KATAWA MEIDO GAMU! (PLAY THREAD)

[Rozen]

Hanako stands nervously at the end of the open door of the Nakai Conglomerate transport plane and takes a deep breath remembering her maid training. She has done these practice drops several times already but none of these could have prepared her for the real thing. She is the last of the maids to step to the threshold between the the plane and an endless drop. "Hanako, you can do this!" she reasures herself and nervously takes a step forward.

"Oh just go already!" A man in the plane shouts and shoves her out the door.

With a "Kyaaa!" Hanako shouts flailing her arms as she feels the rush of cold wind rushing past her as she plummets to the ground. Her dress opens up catching the breeze to slow her fall and she lands gracefully. "I hope no one saw under my dress as I fell" she thought as she stood brushing herself off.

She looked ahead to see that all the other maids had already entered the mansion. Panicked she held face her down so her hair would hide her burns and ran to to the open door. Instead of finding herself inside the mansion standing before Hisao to greet him in her newly trained form, her path is obstructed with a sudden thud that knocks her back onto her butt.

She looks up to a very athletic looking girl in a gray maid uniform (Threestep: ABIGAIL).

Hanako, blushing and with tears forming in the corners of her eyes, still on the ground, hides her burns behind her hair and says, "excuse me, I'm so sorry!"

[ThreeStep]

"Oof." Abagail wasn't sure how long to keep the pose; Friends tradition said to...well, she wasn't among Friends anymore. So she waited a few seconds, sure everyone was staring before slowly rising to clutch her hands behind her, nervously wringing them. Then the newcomer barreled in.

"Oh, hey I didn't see-don't apologize, my fault for being in your way." Another grin and Abagail gently grabbed Hanako's arm to hoist her up. "There, there, the Bull's looking over all of us." She gave the maid a once-over, eyes widening at the burns. "Here, you're looking a little-" Wait a minute, Sarina has prosthetics, she has burns, I have seizures and only the Bull knows what the others have going on. "-a little dirty." A eyebrow twitched, ever so slightly. "Let me help with that."

"I'm Abagail."

[Rozen]

Seeing Abagail's merciful reaction to her clumsy first impression, Hanako stutters, "I-I'm Hanako." followed by several small and quick bows. She then notices the girl in the navy uniform and silver hair, and likewise greets her with a small bow. Before she can ask about her name however she notices Hisao standing a ways past them greeting the other maids.

She rushes forward to present herself to him and nervously exclaims "Master Hisa-- I mean!!.... Master Nakai!! I-I am Hanako Ikezawa, here to serve a-as your new maid!" She throws herself into a low bow carefully making sure her hair falls in such a way to hide her burned face. She holds her bow waiting for Hisao's response, a bit embarrassed at almost addressing him by his first name.

[EternalLurker]

((Our DM is busy again, apparently. That's (part of) how the Bliss Stage RPG here died. >_> Not that we need Hisao and Kenji at the moment, but SirMax needs to get caught up and we've been waiting on CMM for that. SirMax, if CMM still doesn't respond today, how about we just go with the former relationship thing? I don't want you to fall too far behind, but I also don't want the RP to sit still so long that everyone leaves out of boredom.))

Disguising a calming inhalation under another massage of her aching throat, Kaoru steeled herself for what would be an incredible feat of self-control as she took a few slow steps towards Hisao, speaking as loudly and clearly as she could manage. "Master Nakai, while -- those two assist Kenji in -- reaching his room, shall I help -- you do the same? You look as unwell as -- you said you were. No -- offense intended, of course," she added hastily, ascending the stairs to meet him and holding out a steady arm towards his free hand. It is going to take some time to become accustomed to this state of affairs, she noted wryly behind a plastic, toothless smile, making sure her other hand remained fairly close to her hidden kusarigama in case he tried anything. She scanned the cane in a single glance, estimating the weight he was placing on it to determine how dependent he truly was on it and what its composition could be; if he had a sword hidden in there and was exaggerating his weakness, she'd have to be ready.

Then she remembered how pitiful Kenji had proven to be and, assuming he was largely dependent on that useless butler to accomplish daily activities, realized how stupidly paranoid she was being. Not that her left hand moved far from her weapon anyway.

To the other maids, including the clumsy newcomer, she turned briefly. "Let us not trouble -- Master Nakai with showing us around -- the mansion today. Do we have permi -- ssion to familiarize ourselves with it -- while you rest, Master?" Kaoru requested, turning back to the man on her right. At this range, she did her best to look politely at him without burning holes through him with her piercing yet blank gaze. More than one man she'd met had fallen to its fiery wrath (along with, more importantly, liberal application of poisoned bladed weapons, but that was a minor detail).

((Bleh, introductions require too much talking for Kaoru to be as Quiet as she should be. Once everyone knows everyone, though, she'll be a lot less chatty.))

[Commissar Mecha Milk]

(Apparently being at +8GMT isn't doing anyone any favours. BAH, I say. BAH.)

Kenji struggles ineffectualy in the arms of the Maids carrying him, but could do nothing but whimper in barely-concealed terror as he's carted off to his room. In the meantime, Hisao greets the new arrivals.

"Greetings of the Sun and Sea, um. Mister. Um. Master Hisao? I am Abagail, at your service."

"Hello to you too, Abigail," he says gently, though you noticed his eyebrows crease at your strange greeting. "That Sun and Sea thing- that's unusual; mind if I ask where it's from?"

She rushes forward to present herself to him and nervously exclaims "Master Hisa-- I mean!!.... Master Nakai!! I-I am Hanako Ikezawa, here to serve a-as your new maid!" She throws herself into a low bow carefully making sure her hair falls in such a way to hide her burned face. She holds her bow waiting for Hisao's response, a bit embarrassed at almost addressing him by his first name.

Hisao is taken somewhat aback, blushing a bit at your deference. "Um, it's nice to see you too, but honestly, you don't have to be so... um... deferential?" he says uncertainly, as if unsure if it was the right word.

"Master Nakai, while -- those two assist Kenji in -- reaching his room, shall I help -- you do the same? You look as unwell as -- you said you were. No -- offense intended, of course," she added hastily, ascending the stairs to meet him and holding out a steady arm towards his free hand. It is going to take some time to become accustomed to this state of affairs, she noted wryly behind a plastic, toothless smile, making sure her other hand remained fairly close to her hidden kusarigama in case he tried anything. She scanned the cane in a single glance, estimating the weight he was placing on it to determine how dependent he truly was on it and what its composition could be; if he had a sword hidden in there and was exaggerating his weakness, she'd have to be ready.

"Well, if you want to," he says in response to Kaoru's question. "Though I really don't want to be any trouble. Honestly, I think you're worrying too much."

"Do we have permi -- ssion to familiarize ourselves with it -- while you rest, Master?[/size]" Kaoru requested, turning back to the man on her right. At this range, she did her best to look politely at him without burning holes through him with her piercing yet blank gaze. More than one man she'd met had fallen to its fiery wrath (along with, more importantly, liberal application of poisoned bladed weapons, but that was a minor detail).

"By all means, sure, go ahead. Though..." he looks back at the rapidly disappearing Kenji. "I might need some help, come to think of it. Can any of you cook?" he asks, turning to you.

[Crud Bonemeal]

Ayame left earshot just in time to hear Hisao mention returning to his room, which made things much easier for her.

("Good, he'll probably be alone, so it'll be easy for me to talk to him. But first, I should focus on fixing Kenji's broken rib without coming off as well-trained. I can do this. Oh, right, note to self: keep some ointment around for that one girl with the burns, in case they get irritated. I didn't see her land, but she probably came in after that thing with Kenji. I think her name was Hanako.")

Ayame turned to look at her patient and her companion. Marybelle looked eager, but she appeared to be handling Kenji's weight less well than Ayame. Ayame thought better of mentioning it, she didn't want to sound critical, and besides, in her opinion, the best way to work past deficiencies is to attack them head on.

"So, Marybelle, pretty interesting start to being a maid, huh? I mean, the butler doesn't usually go ballistic, try to lock us out, and then get severely injured on the first day. At least not that I've heard. To be honest, this is my first time, too, but my whole family works as maids and butlers for the Nakais, and I've heard all their stories, and that's sorta like actual experience. So, anyway, having fun yet?"

Ayame gave Marybelle a playful wink.

[Rozen]

(Apparently being at +8GMT isn't doing anyone any favours. BAH, I say. BAH.)

She rushes forward to present herself to him and nervously exclaims "Master Hisa-- I mean!!.... Master Nakai!! I-I am Hanako Ikezawa, here to serve a-as your new maid!" She throws herself into a low bow carefully making sure her hair falls in such a way to hide her burned face. She holds her bow waiting for Hisao's response, a bit embarrassed at almost addressing him by his first name.

Hisao is taken somewhat aback, blushing a bit at your deference. "Um, it's nice to see you too, but honestly, you don't have to be so... um... deferential?" he says uncertainly, as if unsure if it was the right word.

(ooc: should I have made an affection roll there? Just in case I'll make one now:
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2331608/
4x3affection=12)

Hanako blushed a little realizing she may have come on a bit strong but she couldn't help but be a little excited being able to serve as a real maid to repay the family that raised her when she was orphaned.
Further more, introducing herself probably wasn't necessary sense Hisao probably knew who she was from the times they saw each other as children... or did he remember her? Its not they did much together. She usually to busy doing chores or training. But Hanako wasn't about to let such thoughts bother her, Hisao is her foster parent's son, and she was to be his maid to help care for him, nothing more... right?

"Do we have permi -- ssion to familiarize ourselves with it -- while you rest, Master?[/size]" Kaoru requested, turning back to the man on her right. At this range, she did her best to look politely at him without burning holes through him with her piercing yet blank gaze. More than one man she'd met had fallen to its fiery wrath (along with, more importantly, liberal application of poisoned bladed weapons, but that was a minor detail).

"By all means, sure, go ahead. Though..." he looks back at the rapidly disappearing Kenji. "I might need some help, come to think of it. Can any of you cook?" he asks, turning to you.

Hanako, seeing this as an opportunity, sheepishly walked up beside the armored maid Hisao seemed to be focusing his question on and, tugging on her sleave said, "I-I could help you with the cooking."

(luck roll to find the kitchen: http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2331598/
6x4luck=24) if needed

[SirMax]

((gaah that maid root caused some problems. Well pretend that these bits are occurring in accordance with a linear progression of time concordant with the others.))

Sarina paled. A race? Even on her best day she was no good at running around, and while her prosthetics APPEARED to be undamaged, she wasn't about to risk destroying them by over taxing the poor things. She had a momentary image of what it would be like for one of them to snap while she was running at top speed and winced. To make matters worse, now they both had a head start on her. Bouncing hesitantly, gentley testing her "legs", she heard an unfamiliar metallic sound and quickly stopped. Best to go easy for now. Once she got to the privacy of her room she could fix them, but for now it was best to avoid that option.

Well, she wasn't going to win the race anyway, so no reason to risk it. Setting off after the retreating butler at a slightly hurried walk, she headed into the mansion just in time to see the other maids introducing themselves. So this was Hisao Nakai- or Master Nakai, now. Looking at him for a moment longer, her face suddenly exploded into deep crimson. He couldn't be the same Hisao, could he? But there was no mistaking his face, even if it did look paler now.

Quite a while ago, Sarina had ended up in a bar at the insistence of her friends. At the further insistence of her friends, she'd had perhaps slightly too much to drink. In this more receptive state, Hisao, whose reasons for being at the bar had never been divulged to her, had sweet talked her into giving him her number. The next day she'd gotten a call from him and ended up on a date with the young man. However, after that first whirlwind date, in which he'd again managed to charm her enough to get a (chaste) kiss, he'd disappeared without ever giving Sarina his full name or number. Well, I supposed this would explain him disappearing, if he'd been diagnosed with arrhythmia... Sarina thought.

Did he even remember her? Oh god, she hoped not. She hoped so much that he didn't. Still bright red, she walked reluctantly over to him and mumbled. "Hello, Master Nakai, my name is Sarina, I'm another one of the new maids." Please don't recognise me please don't recognise me.

((Luck roll of 4*2, if it applies http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2331871/ ))

[EternalLurker]

Her irritation with this jumbled group rising, Kaoru bit back a snarl, forcing her hands to remain unclenched as the hopefully harmless girl tarnished her armor to get her attention. There goes my chance to search the kitchen for evidence on my own. I'll have to check tonight when everyone's asleep. She smiled sweetly and nodded towards Hanako. "Certainly. I shall meet you in - the kitchen once I've taken - Master Nakai to his room. On which note, let us proceed, Master Nakai." With a dramatic hand gauntlet flourish that seemed to pass soundlessly through four balusters, she bowed deferentially and gestured upstairs, lightly supporting Hisao by his left arm. (It would be a few hours before she regretted this incident.)

Kaoru then turned to suggest that Abagail also join Hanako in the kitchen, only to find a pair of beige eyes staring at Hisao from a head of green hair and a brilliantly crimson face, the literal heat of the woman's blush quite tangible despite the several feet that separated her from them. Staring at the face for a moment more, Kaoru took back that last thought as she noticed the true source of the heat, tipped off at first by the odor of her uniform.

The woman was smoking.

She mumbled something largely unintelligible past her cigarette (Aren't I the one with the vocal chord issues here?). Kaoru caught the name Sarina but otherwise ignored her words, pinning the girl in place with a glare that was likely cold enough to render permanently unusable any lighters Sarina may have had hidden in her uniform.

"No." The soft sound of a thousand intricately woven strands of horse hair drowned out the clink of her armor as Kaoru swung upward, her kusarigama lashing out, the tip of its blade aiming to bisect the offending paper cylinder. "Smoking."

A sudden, liberal application of overwhelming force was how one had to deal with big problems, simple as that. And there was no denying that this was a big problem. She couldn't have that horrid stench sticking to her armor as it did to Sarina's maid uniform! Oh, and second-hand smoke near her arrhythmic target -- err, Master -- was probably not a good idea either. But the smell took priority. She'd hoped not to have to reveal her weapon of choice just yet, but there were always missions on which Problem Solver proved necessary rather quickly. This was one.

((If you wanna resist Kaoru's destruction of your cigarette, here is my Athletics roll of 18. Just don't dodge forward or something; she's not trying to hurt you, merely establishing, in her own unique way, that she'd really prefer you didn't smoke around her.))

[SirMax]

((Sarina has a 1 in athletics and you rolled a six. I don't think a counter-roll is really needed.))

"Eep." Sarina managed, as the blade flew past her face at a terrifying speed. The front half of the cigarette fell away from the filter and dropped to the ground. "Sorry, I didn't see a sign..." she replied shakily, as the tobacco leaked from the end of the severed roll. Slowly, she dropped the butt and pulled out a new one. "I'm not lighting it, I'm not lighting it!" she added hastily, slipping it between her lips. Lit or not, it was a comfort thing. It was better lit, but she could stand unlit if it meant avoiding random attacks from the other maids...

[EternalLurker]

((The trick is to use whatever stat you can manage to make relevant. An argument could be made for Affection 4 getting Hisao to jump in the way as he suddenly remembers who you are, but of course that'd negate your previous Luck roll. If you can see a way to use Affection reasonably without screwing up your intentions, feel free to edit your last post and make a roll. Your Affection is high enough to beat my 6 on a 5 or 6, at least before the stunt bonuses we have yet to see CMM implement. ^_^

If, however, you lose, then you either take Stress or submit to my victory condition. My condition is that from now on Sarina, if she does happen to be smoking at any time when she notices Kaoru, freaks out and stamps out her cigarette, apologizing profusely. Also, Kaoru will be yelling at you for just dropping the butt like that; she'll make you pick it up and throw it off the mountain outside.))

[ThreeStep]

"Hello to you too, Abigail," he says gently, though you noticed his eyebrows crease at your strange greeting. "That Sun and Sea thing- that's unusual; mind if I ask where it's from?"

"It's a second-grade greeting, for when stages of initiation are uncertain," Abagail said, speaking clearly and looking straight at the Master. "Among the Friends of Atlantis." An insistent voice was urging her to go on, beginning the usual proselytizing. Its what the Honcho would want after all. "The Friends of Atlantis are a sect devoted to the-Um. I have pamphlets in my bag, if you wish to learn more." A hasty bow.

The cooking question set a little panic going. "Cooking's not my strong suit." Neither is much else. "Is there something else I can do?"

[whiteflags]

Ayame left earshot just in time to hear Hisao mention returning to his room, which made things much easier for her.

("Good, he'll probably be alone, so it'll be easy for me to talk to him. But first, I should focus on fixing Kenji's broken rib without coming off as well-trained. I can do this. Oh, right, note to self: keep some ointment around for that one girl with the burns, in case they get irritated. I didn't see her land, but she probably came in after that thing with Kenji. I think her name was Hanako.")

Ayame turned to look at her patient and her companion. Marybelle looked eager, but she appeared to be handling Kenji's weight less well than Ayame. Ayame thought better of mentioning it, she didn't want to sound critical, and besides, in her opinion, the best way to work past deficiencies is to attack them head on.

"So, Marybelle, pretty interesting start to being a maid, huh? I mean, the butler doesn't usually go ballistic, try to lock us out, and then get severely injured on the first day. At least not that I've heard. To be honest, this is my first time, too, but my whole family works as maids and butlers for the Nakais, and I've heard all their stories, and that's sorta like actual experience. So, anyway, having fun yet?"

Ayame gave Marybelle a playful wink.

The couple and butler avoided the stairs since the servants wouldn't stay on the upper floors. She knew from her curt briefing on the plane, and she only had seconds to absorb several floor plans while the proctor listed off the rooms of the mansion. She was attentive but unable to remember much from that. After the briefing, she was given a master key among each of the other maids, which she kept in her breast pocket. The whole affair seemed rushed.

My eyes found their way to the floor in response to the question. "Um... we-ll... you know." I just wasn't sure from what angle to approach the answer.

Step by step, I goaded myself. I felt sweat forming on the top of my head and winced when I felt the first palpitation. There was not much I could I could do for my heart besides stop, so I offered go ahead and unlock the door. Without waiting for an answer, I went ahead, around the corner so I could have a rest without being seen.

It wasn't really Ayame's fault, she was just trying to be nice. She couldn't know how important the job was to me; I hope she didn't take that reaction the wrong way. It's just that I often used my circumstances as a frame of reference for a question like that. The delay was just the time it took for me to find something interesting to share. She asked about fun, too. I just don't know.

I sighed and interpreted that to mean that I was rested. I started following the hallway to the back of the mansion where I thought the rooms would be. Done with this uncomfortable chore, I spotted double doors on the far side of the mansion and tried the key. It was possible that the servants all shared one big room or something like that, so there would be some random guessing.

[Aren't we going to use the "Katawa Meido" campaign page? Make sure that's in the form when you roll!]

[Commissar Mecha Milk]

((The trick is to use whatever stat you can manage to make relevant. An argument could be made for Affection 4 getting Hisao to jump in the way as he suddenly remembers who you are, but of course that'd negate your previous Luck roll. If you can see a way to use Affection reasonably without screwing up your intentions, feel free to edit your last post and make a roll. Your Affection is high enough to beat my 6 on a 5 or 6, at least before the stunt bonuses we have yet to see CMM implement. ^_^))

DM NOTE: (Heh, I thought I'd have some time before I had to judge stunts. Oh well, I guess I should have expected this )

"It's a second-grade greeting, for when stages of initiation are uncertain," Abagail said, speaking clearly and looking straight at the Master. "Among the Friends of Atlantis." An insistent voice was urging her to go on, beginning the usual proselytizing. Its what the Honcho would want after all. "The Friends of Atlantis are a sect devoted to the-Um. I have pamphlets in my bag, if you wish to learn more." A hasty bow.

"Why yes, I would like to see some... pamphlets..." Hisao begins, when a flash of light reflecting off Kaoru's kusarigama catches his eye, and he watches dumbfounded as the scythe blad comes down and bisects the cigarette. He gulps visibly, before telling the weapon-wielding maid "Thank you...? I appreciate you watching out for me like that, but I don't think you needed to be so... enthusiastic. I'm sure Sarina wouldn't have minded if you asked her nicely," Hisao says, smiling gently as he places a hand on Kaoru's shoulder.

(1-die stunt, http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2332518/, 9 Favour. Affection roll: http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2332517/, 3)

The cooking question set a little panic going. "Cooking's not my strong suit." Neither is much else. "Is there something else I can do?"

"Actually, yes," Hisao says, turning back to Abigail. "Could you go find Ayame and Marybelle, and ask them to help with the cooking? And don't short sell yourself; cooking's easy, and even if you can't cook anything right now, I'm sure your friends will need help in the kitchen."

He now turns his attention to Sarina... and his bow creases. "Sarina, wasn't it?" he asks, before shaking his head. "Sorry about that; you just seemed to remind me of someone. Look, if you smoke, it's all right, just as long as you don't overdo it. Kenji's made sure the mansion's ventilation is top-notch; apparently it provides easy ventilation shaft access, which in turn ensures he knows just where to place the motion detectors," Hisao sighs.

He looks back and forth between Sarina and Kaoru. "Actually, come to think of it, I can get to my room by myself. The kitchen's not really all that big though, so why don't you take the car," he says, pulling out a bunch of keys from his pocket, "and do some grocery shopping? Kenji should have a list of what we need; go with Abigail and you'll be able to get the list from Kenji at the same time."

(Retroactive stunt awards to be given later; muggins here has a meeting to attend IRL)

[Crud Bonemeal]

("Oh, I think I made her more nervous. I'll save the humor for later, I guess. Let's try that again.")

Marybelle went ahead, and Ayame was worried that she may be more upset than she let on. As she followed behind, Ayame agonized over what to say to make Marybelle comfortable in her new role. She and what was left of Kenji arrived at a set of double doors. Ayame decided to go with what she'd thought up.

"Oh, are these the servants' quarters? Uh, sorry if I made you nervous earlier. I don't really know how you're feeling right now, but remember what I said outside. If you have any trouble, you can always come to me for help. You can even call me 'Sempai.' Uh, if you want, that is. My father always used to say, 'A new job is never as tough if you have a friend to help.'"

Ayame's mouth had gone from her previous mischievous grin to a warm smile, brimming with sincerity.

("I hope I didn't come on too strong.")