diatu | April Event and Intro Log

With a place like this, he isn't sure if he should be surprised that they have problems with this sort of crowd, but it doesn't stop him from being any less pleased to have to deal with the results of the encounter with no clear way as to how to get out of it without having to destroy the one outfit he liked. Humiliating as the whole ordeal had been to have to stand there with it on his back, he now has to cross the academy grounds to reach the men's dorms where he's sure to be seen and remembered for being seen in such unseemly attire.

His complaints about it would attract more attention, so he has been relatively quiet since the heathens had fled. There comes a sound nearby that he would have ignored in lieu of beginning his trek back for better looking garments had the woman not mentioned assistance. Kuja paused in his grousing, turned to look at her, weighed his options. "Short of reversing this spell's effects -" He flitted a hand in the air off after the ones responsible. "- I don't see what you could do, but I am open to suggestion. This is positively revolting."

"I have not enough knowledge to reverse it. However, with Modification I should be able to bend the light frequencies..."

It takes some whispering on Yotsuyu's part, and gestures and passes with the fan (as she draws the mathematical diagrams required), when finally, she holds up her fan as if hesitating. Perhaps because she is.

"May I touch your arm with my fan? It is only the vehicle to deliver the spell. I am aiming for a nice dark royal blue, perhaps, or a shade of imperial purple. Anything but that bilious green..."

But she was not about to take liberties with Kuja's person, unless he allowed it.

Given his encounters with the people in this world so far, he is understandably hesitant to accept her assistance. But she had offered, and despite his frustrations, he was willing to accept. The fact that Califleur remained calmly seated, ears perked and purring in the woman's direction had absolutely nothing to do with it. None at all.

Kuja watched her movements with mild interest and a little more caution than he would have liked, but he watched it all the same. A moment longer and he might have asked her what she was doing, for all the good it would do him if she was about to make him look worse. His tail swayed uncertainly behind him. But at last, she asked for his permission, for anything, and some part of that was a relief. If she'd intended to do him any real harm, would she have asked permission first? He just didn't know.

A moment or two of his staring gets her a hand in offering. "You may. You're sure this is going to work?"

Likely not. Yotsuyu was not the sort to ask if she'd be allowed to backhand you. She simply did it. It was just in her nature.

"I am as certain as I may be. Especially with the magic here, there seems to always be an element of chaos within it. However, not to sound arrogant--" Though she certainly is arrogant, by all means. "But I am very good at Modification magic, so."

And he said he'd allow her to cast it anyway, so Yotsuyu wasted no time in touching the tip of her fan to the clothing on his arm--and blessedly, it darkened from the vile green to a fetching indigo, somewhere between blue and purple.

"Hmm." Her nose wrinkled slightly, but there was a swell of satisfaction in her voice. "Not what I had precisely intended, but it is quite better than what you'd been forced into."

Part of him expected to bring his arm away covered in a gaudy orange or something equally as tasteless, but he doesn't. Modification magics were not one of the ones he had taken to learning, not yet, but now looking himself over, clothing done up in something almost handsome, he felt he could consider it if he stayed on the grounds long enough.

"So it is." He lifts his hand, looking down the length of his sleeve, across to the other, then down to his half skirt, ignoring the pale of his tail coiling out from under it. "I think I may look into this side of this world's magic one day."

Finally, he looks back to the woman, offering a smile that might almost be considered kind. "Thank you. It seems there does exist someone else in this world who has an appreciation for the decent things that don't cause eye sores."

And that has her laughing. "Kami bless, I should hope so! Though I believe a great deal of why they do not care so much, here, is that most of the individuals here are young--and oftentimes, the young care little about what they wear, so long as it is not walking off by itself from its own filth and stench."

Yotsuyu never would understand that; if she was allowed to be clean as a child, you can bet she was. She got away with precisely as much as she was allowed, by her beloved family, and later, Sashihai, prior to his death.

She gives him an elegant bow, then. "Oh, I am certain there are more of us here. I imagine that a good deal of them are simply not forced to endure being at school. But here we are, and suffer through it, we must."

Though by all rights, she didn't particularly feel as if she were suffering much.

"Might I have your name? I am Yotsuyu goe Brutus, formerly of Doma."

What he would he have been like if he had had a normal upbringing? Now and then when he had nothing better to do, he tried to imagine it. If he had had loving parents, if he had ever been a child growing up through his early years, if he had had friends. Would he have cared less for what he wore?

He tried to imagine, but it was to him as watching so many trees in a forest. None of it had interest, and the more he tried to find it, the farther it seemed to fall from his grasp, though he thought, in moments of odd and fleeting comprehension, that he could see the shade it would provide him, a small comfort on a hot and sunny day.

But those moments were few and far between with nothing to motivate him to seek them out further. Not yet. He wondered if there ever would be. But here and now, he saw a fraction of shade to cool him, that sickeningly green washed away, he hoped forever. "A small wonder. How they grow to be some of the people that they do won't cease to astound me if I care to think about it, but it happens. Oh, it happens."

Amazing. Truly. But Yotsuyu bows, and he finds it refreshing. He won't deny her a sweeping bow in return. How could he? "My name is Kuja. I would thank you for helping me rid myself of that awful affliction." As if it was a disease, and really, to him, it might as well be.

His choice of words had Yotsuyu glancing at Kuja for a moment, one raven-black brow arched. But it was not as if she might not have made that word choice herself, were she back home, prior to the fall of Doma Castle.

Normal upbringings. Oh, that was a conversation that they could certainly have! It was not as if Yotsuyu's upbringing had been normal, by any means. Though neither could she know how uncommon Kuja's had been, either. No mind reader was she.

"Ah, some could pull that color off--and I believe even you could, if you chose to ignore how truly awful it was. You have the princely bearing for it, after all." Which was meant to be a compliment--insofar as Yotsuyu ever offered a compliment. "Though I do admit that I did not do a poor job in choosing a color for you, if I do say so myself."

And oh, she did!

Perhaps she'd missed his meaning, but he would overlook it. He had given his thanks and now, he felt himself in her debt, a truly terrible place to be. The last thing he wanted in this world was to be beholden to someone, pulled around by a chain with an end he couldn't see.

"Quite flattering. I assure you, I am no prince, only mindful of my image, as I can see you are." He tilted his head, considering her again. "Are you also a captured visitor to this world, or a native? It isn't always obvious yet who would be what from a look."

Yotsuyu chuckled again. "That is true, I do try to be mindful of my image. It does pay, sometimes, does it not?" Tilting her head, she smiled slightly, and then gave a nod at his next question.

"I am a Sundered...as I suspect you are." She gave the faintest glance to where his--tail? peeked out from the hem of his skirt. "But I suspect you are not from my world. You certainly do not seem to be Miqo'te of any tribe, of that I am certain."

He nodded, humming softly in thought. Of course it was beneficial in that means. People were drawn to things of beauty whether or not they knew it, and he had learned this long ago. Not only was it a part of his charm, it was a part of his method. There would be those it wouldn't work on, but they were the few and far between. "Indeed. One must always take care of their presentation. After all, first impressions are never given second chances."

If he had transgressed with her, he didn't know and, from her reactions, didn't think so. They might even be civil to one another easily. "I see. Another lost soul tugged about on the seas of change. Or, in this case, the whims of whatever magic from this world brought us here." He shook his head, then considered her again for her terminology, eyes narrowed as he tried to remember and couldn't what she meant. "Perhaps not. I'm not familiar with that term."

"They are...slightly felinoid? From what little I understand, they live in clans or tribes, but my information is mostly secondhand, at best." Nor had she had any plans, or in truth any ability, to speak to the Warrior(s) of Light about their homeland...had she the desire, at the time.

"Catlike ears. And catlike tails." Yotsuyu carefully did not turn her gaze down to the one he bore. If she'd had her pipe, she might have taken a puff of it; instead, she slipped her fan from the sleeve of her robe again, and fluttered it nearby. It wasn't particularly hot, but the gesture seemed to balance her, a bit. And it drew the eye, of course. "And yes, you are correct...it is always important to make a person recall you from the very first."

Felinoid. Oh. Then it hit him.

His gaze stays carefully locked where it is, on hers, with an charming smile bearing nothing while behind it, his thoughts crinkle. The tail ever at his back aligns itself so that she can't quite see it as he consciously puts himself between it and her and the offending appendage out of sight, as much as he can make it.

"It's nothing to be concerned with." And it isn't. He doesn't want it there, but it is; therefore, he hides it. As best he can. "I am more than just a piece of my physical being, am I not?"

"It does not concern me," Yotsuyu confirmed with a graceful nod. Though she arched a black brow at him, giving Kuja a startled look. "Of course you are! Should anyone be so dim-witted as to judge you by such a minor thing, they are fools and deserve to be treated as such."

It was not as if the Xaela tribesmen of the Steppe Au Ra did not have horns and tails as well, and they were treated no less because of it. At least not to her knowledge, what little of it there was. No, it did not trouble or concern her, though she was rather dissatisfied to know Kuja himself seemed to let such a minor thing bother him. There was more she might like to say, but caution and diplomacy were called for here. Yotsuyu would wait, and see what he had to say. Worse case, he would simply drop the subject, not that she knew precisely what she might do then...

"Indeed. That people such as them would underestimate anyone before they know them." There, he stops. Hadn't he done a little of that in his own history, once upon a time? Going forward, he had consciously made decisions not to do the same ever again, but it still haunted him.

He shook it off with a smile and a wave of his hand. "In any case, they have learned a valuable lesson this day. What they do with that is up to them."

"It is not a surprise. Many people do. In fact, I would almost say it is a hallmark of being a person--and I am certainly guilty of doing such a thing myself, in the past."

Yotsuyu had certainly underestimated the Warrior of Light, when she had encountered them. And like Hien Rijin and her serpent's namesake, that worthy had treated her better than she'd deserved. She still wondered why...

"Assuming they do anything with it," she sighed. "I am not entirely confident in the intelligence of some of the people here, I must admit."

On that, they could also agree. Raising himself in Terra and then slipping to Gaia, in his first years, he had almost done the same. But it was a lesson hard learned in his arrogance, and one he would never repeat in practice. Those were not costs he was prepared or willing to pay again.

"I should like not to assume they will do anything with it. What they do now does not concern me, and if it does, I can always teach them their lessons again until they learn." He looked down and over himself again, admiring the new color of his clothing.

"If I consider dying this, I think I might make it this color."

That made her smile slightly--the words about his clothing. Yotsuyu dismissed the others almost as readily as Kuja himself did.

"I did do well, did I not? Even if it is not precisely what I had in mind. And I think it flatters you."

She did have an eye for that sort of thing, though she did not use it very much, any longer. She had no real need.

He hummed and turned his wrist, then let his hand drift back down to his side where it unexpectedly met Califleur's forehead. He looked down, found her looking at Yotsuyu with one eye closed where his fingers had fallen, and looked away again, shooing her, determined not to be bothered. However she'd ended up that close to him, he didn't know or care, but at his motions, she did a little shuffle and granted him some space.

"And again, I thank you. I may consider taking up this form of magic if they insist on keeping me around for another class. But for now, I do have a few things to attend. If you'll excuse me."

"Of course. I should likely be off as well." Though Califleur's antics had Yotsuyu giving her a slight smile. "You are welcome," she told Kuja, giving him another one of her polite bows.

"Your familiar is lovely...but I imagine she knows that." Her lips curved in something of an amused smile. She had not known what to do with Gosetsu, either, when she first received him--but she'd learned. Yotsuyu figured Kuja might, too. But it was a delicate process, and one they likely had to undertake by themselves.

"I shall hope I see you around. Good day." She gave him a nod, and strolled off in the direction of one of the classrooms--likely Fantastics, as it was about that time.

Califleur knows when she's being complimented, and she's eating it up as usual with a little squirm. As Yotsuyu turns to leave, he'll offer her a polite bow in return, then looks toward his familiar. The fluffy beast looks back at him, ears perked almost expectantly, but he shakes his head and turns to head back to his next class. He doesn't even gesture for her to follow; he already knows she will.

She always does.

April Event and Intro Log

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