Jade Curtiss (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
fonomena) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
come_sailaway2023-03-03 03:12 pm
fonomena) wrote in come_sailaway2023-03-03 03:12 pm
[open] climb the long stairs to the thin air
Who: Jade Curtiss, the npc guests in his memories, and you!
What: Memory sharing time!!
When: Throughout March
Where: Anywhere and everywhere, as memory rifts are apparently apt to do. The memories themselves are snapshots of various locales in the world of Auldrant. There is also one open prompt of Jade in Tauva between the bouts of memory nonsense.
Warnings: There's a handful, this guy was a nasty one back in the day. Check under the cut for specifics!
Notes: Actual prompts will be in the comments. The body of this post covers ooc details and warnings. As always, I default to brackets but can match prose if desired
Plot post with preliminary ideas is here. It's never too late to check this out or comment to it, if want to hash out something before diving in :) Alternatively, contacting me on plurk at![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
rainbell or on discord at rainbell#7712 are also perfectly fine!
Notes and warnings listed by prompt below. Unless requested otherwise, inhuman and outlandish characters will probably be regarded with according confusion; at best, rationalizations along the lines of foreign travelers/illusory artes/costumes may be made, and at worst your character may be mistaken for a monster and potentially addressed aggressively. In general, being too disruptively out of place on the whole can be dangerous in the more military contexts. Let me know if help is needed navigating such aspects.
Unless otherwise stated in the notes, Sail!Jade can be available to accompany characters into most of these memories if desired, especially Prompt F! Either at the start, or as a later arrival to the scene as a possible assist. Leave a note or contact me if you'd like to have him!
Prompt A;
Warnings: Possible death (both of at least one npc and potentially player characters), possible violence against children & descriptions of injuries
Notes: This prompt carries one of the higher chances of character death! Heavily dependent upon how visitors proceed. If you'd like to either actively pursue dying or completely avoid it, feel free to contact me and let me know! Sail!Jade company unavailable, unless planned beforehand.
Prompt B;
Warnings: Potential descriptions of deliberate harm to (monstrous) animals & dissection
Prompt C;
Warnings: None
Notes: Sail!Jade unavailable here.
Prompt D;
Warnings: Manipulation of corpses, (also probably manipulation of a Very Unfortunately Not-Corpse NPC Person), probable mentions of gore. There's gonna be at least one war crime here folks.
Notes: Some potential of player character death here, depending on how they conduct themselves in front of tense Malkuth soldiers in a warzone.
Prompt E;
Warnings: Human experimentation, according potential for mentions/actions of vivisection and research subject death. That's right, it's Even More War Crimes!
Notes: Since it's less a battlefield and more a classified lab academy setting, too-disruptive visitors are more liable to be arrested than killed! Probably. Ideally.
Prompt F;
Warnings: None!no more war crimes thank goodness
Prompt G;
Notes: An open non-memshare prompt that can be dated anytime further into March! Good for potential commiseration as this memory stuff gets slowly more and more out of hand....
What: Memory sharing time!!
When: Throughout March
Where: Anywhere and everywhere, as memory rifts are apparently apt to do. The memories themselves are snapshots of various locales in the world of Auldrant. There is also one open prompt of Jade in Tauva between the bouts of memory nonsense.
Warnings: There's a handful, this guy was a nasty one back in the day. Check under the cut for specifics!
Notes: Actual prompts will be in the comments. The body of this post covers ooc details and warnings. As always, I default to brackets but can match prose if desired
Plot post with preliminary ideas is here. It's never too late to check this out or comment to it, if want to hash out something before diving in :) Alternatively, contacting me on plurk at
Notes and warnings listed by prompt below. Unless requested otherwise, inhuman and outlandish characters will probably be regarded with according confusion; at best, rationalizations along the lines of foreign travelers/illusory artes/costumes may be made, and at worst your character may be mistaken for a monster and potentially addressed aggressively. In general, being too disruptively out of place on the whole can be dangerous in the more military contexts. Let me know if help is needed navigating such aspects.
Unless otherwise stated in the notes, Sail!Jade can be available to accompany characters into most of these memories if desired, especially Prompt F! Either at the start, or as a later arrival to the scene as a possible assist. Leave a note or contact me if you'd like to have him!
Prompt A;
Warnings: Possible death (both of at least one npc and potentially player characters), possible violence against children & descriptions of injuries
Notes: This prompt carries one of the higher chances of character death! Heavily dependent upon how visitors proceed. If you'd like to either actively pursue dying or completely avoid it, feel free to contact me and let me know! Sail!Jade company unavailable, unless planned beforehand.
Prompt B;
Warnings: Potential descriptions of deliberate harm to (monstrous) animals & dissection
Prompt C;
Warnings: None
Notes: Sail!Jade unavailable here.
Prompt D;
Warnings: Manipulation of corpses, (also probably manipulation of a Very Unfortunately Not-Corpse NPC Person), probable mentions of gore. There's gonna be at least one war crime here folks.
Notes: Some potential of player character death here, depending on how they conduct themselves in front of tense Malkuth soldiers in a warzone.
Prompt E;
Warnings: Human experimentation, according potential for mentions/actions of vivisection and research subject death. That's right, it's Even More War Crimes!
Notes: Since it's less a battlefield and more a classified lab academy setting, too-disruptive visitors are more liable to be arrested than killed! Probably. Ideally.
Prompt F;
Warnings: None!
Prompt G;
Notes: An open non-memshare prompt that can be dated anytime further into March! Good for potential commiseration as this memory stuff gets slowly more and more out of hand....
F; the mountain opened up
There's something particularly festive in the air today. The street you've found yourself standing on is positively milling with townsfolk and carriages, filling the warm afternoon air with excited chatter that mingles with the hawking from a variety of vendors whose stalls line the walkway. Blue banners bearing harp motifs hang from windowsills or fluttering pennants; the scent of cooking food wafts from all sorts of directions; somewhere a few streets over peals of music occasionally well up. The overall tide of pedestrians seem to be gravitating in the same sort of direction: tall walls and a lowered drawbridge, up ahead, leading to an open gate and a particularly large building some ways off...
Snatches of conversation talk of a party, a celebration. His Majesty's birthday. Will you try blending into the crowd, or are you too overwhelmed by it? Going to take a look at one of the vendor stalls? Or will you perhaps follow everyone towards the drawbridge, and the palace beyond it?]
no subject
Natsuno had always thought of himself as a city kid, but after a year in a remote village followed by a year on a cruise ship, Grank Chokmah is nothing short of overwhelming. Jade is most likely getting his bearings first, because Natsuno spends those first few moments fighting a sensory overload.]
I'm so sick of this, [He grumbles once he recovers enough to look around properly.] At least this one seems easy to blend in.
no subject
--It is a bit overwhelming after growing unwillingly accustomed to one sort of setting on the ship, isn't it? Even after a few accidental forays into memory journeys already, the disorientation of the transition is considerable; truly Natsuno isn't alone in already being "sick of this". Jade would be quite inclined to agree at the moment...
...if this were literally anywhere else, anyway.
But it's not just anywhere else, is it? This place in particular. Bearings are gathered, yes, the flurry of sunlit colors and chatter and people resolving from a baffling blur to comprehensible definition, and--oh, but it's almost like quite literally getting punched directly in the chest, isn't it? (As if the particular pervasive brand of this sound of running water could be heard anywhere else. As if those blue banners fluttering in the breeze could symbolize anything else.) The luckiest aspect of this whole thing is that it takes Natsuno longer to gather his bearings, because maybe this way he at least doesn't quite get a chance to see the way the expression on Jade's face briefly flickers from confusion to sheer, off-guard surprise.]
This is...
[Well, granted, traces of that surprise can probably still be found in the tone of his voice, and the freezing up of his posture beside Natsuno. --But neither of those things last longer than a moment. Another carriage is drawing up from the side, after all, the milling crowd parting to let it through, and Jade automatically reaches to take Natsuno by the shoulder and steer him to a slightly clearer spot on one side of the street.]
--Here, this way, no need to get trampled. ...Hm. [In the brief respite they're afforded from the overall crowd on this side, Jade casts his glance over and across the way; after all, it can't help but gravitate inexorably to where he knows it ought to be...and, sure enough, there it is. Past the open gates--the Imperial palace, off in the distance.] My, now this is rather cruel...
no subject
Wait, cruel?
He looks from the street to Jade's face, then follows his gaze to the palace. The banners - he'd seen that symbol before on a box. And some of the people are wearing familiar blue uniforms...]
...Is this Malkuth?
[His tone is mild, almost careful. He doesn't want to intrude on yet another painful, personal memory.]
no subject
Too early to tell whether this is going to be a painful memory or not, after all--but the visit in itself is a painful thing already, in one sense. It is cruel, Jade thinks, that he should be dropped into a place that he'd already accepted he'd never see again. ...A place they cannot stay, to judge by the trends of the other memories they've both experienced...
(Yet it feels terribly real, doesn't it? Perhaps it's real in one sense, and that's just the rub of it all. The happy energy of the crowd, the warmth in the breezy air, the unchanged elegant pale architecture of the buildings around them. Casting the briefest glance up to the sky, even, reveals the gleaming bands of Auldrant's drifting Planet Storm exactly where it should be, growing more distinct as evening draws in.)]
...This is one of the most distinguished parts of Malkuth, yes. We're in the heart of Grand Chokmah, the Floating Capital. And so...it would seem this memory must be mine. Which might be problematic.
[Right. Which means. ...No point in lingering on the feelings of it all. Jade refocuses on their surrounding proper; the passing carriage has pressed ahead to draw to a halt at the drawbridge, and now a small cluster of arrivals are disembarking from it, blond-haired and sumptuously-dressed. They, too, start down the path towards the palace, laughter mingling into the pervasive chatter. Jade eyes them speculatively.]
Not entirely certain what the timeframe is yet, here. Unusually busy. There must be some sort of occasion afoot... [He turns to Natsuno.] Let's have a look, shall we?
[With deft steps, Jade is moving to join the crowd and follow its flow to the gates as well, if Natsuno's willing to accompany him.]
no subject
He mules it over. Jade's home. Is the lab somewhere around here as well, with its eerie devices, massive machine and doomed replicas? Even if it is, it's clear from that quiet resignation on his face that Jade misses the place. Some rifts only proved that people were better off away from them, but this - even if the memory turns out to be painful, there are still many fond ones tied to this city, things that Jade must've never wanted to leave behind.
They walk in silence for a while, Natsuno busy with taking in the sights and sounds. It is definitely grand. When it's clear they're heading past the palace gates, though, he turns back to Jade.]
Do you know where - past you is supposed to be? It'll be weird if people see you in two places at the same time.
no subject
(...And, perhaps a little foolishly. A little selfishly. ...He wants to tread the lay of the land here again. At least one more time...)
The Imperial facility where those fomicry experiments once took place was indeed located in Grand Chokmah. But in the heart of the city such darker traces of the Malkuth army's more unsavory past endeavors aren't so readily visible to the public eye--and those endeavors are something the current Emperor would prefer to throttle out entirely. ...In the interim, the culture of architectural artistry is surely on full display. The setup is especially elaborate for the palace, as becomes even more clearly visible as Jade and Natsuno pass through the gates and start down the long path leading in to it. The sound of running water evens out to the steady roar of the continuous enormous waterfall ringing the palace grounds in the distance; at this time of day, the angle of sunlight is such that it glances off the mist rising from that crashing water just so...]
'Weird' would probably be an understatement. I rather doubt my past self would take kindly to seeing a lookalike wandering about... [Replica implications would probably immediately leap to mind, after all. To say the least. Jade hums quietly to himself as he scans the palace grounds around them, thoughtful.] I know for certain this can't be one of Tear's memories, either way. She's never visited Grand Chokmah during a festival occasion. And if this is a festival occasion, then...well, I'd generally prefer to be out of town, actually. But that must not be the case here either, which means--
Oh, Colonel! [A man in a blue uniform vaguely reminiscent of Jade's perks up from a bit ahead, one of a handful of guards that have been minding the path as the crowds pass along it. He approaches with a salute.] You might want to know, sir, His Majesty's looking for you.
[Jade draws to a halt, with a slight and imperceptible tap on Natsuno's arm at his side to do the same; like an old habit shedding dust in the light of familiarity, he's drawing a bit more upright to some form of attention himself, with a nod in response to the salute and an impassive expression. --Though it gives way to a faintly humored smile, at the words.] My, that's ominous news indeed. If you're here to warn me about that, it must not be anything particularly practical...
Well--yes, sir, you did state you wanted to be warned for this sort of thing. They say he's been combing all over the palace already, so we figured you weren't in there. Should I...?
No, that won't be necessary. We're heading in anyhow; let luck take its course.
Right. Understood, sir. [The guard nods and takes a pace back; though his eyes aren't visible behind the helm, there's still a curious tilt of it in Natsuno's direction. Jade catches it as well.] This one here was wanting an audience with His Majesty, incidentally. Quite insistent, you know how the youth are these days. Care to take him off my hands and over to His Majesty in my stead, perhaps...?
O-Oh, well, I--
At ease, no need to panic. You have a post, of course, and you should return to it. I suppose I'll just have to find somebody else to foist my problems upon. [Sardonic humor lilts Jade's tone; the guard nods nervously, as if still not entirely certain whether to laugh or not, and deciding not to take his chances. As he backs away and returns to his post, Jade starts forward again, hands slipping into his pockets as he glances sidelong over to Natsuno. He hadn't needed to check earlier to be sure Natsuno had maintained a perfect poker face through most of that exchange.] Well, we've now learned several things at once. I'm an adult in this memory, and likely not yet in the palace at this particular moment...so we're clear to head in there.
no subject
Jade's words snap him back to the reality - well, the hole in reality. Apparently this is another of Jade's memories, and they need to be careful not to run into past-him - oh, someone's coming. Natsuno stops when Jade taps his arm and waits politely for the conversation to end. He's indeed maintaining a perfect poker face, even inclining his head respectfully when Jade claims he's there for an audience.
Then the coast it clear, and sounds like they're free to wander around without worrying about unfortunate encounters.]
What would you have done if that guy agreed to "take me off your hands?" [Grumble grumble.] Are you really going to see the king? What am I even supposed to say to him, complain about taxes?
no subject
Why, I would have told him it was a joke, of course! And foisted responsibility of you back onto myself once more. But most of the front gate guards don't much care for escorting audiences...His Majesty tries to make time for most anyone and any reason, after all, even the superfluous ones. You could very well complain about taxes for a small window of time granted to you, if you wanted...
[In another minute or so, they're passing through the large palace doors, currently propped open to receive the flow of visitors; beyond them is a draft of cool air and the atrium, a large well-lit room with a vaulting ceiling. Blue tiling adorns the floors, while pale marble covers the walls and columns. The crowd finally begins to thin here, clusters of people separating out; the well-dressed ones begin to drift in the direction of the ballroom down one hall, while more homely townsfolk are directed in the direction of the royal garden by another allocated set of guards. Jade's steps incline in neither of these directions, however; instead he pauses next to a flight of stairs off to the side, placing both himself and Natsuno out of the way of foot traffic as he considers their next move.]
--Not "king", by the way. His Majesty is Emperor Peony Upala Malkuth the Ninth. There is a King in Kimlasca, but at this point in time... [Huh, now he thinks about it.] ...tensions between that country and ours are quite likely still rather high--no need for unnecessary faux pas while we're here. ...Though either way...I don't actually plan to meet with His Majesty, no. He's really quite a sharp one, despite appearances. We should avoid him as possible.
[Despite the slight and almost imperceptible pause there, before Jade says that bit. He's smoothing over the moment before it's given any time to get any more distinct, though, instead turning fully to Natsuno with a slight and thoughtful tilt of his head.]
Anyhow, now that we're in here, the next course of action is finding out what's going on today. How would you go about figuring out what date it is, if you had to avoid asking anyone about it outright?
no subject
How to figure out the date? Hmm.]
Don't suppose your world has newspapers? Those always have the date. [That's how they do it in time travel movies, anyway.] Today's a holiday, right? Unless you're this festive all year long. I'd say we should go with the townsfolk and eavesdrop.
no subject
(An entirely irrational part of him wants to ask Natsuno what he thinks of this place, for some reason. ...As if...he's ever been particularly fussed about what anyone might think of such locales within Malkuth before. Natsuno's expressions are withdrawn things, but he almost seems impressed--maybe. Probably. Which would be...no, getting distracted, anyway--)
--But alright, so the impression of his curiosity in the direction of the gardens still can't be entirely ignored here. Jade hums at Natsuno's second proposal, and then nods.]
That being said, my office is rather further inside the palace than not. And you're right, we're hardly this festive year round. Seems the townsfolk are being led to celebratory accommodations in the gardens...and your ears are rather sharper than most, yes? Eavesdropping sounds like as good a start as any--let's hear what there is to hear, shall we?
[With Jade in accompaniment, stepping past the guidance of the guards and mingling back into the stream of townspeople is easy enough. It's a fairly quick walk through a couple of wide halls from the atrium, before they're emerging through another set of large doors...and back outdoors, the sky overhead just starting to deepen from rosy orange to pinks and purples. A pale cobbled path winds and splits into multitudes through grass, and benches, and a loose grove of trees, the stretch of land dotted with more small fountains and sculptures and beds of myriad flowers just coming into bloom. Unsurprisingly there's a decent crowd of people already gathered and growing, settling at large tables with food clearly set out for the occasion or clustering apart into chattering groups; outlying children run and laugh through the greenery; there's even more music mingling in the air, several bands seemingly in the midst of rehearsing at something of an erected centerpiece stage further into the gardens.
The sound of running water still permeates all around in the backdrop, of course, alongside the constant rumble of the distant great waterfall that encloses the palace bounds some ways off. Still, with some concentration, Natsuno's preternatural hearing could probably start to pick out bits and pieces of the talk around them. Like "The real party's beginning in a couple hours", and "His Majesty hosts so generously on his birthdays", and "I hear there's all sorts of representatives from the provinces attending the dance this time tonight", and...
Oh. Sounds like there's a bit of a commotion starting to come from another set of doors to the palace at the far end of the garden, just as they draw nearer to it? Natsuno's actually probably the only one who can hear it at this distance just yet, but there sure are some voices beseeching variants of "Your Majesty please come back", and "Your presence is requested in the ballroom", and--
Jovial, and rapidly approaching, another clear voice that says: "I heard Jade just finally stopped in, hold on, I need to ask him something! Yeah, they're saying he's near the gardens--"]
no subject
He listens to the fragments of conversation, and the situation becomes clear soon enough.]
It's the Emperor's birthday. [He grins.] Guess I picked I really bad time for my audience -
[Wait, who's yelling there?]
He's here. The Emperor, I mean. Looking for you.
[He looks at Jade, unsure if he should be worried. The voice is jovial enough, but Jade claimed he's a shrewd man and that they're better off avoiding him...]
no subject
It's something like homesickness, unsurprisingly. For all that Jade has been refusing to look at the growing shape of it, ever since the foreseeable tenure of their time on the ship became truly concrete. Engaging that feeling will not help them, after all, not when they need to be keeping their sights set forward instead of back.
Still. Leave it to something ridiculously improbable like random rifts leading into memories, to rip off such attempted bandaids...
In a way it's probably for the better that they don't quite get a chance to wander the gardens for terribly long--even if the continued impression of Natsuno being taken by the surroundings is a vindicating sort of thing to observe beside him. And even if the interruption that transpires, in the end...is actually somewhat alarming news, as it turns out. Something in Jade's expression tightens just a bit, anyway, surprise at the news Natsuno relays segueing into a slight frown as Peony's approaching voice becomes audible to him too.]
That's--well, he's being rather more proactive than I was expecting...my past self must have ended up being quite tardy by this time. [A birthday celebration. It's--a mildly strange feeling, combing through his memory in his head in a half-second moment taken to try matching the current setup to anything there, and Jade does think this scenario is starting to grow somewhat familiar. ...A year or two before he'd first meet Luke. He'd put off actually entering the palace until nearer the actual start of the party, not wanting to deal with the chaos of preparations that would be transpiring beforehand. But--
Alright, no time to think too long on the rest of that, though. With a sharp sigh of breath, Jade's is drawing a step back from their original trajectory towards those double doors, and gesturing for Natsuno to follow him as he promptly turns heel.]
We need to take another route, I--can't speak to him right now.
[A bit of odd hesitation in his tone, about there? Oh, don't worry about that, probably nothing to worry about. After all, try as they might to beeline back into the palace interior, footsteps clack from tile to grass behind them, and Natsuno might glimpse a flurry of blue clothing and long blond hair emerging through the doors on the other side of the garden with a glance back.]
There you are! Jade--hey, wait, where are you going?!
[Jade, meanwhile, is hastening his pace further. Back into the castle, back into the hall, let's not look back at all...]
Right, change of plans--we're stopping by my office after all. It'll be a longer route around, but--here, this way. [A sharp turn down another corridor, valiantly still trying to ignore that bit of calling from behind. Since it seems that Peony still managed to glimpse them before they entirely left the gardens after all, and by the sound of it he's now in close pursuit. Speaking of which:] If we've lost him, ideally...or is he still following, can you hear him?
no subject
We've lost him, for now. Hope he doesn't think to check your office.
[A pause.]
You know, I never thought I'd see you try to avoid someone like this.
[His tone is careful, like he isn't sure whether he should be joking or not. On one hand, it is weird and amusing to see Jade positively run the other way to avoid talking to someone, but on the other hand, that hesitation... maybe facing the Emperor is just too painful for him.]
1/2
--Hm, you really never have? Surely just about any human being has found at least one person in the world they'd more prefer to avoid than not. Or, barring that, a...reason for avoidance, at a certain time...
[Which simultaneously answers nothing and a bit too much, Jade's sure. There's the customary lilt of humor in Jade's tone, as if he'd rather lean into the amusement route that Natsuno's uncertainly on the verge of--but all the same there's a stiffness to the lilt, rather more forced than normal. And it's still not the sort of diverting response Jade would have actually preferred to formulate. His head's rather scattered at the moment now, though, their recent near miss now a thorough distraction. ...Things will be better when they reach the office. Or at least, that's the hope--but it's rather promptly getting dashed, too. After all...
Natsuno probably hears it before Jade does, a few seconds later: footsteps, making a reappearance, though this time they're not coming from the hall behind them at all. But rather...through the walls...?
Even without any supernatural hearing of his own, though, Jade's also drawing to an abrupt halt as soon as the layout of the new hall actually sinks in. He knows where they are right now, of course, but it's just--that he's also only now remembering--
There's a sharp huff of breath on Jade's part. Maybe also actually a swear, but you didn't hear that. He reaches to grab Natsuno by the shoulder.]
--Damn, there's a secret passage here he sometimes uses for--quickly! Get inside--
[Pulling open the nearest door beside them, Jade promptly shoves Natsuno in. Moments before that door is pulled shut behind him, as well, Natsuno's bound to catch a glimpse of a panel in the wall across the hall opening up, and flash of somebody stepping out. Blond hair, elaborate blue clothes.]
Hah, now I've finally got you--!
2/2
Natsuno would also probably be forgiven for maybe not noticing the rest of all that immediately, though. Because if his attention is still mainly fixed upon the closed door he'd just been shoved through, and whatever's happening on the other side...well. Would a damp snout promptly snuffling at one of his hands be enough to sidetrack it?]
no subject
There's no time to reply, though, not even to think about the proper reply, because someone's coming through the WALL and Jade shoves him unceremoniously into a nearby room.
Natsuno tenses - indeed, his attention in these first few moments is still on the door and the voices beyond it. And even if he wanted to scan the room and figure out a hiding place in case they come in, that will have to wait because there's something wet and tickling in his hand.
Natsuno jumps and looks down at the... is that a pig? It sure looks and sounds like one, but the ears are like a rabbit's and oh god there's a bunch of them in the room. Curled up on the bed, perched on a chair, and is the one with the runny snout chewing on some papers?]
...what are you supposed to be?
[He kneels carefully in front of the rappig. It's wearing a collar, and the name tag says - ]
...Jade?
[The cuter Jade lets out a pleased oink, like he recognizes his own name, and attempts to stick his snout in one of Natsuno's pockets. Smells like a granola bar!]
no subject
The other rappigs observe Natsuno's presence with varying gradients of indifference; clearly, most of them are quite used to people passing in and out of this room by now. They all have collars, just like Cute Jade, and if Natsuno gets around to examining the other nametags...there's "Aslan", "Gelda". The runny-nosed one still steadily working through that wad of notebook paper is named "Saphir". And a final one sprawled luxuriantly on a couch, with a particularly bejeweled collar, is called "Nephry"........
Meanwhile, muffled but doubtless still perfectly audible to Natsuno on the other side of the door:]
--really think you could get away from me that easily? On my own terrain of advantage, Jade!
Your attempted battlefield metaphors in the most inappropriate places are as lackluster as ever, Your Majesty.
Whatever, it gets the gist! Anyway, I'm actually pretty surprised you forgot about the passage in this hall...
Oh, yes, you'll have to forgive such a lapse on my part. Perhaps I just thought you'd finally learned not to use the secret passages of the palace for such frivolous things. As they are supposed to be reserved for emergencies.
And maybe I do have an emergency! I need an objective eye, after all, and you're the perfect candidate. Why didn't you tell me you're here so early, anyway? You said yesterday you'd only be coming to the party sometime tonight, for the ceremony part...
That's-- [Here, almost audibly, a very small piece of Jade's verbal pokerface wavering just a moment. Up to now Jade had promptly taken up a mantle of dry deadpan, at an utter contrast to the cheery energy of Peony's tone in turn; the conversation bounces back and forth, with a thoroughly natural cadence Jade has notably probably never had with anyone else aboard the Serena Eterna within Natsuno's range of hearing. ...Or at least, the conversation's easy until it's--not, a clear snare forming here. Though, at least for the moment, Jade seems to regain his footing fairly promptly.] --That's hardly a matter of any particular importance. Perhaps my schedule has changed, and you weren't supposed to know of it yet. ...But at any rate, now that you have found out regardless. What's this dire emergency needing an objective eye, then?
no subject
You - [He hisses, barely a whisper] not the wrapper -
[The last thing he needs is to create is a new memory branch where Jade investigates the heinous assassination of one of the Emperor's beloved pets. Natsuno manages to save the wrapper, but decides to let the cuter Jade eat the rest. As an afterthought, he sits on the floor next to the chewing rapping and takes a selfie of them both, making sure the name tag is visible.
Meanwhile, the Uncute Jade and the Emperor are talking and two things are made clear: him and Jade are very good friends, and the Emperor has the upper hand. Natsuno and Tohru, Rita and Estelle, Jade and Peony - ill-tempered loners just can't resist these people who cheerfully slip into their lives and have them wrapped around their little finger...
Selfie done, Natsuno turns to look around the room. Is there anywhere he can hide or escape through in case the Emperor decides to come in?]