[Pew Pew Karaoke] A Night Off

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Kokuten
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[Pew Pew Karaoke] A Night Off

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Pew-Pew-K Karaoke
Metropolitan Osaka
A Week After the Descent into the Maw


The sounds of the bustling scenes in Osaka began to awaken as the sun began to settle, just like the day, it was always busy in this modern city. The lights of the streets came alive with the arrival of the evening sky, and the night-life of the town began to come out in full-force, revitalizing the veins of entertainment and culture. All sorts were found on the sidewalks and busy intersections of the southern city, some going to drink, some going to party, and some going to hang with friends. With the time, money, and enough looking, just about anyone could find something to do in this bustling city. Even the growing mage population had several quiet bars and lounges dedicated to those that could perform magic and wanted to speak freely without worrying of prying eyes. Much like many places that catered to specific tastes, flavors, and niches, they were well hidden except to those that wished to find them.

This evening, however, a group of mages set out to find fun of an unmagely variety. They stood outside a Karaoke bar, the most magical of mundane establishments, and listened to the bouncing music that played at the front while they waited for the others. There was a mural of a woman in 80's-era, cyberpunk, cowgirl attire on the wall; in her one hand, a discharging laser revolver, the other was primed with a microphone. Under her was the bar's name, emblazoned in both Japanese and English: Pew-Pew-K Karaoke. The venue was well recommended, with genial hosts, a good bar selection, and almost every lyrical song imaginable.

Those that passed by, those of the of magely variety, would wonder why they saw the likes of the Keeper of Osaka at such a place. The Druid wasn't often seen in the more developed areas of Osaka, not to mention surrounded by mages of similar caliber and power. Words traded back and forth at the potential of what could be going on to warrant the gathering of such a cabal of potent figures. The Snow Haired-Dove could be guessed, but what of the American Gunslinger? The Ethereal Figure? The Triclops? What could they all need to do at such a place?

It all started with a disagreement.

Eryl, being Eryl, 'misunderstood' a conversation between herself and Laoise, and the Dove was Irish enough to stand to her words with fists. Trying to diffuse the situation, Ruarc tried to coax the girls into bonding over a little karaoke, one Laoise's favorite pass-times. In further 'misunderstanding' the conversation, the scheming Maelgwyn made her offer, but included the Keeper in the deal, much to his chagrin. The familiar was overjoyed, and began planning almost immediately, intending to invite one of her friends, with Eryl quickly extending invitations to anyone who showed interest. The first of which was Jane, who was hooked on the prospect of seeing the grizzled druid sing, and reeled in when the Triclops offered to pay for her drinks. The next was Caoronach, who had sensed trouble brewing and had come to witness it, only to find herself invited by the courtly, three-eyed mage. From there, the scheming Welshwoman went on a social war-path, inviting everyone she could.

Considering the nature of the establishment, and the desire to make a good first impression with Laoise's friend, everyone tried to their best to dress normally. Percival was coaxed out of his laboratory, with the guarantee that Miyuki would be showing up when she could, that and so Ruarc wouldn't be the only man. The Alchemist was actually a rather snappy dresser, wearing a silken, purple button-up adorned over by a slate coat. With his hair done the way it was, he looked a bit like a Yakuza, or in his case a mobster. Eryl was not as snappily put together, but instead wore a summer dress she was assured was descent for public consumption, but had decided to wear a coat over anyway.

"Skirt hems have gotten much shorter since my time," commented the Triclops idly, staring down at her matching slip-ons. Her third eye was obscured as most Triclop's were, with filigree tattoos of inscription magic hiding it from plain sight.
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Straken
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Re: [Pew Pew Karaoke] A Night Off

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"Ah'm gonna regret agreeing to this," Ruarc grumbled, using a braced arm to rub his forehead. Already he was uncomfortable, and they were only standing outside the parlor. Dressed up in pewter slacks and jacket, he had a light grey shirt on underneath with the collar loose and no tie to hold it. The fancy clothing had been picked out by Laoise, and it was leaving the druid feeling stifled; a feeling made worse by the claustrophobicly close tall buildings and crowds of people milling past the group. It was all a cacophony of noise that left him feeling on edge.

"Relax a bit, Ruru," a voiced cooed from off to the side. Knowing who it was without checking, the speaker slid an arm around Ruarc's and held it close.

"I'd relax a bit more if you let go of my arm," Ruarc said back as he looked over to Caoranach. The Fey was hugging his arm, making quite the couple for on lookers to gawk at as she nearly matched the tall Irishman in height. Her long black hair was was wrapped up in the back, creating numerous silken curls held together by an ornate lotus hair pin. It was apparent she had gone for a theme, having somehow planned out a spontaneous outfit, as her dress looked to be of Vietnamese inspiration tonight; a dark red fabric with floral designs worked in, the chest had a small opening below the closed neckline which showed off an obsidian pendant, though any modesty of the neckline was undone by a slit on the side that exposed most of her leg.

"Also, you're a tad overdressed for karaoke, Carrie," Ruarc chided.

"Always be the best dressed in the room, Flynn," she hummed. "Besides, sounds like the little bird is trying to set you up with someone. I simply want to make the right impression."

It was at this point Laoise returned to the group from inside, holding a receipt. She was about to announce something when she caught sight of Caoranach overstepping her bounds again. Approaching and shooing away the Fey with hurried motions, the two magical women exchanged a charged glare before Caoranach relented.

"Take this opportunity to meet some of the others besides Ruarc, why don't you," Laoise hissed.

Putting her hands up in feigned defeat, Carrie walked a few paces to stand next to Eryl, her heels announcing her as she went. Once they had a bit of space the familiar swat Ruarc on the side of the head before immediately fixing the hair that had been knocked out of alignment. "I'd like it if you actually took this seriously, alright. Kaori is nice, and normal, and most importantly, stable. You need some of that. Now, I can only do so much keeping Caoranach out of trouble, so you need to actually put your foot down. Alright?" Laoise told her druid before turning back to the main group.

"Okay! The room reservation is taken care of. I got us one of the big rooms, so we can head on in," she announced to those gathered. Her own hair was braided neatly with a green ribbon woven, and rested over her right shoulder. She was wearing an unbuttoned brown cardigan over a light red undershirt, a pink scarf wrapped around her neck, black leggings, and shin high heel boots. Handing Erly the receipt with the room number on it she checked her phone and looked around. After a couple of moments she smiled moved to the edge of the group while waving.

"Glad you could make it on such short notice, Ms. Kaori," Laoise called as she greeted a person joining the group; Ruarc visibly stiffened.

"It's no problem, Laoise, I appreciate the invite" said a young Japanese woman with a warm smile. She had black hair trimmed to just above the shoulder, with two lockes of hair coming from the edge of her bangs to the back, meeting with a simple hair pin. Her outfit was professional with a dark green jacket, white shirt, red ribbon, a black pencil skirt, and modest high heels.

"Of course! I just apologize that it took so long to set up since I made the original offer. I took a bit to get my brother to finally take some time off of work," Laoise verbally jabbed at Ruarc, and with an off hand tugged the Irishman's sleeve to get him to turn around. "Kaori, this is my brother Ruarc. Ruarc this is Otani Kaori. And I'll introduce the rest of the group in time, but now that everyone is here we can head in!"

As Laoise returned to the head of the group, Ruarc was left relatively alone with the new arrival. He still looked stiff and uncomfortable as the two faced each other, and tried to think of something to say to put himself at ease; but nothing came to mind. Kaori, for her part, also looked a bit embarrassed as she blushed slightly and absentmindedly twirled a lock of hair in her fingers.

"It's nice to meet you, Ms. Otani," Ruarc managed, looking down at the shorter woman. He had probably just shy of a foot taller than her, even with her heels helping her.

"And it's a pleasure to finally meet you, Mr. Flynn," replied Kaori in a clear, practiced voice. "Laoise has spoken a lot about you, and I see she wasn't exaggerating about your height." She laughed lightly, and Ruarc blushed a bit in spite of himself.
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Kokuten
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Re: [Pew Pew Karaoke] A Night Off

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"Tall gent, isn't he?"

Percival broke off the edge of the group, having yet to see Miyuki arrive, so he decided to mingle. He clapped a hand on Ruarc's shoulder, the man more Kaori's height than his Irish counterpart's, there accompanied a reassuring squeeze with the one hand. Despite his normal dour appearance, Percy was very animated in polite company.

"Otani-san! Pleasure to meet you, Percival Caxton, my friends call me Percy," the one-armed man nodded his head respectfully to Kaori with a winning smile, though it only seem to wax the Yakuza look, "Don't mind the silence, Flynn here isn't a big small-talker, but hooo! Toss out a bit of nature, hiking, or... the wilderness? -- I don't know -- and you can't get him to stop talking! He's a bit of a nature-lover, you see, spends a lot of time on trails and forestry whenever he's not at work."

Eryl, for her part, bowed ceremoniously as she was handed the receipt, perhaps as was custom in the culture she came from. It mixed a bit well in the Japanese circle, but not quite in so casual an environment. In truth, she had stiffened considerably as Caoranach had taken a spot aside her. She wasn't sure if it was because the nature of the being, or the fact that she was quite much-better dressed. Laoise had helped pick out her outfit, since she had little idea of what passed for acceptable in the modern society. She knew what she had seen in her last ten years, but the cloistered mage was very wary of the free cultures of the future. Despite acquiescing to the decision of a dress, she seemed very aware of her legs the whole time, and was a bit flustered at how exposed Caoranach's outfit.

"Your outfit is flattering," commented Eryl, as diplomatically as possible, about ready to storm the Karaoke parlor, "I feel a bit better about my own attire. Are you one of the... teachers from the school?"
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Mr. Blackbird Lore
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Re: [Pew Pew Karaoke] A Night Off

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Picking an outfit was a real struggle. In the end, Jane called in the cavalry, and she almost regretted it. After nearly an hour of wasted time, her consultant huffed and sassed her. "Look, Lady Jane, when in doubt just KISS."

"I beg yer pardon, Mizz Vee?" She was flummoxed and without a witty riposte.

"It's an acronym. Keep It Simple, Stupid. C'mon." Vee dragged Jane back to the closet and walked her through another wardrobe change. It was simple, but classy. They both liked it, so it stuck, and Vee was even kind enough to do up her friend's hair.


A draft would kick down the lane, blowing loose debris and a few leaves down the sidewalk and lead all eyes toward the rhythmic sound of boots on pavement. Her attire wasn't far from her usual look, but there was color and contrast as opposed to the washed out, faded look most of her wardrobe had acquired.

On top, she wore a red blouse with loose cuffs folded back. The blouse was tucked into black jeans which were tucked into knee-high, light brown boots. She wore two braids like a circlet, passing over her temples and weaving together at the back. Together, they corralled a tangle of blond curls, courtesy of Jane's ad hoc fashionista. A hat sat primly on her head, but it was not the one she usually wore. This was smaller, richer in color, and without all the wounds of battle and wear of age. Last, but not least, her gun belts. This had been a tough call. In the end she compromised by wearing them, but removing the guns and ammunition. Even the holsters were absent. No illusions, no trickery; they were at home, empty and alone.

She was arguably pretty. Jane would call it, "dolled up," and say, "Pretty is like smarts; some got it, n some don't. 'N I don't."

For now she simply announced herself with a subdued smile and approached Eryl, who seemed to be running the show. "Mizz Maelgwyn. I must apologize in advance n say yer gon regret payin fer my drinks. 'N I don recognize you, mizz," she said, turning toward Caoranach, "but I must say that is an exquisite dress yer flauntin. I only e'er known dangerous women what dress like that."
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Straken
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Re: [Pew Pew Karaoke] A Night Off

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Caoranach chuckled lightly as the Librarian took the liberty of starting the small talk, but was mostly amused at the prospect of being a teacher at Ruarc's little project school. "Why thank you, dear, I am a fan of the style and figured tonight was a good opportunity to break it out," she began, turning slightly as she gave her reply. "And no, I am no instructor. In fact, I would say I have more in common with you than any of the others present. What with having tried to kill them in the past and all. Strange bedfellows, if you will."

It was at that point that a shift in the environment caught the Fey princess's attention. The infamous Ms. Smith had arrived. She had heard stories about the gunslinger, and found herself immensely curious about the nature of the Westerner's abilities. "Then it seems my dress is making the right impression," Caoranach responded to Jane, turning to fully face the new arrival. Putting a slender hand on her cheek in feigned disappointment, she adopted a playful tone. "I'm saddened you don't remember me, but I need to remind myself that I looked different when we first met. About ten or eleven years ago, in a park, I had possessed a young girl, you shot at me, I escaped by possessing the dove over there." Waving her other hand lightly toward Laosie, she extended the one that had been on her cheek in a proposed hand shake.

"I'm Caoranach. Mother of Demons."

Back over with Ruarc, he had jumped a bit when Percy patted his shoulder. Taking the distraction to collect his senses, Ruarc mentally regrouped and seemed to relax a bit. Kaori for her part gave a dainty laugh and greeted Percy in kind with another polite bow. With her attention off of him for the moment he gave a closer look at the woman Laoise had worked at setting him up with. She had a cute pixie face with a beauty mark just below her left eye, she stood just under five and a half feet from the heel, and looked to be a bit older than he himself was. As he was studying her face she glanced over at him, causing him to quickly divert his gaze and blush again; to which she gave another laugh.

"I haven't gone on a hike since back I college, so i cant contribute much to nature talks; but I do have a bonsai tree at home if that counts?" Kaori offered to both of the Celtic men. "Though Laoise also mentioned you were a historian, if I'm not mistaken. I minored in history at Tokyo University while getting my business degree, so perhaps we can trade notes." She punctuated her offer with a smile.

"Heh, be careful with that one," Ruarc said back, scratching his chin as he spoke. "I can talk about gardening for hours, but history I tend to get carried away."
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Re: [Pew Pew Karaoke] A Night Off

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Jane's body went rigid for a brief second when Caoranach mentioned their previous encounter, but unfroze to shake hands with the Mother of Demons. There were so many retorts she had for Carrie's introduction, but for the sake of avoiding bad blood she kept it mild. "So what's a dangerous gal like you doin round a place like this, hm?" She smiled.

After a pause she added. "And while we're at it, what is it with old foes of Safeholme becomin allies? Seems to be a trend round here."

She forced herself to consider it as well. The Safeholme folks were out on the town with a pair of ex-villains that had attempted to murder several of them at one point or another. Life was indeed strange. So strange.
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Straken
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Re: [Pew Pew Karaoke] A Night Off

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Caoranach chuckled at Jane's reaction. As slight as it was, it was what she had been looking for. Relaxing her posture, she shifted her tone to sound light and almost reminiscent. "I cannot speak for Ms. Eryl of course, but after the incident of my last fight against you all, Ruarc has been kind enough to have tea with me on occassion. Keeping me on the straight and narrow, if you will. So, of course, I simply had to join this little outing, you lot can be dreadfully mundane; I would be remiss if I were to miss seeing you cut loose."

With a passing glance, she stole a look over her shoulder at the little mouse that was trying to move in on Ruarc. Followed with an almost imperceptible tsk she turned back to Jane. Despite her introduction that highlighted the past scuffle between them, the only slight she would try to touch on tonight was why she and Ruarc took a spontaneous trip to France not long ago. With a disguised look of judgement she inspected the comely cowgirl. "Either way, it promises to be a fun night, Ms. Smith."
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Re: [Pew Pew Karaoke] A Night Off

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"You're a Todai grad? Me too!" added Percy genially, showing a different side of his personality that didn't reflect the normally dour and inward alchemist. He seemed a lot more relaxed than whenever he was on school grounds or dealing with other mages. "I was a Pharma Sci Major with a Minor in Chemistry, not that I got to use it all that much when I graduated. But, hey, same story for a lot of people these days. Actually, if Rook here hadn't picked me up for a teacher position at his school, I'd still be drafting out resumes to pharma companies."

The man gave a one armed shrug, before playfully whispering towards Otani, with Ruarc still very present to hear it. "Not that he'd ever admit to doing anyone a favor, so... keep that one on the down low. Oh! Hey, there's Jane. You guys keep going, I'm going to say hi."

Eryl, for her part, smiled politely as the Gunslinger made her approach. She seemed quite taken by the Texan's outfit, almost missing the comment about paying for drinks. She opened her mouth to speak, but found her personality rode over by the intimidating woman to her right. The Triclops had no clue who she was until she mentioned that she had tried to kill the others before. The fact they had that in common was a hard introduction to work through, especially as Caoranach introduced herself to Jane. The Malegwyn opened her mouth to speak again, and found Jane was just as much a powerful personality, quieting the shorter woman. As the two mages shook hands, Eryl weaved her fingers together, choosing to stand aside than insert herself. When an opportunity came to speak, it wasn't a topic she wanted to weigh in on.

"Ah, there's Mr. Caxton," said Eryl matter-of-factly, breaking away from the conversation and gracefully circling around the Texan, rather than cutting in between her and Caoranach. She ended up meeting Percy half-way, which surprised the Alchemist, more so when she began conversing in his native tongue. The two began to talk back and forth rapidly, which made it hard to listen to their words off-hand, but Miyuki's name made it through clear enough. Despite his pleasant nature just moments prior, the man didn't seem too pleased when they finished talking. Eryl just wore her disarming smile.

"I should've expected that," said Percy clear enough in Welsh, as the two broke off. Eryl went to join Laoise, while the Alchemist made his way over to Jane. That pleasant look had found its way on his face again, a much clearer English rolling off his tongue. "Smith! Caoranach. Everyone's looking dressed to kill. Did everyone get the same text? I was sure we were coming out for Karaoke."

Percival gave a rather pointed look at the misunderstood goddess.
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Re: [Pew Pew Karaoke] A Night Off

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Back at the head of the group, Laoise surveyed the growing numbers. They were still short a couple, but they knew the parlor, and the parlor had their name on the room reservation; so in theory they could head inside without issue. Ruarc was still speaking with Kaori, Jane had arrived, and Caoranach hadn't destroyed anything. Nodding confidently to herself, she was soon joined by her abettor, Eryl.
"Alright Eryl, let's head inside shall we?" The familiar suggested. Apparently posing it as a statement rather than a question for feedback, Laoise proceeded to speak to the group. "Alright, let's head on in and get to the singing!"
Turning back to the doors, Laoise lead the way and ushered everyone in behind her. Passing the main desk she gave a wave to the young man who had registered the group before continuing on down a hallway a short ways. A couple doors down she stopped and opened their door. Waving the group in, she waited for everyone before moving inside as well and closing the door.

"Mr. Caxton," Caoranach greeted the man in a dry tone. The two had never seen eye to eye, for whatever reason. Though she could hardly blame him, he was watching out for Ruarc, and that was one reason why she tolerated the Welshman. "I have no idea what you mean. You look quite handsome, in a stylish rogue sort of way. It looks like fresh air agrees with you, you should venture away from your cauldron more often."
At that point she saw Laoise ushering them inside and followed suit. Moving to walk just behind Laoise, and subsequently became the first to enter the room. It was rather gaudy as far as design went, so it w the s on par with the rest of the building; but it was large enough to comfortably hold ten to fifteen people. It had one long corner couch with a large table in front, and the stage was in the opposite corner. With the queen's choice of seat she promptly took her spot in the corner. Immediately getting comfortable, she draped an arm over the back of the couch to watch as the rest of the group entered; curious about where they would sit.

Ruarc had still been making small talk with Kaori as the group proceeded inside. On the way in the conversation about classical history died away a bit as Ruarc braced the doors as they passed through. As he entered the room, Laoise gave him a pat on the back and subliminally congratulated him on not being a complete spaz. Looking around for a spot for him and Kaori to sit, he noted Caoranach giving him a rather pointed state. She had taken the first seat, and in the corner, and now she was seeing where people sat in relation to her. Unsurprised by the power move, Ruarc took the seat right on the end of the couch nearest the door. Caoranach smirked. Uh oh, Ruarc thought. Kaori took the seat right next to him, putting her closer to the faerie.
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Re: [Pew Pew Karaoke] A Night Off

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Eryl filed in shortly afterwards, dodging the people who worked at the place, bedecked in cowboy hats and spacy vests. The motif was entirely lost on her, she wasn't even sure where most of it came from. Sure, she knew the history of mankind, and it's eventual dominance of the dead moon that orbited the world, but the decades upon centuries of pop-culture references were lost on her. The designs made her head spin, and for once, she wished for a few gilded rafters and nice uninterrupted coat of white paint. Her brilliant, blue eyes were a bit haggard as she made her way into the Karaoke booth, and she decided to take the seat furthest from the door, getting her the furthest away from it all. She took her lonely perch, carefully flattening her dress over her legs.

"There is not many features which possess subtlety in this place," commented the triclops idly, trying not to appear too out of place.

Meanwhile, Percival filed in right after Caoranach, finding that indeed, Miyuki wasn't there. The Welshman looked to become a bit grumpy after his last cursory glance out on the street yielded no Miyuki. He should've known better than dive on the bait the Triclops had laid out for him, but here he was now. He was the next to determine his seat, after Eryl spaced herself apart from everyone.

It was then that the Fae Queen found her line-of-sight to Ruarc hampered as the shorter man of the group took the spot next to her. It was not hard to look over Percival's head, but he was no mild gentleman of small stature either. He gave her a little knowing smile, one that drew heavy eyes off others and on to him.

"You know what I've come to realize?" mentioned Percival, speaking genially, "We've known each other for years, but I don't think we've ever had a legitimate conversation. Isn't that funny?"
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