Description: What a plan, what a plan! Also, when Diana met Naerose. It goes better than you think .. except for a certain Gedo student, depending!
Was this a money making scheme? Some sort of crazy hobo on the street corner? But she's a long way away from the city and there arn't very many people going this way. More like someone who was just trying to pick up a new hobby. But let us break from conjecture and move on to what is known.
The woman is dressed all in red with a floppy pointed hat, almost as if it was a prop on her head and a round pair of black teashades hanging low on her nose. Sitting with folded legs on top of a broken down cardboard box, like a breakdance floor. Beside her is a tiny boom box, the old eighties type that uses batteries and a broom on the ground not far from her. She could be a hippie and for a hobo she is actually quite clean, the red is vibrant and she doesn't stink. Still.. what was she doing out here? Well... Singing.
o/~ I won't reduce myself to your perspective
To me your reasoning is not constructive.
My vision is high above the unimportant,
I'm going to find out how to becoming immortal.o/~
Yes singing, to herself while the box plays the musical track. The woman, dressed as a Halloween witch has no apparent shame.
It's not hard to expect people to walk past the Naerose. Infact, there's a higher chance it seems for people to walk past the Naerose than not, but as she stays where she was, dressed in her floppy pointed hat, sitting on a box.. some people begin to pay attention.
Especially from the old technology, and the broom .. and the well shaven Naerose proves she's not just any hippy or hobo. Especially from the clothing, and the smell.. she's no normal hippy. There's something else beyond this red witch who sings on the street corner, instead of anything far worse that one can do on a street corner that may involve Mr. Big.
Someone rather blue, and wearing something far from normal, takes notice of Naerose as she sings, the witch putting alot of effort into her songs. Really, Diana leans against a building wall listening, looking over to her, tapping a foot against the ground a few times to the beat.
She assumes the song could be far better, but Naerose is a witch. Witches might be comparable to tone deathness.
Finally, when she stops, Diana takes the time to walk over .. if Naerose doesn't stop she'll just walk over anyways. "Which would you prefer." She asks, smirking a bit. "Money, or advice?"
Both will be rather helpful clearly!
To begin, Naerose was not done, but that does not mean she doesn't stop. She does stop, but the boombox does not have any notion of who or what is around them. It was automatic, like bubbles, a machine. When play is pressed it would continue to make sound for as long as it had power to do so unless someone hit stop. It did not care what other people around it thought about the music or rather sound it produced, it did not care if it was helpful or harmful. It had a single function in life and that was what it would do and continue to do, therefore the box continues to play the track which Naerose was singing too.
Interestingly enough, Naerose had some things in common with the box, some would of argued she too was quite automatic. That she too would act in a manner which seemed to fit her function, but understanding that function and how her methods brought her to the end result, or rather the process which she was built to follow, that was rather more complex. For whatever reason, Naerose stops singing, was it because someone had pressed the stop button on her or was this merely another facet of a larger function.
More unusual still though is the next words out of her lips. She adjusts her shades, gives Diana a once over and then replies,
"Advice." Then smiles with red painted lips, a disconnected smile. It wasn't as though she was distant like a drugged, but more comparable to someone whose expression was given without a great understanding of people around her, how they perceived her. She smiled like someone who was perhaps in their own world communicating with the outside world through a thick wall, no delay, just a disconnect.
The track is what Diana had a little more interest in anyways. Perhaps Naerose's singing was ruining it? No, that couldn't be it, or she wouldn't be able to stomach it. Not at all. But here, of all places, is a red witch before her, whom was different than most things she had saw.
Diana has seen many things like Naerose. Half of them were oddities that were deemed unfit to continue, or attempt to salvage.. a disconnected from that great deal of reality is dangerous in a way, and yet Naerose was standing before her, the red light of warnings beginning to strobe, the world routers green light of connection flashing. Flashing. Flashing, knowing there is a signal but unable to lock onto what passes for this witch.
In some ways, Diana is actually afraid of Naerose. She seems to enjoy herself, but more importantly, she seemed like no matter what would happen, she would, because Naerose is Naerose. The witch is a witch.
The smile is far more understandable to Diana than anything else Naerose could have said, but the word does help her know what to say next.. and lightly turning down the volume, giving the knob a bit of a flick so that she can hear herself think, Diana leans against the wall once more, looking to Naerose.
"Your pitch is fine, but you are forcing the sound out. You shouldn't try to copy the singer. You won't be able to. Sing naturally." Looking away for a bit, she comments again. "Karaoke also sounds better inside. The sound travels better."
What helpful advice?
How mysterious. Though sometimes things try to hard and in fact Naerose wasn't trying to hard, she wasn't trying at all. The first step to the formula was to take the path of least resistance. Be yourself, that was exactly who she was. If you ignored her deceptions you could likely get a fairly good grasp on just who this character was. If that was your wish, in contrast all Naerose seemed to know or care about was that she was being addressed at all. Who or what this person was capable of never entered into her psychy. Just as the boombox does not consider the person who pushes it's buttons, inserts cds, or batteries, it merely does what it was designed to do. If you pushed too hard it would play just as well as if you pushed too soft, only it might break sooner one way, but even then it didn't care. Neither did Naerose seem to care. Perhaps Diana was different, perhaps she stood out, perhaps she was dangerous. The easy going smile on Naerose's lips would not indicate that any of this crossed her mind in the least.
"Ahhh. Thanks." She say s a little sheepishly,
"Though you know I'm really just having fun, and karaoke totally costs monies and it's more fun with friends don't you think?"
Though the witch decides to get a little more comfortable. She didn't mind having someone standing over her so instead of meeting Diana on level she reclines back onto her elbows. and looks up with the sun shining a bit into her eyes. The red hat helps some to shade her eyes, the shades help too, so the smile remains easy, not even a touch of strain.
That Naerose doesn't care while Diana sizes her up .. she's not labeled as a threat at all. Infact, while she may be somewhat scary in a way, Naerose seemed, mostly, harmless. Especially as the witch respond sheepishly to her suggestions, thanking her as well.
Well, she was much more personable than the brute, that's quite for sure.
"Oh, I know a few bars where it's free at the right time." Diana responds back, "And I've only tried it a few times with friends." She adds as well.. well, there was that one reward that she may have had trouble pitching to Foxy for Kula. Lets just say she got a nice birthday song in the end of it.
With Naerose getting comfortable, the Amazon rolls her shoulders, stretching her neck slightly before looking down to Naerose who is lying on her back, on her elbows as well. And just .. lying on the ground in the middle of..
Looking around, nowhere is a perfect answer for that, and shaking her head, the amazon stays where she is.
The natural state of the Naerose, at rest, seems to be at least different. "The grass is softer, not even a few steps away." She comments, but isn't sure that she prefers a steady back to a slightly supported back.
Naerose swivels her head to look toward indicated grass and indeed it is quite soft and inviting, but she makes no move over toward it.
"I dunno," she begins, "I think I'm more comfortable here."
It was true. Naerose was a city girl through and through. Her survival skills almost all depended on there being people with resources she could somehow obtain. Having been to rural areas, she knew that they did not suit her. Thailand in ruins, was also not her cup of tea. Though how all of this translated to her mind was hard to say, did she actively know that was how she felt, or was she just vaguely aware? Either way she doesn't move to the grass, instead she sits up a bit, distinctly feeling like she's being probed or something to that effect, but then she doesn't really show any unease at all.
Interestingly enough... The witch might not quite appeal to someone who was distinctly into the country side more, but then why was the witch way out here and not in the midst of the crowds to begin with.
"Anyway, I just wanted to relax a bit from the bars, I'll probably head back to the city before too long," the witch yawns and stands up. The first thing she does as she stands up is to pick up her broom. Her self declared source of her power. In all truth it was just an ordinary broom and in fact was completely useless when not in her hand and fueled by her own power. Even so, she would likely be completely unwilling to fight without it in her hands. In a sense, the mere act of holding it made her thus a little less harmless.
"Your choice." Diana's not going to force the poor Witch bum(?) off into the cardboard and onto the grass, especially if she seems to prefer cardbord to it. That would just be wrong. And Naerose seems to know how things go. To a point at least. You can't call her on that.
Eventually, with Naerose sitting up, Diana takes her eyes off the witch, certain there is just nothing the witch can honestly do that would bother her, or nothing she could learn more about the witchly ways of Naerose.
Pushing off from the wall, Diana walks a bit forwards, streeetching before turning. "It is nice to get a breath of fresh air now and again." And yawns.. when Naerose does. Yawns are contagious, and even more so when you were near one such as Naerose.
"Glad I could listen to your performance while it was still here then." She was clearly a moving musician, and while Naerose wasn't the best, Diana was more supporting than dream crushing over all. She doesn't seem to mind too much.
"I've been wondering." Diana finally speaks up with a concrete purpose, eyeing the hat and broom.
"Are you really a witch, or are those fairy tales?"
"Mmmmmm?" replies Naerose.
Nine times out of ten Naerose already has her answer to that question. It is another one of those automatic answers she usually gives, but Diana was different, she got thought from Naerose and that thought carried on for a few moments. Perhaps the fact that Naerose was being taken seriously was enough. Could it be.. That Naerose was only whatever you made of her? A reflection of your own expectations and nothing more or less? It was certainly a theory.
"I dunno, what is magic? A word for like, I dunno unexplained awesome stuff? Furthermore.. What is Chi..?"
At this time the witch decides it seems to give an display, yes, showing off, but somehow you can tell she doesn't think it's that cool, except that it is that cool.
She sits on her broom, which is nice enough to suspect her there as she folds her leg, one over the other. The thing is.. This wasn't a cheap endless display of true flight. Far from it. Perhaps some master could do this for hours, but Naerose was straining to keep it up even for the end of her sentence.
"See.. I can do something that most people can't do. Is that magic? Is it Chi? You know, I think they're really both the same thing."
She hops off her broom and catches it as it seems to lose it's power of defiance.
"So.. Yes. I really am a witch."
. . . And for those who love grammar and non-failed poses. The broom SUSPENDS Naerose, not suspects her.
"I've met many people, some of them far .. different, but never a witch." Diana answers, looking on at Naerose who happens to be a witch.. a simple yes or no didn't seem to suffice, and Diana was happy to see the display as well.. especially when the broom was sat on, and rose from the ground.
To 'fly' was far too difficult for many, and yet Naerose was sitting upon the broom, staying up from the ground. Nothing under her. Like the levitation magic that they show at different magicians, and their different tricks.
"Magic is chi.. no one really understands it, it's just another name for the same thing." Diana responds, partially getting it from Naerose. The scientist didn't exactly have any loss of thoughts for what chi was. It was a genetic control, either forged or birthed, that allowed someone to control forces beyond the normal .. which is basically magic. It had to be learned and perfected, but not everyone could do it.
So yes, of course it's magical in nature.
Clapping after Naerose lands, Diana smiles, nodding to the red witch. "Guess you are. World never ceases to surprise me with what's it in." She just needs to now keep it from getting any worse. With what's going on, how long before Southtown is engaged in some kind of struggle? Or maybe that's what it needs.. Igniz hasn't been putting many definite words out there.
"Names Diana. Nice to meet someone different."
"I dunno about different," The witch replies, having some degree of humility, or at least the delusion that she's perfectly normal. All the same she smiles, which she was already doing and says,
"I'm Naerose Delphine, a freelance journalist and fight announcer. You know, it's a job, but what I am and what I do, totally different things." As though she needed to clarify that doing freelance journalism didn't make her anyless a witch.
The broom then becomes something for her to lean against, no, no chi, she just drives one end into the ground and leans on it like a staff. There are some beads of sweat on her forehead from the display. That sort of thing really does take a lot out of someone.
There was a distinct contrast here. A scientist tends to study things, get to understand them, never accepting for granted, but Naerose was not like that. She was a con for certain, but in general everything was at face value and further investigation rarely given. That she was well within the lines of her own world though hardly mattered, since her world was often considered to be warped well outside the scope of that which other people understood.
"Hey, why are you here anyway? I mean just a breath of fresh air?" Now the journalist, "I didn't catch a last name, is that because you don't have one?"
Perhaps she knew something was up with that. Actually it was unlikely Aislinn would fail to mention the Red Witch in her reports to NESTS, since Naerose was, IS a member of Blackjack.
You have to dig deep sometimes to really understand something, and having been a part of NESTS and the creation of various beings and the changing of whom they are altogether.. Diana doesn't take anything at face value any more, and doing so in her first fight proved disastrous.
Journalist and fight announcer? Naerose has a pretty good gig with all the fights, but that's just how it is. "I never assumed you ever had to be defined by your work." Looking at Diana, one would probably not assume this amazon is a scientist. Far from it, they'd figure her a mechanic before hand, perhaps something else.
But with Naerose winded, or somewhat tired, it's not hard to expect she'd say less.. so there was more to be said. Walking a bit across the walk, she turns again to face Naerose as the journalist asks her of her time within Southtown. "That, and trying to find someone.. and I do. I just do not wish to share it... why do you ask?" Diana did hear of a witch, but Aislinn ... well, Aislinn .. Diana doesn't know what happened to her. Much like many she loses track of, Igniz simply controlled this.
"More importantly.. I'm looking for one named Shurui. A blind girl going to one of these schools. I cannot find witch."
"Hey you know.." the witch begins, her gears turning in her head a lot faster than normal, but slower than she is talking. Possibly she should of planned this out better.
"My land lady is totally a teacher at Gedo high, I bet I could get access to the school records and help you out and find this person." The witch says, with a helpful thumbs up.
"Course you know ahh, well I don't really know you and it's nothing personal.. But."
This was the hitch, she'd help Diana find the girl but she needed to get something for it,
"Oh and this is like your little sister or long lost cousin?"
Usually Naerose took rewards with no questions asked but in this case she seems to be a little careful, perhaps the stuff with Metro made her think twice. Well. Maybe anyway.
The idea is .. rather helpful, and not only that, it was quite a bit fortunate. "Oh?" She asks, grinning slightly, standing a bit to the side, before leaning against the wall again, looking to Naerose. "I'm sure that would help then, and I would appreciate it." The witch was helpful! And she returns the thumbs up.. and there was a hitch it seems, but Diana is simply able to hurdle this hitch and attach it to the cart.
"Not my sister or cousin. More like my daughter." Of course, this would make much more sense if oh.. Naerose knew she created them with various genetics and not actual birth, but .. that doesn't need to be said. Really.
"I'd rather not comment beyond that."
"Umm okay," The witch says and decides this is probably a perfect way to obtain a reward. Reuniting mother and daughter. So she gets to work thinking on the plan, afterall, a plan was needed of course.
"Alright, here is totally what will happen. We can't today cause it's too late, we'll go after my landlady is in school, that was we can use her id to sneak into the staff offices and get a look at the records and if your daughter goes to that school we should be able to find her right then and there and if not, well I'm pretty sure they've gotta have some sort of database with all of the students in this school system." The witch replies and then reaches into her hat and pulls out an index card and a crayon.
"This is my cell, we'll plan this for what.. next school day if you're free.."
The witch hands over the card good naturedly .
With the witch going alright, and agreeing, Diana nods. "It sounds like a rather effective way of doing this." She comments, looking on to Naerose as she rather simply helps her find the project.. but it's not as if Diana doesn't care for her. That's far from the truth. She certainly does, even if she may not be truly as she says. It's still close enough, and to her, she would be happy to see her again.
There was too many lost already.
Taking the card, Diana slides it away, nodding, not minding the crayon that comes with it. If Naerose wishes to offer her a crayon, then a crayon shall be offered.. she may just not take it is all.
"Thank you for all this." The amazon replies, smirking. "This makes everything so much easier."
"Yep." replies the witch easily enough and gives an equally easy smile, but more or less runs out of things beyond her scheming. The plan wouldn't be that hard to see through really. The witch helps this nice Diana find her daughter, reunites them.. and then.. And then.. asks for a reward. It was going to be easy money.
Then comes the realization she's more or less run out of things to say. That is to say, she asked a question, came up with a way to bring this to her advantage, but what else to do with it? Well she wasn't going to be asking more questions, after all she was asked not to. Of course Naerose had her run ins with NESTS, usually not knowing they were run in with NESTS, this was, of course exactly how they liked it. Sort of similar to Blackjack in many ways.
"I think.. I'm gonna be heading back to the city.. See?" The witch points off to the distance, a scooter on the nearest part of road, parked off to the side and dented with character.
"My ride."
Naerose is right, however. It will be easy money. There is no real scheme between that, and NESTS is happy to pay, it seems, for the return. It just never expected to be able to pay anyone. A simple, helpful witch may be all it takes, and she doesn't even know.
Diana's reasons are of course different from Naerose's, to get the girl back, but she still cares. You would be surprised. Horrible as it was that she wants to see her returned. But as Naerose doesn't seem to know, infact, pointing at a scooter nearby, Diana nods. "I should probably be off as well. Now I won't worry as much about where my daughter may be."
Walking over to Naerose, she pats her on the shoulder, smiling. "Thank you again." And begins to move away, turning and walking at a brisk pace.
And that's that, simple and clean except, EXCEPT.. the witch was not used to being touched, patted on the shoulder, or given any form of acknowledgement. She practically double takes and then stares at the departing Diana. She's not really sure what shee did to deserve it and it was kind of cool? Well maybe, who knows the witch doesn't. She shrugs. The day is still young and nice and then.. well the boom box isn't a bad one, sure it's old and compared to something that can play mp3's or compact disks, this one is pretty old, but she picks it up anyway and moves toward her speaker, leaving the cardboard dance floor behind. Of course she brings her broom.. The scooter has a clever broom sheath on it, for those who always wondered how she got around with that broom and the boom box she just sort of ties to the back of the scooter with a shoe lace. It's a loud scooter, but the witch is still shocked at being touched. She leaves. It probably won't be long before they meet again.
Log created on 11:23:47 04/30/2008 by Diana, and last modified on 16:17:38 04/30/2008.