Have a Slime and a Smile

It's weird seeing Asuna around Tolbana during the day. She's rarely here for more than a quick stop. Even more rare is for her to be looking for someone! But she is. She heard a sad tale a little while back and has been meaning to do something about it. So she did.

    "You can find the nurse at the clinic," she murmurs to herself. "I didn't even know we had a clinic."

She's got a rental gruntie pulling a small cart behind her as she gets there. Someone spots her and opens their mouth, probably to tell her that animals aren't treated here. One look at her eyes convinces them she's in no mood.

    "I'm looking for Nurse Uta. The one who.. anyway, where is she?"

"...Hello, my name is Innocent Bystander, and will gladly go get this Nurse Uta for you."

The Lander disappears into the clinic, not because he knows Uta personally, mind you, but because the prospect of arguing with Asuna is, well- anyway, it's a safe bet that a nurse can be found inside the clinic, and sure enough, shortly after, she appears on the main door. Today, possibly due to being on duty, she is wearing a standard uniform of the Clinic of Tolbana, just like all other nurses that work there, instead of her custom uniform/gi hybrid. She steps out and looks around, one finger on her lips, likely trying to figure out who might be asking for her. If Asuna is inspecting, she will of course see that this is the 'Uta Furore' she is looking for.

The Flash is inspecting. She's way too impatient not to. When the nurse is in view, she will raise a hand and wave. With her cloak up over her head, Asuna looks very much the anonymous guest likely bringing tales of woe and dread.

    "Over here!"

In case the waving was too subtle to notice.

    "You have a moment?"

Asuna doesn't introduce herself. Everyone seems to know her because inspect is a thing. She does move to the back of her cart, which is covered in a tarp.

"Yes, I do have a moment?", Uta offers in response, wandering over to the mysterious hooded figure. "Is there anything I can do for you?", she asks. "You have, perhaps, a quest for me? If it is about that Peko that keeps escaping from its enclosure, someone's already on it."

Seems like this Nurse is not as curt and to-the-point as her interlocutor. Not now, at least.

    "Peko? No. I have something for you in particular. You are the slime girl."

The ronin looks over Uta slowly. Yeah, the name is right.

    "So anyway.."

She yanks the tarp back and reveals about a dozen slimes in various methods of containment. Asuna knows what she's doing, but she doesn't generally collect little monsters. It means some of her containers are a bit.. unusual. Including a worn out pot with a pair of slimes racing around inside it. When the light is noticed, they quiver and appear to be trying to 'hop' out of the pot.

    "Settle down, you two!" urges Asuna.

She raps her knuckles on the rim of the pot in warning, then tosses in a couple slivers of dried fruit. It seems to still them. For now.

    "I heard you were a collector and, well. I. I'm sorry for your loss. It's wrong when someone takes away the hard work of another."

Well, for one, there's the thing where the tarp is removed. The careful image of a medical professional that Uta had projected until this moment shatters as if it had lost its last bit of HP bar. She jumps from one foot to the other, waves her fists in front of her face, her wings spring up and flutter, and- did she just -squeeeee-?

Then there is the mention of The Accident, and at that point, Uta freezes in place. Literally. One foot on the ground, the other lifted in the air, wings still in a X-configuration, fists in mid-wave... only her expression blanks out completely.

Give her a couple of seconds, and after what is either her brain rebooting or recovering from PTSD (hard to tell), she resumes a more normal posture, flattens her wings against her back, looks down, away, and scratches the back of her head. "Well, yes, it is hard, but all things considered, I did not lose as much as other people did," Uta mumbles. And then, while keeping her head slightly turned, she turns her eyes on Asuna, "So, I gather you are a collector too? You have a really nice selection here, I have to say."

    "Yes, /you/ do have a nice selection here," replies Asuna. "You must really love slimes."

The white cloaked ronin looks over the cart. She's careful to ensure that all the slimes are present and accounted for.

    "So this old beater isn't much, but it should hold them together for you to take wherever you want to keep them. And the gruntie is just a rental from Tolbana. If you can return it tomorrow that'd be best. I'm not actually sure what happens if you keep it much past the return date."

She looks over at Uta and says, "I'm not really a collector. I just heard about you and the story didn't sit well with me. Since I'm always wandering around, I come across monsters all the time. They make you so happy, I'll always carry a few pop-up cages in my inventory, just in case."

She looks off towards the horizon.

    "I should probably let you get back to work."

"For... me?", Uta asks.

Stunned silence.

"Thank you, mysterious stranger! That is very considerate of you."

She is floored. One can tell by the way her shoulders droop, her wings go limp, by her surprised expression, and the way she says, "Wow. I'm floored.."

"I will never forget what you did. Mark my words, whenever I get my Slime Labs back, I shall etch your name there, in sempiternal remembrance, as part of the dedication. It shall be forever known, from this day to eternity, that this batch of slimes were donated by Mysterious Stranger," Uta rattles out, in gratitude. "Oh, oh, wait, let me send you a Friend Request," she says, offering her menu. "This way you can chim me. If you ever need emergency medical help, or emergency kung-fu, or an emergency musical soundtrack, you know whom to contact. You know, for those spontaneous Broadway scenes or training montages. Especially the latter." She taps her chin and looks away. "Which reminds me, I really gotta compose a compelling tune before my afternoon training session at Wake's... something fit for furniture..."

    "Yep, all yours."

She shakes her head, letting a convenient breeze push back the hood of her cloak. Her hair tumbles out into the wind in dramatic fashion. She really goes for that look.

    "And uh, I'm Asuna. Which you know since you just sent me a friend request and all."

A quick flick of menu options and she's added. Yep. She's just listed as Asuna.

    "No need for the name etching and all of that, though. I mean, if you really want to that's great, but.. Anyhow, you know, I do frequently put myself in situations where a bit of kung-fu might be helpful. Err, Broadway? Furniture? Okay."

The ronin doesn't know what to make of all that. But she does smile.

Uta just stares in admiration as the hood is removed. She does have an appreciation for a good dramatic moment, and this, my friends, is as dramatic as it gets.

And, let's face it, it is an objectively awesome thing to observe.

"...Wow, now I get why headgear is held in such high esteem among Adventurers... ", she mutters herself, quiet. Asuna might or might not hear it.

"I'm Uta Furore, Musical Kung-Fu Nurse, Monster Handler, Hunter of Lore.", she introduces herself with a bow. "Ok, technically it's not -really- kung-fu," she reprises, out of the blue. "Or, 'not only.' It's a bit of an eclectic style that mixes in multiple martial arts. Syncretic, one could also say."

Silence."Oh, uh, forget Broadway. And the Furniture is... I'm undergoing a regimen of Physical training. One is never strong enough in this world."

Silence.

"In any case, I realize you must be going now. I will not withhold you further." She bows again. "My gratitude is boundless. I hope I will be able to repay you soon." When she straightens up, she adds, "...or get to hang out with you again." No, she totally didn't think the unhooding thing was cool. YOU thought the unhooding thing was cool.

    "Someone has to get out there and keep newbs from camping in the middle of gnoll country. I will see you around."

Asuna takes a few steps away, then sighs. She looks at the slimes and waves at them.

    "You're in good hands now, little ones."

Another stern rap on the pot as the slimes start to react to her impending departure with excited quivering.

    "Behave!"

She strides away, heading off. She does, after a time, sneak a look back over her shoulder, then again directs her attention forward. The hood is tugged back up.