my kingdom for a stain stick

[charcoalfeather]

Who: Rakka and YOU
Where: Woodend town
When: July 27th,
What: Rakka goes shopping to deal with some serious stains
Status: Open

Of all the major problems that popped up recently, after the abrupt appearance of the green blobs of slime that amassed around the world, Rakka's problem of the moment was the stains. The slimes were easily "defeated"... sometimes by slipping on them, and could be cleared away, at least. Green stains were the worst though. She'd gotten it out of her wings at least, (thanks Raye.) But because she was distracted with other things, her clothes were looking less then spectacular.

Thanks, Raye.

So, it was a quick motorcycle ride later (again, thanks Raye!) and she was in that little town that Rakka journeyed to, every so often to get supplies. The people knew her there, and she was on a mission now: to get the best cleaning supplies she could find!

So she's strolling around the town, checking most of the stores it offers, asking a few questions, maybe making a purchase or two. Currently, she'll be seen sitting at a cafe seated near the center of town, having taken a break to eat a sandwich. Seems she had forgotten to eat today in her hast. She swallows and sighs, looking slightly dejected.

"Hmm... Nothing yet..."

Comments

[jasminebloominginshadow]

Jasmine was finally up-and-at-em again, after two days of lack of sleep due to time zones and a crazy amount of excitement. She'd gone out of her way to go to Woodend to pick up a few groceries for herself and Marina, when she spotted Rakka on the street.

"Hey girl!" she said, waving at her from down the street. "Fancy running into you here!"

... Jasmine, you both come to Woodend a lot.

[charcoalfeather]

Rakka was in the middle of nursing her cup of coffee when she noticed Jasmine waving her way. She hadn't seen very much of Jasmine lately, not since that rescue mission to the cruise ship out at sea. It was a little odd at first - being a teammate to the other Precure, and still interacting with them as civilians.

"Jasmine!" She smiled and waved back to her friend to draw her over. "It's nice to see you!"

She saw Jasmine a day ago, but regardless!

"Huh? Are you shopping too?"

[jasminebloominginshadow]

Jasmine smiled, and hurried over, making a point to not fly when doing so. Before long, she was pulling up a set right beside Rakka.

"Ah yep, I am," she said. "Just picking up some essentials for me and Marina... what about you?"

[charcoalfeather]

The not-flying received an "aww" from a young spectator nearby. So many people in Woodend were curious of the Numbered, the children especially so. It's not everyday that someone with wings walks into town!

"Aah." She nods, the trips to Woodend were usually shopping trips. "I'm doing the same for Raye. We have a lot of, uh, stains we need to clean up."

[jasminebloominginshadow]

Jasmine turned around when she heard the sound of disappointment, flashed the kid a grin, and then floated up a little with her seat, before flying back down. Then, she focused all her attention on Rakka.

"... Ah, so... more slime problems?" she said with a sigh. "That figures."

She leaned on her elbow. "Shame you can't just throw it into space..."

[charcoalfeather]

Well that easily made that kid's day, and he smiles and runs off. It brought a smile to Rakka's face as well, people in the town seemed curious of the Numbered, though not in a bad way. Nothing like what she'd experienced in the past. It was nice.

"Too bad we can't solve all our problems that way." She half-joked with a little giggle, blowing the steam off her cup. "I'm not sure what's harder; being a Numbered... or an adult."

[jasminebloominginshadow]

"Yeah, well, you remember the message I put out about the mask? That's what Lily and I actually ended up doing."

She shakes her head, sighing. "Sounds like it's gotten into a bunch of your stuff, though..."

[charcoalfeather]

"The mask..." She has to think it over, letting her head tilt to the side. As it would seem, the sometimes naive Haibane wasn't recalling it perfectly. Something about... hiding themselves again.

"The slime? Oh yeah. I told you, Jasmine: I slipped and fell onto a big one, and it exploded. And then Raye slipped and landed on me." She sighs. "We were so clumsy!"

[jasminebloominginshadow]

"... Oh, that's right. I only told Lily it was a mask. I was super vague with everyone else." She sighs, and shakes her head. "It took the form of this mask one of... one of the people we fought wore. We didn't want it to risk having the same powers, so we got rid of it."

She nodded at what Rakka said next. "Yeah, I figured. I'm just saying... if it's gotten into everything, you and Raye can't exactly just throw out all your stuff."

[charcoalfeather]

"Oh." Well, that made enough sense to Rakka. If something was going to cause trouble, getting rid of it was the right thing to do... even if she didn't fully understand what Jasmine meant by it. "Well... that's good, then."

She shakes her head at that. "No, it didn't get into everything... I mean, it's not like we have slimes in the house yet." ....Hopefully.

[jasminebloominginshadow]

"Well, that's good," she said. "Though... you've probably jinxed it by saying that."

Sorry Rakka, Jasmine is just being genre savvy.

[charcoalfeather]

".....Nngh."

She did, didn't she? Yup. She's just realizing that now.

"Maybe... it's better if me and Raye get home soon, then." She states. "You're not having problems with it, are you...?"

[jasminebloominginshadow]

"Can't say I have," she said, shaking her head. "But this stuff has been pretty unpredictable so far."

She frowned, and sighed. "That's a shame, though. I thought we could hang out a bit..."

[numberedshepherd]

Lazarus avoids leaving Shepherd's Haven seemingly whenever he can, taking comfort in the isolation and safety of the remote commune. But like Rakka, he finds that there are a few things he can't do without, and with all the slime he can't help but think that everything is somewhat dirtier than it was before. He hitched a ride with Nux, and now he's stocking up on cleaning supplies (specifically his much relied-upon Lysol), and also taking the time to stop by Bean Here, Done That.

He spots Rakka about the time she speaks, and overhears her murmured words. He approaches with a bag held loosely in his hand.

"Sorry to bother you, but... are you waiting for something to happen?"

[charcoalfeather]

Rakka always had to giggle at the name of this place. Bean Here, Done That. Ah, puns.

Moreover, she was the type to leave Shepard's Haven whenever she felt like it, or needed to. Mission with the Precure? Checking out college? She was spending less time in town then ever, even in this relative downtime.

She was running her fingers over the rim of her cup when she heard him approach. She looked up and smiled. "Hey, Lazarus. I'm just, um, trying to figure out where to go from here."

Plus she was hungry.

[numberedshepherd]

It's probably the closest thing that Woodend has to Espresso Yourself, which might explain why Lazarus tends to gravitate toward the shop on the occasions he's in town.

"Ah, I see you're asking the easy questions," he says dryly. "Did you come into town for cleaning supplies, too? I got Luca to bring me in for some nice, classic bleach and Lysol. When I said that I hoped we'd earned some dull moments, spending the afternoon scrubbing slime off the walls wasn't exactly what I meant."

[charcoalfeather]

Thinking about it that way, it certainly made more sense that he would end up there.

"....You're still really smart." She had to admit, sipping from her cup and then wincing. "Ow, my tongue... Uh, I did. Me and Raye had a pretty messy run in with some slimes, and they put up a fight but we beat them off."

Read, they both slipped and fell in it. "I sure hope those stains come out."

[numberedshepherd]

Lazarus snorts lightly at the reassurance or compliment that Rakka pays him. "Not exactly the point I was trying to make, but thank you."

He seems momentarily alarmed when she implies that there was an attack; he's always primed to respond if there's a threat of violence toward his group, but Rakka's inflections seem to imply that it wasn't as serious as a deliberate ambush. He relaxes slightly, but doesn't completely lower his guard.

"The same things that work for getting blood and wine out of things seem pretty effective against the stains, if that helps any. Not to brag, but I've cleaned up a lot of blood and wine in my life."

[charcoalfeather]

By the inflection of her tone, Rakka was certainly trying to make her slimy encounter out to be something much more substantial then the embarrassment it really was. She'd spill the beans if she really wanted to, surely to someone like Lazarus. Not much point besides her dignity.

"Uhh.... is that so?" It's fairly impressive, though it does make Rakka do a double take. She puts a smile back on quickly enough. "You always have something interesting to say, Lazarus."

She glances down at her cup. "Um, do you want anything?"

[numberedshepherd]

It's dubiously impressive, if that; at least Lazarus thinks so, but he appreciates the way Rakka seems to consider it relevant and even cool.

"Well, if you're inviting me to join you, I won't say no. Luca will be a little while, he said something about getting parts for that ambulance I echoed back. Apparently it's not 'hot rod' enough."

He rolls his eyes, but doesn't complain further. He orders a coffee with cream and sugar when a waitress stops by.

"Something interesting is always happening. I think that the effect is much more wide-spread. Where is Raye, at this time?"

[charcoalfeather]

Relevant, yes. Cool? You're pressing it, L.

"Well, I guess I am then." She's happy that he'll give her the time of day, at least. It seemed that both of them were always busy with something, or someone.

"Raye? Oh, she's doing something else. She drove me here, but I think she's doing some shopping of her own."

[numberedshepherd]

One of the great ironies in life is that people who want to be cool, as Lazarus always has, tend to never approach that coveted status.

"You're close to Raye, aren't you? Very good friends?" he asks; to his credit, he's not so blunt that he just asks if they're romantically involved.

[charcoalfeather]

Unfortunately for Rakka, she had decided a while ago that... well, just being herself was perfectly fine. Being cool like Lazarus just wasn't in her system.

"....Pfff." Sorry there, Lazarus; your lack of tact has just made Rakka break into some giggles. She gives him a nod. "We're more then that, honestly. She's been my girlfriend for a long time."

[numberedshepherd]

Lazarus and Rakka have known each other for a long time, now. He'd been practically homeless when they'd met and they've seen each other at a lot of high and low points; it's very likely that being themselves is the most natural and desirable thing at this point in their acquaintanceship.

He cants his head at her slight bout of giggling. "Oh, I see... congratulations," he says. "Though I'd suspected, I didn't want to make any impolite assumptions, but I'm happy for the two of you."

[charcoalfeather]

Rakka had thought about it, sometimes in and out, about the first meetings between them. He was different back then, though... so was she.

"Thank you." It was no skin off her nose if he didn't think they were canon together at first. "We've been pretty happy too." Judging from the way she smiled, very happy indeed.

"What about you?"