Open ♔ The Rows of Her Sighs

[priforprince]

Who: Hibiki Shikyoin priforprince and you!
What: Lots of opportunities to bother Hibiki.
When: June 10-12, 2016
Where: A Near Shore coffeeshop; Apollo’s temple
Summary: Hibiki had thought she knew how to get home. She didn’t. So she tries to do something about it and fails.

[ I. June 10 - God in the Shell ]



[ Having taken a nasty shock during her shopping trip to PHarajuku, Hibiki’s kept to her temple for the past few days. The Wi-Fi signal there has grown…suboptimal, however…so today finds her at a Near Shore coffeeshop offering unnecessarily fancily-sized drinks and various pastries to complement them. (You know the one.)

Cup in one hand and laptop in the other, Hibiki’s currently occupying a table originally intended to seat a party of 6 all by her fabulous, intellectual self - and she does look the part. Knowing she’d be starting the day working on the computer, she’s attired herself in a button-down cardigan and a pair of glasses.

How well she manages to keep up the calm, confident air with which she’s typing, however, may depend on at what point you enter this coffeeshop. Right after they’ve opened, Hibiki’s spirits and hopes are high. Even if PriPara hadn’t been where she’d expected to find it, its system is so poorly-guarded that even a monkey could hack it! She’ll just create a backdoor for herself and slip on in. Any moment now, this will work…

….By noon, her table is decorated with three or four scattered, empty cups and a single pastry wrapper, and Hibiki has her legs crossed beneath herself as she types, frowning. Interrupting her looks near-impossible.

………..By dinnertime, the table is positively littered with cups and wrappers. Some have even fallen, unheeded, to the floor. Hibiki herself has slumped so far down in her seat that her feet are sticking out from the opposite side of the table. One is jiggling up and down, and is a prime tripping hazard.

She’s still occasionally pressing a button or moving her trackpad, but behind those glasses, Hibiki’s eyes have taken on the same dull sheen as her computer screen. ]

[ II. June 10 - Homewired Bound ]



[ Of course it’s raining. Just like it has been all day. Why wouldn’t it.

Hibiki is…shaky, to say the least….when she finally leaves the coffeeshop. (The shock of the day’s events, of course. Nothing to do with how her blood is probably more caffeine than iron right now.) Something moves behind her. She jumps, whirling around. ]

Wh—

[ III. June 11 - Reading Rainbummed ]



[ Hibiki is so used to having her butler take care of everything that she has no idea her temple’s front door is unlocked. If you wander in, and happen to come upon this sitting room, you’ll find a pair of spellbooks lying on the ground. One is spread-eagled, pages bent; the other had the good fortune to land with its cover shut. Either way, they have the appearance of unfortunate items cast aside in a fit of pique.

For some reason.

Deeper within the private areas of her temple (behind, in other words, at least one more unlocked door), a third door slams. ]

[ IV. June 12 - Bring Movie to Life ]



[ She’s still keeping to her private quarters, but Hibiki has reached a point where she can sit upright again. Currently she’s got a movie going on one of the countless projector screens in her temple, and the Heavens’ BBS up on her laptop on the couch next to her, but she isn’t paying attention to either. Instead, she has her head averted as she slouches, not really looking at anything in particular.

Clearly this means it’s a good time to bother her. She very obviously doesn’t have anything else going on. ]

Comments

III

[secrowtary]

[No matter how you look at it, it's rude to walk into someone's temple and that's a fact.

Yet, something makes Hibiki think that it's one of those abandoned temples, given the fact that the door is open. If that's really the case, then it shouldn't be too much of a deal if he has a look around, right...

The books on the floor upon which he stumbles eventually puzzle him, but well. Maybe someone left in a hurry? Everything was possible.

Or maybe they haven't left at all, considering that door slam a few minutes later.]

Who's there? Show yourself.

[Should he really be the one asking this.]

[priforprince]

[ Silence. Perhaps it really is an abandoned temple? It doesn't look dusty, however. And is definitely full of possessions, though given how well they match the interior decorating, all that might have come with the place.

Plus, there's a third book lying on the loveseat: something called The Borrowers. And it has a purple bookmark with a little gold tassel decorated with a crown-shaped bead sticking out of it. ]

[secrowtary]

[Could the wind be behind the door slam from before? Possibly. It requires further investigation, something Hibiki is willing to do before he notices the third book and the bookmark. Examining it gives him a faint idea whose temple may this be, but he'd like to see it for himself. If he's wrong, well, he'll be sure to apologize properly for this intrusion. If he's not, though...he may or may not do exactly the same thing.

For now, Hibiki just sits down on the loveseat and picks up the book and starts reading, making sure the bookmark stays in its place. He has some free time on his hands, so why not read this story.

Who knows, maybe something interesting is going to happen as he goes through it.]

[priforprince]

[ It's a rather whimsical story, full of flights of fancy and starring a rather headstrong heroine who might have done better for herself if she'd listened to her parents. Also the main characters steal for a living, basically. Even if they call it "borrowing".

As Hibiki continues to sit on Hibiki's couch, reading Hibiki's book, however, he may begin to notice other noises in the temple. Namely, someone's turned on some music.

And they have the same instrumental going on repeat. Incessantly. ]

[secrowtary]

[Okay, he has some time to spare, but if he waits any longer, he's going to read half of the book.

And he should tell the temple resident that locking their front door is an idea they should definitely consider. So he gets up, puts the book on back in its place, and tries to find out where the music is coming from. After some walking, it becomes apparent that it's from one of the rooms, so he knocks on the door as loud as he can...if that doesn't work, Hibiki will wait for the song to end and knock again as much and as hard as he only can before it starts anew.]

[priforprince]

[ Hibiki does indeed have to resort to that last plan. The music almost starts up again, then cuts off abruptly as someone yells instead. ] Enough! Enter.

[ Should Hibiki follow this directive, he will find....Hibiki. Sitting on yet another couch, with yet another coffee table in front of her. On this one, however, instead of books, there's tea. A pot and a saucer and a cup of tea. And there is no sound system to be found, strangely enough.

She's lifting her cup to take a sip as she talks, not looking up. ] You aren't caught in the throes of emotion at present, so I doubt this can be that -

[ Liquid to her lips, she looks up. You. Are not Venus.

Hibiki sputters into her cup and bends over coughing. ]

[secrowtary]

[He's far from being caught in the thores of emotion with his absolutely neutral expression, although...his lips may quirk up in a soft smile as he comes closer and offers a handkerchief.]

Good afternoon. Excuse me for interrupting you.

[In whatever Hibiki's been doing, that is. Singing? Rehearsing? Relaxing? Who knows.]

You have some interesting titles in your book collection, I'd say. The interior of the temple is also quite formidable.

[He's going to tell her about locking the door...in a minute.]

[priforprince]

[ Hibiki holds up an imperious hand when that handkerchief is offered - she's good - and pulls out her own (it's purple, because of course it is). She dabs at her lips with a surprising amount of dignity for someone who'd spittook five seconds before. ]

Did Venus let you in?

[ She's not, alas, in the mood for smalltalk. ]

[secrowtary]

[Hibiki having her own handkerchief is going to save both of them some trouble, or so it seems. He puts it back to one of his pockets before speaking up again.]

I'm afraid I don't know who are you talking about, I haven't met anybody on my way to this room. [Also, there's one more thing.] I'd suggest locking the front door if I were you.

[He can't imagine that Hibiki would like to have intruders wandering around here.]

[priforprince]

[ That she does not, no. It's also news to Hibiki that it was unlocked, so she blinks and then tries to put that surprise aside.

Finished with her mouth, she lowers the handkerchief. She's looking a little pale today, like she hasn't been sleeping well. Or doing anything well, frankly. ] I don't suppose that's all you came to say.

[ Now that she's clean of tea, it's time for more tea. Back up goes the cup. ]

[secrowtary]

[Her surprise doesn't go unnoticed, and the same can be said about her pale face. Also, she might be in for a surprise, because...]

Actually...yes, that's all I have to say.

[Or maybe had, because now he has to ask about one thing.]

Are you not feeling well today?

[That would be one way to explain why she left the door open.]

[priforprince]

The atmosphere is unpleasant.

[ Whatever that means. She occupies her mouth with her teacup rather pointedly. ]

Honestly. Why does everyone here think others' well-being is their business...

[secrowtary]

I think you've been mistaken. I just wonder why would you leave the door open and expose yourself to strangers.

[No reason not to be honest about it.]

However, I'm glad to see that your sharp tongue is in top form.

[priforprince]

[ Hibiki snorts. This person isn't even that irritating in and of himself. She just doesn't understand why he does pretty much...anything that he does. ] We'll lock it after you.

[secrowtary]

[Maybe it's better if it stays that way...]

How can you be so sure of that? You forgot to do it earlier.

[He's so good at this friendly reminder thing.]