Magic Is In The Air

The weather is fair, it is warm and windy. Even with a war looming, Landers are about the city taking care of their regular chores.

A tall man with a top hat and black tuxedo leans against the corner of a building. His shirt is unbuttoned and worn with studied disregard. No tie, no cape, no walking stick, nothing like that. He's looking down, at a deck of cards he's absent-mindedly shuffling.

Goldenblade exits the ironworks, tired but with a determined expression. It's been a hard day training metalworking, now she's going to get some supper. But ... some guy with a tuxedo with a shirt open, which seems a crazy mix of formal and casual. She comes over, because she has to ask, "Hey there. You with the tux?" Has she met Shenmi? She doesn't think so. It's the end of a long day, and she thinks ... no, she remembers maybe some overdressed Palace Lands fellow, maybe, a couple weeks ago? She quints at Shenmi. It might be him? But she doesn't recall his name, so she'll go with the talking to strangers pronouns. "Is it casual ... uh ..." she tries to remember the day of the week... "Wednesday at the millionaire's club?"

    Landers aren't the only ones dealing with chores today. One person is out shopping, pausing at a clothiers' to examine some items on display, before haggling with the shopkeeper over the price of a coat. (Miyako only ever bargains them down because it's fun, and she never pushes hard. It's the game, not the prize, that she's after.) The price agreed on, she hands over the required coin, and slides the coat into her inventory before donning it via the menu. The soft black leather fits her well, as all menu-fitted clothes do, and her wings pop through the back to flicker a bit. "Thanks," she tells the Lander in question, grinning. Her bargain made, she walks on, and waves casually to Goldenblade and Shenmi. "Millionaire's club? Someone opening a casino?"

The shuffling of cards goes on as Shenmi looks up from his deck. "Oh, good morning, my ladies!", he exclams, and with a sweeping motion, he takes off his hat and bows, revealing greased hair (and if people are paranoid about that -- definitely no Crown). He pulls up to straighten up again, and with a hint of laughter, he shakes his head. "Good heavens, no, I am not a millionaire. I wish. I am but a mere traveler, although, to be honest, I wouldn't mind indulging in the simple pleasures of life and visiting the local casino scene. Where can one find a nice one around these parts?" He asks, looking around, hat in one hand while the other holds onto the deck in a firm mechanic's grip.

Goldenblade hrms to Miyako, then points to Shenmi in the tuxedo with the open shirt. In Goldenblade's blue collar world, the tux is the uniform of the ultra-rich, and while her sensibilities are likely dated, the appearance is, at least, unusual. She arches a brow skeptically as Shenmi introduces himself, though the lack of crown is reassuring. But a mere traveller looking for a casino screams carpet-bagger to Goldenblade, the one who comes in looking all fancy trying to scam locals out of what little cash they may have. "No casino's here," she says. "Maybe you can build one? You look like the fancypants type that will fund that sort of project..." Like the sort of person who /ran the company/ she worked for, she means.

    Miyako hmms and reaches a hand up to rub her chin thoughtfully. "Not much of a gambler, me. I enjoy a decent game of poker now and then, but that's usually just a friendly pub game." She waves the hand dismissively. "Never even looked for a casino, to be honest."

"Oh, a casino is far more than mere gambling. There is plenty more to do there. Fine food, interesting company, a whole ecosystem of activities to engage in," he begins, twirling his hat in one hand, "the most important of which: entertainment. Oh, how forgetful of me...", he says, tapping his head with the bottom of the palm of his other hand, which is still holding onto the deck of card. "I have forgotten to, one, introduce myself." He bows again. "Shenmi Jingren, or The Amazing Shenmi." He straightens up again. "Second... well... I was mentioning fine food earlier, right?"

Hat held in front of himself, at the rim, upside down so it looks like some sort of container, he begins to sprinkle the cards from his deck-holding hand into the hat, as if they were some sort of generous serving of salt. When the deck is fully gone (and he makes sure to turn it palm-back-palm -- no gloves there, just bare hands), he flicks his hand once again and- a magic wand appears, black with white tips. He places it into the hat, and begins to stir.

Goldenblade looks doubly skeptically at Shenmi when he mentions the other things casinos have. The one's she's familiar with are the American casinos, featuring cafeteria-style food for fairly cheap, hoping to make back anything you haven't lost at the tables. The casinos with fine dining seem more like the ones she's seen in James Bond movies. So, maybe that's how European casinos are? She's never seen one in Asia, though Macao, she thinks, probably has a few in the European style. And Hong Kong, before it went back over to China.

But then, Shenmi's doing tricks, and the tuxedo comes into a slightly different focus for her. "You're a stage magician?" she wonders. Because stage magicians wear tuxedos also, but are regular people. Though particularly bad to gamble with.

Goldenblade actually takes a moment to realize that Shenmi's introduced himself and she ought to do the same. "Goldenblade," she says, a few beats late. "It's, er, nice to meet you."

    The newly jacket-clad Spriggan nods and makes her own bow, with a flourish of one hand while the other tucks to her belt. "A pleasure to meet you, neighbour. I go by Miyako Blacklily, among this realm. Wandering musician, righter of wrongs, annoyer of evils, and general busybody."

"A master of illusion, my friend," Shenmi replies to Goldenblade. "Known in the scene of Kallamore. See, I performed in quite a few establishments over there, and- oh, just... just a second..."

He stops stirring, shakes his wand-holding hand, and two, three more cards fly down, into the hat. "There's always the odd few...", he mumbles, and continues stirring.

"Oh, a busybody. Fun. Someone who gets up in the morning and seizes all the opportunities life offers us. My kind of Adventurer," he grins.

He extracts the wand, taps it on the rim of the hat, as if for dripping off some invisible substance, and-

Flick of the hand, where'd that wand go? The apparently empty hand plunges into the hat, and extracts two bouquets. "Enchanted to make the acquaintance of such charming ladies," he says, and after flipping the hat over to prove that nothing falls down, he places it back on his head (with a few spins on the way), takes one bouquet in each hand, and offers it to Goldenblade and Miyako at the same time.

Goldenblade nods to Shenmi's claim of being a master of illusion. A stage magician, then, though in this world, where magic works, who knows what feats of wonder are possible. Pulling flowers out of a hat is probably pretty easy, for the magical people. Which Goldenbladse decidedly isn't. But she watches the flowers come out, and is suitably impressed. It -is- a good trick, even if it's magic rather tha just sleight of hand. Sleight of hand would have made the trick more impressive, in her mind. Magic is just a way to cheat.

She looks skeptically at the bouquet with a 'what has this got to do with me?' expression on her face until she realizes she's female in this game and smirks, taking it. She still doesn't always get all the cues. Though at least she doesn't go into the male changing room at the bath house anymore. Not that any guys ever complained, but it's not a thing she even thinks about most days. Then she's got to react like a woman to things, and she goofs it up about half the time.

    Miyako smiles and takes the bouquet, removing a single flower from it to tuck into a convenient spot in her jacket, holding on to the rest as she finds a convenient pillar to lean against. "Thank you, kind sir," she offers. "Though perhaps a bit more extravagant than is proper, no?"

    She sniffs at the flowers, then looks back up at Shenmi. "So, you mentioned fine food, hmm?"

"Oh, yes, fine food would be delightful. I am, in fact, looking for something of the sort. Some sort of inn would be delightful." Shenmi mentions. "What is a good yet affordable place to eat, around here?" There is even more hesitation. "I have heard that Adventurers are allowed to own and run their own places here in Yamato? If that is true, I would like to try one of these."

Goldenblade eyes Shenmi skeptically, but she says, "You're in luck, then. The Isekai Ryokan," she will point in that direction, "is quite good, and adventurer-owned, as well." Since she was headed that way anyhow, she says, "You can follow me?" and she will lead the way there. "It's ... mainly Japanese food," she explains, which is to say mainly Yamato-style. She's not sure if Palace Landers typically eat Chinese-style foods or what?

    Miyako nods. "Well, Japanese and American," she temporizes. "A few dishes, at least. I've not been to Kallamore so I can't say how high-class it is compared to what you have there." She shrugs. "Guess we'll have to find out by taste-testing, hm?"

    "But yeah," she adds, "Plenty of adventurer-run shops here and there. Not everyone wants to spend their time out in the wilds hunting monsters and running quests. Some like the settled life."

"Oh, well," Shenmi exclaims with a smile, as he claps his hands and then rubs them. "Only one way to tell, I guess! Please do lead the way...", he says, with another bows, and extending his hands to let other people go first.