin]

...a boxing ring?

[Yep. That's what's in the room.]

[ruatcoelum]

...where the rules are a boxing ring?

[ ...oh. That's the room.

Well, okay then. ]

[hellkaiserin]

Why is this in here.

[She steps in through the door and looks around in the room and wow this place is much bigger on the inside isn't it.]

[ruatcoelum]

[ Thomas drops off the banister and follows Kaiserin in, looking around warily. ]

It doesn't feel like there's any magic here...

[hellkaiserin]

Good to know.

[She leans down and smooths her hands over one of the ropes lining the edges of the ring.]

Feels real enough.

[ruatcoelum]

[ ...she jumps up onto one of the corner posts, and then down to pace around the ring itself. ]

It looks new.

[hellkaiserin]

...this whole place does.

[She walks around the ring and up to a bar in the corner of the room.]

This is stocked.

[ruatcoelum]

So... this place is set up totally ready, just... empty?

Weird.

[hellkaiserin]

For us?

[She holds up a bottle of some sort of expensive liquor contemplatively.]

[ruatcoelum]

...maybe. That's weirder though.

[ Her ears twitch a little, and Thomas sits down in the ring. ]

Don't get drunk. Still don't know if there's anything dangerous around.

[hellkaiserin]

I wasn't planning on it.

[She sets the bottle back on the counter.]

Better to watch other people drunk, anyway.

[ruatcoelum]

Don't really see the appeal of that.

But whatever, if it means you're staying sober.

[ She stares up and across at Kaiserin. ]

Should we look around more, or...?

[hellkaiserin]

Blackmail.

[She leans back against the bar, drumming her fingers on the edge as she contemplates.]

...Might as well.