Angry Undine!

It's been long enough for Estelle to return to Shibuya.

Jazz has been here, of course, the entire time. She's been using her maps to try to help prepare the city for some strategic pitfalls. Searching for routes that might let the enemy move undetected, for example.

When Estelle let it be known she was back, Jazz pretty much immediately stopped what she was doing and came for her at the library. She wants to see how she's doing, naturally.

"Estelle?" she calls from the doorway upon arrival.

    The fox looks a lot better than she did the last time Jazz saw her, at least. All tidied up, her hair in proper array and its usual style. The call of her name, and the worry evident on the Undine's face, get a weak grin from Estelle. "Good evening, Jazz." She greets her friend, moving to take a seat beside her work area, gaze skimming along the sets of maps laid out. "Did you need help with something...?" Her head tips, ears perked in a display of curiosity. "Thank you for the visit while I wasn't myself, by the way..."

"Of course. I was concerned about you. I've been through one of those before and honestly, I didn't love it."

Jazz moves closer to her, of course, right up to the seat she's chosne. She's inspecting her -- visually, not with the inspect command...

... though maybe she's doing some of that too.

"I heard you were there. Are you *sure* you're okay?" She asks, concernedly.

Might she ... actually be even *more* worried about her now that she's right in front of her? Maybe.

    "Things were a little... close, at the end." The vixen admits after long moments of that inspection, her tails curling and swishing behind her as she bears trough the scrutiny. "I could have died again, there on the beach. But my opponent spared me another encounter with death, and she seemed to be someone of import so I distracted her through a fair deal of the fighting - she was issuing orders, at the beginning." Estelle folds her hands atop the table, considering what else to say.

    "I can't say I enjoyed the PvP experience, but her style was interesting. I just wish it all hadn't been necessary, and I hope those who died have a quick recovery from the experience." There's no brush of hand somewhere as if to indicate an old wound; her first death was a bit more comprehensive than that. "I need to talk to some of the others about their experience with the Palace Lands and its people, too. Get more insights into their culture and situation, to better contextualize this all."

"...I spent some time amongst their people, but I got distracted by the lay of the land," admits Jazz.

"There were maps that needed authoring. I wish I could've spent more time there, but ..."

She lets out a breath. "It's a mess. People tell me it's not my fault for opening the way, but I can't help but feel it is anyway." She puts her hand over her face. "Especially now that people are dying because I did." She pinches the bridge of her nose for a moment, staying closer to her than she does just about anyone else, really.

    "Hmmm... I think there's more going on than just their reaction to the Wave." The pale woman murmurs softly to her friend, wrapping one arm around Jazz's shoulders and curling her tails in around the other woman. "From what little I've heard about the situation, the Wave itself was barely anything. Nothing like the ons I've heard of, or the one I helped with. I can't help but feel there's more going on behind the scenes." There's a shake of her head, ears drooping.

    "So, you're not certainly the only one at fault. And I can't help but feel someone would have disabled the barrier at some point, seeking to make contact with those beyond. Especially with the Tool Hero still here /somewhere/, as far as I'm aware..."

Suddenly, Jazz is emeshed in floof and the arm of a friend. She twitches a moment. Her tentacles twitch. Her hair twitches, even, wafting as it often does. Always under the water, even in the open air.

Bows her head, her hair shrouding her face and eyes.

"I know that. Logically, I know that. And I don't want to be sounding like I'm centeriong my problems over the threat we all face regardless. It's just a feeling. An urging. And I'm going to try to do whatever I can to help. I didn't want this to happen. It's frustrating to've been so wrong about something so important to me. I thought the threat would be from the Chinese players, by and large, carrying grudges from the past. For some, that might be so, but it wasn't them. It was the Landers I wanted to protect so much... though I gotta say, I was kind of pleased with how much agency they've shown." A wry sound to her voice at that, even as she's clearly fighting back other emotions. She finds herself leaning into Estelle.

There is no possible way one can resist thje floof.

    There's a soft giggle at that /twitch/, even despite the serious moment, but the bowed head sobers her up. The arm and tail squeeze, briefly, to offer a little bit more comfort.

    "There have been tensions, in the past. I think the one I faced has an annoyance for kitsune, too, given some of her comments." Or maybe it was just a fox thing, with the gekkering... "But I think their reasons for fighting are varied, with a few factions playing for advantage. I did some readings, and while it wasn't clear, it did give me a few impressions that I've been piecing together with context from others, and from what I saw on the beach. On how some of it is playing out." There's another shake of her head, hair waving back and forth.

    "But. What's this about agency that's impressed you so? I've got so much to catch up on, but it sounds like an interesting tale."

"I know it isn't simple. But the Landers have displayed even more complex behavior on a larger scale than I'd hoped for," admits Jazz.

She bows her head. "If anything had happened to you..."

Aww. She was worried about Estelle. Specifically.

    "Merek is evidence that it takes more than a couple deaths to stick, at least." Estelle points out softly, the hand on Jazz's shoulder patting it lightly. "Though I thank you for your concern. I'd worry about you, too."

    "And, yes. They're a people now. It's quite fascinating, especially to go out among them and learn what they know of the heavens and Divination. I've been putting some thought to compiling a book about it all, but we'll see how it goes. That almsot feels too... impersonal, for the song of the spheres." There's a shake of her head, and a soft smile.

"'Stick', yes," agrees Jazz quietly after a moment. "I can't say that I like the risk, all the same. We don't really know the consequences of dying. What impact that it actually has on us. I can't imagine it's without them -- games always included them... We just don't know, and I don't like relying on a function I can't understand, and have bad feelings about to begin with."

She lets out a breath forcefully. It makes her hair flutter away from her eyes before they settle over them once more.

"Yeah, well. I'm prone to worry, I guess." Then she's nodding her head in agreement about them being a people. "They are," she agrees quietly, "I don't have any clue what we're going to do."

    "That's fair. Dying was..." Estelle trails off, staring down at the table for a long moment - and then shakes herself out, tails squeezing Jazz to help anchor herself to the present. She doesn't regret it, though. "I wouldn't want to rely on it either, but it does give options and assurance all the same."

    "Do about what? The Landers? Nothing need be done there. The war...? Our best, that's all we can do. Walking forward one step at a time, and hope we're following the right path. And not even the Stars can help choose which that is, only light out way along what we choose." There's a soft sigh, and a shake of her head.

As Estelle trails off, Jazz simply takes the moment to touch her tail as they squeeze her. She seems a bit awkward, unsure of waht to do with her hands when she's emeshed in the floof like this. It seems like it'd be rude to pet them but even she can not resist the siren call of floof forever.

"I don't trust it. I don't trust much of anything," she says of the assurance of dying, but then she moves on to mulling over the rest of her statement, nodding, "You're right," she mutters. "...and I have something for you, anyway." She begins to reach into her coat.

    The vixen doesn't mind the touch to her tail, of course. This wouldn't be the first time a friend has pet them, and they are floofy. "Oh? A gift, or something you want investigated?" Silver eyes turn to the Undine, curiousity quite evident. "And I'm going to take it as a confession that you trust me, there, and now you can't take it back."

    Her tone is quite teasing, and accompanied by a playful wink and a squeeze of her arm around her friend's shoulders.

¡°Yeah, I do trust you,¡± remarks Jazz, ¡°and I have held onto this for you because I figured you might be able to learn something from it.¡± She produced a segment of what might be charitably called ¡®organic material¡¯. She holds up the disgusting segment towards the fox and adds, ¡°It was from one of the invaders,¡± she explains, ¡°a real part of him. I thought maybe you could use it to learn something.¡±

Another pause, another breath.

"Yeah, I do trust you," remarks Jazz, all low-voiced. It's still very high pitch and anime-cute-girl-squee, "and I have held onto this for you because I figured you might be able to learn something from it."

She produced a segment of what might be charitably called *organic material*. She holds up the disgusting thing towards the fox with a slightly amused look in her eyes, if not the rest of her expression, and then explains, "It was from one of the invaders. A real part of him. I thought maybe you could use it to learn something. Uta wants to have a look at it after you're done."

    There's a warm, honest grin at the comfirmation - that Jazz isn't even trying to take the words back. Still, she takes the... piece of someone with careful hands, pulling her armfrom around her friend to turn it ove rin her grip. There's a wriggle of her nose, of course, given what it is. But. "Hm. Might be best to have her check it first. Her ability has no chance of consuming it, but Divination occasionally requires sacrifice." Her tone is thoughtful, before she sets it on the table.

    "There's also a matter of how to focus my divinations. What kind of questions are the priority? The person's origins, their goals...?" There's a cant of her head, ears flicking. "The more specific the answer you want, the easier and more useful it is likely to be."

"That's up to you. Get in touch with her? Anything we can learn would be useful. Anything about him and his weaknesses and origins could be valuable too, yes," remarks Jazz, making a face at her at her smile. She shakes herself out a little once the arm has let her go, but she is still ensconced in the many-tails.

"It might be a good idea to reach out to others who've had experiences with this 'Bondrewd', and see what they might be interested in learning about him if you want to get more specific. Other people who have more experiences with the waves might have a better viewpoint than I do to know what the most important question is."

    "Foisting off your work on me, hm?" There's a teasing lilt to the vixen's tone, there, even as she considers those avenues of 'attack'. That smile just widens, though, at the Undine's response to it. "And I'm not sure who that might be, so I guess I'll have to ask around, too. Perhaps the Baroness and Doctor might be good contacts for the other Alliances...? I think they often get themselves involved in Waves and such things..."

    There's a shake of her head after a moment, brushing it aside. She has some people to question on it, at least. "For now, I'll reach out to Uta. Perhaps her ability can let me get better context on priority, and some better way to focus inquiries."

"Pfft. I held onto this for you for a long while while you were in your mood," points out Jazz in a lightly dismissive way. "That was where I first heard the term 'cosmosphere' anyway. His name was the 'Lord of the Dawn', if I recall right. He did a thing that made all of us gain that debuff. It was pretty worrying," she admits. " Merek, Kaydon, Mikage, Miyako, Rizadoman... Yuuki too! Miho. Kauchemar. We were all there. That Bondred was *exceedingly* dangerous." She reaches down to take hold of one of the tail tips, thoughtfully.

    "Oh, is this a part of the foe that first introduced that term? I remember the discussion of it on the chim, a long time ago." She studies the piece of the... boss? again, ears tilting one way and another. "Lord of Dawn... that is quite the title. Was he defeated, or was a retreat forced?" Given the inquiry about /weaknesses/, she can only assume the second. But.

    The hand playing with her tail draws a low purr, even as the vixen considers the situation. Turning methods over in her mind, and considering the angles. "That does make me wonder if he'll have defences like the Bloodfallen did, but I also didn't have a part of her. The strength of the connection this would allow for..."

"They retreated but he was incredibly dangerous," says Jazz, nodding in agreement, "and if he comes back, and I suspect he might, we want to be ready for him, or maybe anyone *like* him." The purr has her blink, but she can only assume that Estelle seems to not mind. She pats her tail tip more. The floof. It calls to her.

    "Hm... I'll probably want someone there with me when I make the attempt, then. I have no idea how vulnerable it will leave me." Her voice is soft, remembering the pyschic shock the last time she tried to Divine someone so powerful. That, and the stroking of her tail, has her leaning into the Undine a little more, tails gently squeezing at her once more. "And yes. A powerful asset like that is likely to be deployed again. It's merely a question of 'when'."

    She sets the piece back down, staring at it for a long, long moment as she considers who to have at hand. "... Hm. Maybe it would be best to have someone capable of messing with system protection at hand? Or granting it. I remember hearing about that in talks of the last Boss."

Jazz twitches.

Of all the people in the world, Estelle is perhaps one of two or three who might get away with this amount of physical contact with her. It's clear that it is difficult for her from the look in her eyes, but she obviously is allowing it. It's a statement, in and of itself.

"That's not a terrible idea. There's no harm in taking precautions," she manages to mumble, eyes going down for a moment. Her tentacles twitch and then she gives herself a little shake, as if dismissing something in her own mind. Yes, still patting. Estelle seems to not mind at all, after all.

    "... it would also be nice to have someone at hand in case of another panic attack." There's a sigh, the purring picking up a little as the petting of the tail continues. One slides from being curled around the undine to settling across her lap. If Jazz isn't going to push her away, she'll offer what contact and comfort she can. "I'll have to see if anyone in the Alliance can do Protection, though, and then reach out to the boss group if not. They'd probably be happy to help, given it all - though they're probably busy with War preperations." Estelle glances around the library, knowing she should be making more of those herself.

    But.

It's clear that Jazz is wresting with it. The basic desire for proximity, for nearness, and that separate but also equally important drive to be away from it, at least for her. It's like that for some people. Needing contact you can barely handle when it happens. It's more complicated than that, of course, but it is what it is, in this world or any other.

She keeps patting Estelle. The fox seems to like it, and after all, she did make her problem Estelle's problem! (Okay, not really, but ...)

"Y-yeah," she offers, haltingly. "I took to that myself. We made some signal towers recently to help alert Shibuya if there's going to be an attack. Basic things, but it'll help." She closes her eyes a moment, the tips of her tentacles twitching.

    A hand briefly strokes along Jazz's back, gentle and assuring. A statement that the vixen is here for her friend, for as long as she'd like her to be, giving her as much or as little contact as she'd like. She doesn't press it any further, though, given those little twitches and that halting tone of voice.

    "A smart plan. Sadly, my Divinations have turned up little. I suspect interference - I can't be the only one to focus on the skill, and doubtlessly there are those on the other side attempting similar." There's a shake of her head, hair swishing. "I'll just do what I can, though, and keep this place open for those who need it in the mean time."

Her own hair continues to float like it does. She stays very still, like she dare not move beyond the petting.

"That makes me wonder. Are *we* protected? Can we be? Can we generate anti-scry tools?" She asks curiously, grabbing onto the distraction to focus on it.

    "I have no idea how much interference I provide." The vixen admits, after long moments of considering the question. "Or how one would go about protecting against Divination." One of her tails uncurls from her friend, swishes a little, and then curls back in. "It's something to research. Perhaps Diviner Taisbeanadh can offer some insight on the matter, or Mifa?"

Jazz's eyes narrow and she ducks her head down, hair once again falling down and shrouding her, even if it never quite stops moving. So alike in that regard.

"Yes, that might not be a bad idea. There are meetings and more we might want to take action to protect. Strategies we might want to obscure." More musing. Her head ducks and the markings and spots that run along the edges of her face, neck and shoulder briefly glow a light lavender.

    "Quite. Did you want to reach out to Mifa while I hand Diviner Taisbeanadh?" That would let them cover the topic more quickly, which could be important... "Though, I have no idea how eager he's going to be to talk about it, after what Merek did to that relic telescope." There's a long, low sigh.

    ... which doesn't stop the vixen from studying those glowing spots curiously, without saying anything. She doesn't think she's seen it before - and it's surprisingly cute, even if she's struggling to read the full reason behind Jazz hiding her face like that. She hasn't pushed things too far, has she...?

EVERYTHING about Jazz probably qualifies as 'surprisingly cute' on the surface!

She does nod, though. "I can reach out. Mifa and I have worked together on a number of occasions. There may be some tools that the Landers are aware of we can acquire too." she muses, then she lets out a breath at what Merek did. Again. She glances back up at her through her bangs.

    "Yes. I haven't relied on her much, I'll admit. I should reach out more." Her tone is thoughtful, as she talks about the Zorah Leader. "And she probably has the reach to help us acquire things, though I am left wondering if her hands will be tied by whatever is causing the shipmakers to be... reticent to help with matters."

    Still, when Jazz peeks up at the fox through her bangs, curious silver meets gold.

"Are they?" asks Jazz.

"It could be the Palace Landers are instigating there to slow down a military response to their arrival. I think they plan to turn the Landers against us, to get the Kingdoms to withdraw political support. I suppose I, or others, should focus on sniffing that out." She regards her thoughtfully, blinking her eyes once.

    "That's what the rumours state, anyway. I think it was mentioned on the chim, too, which turned the topic towards stealing a pirate vessel - and how, after someone else already had, they were on high alert." Her tone is musing, as she digs around in her memory. "And that could be the reason behind it, or a general disquiet from being dragged into a war by Adventurers. It's hard to tell - but certainly something for inquisitive minds to investigate."

    Her gaze is steady, even as Jazz blinks. The look of curiousity only builds, with the vixen's ears perking up.

"...mmn. Maybe some of my knowledge of antiquity naval tactics will come in handy," muses Jazz, wry and dour at the same time. She grips the tails around her thoughtfully, eyes growing distant a moment longer before she finally moves in to give Estelle a hug.

    "You'll have to adapt them for Arts, remember." The fox points out, at the topic of 'historic warfare'. "There are a number of spells that could count as off-era artillery, and aquatic summons can change things up too, I'm sure." There's a light squirm as those small hands actually grip her tails instead of petting them, Estelle tipping her head in a silent question.

    And then her friend is hugging her, and who is she but to return it? Her arms wrap around the undine, holding her close and squeezing her gently as the fox's chin rests in the woman's hair.

Jazz rests her head into Estelle and closes her eyes. "Yeah," she says, "I'd say 'thank you for being a friend, you know, but then I'd get maudlin about Bea Arthur." She squints a moment, then adds, "... that may not have made sense to you." After all, it's not like the Golden Girls had deep market penetration in Japan. She puffs her cheeks out as she esxhales sharply.

    Estelle shakes her head, at that. "It doesn't, no. I'll assume its a reference - a Western one, perhaps, by the name style?" There's a curious hum, and then a squirm at the sudden, sharp breath along her neck. "And you're welcome, Jazz." A hand starts to carefully, gently stroke through the other woman's hair, careful not to put too much pressure on any of the tendrils in it. "I'm here, if you ever need to talk - or just want some company." Both arms and tails squeeze there.

"Yeah," says Jazz after a moment. "Yeah..."

With that in mind, with as bad as she's been feeling lately, with feeling like everything that's happening now with the Palace Lands is in some way her fault, she just goes quiet there.

    There's a soft, thoughtful hum at that reaction... and Estelle just keeps holding her friend close, wrapped in her arms and tails as she offers what comfort to the sad woman as she can. "We should visit Pela sometime soon. I think she's still maintaining her Cafe, here in town?" It's as much question as statement. The fox is behind on things. "We could try whatever's new on the menu, or just get something warm and tasty." Good food and some more good company might help this black mood, in her opinion.

"The Pelapuff, yes," agrees Jazz. She closes her eyes, for the moment, "if she's present. I'm not sure if she is, but at least, her Pela Puff Girls will be there to operate it."

    "I haven't actually visited, yet." She admits after a long moment. "But are they really called the Pela Puff Girls?" There's a shake of her head, chin rubbing lightly on Jazz's scalp with the motion. She finds that rather silly.

    "... just, remember that there are people who care about you, Jazz. Alright?" Estelle pulls back a little, so she can meet her friend's eyes once more. "Especially when you're blaming yourself for something. There's no need for you to get caught up in your head. Just... talk to us, and we'll help."

"...thanks Estelle. It's nice to hear that. I don't count very many people amongs my friends." Her face scrunches up after that. It is adorably scrunched. She exhales again and then rolls her eyes up at the hands in her hair, as if she could see them.

(She can't.)

    "You're welcome. I'll tell it you as many times as you'd like." comes the earnest, honest reply. Even as that scrunched face has her lips quirking in a grin. Still, after a moment of those rolled eyes the fox resettles her hands against Jazz's back, pulling her back in for a proper hug once more. "And I'm glad to be on that short list, then."