thenearshore | Open ♔ The Rows of Her Sighs

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Open ♔ The Rows of Her Sighs

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. ]

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...young miss?

[He asks, a concerned, polite note accompanying that address. One hand holds a plastic bag of what seems to be various biscuits and fruits, while the other is holding an umbrella.

Looks like he picked a bad day to go shopping, and the nearest shrine to jump back to Heaven is quite a walk away. He'd been considering if he wanted to risk getting the groceries wet when he'd saw this young lady (...at least, he thinks she's a woman? He needed to do a double-take to check before he approached her, women in this present age do have pretty short haircuts) stumbling out of the nearby coffee shop in a shaky, stilted gait.

Does she have an umbrella on her? If not, he's going to offer his.]

Are you ill, young miss? [Alas, caffeine overdose through coffee did not exist in 2nd century AD. To Lu Meng, she looks more than just a bit jumpy, and definitely too twitchy.]

Whoa!

[Barry jumps back too as Hibiki whirls around. He wasn't expecting such a sudden reaction.]

Hey, what's got you all jumpy?

[ ....Umbrella.

Startled, Hibiki blinks up at the umbrella above her - she did not have one on her, no - and then, shakily, at the gentleman offering it. Gentleman. That means she's. Right. She's still here. Still in this place. Where there's. ]

...no PriPara.

[ Her head is stuck in that track, but give her a second. She'll unstick it soon.

Probably. As soon as her heartbeat stops threatening to start a revolution. ]

[ Hibiki sucks in a breath until she sees who it is, at which point she closes her eyes, touches her forehead, and immediately calms down. Wouldn't do to meet a rival with anything less than her best.

...she'll worry about why she thinks of this man that way later.

When she opens her eyes again, she's smirking, with one eyebrow cocked. ] And to you. Don't agency presidents customarily have staff?

[ ...that eyebrow is twitching up and down, actually. And one side of her smirk is threatening to do the same. ]

[...alright. She's definitely unwell, and rambling to boot. Lu Meng steps a little closer to better shield her from the rain, but still a polite, respectful arm's length distance away from her.]

Do you need me to call someone to accompany you home? A friend, or a family member?

[ So Tokyo has changed since she last ... remembered? No, no. It's more like a kind of knowledge that she has ingrained in her, an idea of a place that you've seen on television but have never experienced for yourself. That's what she tells herself, anyway. Because thinking otherwise makes her sad and upset. It's like a hair dryer in the bathtub, or the third rail. You just know not to go there.

She enters a coffee shop on the way home to the Far Shore, intent to try their shortcake that was advertised on a board outside. She puts in her order and takes a number clipped to a ... gosh, what do you call those things? (A card holder?) and scans the place for a seat. The cafe is very crowded, so she can only find one table that's free. It's being occupied most rudely by only one person, even though it's spacious enough for several. ]

Hello! [ she announces importantly. ] Is it all right if I sit?

Oh--? Is that...?

[Felicia was still getting used to this sprawling city that she and Lara often took jobs in, and had taken to wandering on her own in the evenings to find a newspaper and get a hot drink to prepare herself for an evening of tidying up the temple. She had just ordered herself a soy latte that was heavily laden with vanilla syrup (for drinking too much milk gave her terrible stomach problems, as she had learned one unfortunate evening) when she spotted the wisp of silvered hair-- still perfectly coiffed-- peeking out from the pile of cups in the corner.

Gently tip-toeing over, just to be sure she wouldn't disturb the person, Felicia planned to investigate this 'problem'. Whatever it was.

Surely she wouldn't have to bring a sick person home, right?]

[While Maria still hasn't quite gone on a full-scale job hunt, she has at least been making the rounds to see the kinds of options she might have. Today she's out a little later than usual, browsing the nightlife and seeing what potential that has to offer, with a large, clear umbrella held over her head to shield herself from the rain.

It takes her a moment to recognise the person walking in front of her, mainly because that shade of blue is rather distinctive even by Far Shore standards. Without even thinking about it, she speeds up a little, catching up to Hibiki so she can share the umbrella - but when Hibiki startles like that, Maria pulls back a bit, looking concerned.]

Are you alright? It's horrible weather to be out in without protection. [Not to mention how out-of-it Hibiki seems.]

...Princess Maria.

[ She'll upgrade you as soon as she learns you're a Queen of Music, no worries. (Also, that "Princess" was totally in English.)

Hibiki thinks about this woman's sudden appearance, remembering where she is, and smiles her Prince smile as befits her genius Princess. ] A heart as sunny as yours doesn't deserve this dismal stage, either.

[ She's trying to do the cool, suave royal thing. And she would have pulled it off if her whole body weren't vibrating of its own accord. ]

[ Click. Click. Tap.

Hibiki's foot bounces up and down on the other side of the table, jittery from the caffeine - she'd started with her usual tea, but as the day'd wore on she'd had a coffee for stamina. Then, it had tasted surprisingly not terrible, so she'd had another. And another. And.

Her eyes are unfocused, but still she's typing in code. On autopilot. Slowly.

The glowing box on the table appears to have taken Hibiki prisoner, Felicia. ]

[ No response from the person currently...can you still call it "seated" if more of their body is beneath the table than above?...at Hokuto's table of choice. They don't even try to clear off any of the mess they've made.

They just keep staring at their computer. And twitching, a little bit. ]

[ That helps snap Hibiki out of it a little bit. She is not some pet who needs to be fetched home! She is Shikyoin Hibiki! A celebrity! A god! And everything she does, she does with noble comportment. She attempts to regain such comportment now.

Hibiki holds up one hand, the other going to her temples. Focus. She has to focus. Even if both her racing heart and her pounding head have decided to ignore the royal commands. ]

...Don't trouble yourself. Nothing is amiss.

[ That hand she's holding up is shaking. There is so much energy inside of herself but not clarity of thought to accompany it. How infuriating. ]

You're shaking terribly. [That's pretty hard to miss, along with the concern in his voice. He suspects that she's nursing a terrible headache as well.]

Young miss, I think you should at least wait for the rain to subside. No one should be caught in this weather, even with an umbrella. [He glances over at the cafe, all warm lights aglow invoking a very cozy atmosphere.] We can find some seats and wait in the cafe.

Nothing is ami--

[ Or so she'd try to repeat, insistently, if she didn't realize in the middle of it that she'd raised her voice more than she'd meant to. And losing her self-control helps her realize that yes, she is shaking.

Hibiki claps a hand over her mouth, surprised. While she ponders her current inexplicable condition, she can probably be led. Or at least nudged in the right direction, following the umbrella. ]

[Yeap. He's going to place a hand on her shoulder and gently, but firmly, steer her back into the shop. Sparing only a quick sideway glance at that one table stacked high with coffee cups (goodness gracious, moderation!!), he brings her to sit down at another table at an opposing corner. But of course, it wouldn't be polite for them to just hang out at the cafe without ordering anything.]

Stay there. [He says, not harshly. Leaving his bags of groceries with her, he heads to the counter, returning shortly after with green tea for him and a cup of warm water for her.] Here. This should help you feel better. I would have bought you tea as well, but the barrister at the counter thinks you've had too much coffee.

[His face is perfectly neutral, but he's made the connection between that table with all the cups and the young, vibrating woman in front of him.]

[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.]

Uh.... are you alright?

[ Fancy seeing you here Hibiki. Mikleo seems a bit surprised with his bag of groceries in the rain when he almost runs into the other. Rain only helped amplified his powers and Mikleo was merrily walking around without a drop of water on his clothes. The fun things about being able to manipulate water. ]

I'm more the hands-on type.

[Translation: he can't afford to hire that many people.]

What about you? Burnin' the midnight oil in there?

[ Hibiki snorts at that, lifting the cup to see what's in it. Just water? And it isn't even carbonated. She bets it isn't spring water from the Palps mountains, either. Surely they wouldn't serve tap water here, at least?

But it's a drink, so she'll...huh, there's ripples in her cup. It pauses halfway to her mouth so she can register her disdain for the barrister's opinion. ] Ridiculous. I only had...

[ ...a moment to reconstruct the afternoon in her head, not looking over at the table where she'd been seated. Deciding, wisely, not to finish the sentence, Hibiki sips her water. She manages to not get it all over herself despite her shaky hands since an over-caffeinated Elegant Celebrity is still an Elegant Celebrity.

Then she lowers it. Her cup is still wobbling. ] ...I am master of myself.

[ Burning her head and her stomach and her heart and her last faint hopes of not being trapped on a godforsaken (or perhaps god-infested?) plane with no PriPara and no Ando and only a woman whose happiness Hibiki feels when she gets excited enough (which is often) as staff, perhaps. She snorts. ] It's a second-rate establishment. Don't waste your time.

[ Whatever they fed her has wreaked havoc on her body. She needs to detox. Soothing music at her temple, perhaps, prepared for her by -

That she'll probably have to prepare for herself. Hibiki shivers for a completely different reason than the rest of her case of the shakes.

It's also cold and wet out here, so once the shivers pick back up, they don't stop. ]

[ 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. ]

[ --the not-fan. For a moment there, Hibiki'd thought she'd been about to collide with a mirror.

Stepping back, and trying to will her heart back to a normal pace (while it slows, this still...does not quite work), she shivers involuntarily. Talking. They have to...talk. None of his business. She needs to put him in his place.

If only she could focus. ] ....Fine.

[ Not her best showing, that. ]

[Felicia was only distantly aware of laptops, largely due to exposure from her excursions around town with Lara while she patiently explained things-- because, for whatever reason, there was so much about modern ammenities that she simply didn't understand. She had never personally used a computer, for there had been no need so far, but she had seen people working furiously before them with a gleam in their eyes that seemed to be unaware of the world around them.

Moving carefully, Felicia quietly picked up a few of the cups that were in her way and neatly set them aside before she leaned in close to Hibiki. The glazed look in the dashing young person's eyes was trouble, and there was no ignoring the spark of worry she felt in her heart at the sight.]

Hibiki...?

[Felicia asked softly, hoping not to disturb this person too much while she got their attention. And, if this didn't work....

Well, she had something else up her sleeve.]

[Ah. She's a prideful one. To some extent, Lu Meng can respect her composure and her poise. Sometimes there's nothing wrong with being stubborn and sure of one's self. It makes one determined to succeed. But if it comes to one's detriment, then that's where he'll need to draw the line.]

I can see that. [Not even a drop of water out of place, even with all that shaking.] But don't overdo it next time. You nearly walked out into the rain without an umbrella.

[Sorry Hibiki. He's the over-protective shinki of another young goddess, he can't help the mother hen-ing.]

You mentioned a "Pripara" earlier. Is that something you've lost?

[ How very rude! Hokuto huffs and raises her voice, this time clunking down the card holder-clip thingie to the table with force. ]

I am sitting here. I'd appreciate it if you'd move some of your things. It's very inconsiderate, you know. There aren't any open tables in here.

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Open ♔ The Rows of Her Sighs

II. June 10 - Homewired Bound

2!

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1 evening

I. June 10 - God in the Shell -- in the evening

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III

II - June 10

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