Description: Returning a pesky little parrot to the Red Witch is a lot more complicated than it looks! Odd conversation ensues, and Arika tries to point out that friends should do a lot more than feed you punch and pie. But is Naerose actually going to read between the lines, or just happily stuff her face with baked goods?
Things had probably changed a bit in this room since the last time it was visited. That room being the Red Witches quarters in the boat, instead of being a mess of things pilfered from around the ship, the room now appears to be MADE of various bits of junk stolen from around the ship. Entering you no longer step on the ground, but on clutter, paper, plates, books, pillows, blankets, clothes, wooden planks and even the kitchen sink. More bizarre is that the walls are no better, perhaps initially plastered with posters and pictures and newspaper, they now have just as much stuff clinging to them as the ground, even the ceiling is covered giving this room a very claustrophobic feel and in the middle? The witch herself, lazing out over a blown up inner tube with a tropical looking drink, complete with the little swords, umbrellas and other colorful novelties, infact there seems to be more novelty than there is drink!
You know what -really- sucks? Returning to the ship after a night of shore leave and finding a squawking bird blathering on like an idiot about how much ninjas suck. To note: This is exactly what Arika returned to. Shows how often she actually sits about in her room aboard the Suiryuu, and she can just imagine what that Alan guy must be thinking. Wanting to keep her sanity, she figured out a way to keep the bird quiet -- a little spongeform ninja that it's been happily pecking away at. At least the guy at the pet store was right; this is definitely a pirate parrot.
But it's time the little birdie was returned to it's rightful owner. Down the hall she treks, covered cage in her hand. Just before she reaches Naerose's room, she checks her bag to ensure the freshly baked goods from the bakery are still in place and she nods.
That is when pirate parrot Tweety squawks loudly and starts to flap his wings. Trying to shush it, the diva starts to sing. Then the bird squeaks out, "Drake is a girl. RAWRK." And adds a cutesy little whistle.
"'ow in the bloody 'ell did you...." Pausing, she kicks the door of the witch's room in lieu of a knock. "NAEROSE!"
The witch in the bizarre junk room, much like a whole nother world then the boat, looks up. Previously she was reading a vanity magazine and sunning? Yes Sunning, in a red swimsuit, witches hat and shades, apparently she had somehow gotten full spectrum lights and growlights in the ceiling and probably was costing the ship a fortune in costs. The magazine entitled 'Modern Witch' seems to actually be a children's magazine meant to cash in on the Harry Potter popularity, but right now it was getting the previously undivided attention of the witch.. now it was divided attention.
"Oh hey, I didn't know I was getting a err guest. IS that your new pet? It's really cute.. huh Drake's a girl? That explains so much." The witch flashes a winning smile and sips from her overly decorated glass. There is a slurping noise.
"Now if I could only figure out how to bring the beach here..."
"My new pet? Ohhh no. It ain't." Arika is already the proud owner of two strays -- a kitten and a bunny. They're a happy little duo back in the hotel room with the rest of her band. "This wee little blighter just so 'appens to be a replacement for Sylvester. 'is name is Tweety, and I've got a sinkin' suspicion you've already been teachin' 'im a thing or two."
Deciding that it's likely better to hold this conversation without a door in the way, she tries the handle and finds the room open. Looking for a path atop the junk, she furrows her brow a bit. "You know, you'd 'ave a much better time fittin' the beach in 'ere if you didn't 'ave so much junk. Bet if you returned the lot of it, we could get you some sand from down at the Sound Beach in Southtown, a nice lil' beach chair and one'a them fruity drinks." Finding her path, she weaves her way to the bunks and plops the bird, cage and all, onto one of the beds. "'eck, with a photographer's light, you could even mimic the sun."
Even though she's trying to be super nice, she can't help but clench her teeth (and along with those, her fists). "Drake -ain't- a girl. I know -that- for a fact."
And in Naerose' child like naivety she just smiles up at Arika and states the obvious in a rather childlike tone,
"And how would you know that? Oh I know! Drake and Arika sitting in a tree, E-A-T-T-I-N-G, first comes scones, then comes cookies then comes OJ in the OJ carton..." She licks her lips a bit,
"Actually that doesn't sound half bad. . " she scratches her head a little under her hat and then looks up at Arika.
"Wait, what about Sylvester? Replacement? But my emergency food source is right here..."
The witch reaches into her hat, pulls out a small brown hare. Note: The Sylvester previously set free by Arika was a larger white rabbit.
"See? He's been with me the whole time.." She shrugs a bit.
"Cute bird though, Hey tweety, can you say, 'Oy Oy Oy'!" The witch winks over her shades at Arika.
"I read some where that was totally punk rock."
"Er, yes... that's it exactly."
Sweatdrop.
Arika decides it's best to just let that little portion of conversation drop to nothingness, and she's about to mention that she's got freshly baked cookies -with- her that she's willing to share, when she spots the rabbit.
"Emergency... food source?" Okay. So, Drake was right. Naerose is a little off. Supposing that happens to some people, and not everyone can be a 'emotionally stable' as some the diva just smiles and nods. "Either way, Tweety o'er 'ere? 'e's yours. 'e'll make good company for your rabbit, won't 'e? I swear though, I didn't 'ave any part in namin' 'im. That was 'is name at the pet store."
"Mine huh," Naerose says sort of thoughtfully, because she afterall likes the ring of things belonging to her. Then there is the argument that even debt is an asset. Perhaps if that were true the witch would be truly rich.
"Okay, well er make yourself at home, I suppose no tropic is complete without a bird around, er.. a parrot or seomthing. And while you're at it.. Do you happen to have sand and an ocean? Cause that's totally the only thing I'd be missing then. She nods a few times.
"What brings you by? Just wanted to gimme stuff huh, I guess I can understand cause I'm that cool."
Sylvester meanwhile is shoved back into her hat,
"Shush, rabbits don't belong on beaches." she says as said rabbit tries to bite her. It fails, but only Just.
"Yours," Arika reiterates as she jostles the cage a little, gaining another loud squawk for her efforts. "Every pir-- er-- witch needs a bird. See, some, like Maleficent from Disney's Sleeping Beauty... they use ravens or crows. You're a much more colorful witch though, so you need a parrot." See the logic? It's sort of there.
"Plum out of sand, mate, but I do just so 'appen to 'ave a large box of baked goods right 'ere." Reaching into her bag, the diva extracts the box of goodies and offers it over to the witch. "No orange juice, but I suppose I could totter down to the kitchen and snag some if you need it. Really just came by to deliver the bird and see 'ow things were goin' for you. Been a wee bit busy and preoccupied with things meself..."
And a worried look is given to the rabbit just before it disappears. Poor thing, if only she could rescue this one too...
Arika could get a collection of Sylvesters and she wouldn't be the only one trying to liberate the poor bunnies. Still the witch perks up at the mention of baked anything and then wrinkles her nose at the mention of oj.
"Ah hey, I dunno what they do in Britishian, but here in the united states of Japan, er, America.. We'll everywhere else, you totally do milk with baked goods. It's like a fact of life."
Then she remembers her question from before, what brings her here, then she forgets the question before too much of a good thing nets her the loss of a certain free snack.
"Sit sit."
"Not enough room in the ocean for me," Arika points out as she glances around the room. Alas, if she weren't too busy trying to figure out a way to be ultimately stealthy upon a ninja ship, she'd probably put more time into figuring out how to liberate poor Sylvester from that hat. "Don't mind gettin' me feet wet, so I'll stand if it's all the same to you."
Britishian? Pressing her lips together, uncertain whether to laugh or correct the faux pas, she shrugs. "Back in London, we mostly ate our biscuits with tea. Likely pissed off the Milk Marketing Board, but wot'cha gonna do?" Motioning to the box she adds, "Fresh cookies, likely a danish or two. Told them to load it up, since I didn't know when I'd be back that way."
"Yeah, I know right? What's up with this ship, you'd expect paradise but it's mostly been fighting and stuff. I mean unless you like that sort of thing, but I think it totally hurts.. Anyway, I'm not even sure what I'm still here for." The witch idly scratches her calf with her other ankle, which has high heeled boots on. If you ever played a video game or just saw one on tv and thought to youself 'man, what those women are wearing are absolutely ridiculous, I mean that outfit makes literally no sense. No one would ever dress that way." Followed by pulling your hair out, well . . Know that this is exactly how Naerose dresses, because she thinks it looks cool.
"Oh neat!" She reaches for some of said free food.
"Thanks." She beams. It should be noted that no animals are harmed in the making of this witch. She has never actually eaten a Sylvester.
"You were expectin' paradise aboard this tourney ship?" Blinking, the diva reaches a hand up and scratches her head. "Listen, mate. You want somethin' like -that-, you're gonna want to call up Princess or Carnival. Place like this is designed for fightin'..." Actually, it reminds Arika of a military vessel. You know, the kind you see in the movies? "'sides, the whole thing 'bout fightin' is that at least one person is gonna wind up 'urt." Which is why her ribs are carefully taped up under her shirt. Insane devil-woman attacking her once she disembarked.
"'ell, even just trainin' you tend to get injured. Not purposefully, but there's always someone out there that's gonna be just a smidge quicker than you. That's when you wind up feelin' it the most."
Not that any of this really -matters-, but it's conversation, right?
"You're welcome. Figured I wasn't the only one aboard with a sweet tooth, and I know you likely could use some perkin' up, wot with your friends landin' you in the brig a while back and all..."
"ERrhg. Yeah..." The witch says and sort of adjusts her shades a little bit.
"Well that's okay, I mean, it wasn't a terrible brig and besides, er.. it was sorta predictable and stuff. I didn't really expect much different, actually huh, guess I didn't really think about it at all." The witch gives a big smile and a shrug then crosses her legs over her ankles, "Anyway, where was I .. Oh yeah so the ship er .. not a training .. I mean fun ship heh." The witch winks,
"Ya know? It isn't like it's terrible or somethin, actually it's a pretty good time.. Mosta the time, just when I'm on board, I get bored.." She nods a few times, trying to change the subject? OR just being that wishy washy.
"Did they ever explain why they let you take the fall for wot 'appened? I mean.. surely they didn't think they could get away with just leavin' you locked up in there, did they?" Subject changing is all good, but it can always be changed back. Arika leans back against the wall by the door, arms crossing over her chest. "If I were in your shoes, I'd be wonderin' why they did that. 'eck, I ain't even in your shoes and I'm wonderin' why people you call your friends would treat'cha like that."
Then she tries to brush it all off. Sure, she was just showing concern for the witch, but some people don't like all that attention. So she switches it up to something a little more anecdotal. "If Eva'n'me were in a jam like that, I wouldn't let -'er- take the fall all on'er own. Friends should stick together, y'know?" Does she consider Eva a friend now? Eh. She's a teammate at least, and she's not let the diva down yet so far as she knows. It could be the makings of a friendship.
"But anyway, you want a pleasure cruise with a lot'a fun things to do on board, you call up one'a them places like Princess. They've got ships with shopping malls on'em. Dinner shows, magic acts, pools, spas... you name it, they pretty much 'ave it. I can have Marcy get an information package for you if you'd like."
"Well err.. I didn't exactly ask you know cause see, it's sort of a you're on your own business in those situations I guess.. But it's better than the alternative of being all alone and having to find punch and pie for myself. I guess it hurts sometimes, or a lot sometimes and some of them are reaaaaallly mean, like really mean, but really, it's better than the alternative." She nods a few times and despite talking about really heavy stuff, the witch doesn't look even a little phased, it's like the smile never leaves.
In one way that is what makes Naerose' smile so fake. It never looks really happy or nice, it just looks like a facade to get stuff.
Arika presses her lips together until they form a thin white line. Allowing her head to bob forward in a slow nod, she sighs. "Naerose, you -do- realize that there are probably much nicer people out there that'll 'elp you find punch and pie... right? I know it sucks to be on your own, but sometimes gettin' embroiled with the wrong sorts puts you in more trouble than you wanna be in." Pausing, she softens her voice a little and adds, "Like when you wound up in the brig. Sure, it seemed nice'n' all, but wot would'a 'appened if you wound up in a jail somewhere that wasn't so accommodatin'? They'd take Sylvester, and you'd be without a..." Lord, but this is hard for Arika to say without feeling all sorry for the poor bunny. "... an emergency food source."
"Well er.. yeah, but that's okay right? They feed you in jails. Anyway I havn't found any people who are nicer and willing to give me as much punch and pie," The witch says with a little shrug.
"Then ahh.. Mad Gear Crazy Eighty Eights Hard Boiled." She flashes a grin as if this was some sort of silly joke she just thought of and low and behold, even laughs to it. Great sort of humor that you can just make up on your own.
"Anyway, err.. maybe it isn't realistic to think they could get me out, I mean right? It's hard to break people out of brigs. " Though the witch sort of sighs in the thought of knowing good and well no one was going to rescue her except MAYBE Li X or Shinobu, if either were around to do so and it was sufficiently silly. Oh yes she had her people who were nicer sometimes.
"They do feed you, but the food ain't all that great. I mean, 'ow often can they expect you to eat chipped beef." Arika wrinkles up her nose at the thought and then shrugs. "Wotever floats your boat, mate. I mean, there -are- people willin' to be nice to you, you just gotta look in the right places."
The punk princess doesn't want to push her luck though. Leaning off of the wall, she turns for the door with a somewhat neutral expression on her face. "Who said anythin' 'bout breakin' ya out? There are ways other than criminal ones to ensure that a friend is bein' cared for, or out of a bad situation. Think on it some." Pausing, she offers a smile over her shoulder. "And let me know 'ow that stuff is, hmm? If it's any good, might just pick up a bit more of it next time we make port."
"Huh, but you keep saying .. There are and there are, ya know it's like ahh, you're not taking responsibility for your own statements!" The witch exclaims and wags a finger at Arika and then proceeds to lecture her further,
"Mhu mhhuh mmimm mmuumm mmhh ch mmummmi mmmmw mem mmomormm mmmmimim ccchh mmimim mmm mm mmmmfmff mfmfff mfmf m ch"
Unfortuatelly her maw is too full of delicious cookies for anything else she says to be making any sense, any sense at all. Though she does have a very serious expression on so it MUST be important, whatever she was saying. Still now might be a good time to exit fleeing
"Sometimes, Naerose," Arika offers lightly in parting, "one needs to learn to read between the lines." A friendly little fingerwave is given then, and she ducks out the door. Closing it gently behind her, she grins.
Well, if nothing else, she managed to get rid of that bird!
Log created on 14:29:32 09/25/2007 by Arika, and last modified on 21:09:31 09/25/2007.