Open-ish ♔ Un, deux, trois

[priforprince]

Who: Hibiki & YOU! (prompts for Maria, Elfnein, Kuroyukihime, Lavi, & Chinatsu)
When: August 29 - September 1
Where: Far Shore Library, Apollo's temple, the Near Shore
What: Missions, prayers, and the sun's short fuse getting even shorter.

[ I. Library - Open, followers/exp for Maria, Elfnein, Kuroyukihime, & Lavi ]



[ Didn't this place used to have more staff?

Ah, well. Hibiki is sequestered at a table, attempting to read the largest, most ornate book on Pr--ugh, Greek mythology she could find. Other books are open on the table to various pages, most of which show things like people staring up at the sun in awe, satyrs gamboling merrily, and a woman being turned into a tree.

Hibiki may not be Narcissus, but she sure is reading up on herself. And a stack of the books are, inch by inch, moving as if of their accord towards the edge of the the table....

If they tip over, and they will soon, there's going to be a tremendous crash.

Alternatively, you could check out the other side of the table. There, Hibiki has her laptop open to pricing...the Japanese stock market, it seems...and has a bunch of thick books of business history. One of them has a purple bookmark with a gold tassel in it, which opens to a chapter about Sendai. ]

[ II. Apollo's temple - Open ]



[ There is a barricade in the hallway.

You walk into Apollo's temple, head down the path that takes you to living quarters and not to the amusement park (though you're welcome to use that, too - the noise of the rides being open might attract an audience), and you will find your path blocked by a whole bunch of tables, ottomans, chairs, and loveseats turned on their side and stacked up atop each other.

On the other side of the barricade, someone is coughing. They do not sound happy.

And the air is full of jangly wind chime noises. ]

[ III. The Near Shore - Open ]



No. This car. Credit, check, or cash is no object.

[ Hibiki is arguing with a station assistant in the subway, pointing at a train that's now boarding. ]

I'm willing to sell it back afterwards, so direct me to the authorities! Doesn't this organization pride itself upon service?!

[ She's missed a piece of paper that's fallen out of her pocket. She won't notice if you pick it up to read it.

It says:

"Dear box office god-sama,

Thank you for the lozenges before my audition. They were my favorite flavor!

Thanks to those, my throat relaxed, and I managed to pass!!! Now I have one last round, but it's in the big city, and I'm scared of being alone on the train. Please, please watch over me." ]

[ IV. The Near Shore - Closed to Chinatsu ]



Are you ready?

[ Hibiki has been waiting, in a tuxedo, for Chinatsu to open the door after being given a prom dress to wear for this outing. Whatever kind of dress Chinatsu has always dreamed of wearing, even if she doesn't realize it, even if she's forgotten - that's what was in the box Hibiki brought for her.

Genius comes in many forms. Mostly useless, aesthetic ones. ]

Comments

[priforprince]

Admirable discipline.

[ Will you at least accept this compliment? ]

[declamando]

As I always hope it is. [Maria feels what it looks like to her is a little less important than what it looks like to others, considering she knows by now she doesn't exactly have the fairest view on herself, and this is more relevant to her present and past behaviour towards others. For something like this, at least, she's willing to take the compliment.]

[priforprince]

You could never disappoint.

[ Hibiki smiles to punctuate this sentence.

Teacup ghost does the same thing by knocking some more books over. ]

[declamando]

[If only that were true. Thankfully, Maria is saved from answering that further than with a slightly wan smile by the drop of the books, which puts a sudden frown on her face as she turns to the source of the noise.]

Honestly... [Going to pick up what's fallen, she tries to arrange them into some kind of order.] I really don't know how anyone finds anything in this library.

[priforprince]

[ Oh, complaining about the library. Hibiki is, as in all things, an expert at this. ] Indeed. Its unruliness defies the very description of the institution.

[ She sighs, looking around. Chaos. Now that she's not absorbed in her book, she's hyper-aware that nothing around her is organized. ] Perhaps I'm better off concluding my research elsewhere....

[declamando]

I think it's something to do with how much is in here...but those goblins who were supposed to maintain it didn't do anything of the sort. [With a sigh, she sets down the newly rearranged stack of books.] It's nice that people have volunteered to sort it out, but there's only so much they can do in a place this big.

[Hibiki's suggestion gets a slight frown from Maria.] I'd borrow what you found from here, at least. You're unlikely to find it again.

[priforprince]

...I shall.

[ Is Wendy around...? No. Well, she can carry these herself. Hibiki sorts through the papers and books for the ones she wants. Volunteers...Insufficient volunteers. ] A ridiculous system....

[declamando]

I'm not sure they even have a proper system. The way they get all these books can't be normal. [She turns one from a nearby shelf over - it seems to be some random, unreleased manuscript that doesn't look particularly modern.]

The people volunteering are doing what they can, I'm sure.

[priforprince]

It isn't enough, I'm afraid.

[ But, ah well. Hibiki has her books now. That is the important part. They start attempting to slide (or else they're being pushed, who can say?) out of her hold, but she claps her other hand on the pages to keep that from happening.

Which means she's just about ready to go, so she nods to Maria. ]

Have a splendid day.

[declamando]

Honestly, I'm not sure anything would be enough for this place. [The goblins hadn't been able to maintain it, there's that strange locked door she's passed by once or twice that sounds like it should be housing a librarian...

Maria sighs a little, but waves when Hibiki indicates she's ready to go.]

You as well. Hopefully you find what you're looking for in those books.

[priforprince]

[ Hibiki nods - you also wish her well, she also wishes this books will be useful - and turns to go.

She'll wait to teleport until she's standing in the library's threshold. Setting the scene is everything.

She also snaps her fingers as if that's what'll make her vanish, but, well, Hibiki. ]