Don't You Want...

[restingslasherface]

Who: "Slasher Face" Jean and YOU
What: Catch-All & Founding CR! Come get your nugget
When: Early <-> Mid August
Where: Places, mayhaps even locations (check prompts)
Warnings: Jean's out of a cyberpunk horror setting and they think everything in it is Normal so, y'know, casually horrifying shit coming out of their mouth including but not limited to violence, death, organ theft (no really), descriptions or potentially memory shares of mental attacks, and the most brutal corporate exploitation you could ever ask for.



Zwei Association [Around Town]

Here's the thing about Jean: they like people. Here's the other thing about Jean: they don't know that. It's not that they think of themselves as disliking people, exactly, it's that they think they've adopted the City's cool detachment to keep you from Getting Hurt, and, well, they haven't. Y'all might have noticed. But the handy thing about liking people is they've got a pretty good eye for who, like them, does not belong here. The clients have little habits and cultural signs, things they just subconsciously or conspicuously do that the other hires don't, to say nothing of the easy asks like that giant dude in the diving suit.

When you're not actively working at your job you may find yourself approached by Jean, notebook in hand, toothy smile on their face. They explain that they're looking to organize information on the available 'talent pool' to provide to one 'Madam Princess Zelda', both to coordinate information gathered on the task here and in case of emergency ("Disaster planning is good planning!"). Are you willing to talk?

Shi Association [Shops]

After collapsing during the initial festival planning, Jean is trying to take breaks. They are not good at this, but they're better than they were by main force of imagining what their old supervisor would say to their internal complaints about being tired or overworked. Thank the god of your choice that said former supervisor was a good and caring person. Increasingly, those breaks drift towards the various shops. Jean is a window shopper, is the problem. Some of it is just that the technology here is unfamiliar in ways that can be unhelpful, just off what they're expecting enough to cause a problem (to wit: they've never made coffee without a coffee machine, leading to frowning worry outside the general store trying to figure out which of these things Makes The Fucking Coffee, How), but the tailor might be Jean at their most anxious. They're still in the outfit they arrived in, carefully washed every single day, and they really would like to fix this...

...But something about what they're looking at doesn't sit right with them, and it's making them miserable.

Liu Association [Night]

There's an injunction not to be outside at night. Jean wants to know why, and unfortunately for the mods reading this narration that might mean getting a bunch of annoying questions. For the first few nights they stay up observing the streets of the town through their window and noting anything they can observe, though their shit-ass night vision soon indicates to them that this will need to be hands-on.

If you're interested, your character may have been asked to be a lookout for the next phase: Jean, clad in her siren Page and smeared with smoke, leaves, and soil to blend into the colors of night on the town, lurks behind cover after dark, gently flexing her claws. The people here live in fear of these things, and Jean has been hired to lift that fear from them, show them that wins are possible, that being under Jean's aegis places them beside her and not beneath her.

Madam Princess Zelda said Jean had a hard life, and thinking about that still hurts Jean in ways she can't quite define to herself. But if that's true, there's still, hahaha, a silver lining. The beasts of this place are used to frightened and helpless prey, but that's not Jean.

She's a monster too.

Floor of Language

Jean works at the library! Find them here during operating hours, if you like.

Comments

[prise_de_fer]

Mo'rtajha doesn't help matters at all. Noticing the pause and how they seem to fluster, she turns up the metaphorical heat by swaying her hips slightly, tail flicking dangerously close to Jean.

"Gendered you say? Ah, yes...by that you mean the dresses and the like, no?" She can roll with step three for now, just fine.

"Would you prefer a suit? I'm no tailor, but ah...I have a keen eye for how fabric can hug one so! In that perhaps, I could be of assistance? I wanted to look for myself so why not look with some fine company~?"

[restingslasherface]

Oh no. They're in danger. The blush only deepens and for a good long moment all this cat is getting is the fish-like expression of someone trying to talk and absolutely failing to. Jean's weird eyes complete the effect of making them seem like a mouse pinned beneath a predator's gaze.

"I-it's...the fashions back home are a bit - they're - I would love to, yes -"

Did they already agree to learn tailoring with Mister Shade? Yes. Will they be mentioning this? No.

[prise_de_fer]

And there it is. Mo'rtajha knows that look, too. She's seen in a fair few times in Ala Ghiri, waiting tables of young travelers, and charming them out of extra gil before they left. Thankfully Jean is in no danger of being fleeced, since having a stipends and no family to send it to means Mo'rtajha has plenty of the strange looking money lining her pockets.

"That's gladdening to hear!" She squeals in delight, hands clapping together. "Tell me, is there anything in particular that interests you color-wise?"

She offers out a dainty hand, though Jean will find it's calloused from hard work. The rest of her skin is soft, pampered.

[restingslasherface]

"Uhhh...oh wow I really do not have a non-horrifying way to describe this, hahahha...but like a brownish red, sorta..." Jean trails off. They do manage to take Mort's hand, their own calloused in turn; swordsman's callouses, familiar to anyone committed to combat. They clear their throat, their blush changing character subtly. "...sorta...y'know...like drying blood. My old uniform was like that and I did like the look, it was a very sharp suit."

[prise_de_fer]

Her ears flick, matching the energy of her raise brows. What a way to describe it, but she hardly misses a beat. "Ah, hmm. Let's us call it rust colored instead! 'Tis a good, strong color and pairs well with other tones and fairly easy to accessorize I should think."

She begins to tug on their hand, practically pulling them into the shop. Time to get this shopping trip on the road! Even if they don't buy anything, they will at least have a good idea.

"Now...do you recall how that suit felt? Was it heavy fabric? Smooth?"

[restingslasherface]

"Definitely heavy! I know these suits won't be the same, but the suits back home are armored and rest heavy on the body. Even without armor-armor I'd rather have the -" Jean Gestures in more or less every direction. "It's a comforting sensation! Like a weighted blanket!"

They mentally check over the concept of a weighted blanket. Surely that one is just a good invention and not horrifying, right? Right?

[prise_de_fer]

"Oh! Where you a knight? A warrior of some kind?" Mo'rtajha sounds duly impressed!

Her ear does flick at mention of a weighted blanket, the wheels in her mind churning. "I think I understand. 'Tis like taking a nap with some of my sisters, like being hugged all the time!"

She then nods to herself and tugs Jean along, a bee-line for a certain section of all the fabrics. Heavier cottons, dense velvets, course twills, and more reside here. "Something...armor-like but not actually armor. It is rather impractical to wear all the time," she remarks while running her hand along the ends of the fabric rolls.

[restingslasherface]

Entirely mentally: what the fuck is a knight.

"I was an Agent! And then a librarian, but, hahaha, evidently uh, those, mean different things in the language we're speaking that the white-haired lady. Installed. So! I was! Also a warrior, yes!" While Jean is awkwardly talking and trying like hell to resist the urge to reach out and touch Mort (you can't just touch people), they very gently touch the various fabrics. The twills and cotton get their attention, almost enough to forget that this cat-lady has a very nice voice and Jean could listen to it for hours.

Almost.

"Back home most clothing was also armor, it was a whole! Thing! The top-notch Workshops..." their tone gets dreamy and wistful. "...But people here don't seem to wear armor much at all, which is very strange to me! Not just for the, what's the word, the - culture clash, that's it! But because there's all these monsters running around but no one seems inclined to become harder to eat."

[prise_de_fer]

Echoing Jean's thought: What in the seven hells is an Agent?

"A librarian! You know how to read!" Mort'ajha says brightly.

"Oh that's delightful. Some day I'll have to stop by so you can read me a story~" She practically purrs these words before one bolt of twill catches her attention. She clutches it up like a baby and twirls with it. It's a deep red color, not quite blood but close enough.

"Wearing armor all the time must be so hot! And difficult! I'd much prefer to be able to run away if trouble were coming to find me. Anyroad..." She shoves the bolt into their hands. "What do you think!?"

[restingslasherface]

Oh gosh. Oh no. She wants Jean to read a story. All the fiction here is fiction Jean doesn't know. Oh no. Please. They're not ready -

Wait she asked something. Jean's frazzled mind manages to completely ditch the context and only get the question, which leads to them blurting out: "I think you're amazing."

The context shows up late with Starbucks, causing the little corporate nugget to freeze in place.

[prise_de_fer]

The statement does catch the miqo'te woman off-guard slightly. Her brows raise, pale eyes blinking a few times.

"O-oh, why thank you kindly! You are also amazing!" A splash of red colors her tanned cheeks, clashing with the blue tribal markings that follow the curve of her face.

"But, that...ah...wasn't what I asking about." She takes a few steps forward enough that she can gently clasp one of their hands. Flirting is as natural as breathing, sorry Jean.

"Would you like to feel..." She purrs. "The cloth?"

[restingslasherface]

In a tiny voice: "Yesplease."

Actually touching the twill helps; Jean, serial nerd, is fascinated by its texture and weight, and they take the cloth into their hands with an expression of wonder that wars valiantly, if not successfully, with the clear effect The Entire Mort is having on them. They look back up at her - mistake, the blush comes back hard - and nod repeatedly. "I think this might be perfect!"

[prise_de_fer]

Giving Jean some breathing room, Mo'rtajha does take a few steps back. her hands clasp behind her back, tail flicking with happy energy as she rocks back and forth on her heels. Something akin to a purr greets Jean when they look her way again.

"I think so too. 'Tis a fetching shade on you, yes. We'll have to save up and see about befriending a seamstress or two, hm? I have been wanting a dress for mineself as well, something breezy and light, so I can dance for hours without breaking a sweat!" She flashes Jean a grin.

"Unless you've the coin to buy yours now. But either way, 'tis something to look forward to!"

[restingslasherface]

"There um, there is a gentleman that has offered to teach me and does tailoring himself. I, hahahaha, probably won't make a suit my first project, but! Maybe he could help you too?"

They're Being Helpful, Being Helpful is good.

(Save them.)

[prise_de_fer]

“Oh, is that so? That’s delightful! Mayhaps he could help.” She’s already picturing the fineries she can make, totally, right off the bat without any sewing experience whatsoever! It’ll be fine.

“If I could know his name? Unless you’d rather we go together, of courrrrse~!” She’s totally helping.

[restingslasherface]

"Oh! Oh! He calls himself the Shade, real patient guy, he's got these tattoos -" An Exhaustive Physical Description follows, the kind you might get if you were, I dunno, preparing for a manhunt. Jean's eye for detail is sharp. "But um. Um." Fuck. You can do it Jean. You can do it. You can do ittttt you can do it you can - "- if we. Did something together. Maybe just the two of us?"

Congratulations little buddy that's not the worst anyone's ever proposed something that might possibly be Schrodinger's Date but it's down there.