The Quest for Rest

Normalcy has always been a scant resource at the Slime Lab, but these last days have seen it in even shorter supply than usual.

For one, since the end of the Shadow Festival, rumor has it that Uta has been seen around Yamato in increasingly fashionable garments, and that she's made VERY sure to point out to any visitor, no matter whether people asked or not, that they originated from the CHAIN MAIL BIKINI PLUS ONE, along with a sales pitch for the place. There are little to no confirmations of this rumor, if we exclude all the times that Uta has actually done exactly that, and the fact that today the director of this research center walks in decked in a white cheongsam with blue floral embrodiery. Her look of concern as she walks in could be very well due to self-consciousness, but it could also ascribed to her worry for Setsuna, who, in the last days, has been showing up increasingly tired of late. Until today, Uta had decided to let the thing slip, hoping it will resolve itself.

    Some people would call five cups a day of coffee excessive, others would call it normal, some would call it the only way to deal with a curse doll that whispers and does thing to you when you sleep. Setsuna polishes off his last cup as he walks in for the day and shakes his head a little, "Gah I hate black coffee. Can someone create caramel creamer , maybe the frappe. " He puts the empty cup aside as he moves to check on a couple of slimes who haven't been getting picky over food. "Ok slime #329 you and 330 are going to get more exercise today. Going to make you hungry. " Suddenly there is scratching at the door that he just came from as he has a OH look and then wonders over opening it a little as a cerberus puppy with a dog tag run in, all three yipping. "Yes yes, I'm sorry I didn't hold the door for you. Don't set anything on fire. " The necromancer's voice does sound a bit tired.

"You should discuss that with someone who actually has the Cooking skill, I'm afraid," Uta comments as she gets ready for work.

She goes all wide eyed as the puppy comes in, and after a d'aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaw that seems never to end, she rushes over to attempt and pet the puppy.

And trips and falls in the process, glowing red and losing a bit of HP and all.

This doesn't stop her from extending her hand and attempting to pett the little creature. "D'aaaaaaaaw. Who's a good boy? Huh? Who's a good boy?", she coos for a bit, until, in a moment of sanity, her eyes pop open, she slaps herself, and, eyes closes, she pushes herself to stand. "GAH! No! Bad Uta! No getting distracted!" She turns away from the puppy, pointedly, to avoid eye contact, and faces its owner instead. "Setsuna, we need to talk. You look terrible." She points at the Tactile Feedback Acquisition Post, which is pretty much an armchair with a foot rest. "You now go sit on that chair so I can visit you."

    Setsuna looks over at Uta and puts down slime #330 and walks over to the chair, sure its called the Tactile Feedback Acquisition Post but some people in the office call it the time out chair. As he sits down the puppy comes and runs and doesn't jump into his lap. The three heads all begin to chew on Setsuna's bone leg instead, Setsuna doesn't even seem to notice. " Ok Uta lets talk about you then. I want you to know that even though you have came to visit me you are not in trouble. In fact I think you are doing a wonderful job here."

Uta stops mid-flicking through her menu, just before choosing the option for medical inspection. "...huh? I am not in trouble? Wonderful job? I... I don't follow?" She looks genuinely puzzled as she, taking all precautions not to look at the puppy, resumes her menu navigation, selects the final entry, and moves her finger to achieve the physical contact needed for medical inspection.

In the form of booping Setsuna's nose. For old times' sake.

She looks at what, to Setsuna, appears like thin air. "Hmmmmmmm." She mutters to herself.

    Setsuna darns mentally as Uta not taking the bait to get side tracked into his own conversation. Obviously it was due to the hidden medical debuffs that Uta would find of sleep deprivation, with a little description saying it can lead to exhaustion or even heavy exhaustion. As he sits back to let it happen he sits for a moment. "Just haven't been sleeping well, but trying to resolve it. " He is getting a bit comfy in the chair as he sighs heavily and retrieves the doll from his inventory. It's a clothe doll, patched and a lot of love and years are in as he throws it and cerberus chases after it before bringing it back. "Damn thing is cursed."

"Well," Uta begins, crossing her arms. "I don't see anything particularly out of the ordinary, nor any unusual status effect." She gives him an askance look. "But you /do/ look tired, so... I guess your story checks out."

She looks at the doll as it's tossed and retrieved, and when she realizes she's starting to go d'aaaaaaw at the puppy, she snaps back to look at setsuna straight in the face. "Cursed? How do you mean, cursed?"

    "The doll is cursed, bound to me and I am quested to return it to it's owner or never sleep again." Setsuna says before breaking into a laugh that is also a sob for a moment as he leans back and closes his eyes for a second and yawns. "It has let me make sure that Demon there doesn't have accidents, " Demon , the puppy, shakes the doll before dropping it at Setsuna's feet and then another of the head tries to grab it and the three heads are now snapping at each other. Setsuna leans forward and puts his hand between the heads for a moment before he picks them up and puts the pup in his lap. " So now the doll is haunting me at night. Loud whispering, ghostly screams, sleep paralysis symptoms, etc etc. "

Uta blinks. "...uh. I...Interesting?", Uta says, scratching her head. "I'd like to help, but I am not sure how. Who... who would the owner of the doll be? I mean, I suppose you have already tried to find out as much as you could, like, inspecting the doll and all- or does the doll whisper information like the name of the owner?"

Uta's lower lip quivers at the adorable puppy. "D...d..." She turns her face away. "No! No! Bad Uta! No looking at the adorable puppy."

Pet. Pet. Pet. She may not be looking at it, but she's already petting it.

    Setsuna looks at Uta and blinks, blinks , blinks. He simply blinks and nods his head as if he hadn't thought of the last bit. " I mean both Kita and Schenider looked at it but I hadn't actually thought. Oh thats, bloody brilliant." Standing up with the renewed energy that a good idea brings and in almost a dazzling display of not letting Uta recover from his surprising energy he spins her and puts her in the chair and then for good measure puts the puppy on Uta. As if it was planned the all three heads yawn and lay on Uta , the puppy sleeping, thus trapping the Uta under sleeping cuteness. "Ok Ms. Slime Princess your turn. What's up?"

In a whirlwhind of Setsuna and Demon, all Uta knows is that one moment she's standing looking at an energized Setsuna, and the next she's dizzy and manning (sprigganning?) the Tactile Feedback Acquisition Post. "I... uh..." with a look of confusion, she begins to scratch the neck(s) of the little Cerberus puppy. "...What is up about what?", Uta asks, honestly puzzled. "I usually manage to get myself in at least ten to fifteen predicaments before breakfast. You'll have to be more specific than that."

    Setsuna stares at the Uta for a moment before he finds some flat surface to sit. "Well boss, lets just say that I have known you for many months now and I don't think your spacy randomness is totally an act. Nor do you seem to be naturally ditzy, if you were you wouldn't be running a slime lab or notice things like strange moods or exhausted employees. You would likely be Gwen's living mannequin and happily do it." Letting out a sigh he isn't sure he is being as tactful as he intended but he is trying damn it. " So as someone who saw you fight against a horde of undead , Helena, and then look around , legitimately, confused after about what happened to the town, lets say I am concerned and want to know whats going on."

Uta freezes. She locks in exactly the position she was in, except for two details: her wings stiffen, and her expressive ears, flattened against her head, point down. A shiver runs down her back.

Demon nibbles at Uta's immobile fingers for the endless seconds it takes for her to finally manage to speak again. "You could barely notice it. Just a bit absent minded. Tiny bit. You know, like those stereotypical academics." Her eyes dart left and right, alternating between craving eye contact, and fleeing from it. "Was planning to be one, so it worked out. Just needed a degree."

Her breathing accelerates, and if one had medical training (or really good hearing), one could also know that her heartbeat was as well. She materializes a squishy red ball, and begins to squeeze it, while doing breathing exercises. The puppy springs at this new... toy? All three mouth attempt to nibble at it, as its tail wags as fast as Setsuna has probably seen. It makes loud (yapping?) sounds, and shortly after, all the slimes in the lab push towards their enclosures to try and join into the fun. "...Oh, sorry-", says Uta, and back into her inventory the ball goes, calming the situation all around her. "It was just a tiny bit. You could barely notice it. Was a small price to pay for surviving...", Uta rambles in a stream of consciousness. The disappearance of the ball seems to have quieted the situation, puppy and slimes going back to whatever they were doing.

Uta, lacking something to strangle (Demon definitely doesn't qualify, and Setsuna gets a pass today), jolts to leans forward "...I was this close Setsuna! THIS CLOSE!" She holds her thumb and index finger so that their tips almost touch each other. "My degree! With a PhD and an almost certain job as a professor waiting!" She springs up, pushing her face almost to touch Setsuna -- if she manages, she'll even garb him by the lapel (or lapel-equivalent) -- if not, she'll just clench her fists really close to him. "IT WAS BARELY NOTICEABLE! I ALMOST GOT MY DEGREE!", she exclaims, and seems to realize her breathing had gotten heavy. And that Demon had been catapulted to the floor, with a few yaps per head(but not further damage)

She lets her arms fall to her sides, and her wings gainst her back, ears also drooping while she looks down. "But Pluto's kiss had other plans. Wiped my online college. No traces left. Which means not only no degree, or no job waiting for me -- it means zero traces of all my studies." A sigh. "That truckload of stress finished the job the Flash started. Doctors had warned me to avoid stress, or the small metaphorical crack the Flash put in my brain could widen all across the thing and leave it hanging by a thread."

"It was barely noticeable..." Uta whimpers. She passes one hand on each eye. It is unclear whether she actually dried any liquid, but there definitely is some red there. She sniffs, and continues, growing progressively more collected as she proceeds, "...At that point, there was nothing left to do but keep waiting tables, as I had been doing to pay my studies. Could still do something that simple. Just keep focused. Take your medication. Exercise. Stick to a strict routine. Avoid anything vaguely stressful."

Deep inhale. She falls to plop backwards into the chair, the elegance of her dress contrasting with the uncerimonious pose -- she looks like she's slid down quite a bit -- and by now, having probably exhausted her emotional energy, she's pretty much droning. "So, yeah. Now my days consist of drowning in an ocean of idiocy, managing the occasional gasp for clarity when I'm exceptionally relaxed, focused, or plain lucky." She tries to say it as if it's no big deal.

She mostly succeeds.

    Setsuna stares and can only listen as he put the quarter in the Utabox, you have to let the whole song play out. So Setsuna did and then finally she finishes and Setsuna moves to hug her. It's all he can do, it's really all he can do to respond as he listens and the hug last for at least half a minute before he lets go. "I'm sorry Uta. I really am. " It was a sad silent moment before he just sits and thinks for a moment. Trying to figure out something to change the topic to , "So you got your mount all setup?"

Uta hugs back. Silent.

"...It's okay," Uta replies, eventually, as the hug is over. "I will always be a champion to myself," she jokes, with a smirk. She seems much calmer now. "I got used to it, to be fair," she states, matter-of-fact. "And don't you dare change the way you treat me after you learnt this. That's perfect."

There is some blinking at the change of subject, and Setsuna can already detect Uta's brain struggling to gain enough traction to switch context as her eyebrows dip a couple of time. "...Oh. Vern. Yes! He's useless in flight, but he works great for bouncing. He'll probably work even better once I have a saddle- which reminds me. Rylen told me that, as a monster handler, I'll need a monster handling outfit made, and then enchanted. Are you skilled in enchanting?"

    Setsuna listens and nods his head, " Yes I can help you with enchanting. I don't make use of it alot but I can do it." Sitting back he nods his head slowly and contemplates what to make of things for a moment before he ask, "Is what you are wearing, what you plan to handle monster's in? Might get dirty." It is a question meant to kinda poke and tease as he looks at the sleeping puppy , "So floor climb is this weekend, I could use a puppy sitter , interested?"

Uta looks down at herself, and snorts. Probably because of things having been put into perspective, Uta seems able to laugh at herself. "...Nah, Gwen's made me a spcific one for handling monsters. Here." She flicks her menu open, and a cowgirl outfit designed to fit the MMORPG aesthetic shimmers into existence. "...Did you know Gwen's originally from Texas?", she adds, as if for justifying the item.

Uta's ears perk up, and her eyes widen at the mention of the puppy-sitting. "...Yes. Absolutely. Perfect opportunity to... uh... practice my monster handling skills with something which is not a slim- aw, let's cut the bull. I just want to pet it."

She pushes herself up to sit in a more dignified manner, then asks Setsuna, "Is there anything interesting going on with the... Eighth floor, right? Something one could, you know, theoretically feed to slimes?"

    Setsuna shakes his head, " I don't know yet actually. I have a meeting with Gilgamesh to discuss it, and I have been trying to talk to the people of the eighth floor, they aren't very talkative. " Taking a moment he reaches out and pets the puppy, already missing the fluffball. " I am sure he will be fine, if nothing else toss him some low level slimes to run around and chase. Also don't let them near hay, the head on the left breathes fire. " Taking a moment he considers any other advice but can't recall anything else. " If something of interest appears to feed a slime I will bring it down."

Uta exclaims, "Approved!" She stands up, walks across the room, and places the recently materialized folded cowgirl outfit (hat and all) into Setsuna's physical inbox. "Since this will also be used mainly for slime research, enchanting this protective gear against monster damage is now officially one of your tasks. I want it on my desk by Friday."

"Oh, there's a thing I've always wondered..." Uta trails off. "...what does Gilgamesh inspect as? Is he a plain Lander? Is he a Traveler? Something else?" She walks over to Setsuna, waving one hand around as she thinks. It might now be a bit clearer where that 'professor holding a lecture' kind of attitude of hers comes from. "I've heard a few names of Travelers. They seem to be named after divinities in our old world. Gilgamesh is... more of a caretaker than an actual ruler, the way I understand it. And his name... straddling the line between humanity and divinity." She turns to look at Setsuna over her shoulder, ears perking up. "Three questions arise. One, what class of creature is Gilgamesh? Second, who are these eighth floor people? Third, only the left head? What... what do the other two breathe?"

    Setsuna blinks , " You know I have met with him a few times and I do not know. " He accepts the trade and really thinks on that before Uta asks the real question, " Well I figure the left head is just one of those that develops quicker then other. Then again you never know the late bloomers may get ice or lightning breath. Either of which would be very cool and electricitying if that was to occur. " Taking another moment he considers all that is possibly coming, " Can you help me do something? Can you see if you can get a few people down by where the hourglasses may occur for the wave. I don't know if anyone has ever wasted the time to review them while we wait for a wave. I doubt I will make it down in time to look myself."

"...That is an excellent question. I will work on it, and have a counter-question for you. Have you ever asked the various natives of the tower, at various levels, for the name of the /world/ they think they live in? Like, just, 'What is the name of the world you live in?'" She mumbles. "There are people who believe that the various floors might be..." She thinks for some time. "...fragments of different worlds, for a lack of a better way to express the concept. There are competing hypotheses as to what, exactly, but a few theories have this element in common."

    Setsuna blinks at the spriggan, she certainly seems to have this power of putting a dumbfounded look on his face not sure such a thing has ever been asked. " Thats a good question. I will get right on that, well not right on that but soon." Setsuna looks about, before asking, " My alliance has also been rather bad at giving information from the waves. Anything there I should know about?" He needed a better perspective then the alliance newblet reports, if only Xander had went, his reports are worth something.

Uta grumbles. "I kind of miss when we had mass media outside of ETO." After a resigned sigh, she clicks her tongue. "I am still piecing everything together. There were three Otherworlders. They tried to... do something to our steamship. Probably destroy it. Something I'm already trying to piece together. One of them was named Bondrewd, aka "The Lord of Dawn." Nobody seems to have inspected them, which is a huge pity, because I know from different sources that this Bondrewd is a /Fluegel/. I'd kill to know what icons would show up on inspection..." She shakes her head. "But I digress." She grabs a stool, sits down, and leans forward with her fingers steepled across her lips, touching the tip of her nose. "He's been looking for relics. And... to adventurers." She taps her lips with her still steepled fingers. "There are more elements I have, but they're incomplete -- I am still piecing everything together. I'll come back with a more complete picture when I do."

    Setsuna nods his head, " The Slime Time Journal the most popular paper in all of Yamato. No I understand the missing of it. " Standing up slowly from his spot, "Anyways I should get back to work however this is good. I like sharing information. The important stuff, the other stuff that got you a puppy in your lap, I don't think thats such an important thing. Not for Dr. Uta, slime expert, nurse, and rather accomplished lady. I will let you know what I find up on the top of the tower. " With that Setsuna leaves the slimetologist in the chair with a sleeping puppy.

Uta blushes and looks down at the puppy. She mightn be trying to hide it, but she' smiling. A smile that soon gives way back to that self-consciousness. "I know what you mean. But... despite the title the game gave me, I feel it wrong to usurp the title of 'Doctor' without having earned it."

If Setsuna hadn't before, a detail might become evident at this point: since he's knowne her, Uta has never referred to herself as a Doctor, which is the actual word ETO uses. Always as something like a 'nurse', or a 'healer'.

She keeps her head down, and be it that she's admiring it or just being pensive, she stays there for a moment. Then she lifts her head again, and that smile returns. "Thank you."