Terror of Death

A few mintues later, Whiskey Sour has set up the little clearing with a small rock circle that she simply casts a fire into, to heat a pot that she drops some dried herbs and flower petals into. Then, out of another pouch - a trio of cookies, the rounded flat discs a generic sweet dough with a moderate amount of shortening.

"It'll just be 'Whatever-Was-In-My-Edible-Pouch' tea, but... The cookies are real!"

Even for a barefooted druid, she still has some cloths to set out foodstuffs on, like a small impromptu picnic.

With the threat of FILTHTY AWFUL GOBLINS long since past, Bushi decides that he no longer has to be a giant muscular bug man. He reverts to his boring, human self. Because having the suit have too much screen time takes away the mystique, and also, more seriously, it's a lot more convenient to not have to worry about one's massive bug bod, bug horn, and bug wings crashing into things.

"I'm sure it'll be fine."

There's an awkward laugh and a strained face as they pick up the prepared food, bracing themselves for the worst. But even if it is absolutely awful, he won't say anything. He's a champion of the people, and it's rude to say anything about a woman's cooking.

The cookie is actually fine. Whiskey wasn't lying - and cookies had been made by the Plant Hwyaden members earlier in the week. Instead of tasting bad, or 'like cookie-textured soy brick', they... taste like shortbread sugar cookies.

In the aftermath of the battle, Count V picks his braid up off of the ground and pockets it. He doesn't actually /want/ it exactly, but he doesn't want it to turn into some sort of magical focus against him. He heaves a great sigh, and replies to Whis, "It'll grow back. Nothing wrong with a little negative asymmetry, after all. I don't know if all were fangs are heroes of justice, since I'm not a were fang."

His hand is taken. V seems reasonably comfortable being handled by barely-not-a-stranger, coming to a weary and uneasy halt when they reach Bushi Kamuto. Having one hand still occupied, he plants his staff in the ground and paws at the spot where the braid was. Ah, well... he /did/ fix himself up in a very cosplay-ish way for scan-in, after all.

Of course, Whiskey leads them to a clearing and starts setting up what amounts to a small camp, freeing his hands-- because night has fallen, they're tired the hell out, and they really do need a rest.

"That transformation of yours," Count V remarks to Bushi, "reminds me of a friend of ours. By the way, excuse my rudeness a little bit, but since it looks like we'll be settling down here for a little while I'm going to do some washing."

His eyes turn solid purple.

"Privacy Screen!" He announces.

A haze of black conceals him from the neck down.

Taking the planted staff up, V points at the ground, "Summon Slab!"

A chunk of rock rises out of the ground, unnaturally neat and flat.

Planting his staff again, he just straight up undresses and tosses his robes onto the slab. Then:

"Sustained Stream!" A jet of water blasts out of the staff. V sweeps it across his robes.

"Warmth!" The stone he summoned starts radiating heat, like the sort of rock you find in a reptile habitat.

"... So anyway," V leans against his staff, "we did pretty well, apart from when we couldn't find where we were going. I knew Whis was reliable, but I think this is our... second time together, sir? Are you in a guild already?"

"I just jumped into the river." Whis asides, as Count V goes through the deep trouble of acually cleaning his robe. "Our other friend is also a hero of justice. Was kind of a jerk to me today, but..." She shrugs.

"Personal drama is always the most tiresome."

"Shin, or rather Algol. I'm aware, yeah. Though it's not that surprising, though bugs don't seem to popular choice for Were Fang creation, it's not like we don't exist."

Bushi pauses to rub his nose a bit, and also for a tiny bit of dramatic silence.

"Anyway, officially I belong to Silver Sword, but I like to think I'm employed to the people. Championing justice, I'm sure you're familiar with the idea."

They point to their musical sword for emphasis. What it's supposed to emphasize? Probably his Alter Ego or whatever, but it just kinds off as kind of dorky.

"Anyway, drama? I don't mean to pry, but is there some way I can help, or is it the kind of situation that solves itself?"

"My way makes my clothes warm at the end." Count V says, matter-of-factly.

He replies to Bushi, "I was asking to determine whether or not I should be recruiting you. But I do understand the idea behind that line of thinking, yes. And what Truth might you follow, I wonder?"

He pointedly doesn't explain Whis's drama, or the reasons behind it. It's not his fear to share, after all.

"Oh. Because they're not cats or dogs? Cat and dog Were Fangs have no taste. Like all those people who took Spriggan and cranked the skin tone slider alllll the way to the left." Whis comments, pulling out some chipped mismatched cups - two plain ceramic and one that's more like a chop of a plant. Pouring the herbal tea into the cups, the immediate scent is floral, and then oddly citrus-zesty. "Oh, that's actually pretty nice." She breathes, picking up her cup to bask in the hot steam.

"I don't want to sleep. I'm an alchemist and a doctor and a healer together, so I don't have any problems battling status effects. Exhaustion is one of them. He seemed to think I'd die, and almost forced me."

Whis shrugs. "So I had to show him one percent of my true power."

"I'll have to refuse recruitment, sadly. If you want to ask me for a favor though, please don't hesitate." Bushi nods understandingly at Count V. Given how chaotic the current situation has been, it only makes sense guilds would want to bolster their numbers. Unfortunately for them, it'd look bad for his image if he just went around guild hopping.

"Looking cute is important to a lot of people. Most people don't think bugs are cute, so that's probably why a lot of people are boring."

There are probably OTHER REASONS as to why people tend to choose mammals over any other type of eligible monster, but it's not something Bushi or his player knows. He just knows why he chose what he chose. But rather than dwell on why people make the characters the way they do, he just sort of raises a brow at Whis's problem.

"You don't sleep, so Shin... Tried to make you? With a song or...???"

Ignoring how insane it is that someone would choose not to sleep for a moment, he's actually curious as to how Shin had planned to make someone do that. It couldn't be violence, right? It's the most direct method, but that just feels sort of off...

"Imagine not wanting dark skin." Count V says, with a disapproving click of his tongue. He moves over to seize one of the cups, holding it near but not yet sipping on it.

"Do you want my professional opinion as a fellow healer?"On the topic of Were-Fangs, he says, "I think if I was chargenning as a Were-Fang, I'd consider... a salamander, or something like it. Not like the current race, but like the actual animal."

Though he was disinclined to fill Bushi in on the reason for the drama, he seems perfectly content to elaborate now that it's out in the open. V says, "I think he considered bodily force, but I do not think he would have followed through. So he attempted to intimidate. It seemed quite personal to him."

"It's always personal with people who want to be 'heroes of justice'. Not enough to be an ally, they have to be bolder than that." Whis observes in reply. "And I get it for the girls, but V is right - a cool lizard seems much more boyish than more cats. Still... Boys do love their beetles." She shrugs, an 'it can't be helped' sigh escaping her.

"He grabbed me - but he wouldn't drop group or flag off. He just got emotional. It's not a big deal."

Whis sips at her tea, before dunking her single cookie in and nibbling on the moistened part, making a weird (literally-)bubbly noise of approval.

"Everyone's feeling things. "

Bushi just takes another bite of his cookie while deep in thought as he mumbles something about salamanders not being JUSTICE enough, amongst other things. He doesn't take another sip of his tea though. One sip was enough, he's not about to put all his trust in Whis's cooking just yet. He's pretty sure there's probably a whole ass leaf in his cup somewhere.

"I see. Well then. If you don't mind me asking, can you keep my Were Fang form a secret between yourselves for a while longer? There's something I need to do that involves me having a bit of secrecy for just a while longer."

It doesn't escape Count V's notice that Whis doesn't rise to his offer. He doesn't push the matter, though. He takes a cookie, beginning to nibble on it lightly. Truthfully, he'd like something more protein-y... but the only thing he has is 'tasty rat meat', and he knows that cooking it will rob it of its tastiness. So this will need to do.

"I don't mind. But why do you need it kept a secret? Is this another Hero of Justice thing? I thought that show usually didn't make a big deal about secret identities..." He wonders, curiously.

"Persistent Breeze!"

Count V begins blowdrying his robes, absent-mindedly.

"It's not really about being boyish. I just like salamanders. The racetype in this game is disappointing. I suppose lizard people are fine, but their skin texture is all wrong..." He complains.

"Most of the racial options suck. But why would you take the race you pick, and then totally drain out all the personality?" Whis complains. "I guess that ninja is living her life, though. And I'm living mine. If you don't want me to tell people, I just want a promise from you that you'll do the same for me, later. If I ever need it. Okay? I think that's fair."

A rather specific promise. "Salamanders are pretty cool." Whis agrees. "I was going to say spiders are cooler, but then the last month happened."

"It's about being dramatic, more than a fear of being found out. I suppose if I wanted to make it more flowery than that, you can say that a story isn't fun without a few surprise twists. Anyway, don't worry too much, it won't be a long kept secret." Bushi thinks about tapping his nose like those Christmas specials where Santa Clause does it when telling a kid to keep them a secret. But that's perhaps, just maybe, just a tiny bit too corny for him. He'll have to lab that out later, but something tells him that's just too much.

"Anyway, I can't say I've messed around with any of the other races, but spiders are definitely cool. Though they feel more like a anti-hero choice. Or a bad guy that later becomes a good guy."

"Good guys and bad guys... Well, if you break the world down like that, it's easy to know which are the cooler ones." Whis agrees.

"I'm going to rest my eyes for a bit. Could you keep watch?" She asks quietly, before closing her eyes and hunching over her tea.

There's no more goblins in the night, thankfully.