The Ninth Trial

[advisories]

Who: everyone
When: Day 18, starting just after dawn
Where: The Hermit's Tent, and all around

[This morning as the sun begins to pour through the train's windows, there's the tremor that signals a Trial.]

Come hither, Heroes. Prove thy worth. Or something like that!

[It's the same older man's voice from the sixth trial, and outside is the same fortune teller's stall. Today the front flap is lifted to show a normal interior -- there's a wooden table, carved with geometric patterns and painted in bright colours, lit by teal-coloured carved candles.

At the table sits a man of indeterminate age, somewhere between 30 and 60. He's wearing what appear to be monk's robes, teal with patterned trimming. In front of him is a crystal ball and a stack of bingo cards, along with a stand-up sign bearing the rules of this Trial.

Across the top in large font, it says:

Icebreaker Bingo

Good luck and have fun!]

Comments

[voreaciously]

[If she notices him staring she does not say anything.]

You may.

[Can she like, even name three people? We'll see.]

[bad_crowmance]

[ Crow is under no delusions that she doesn't notice, but if she's not going to complain-- well, he has zero motivation to stop staring. ]

Alright-- Naeva, Finn, aaaaaand..... [ He considers for a moment. ] Elaine!

[voreaciously]

Behead Miss Felkin. [There is no anger or agitation in her voice, but she answers with swift decisiveness.]

I suppose wed Miss Naeva and bed Mister Finn.

[bad_crowmance]

Whoa, no hesitation! What, you two don't get along or something?

[ He shrugs and shakes his head, clearly amused. ]

Not bad choices overall, though.

[voreaciously]

[Elaine can eat her entire ass.

That's about where she is even if she knows that's not entirely true all the time and it's more complicated than that.]

That would imply either of us cares enough about the other or there to be friction. That is not the case.

[If she says it enough she will believe it.]

Besides, she could survive being decapitated. [A beat, entirely unconcerned.]

Probably.

[bad_crowmance]

You know, beheading's usually fatal.

[ Usually. He still sounds amused, though. ]

Well, either way it's none of my business.

[voreaciously]

Yes. It usually is.

[Her tone is light, casual. Oh yes, she knows.

But she thinks, for a moment, of Randy's head being cut off his shoulders, his body thudding, falling like a sack of potatoes--]

What have you been staring at?

[She looks down.]

Is there something on me?

[bad_crowmance]

[ He glances up to look at her face properly. ]

Nope~! I was just admiring the view.

[voreaciously]

You...were staring at my breasts?

[She doesn't sound mad she is just like


but why.

oh right he's a tits man]

Do you really like them that much.

[bad_crowmance]

What can I say? You've got a really nice chest.

[ He shrugs briefly before putting his hands behind his head. ]

Buuuuut if it really bothers you, I'll stop.

[voreaciously]

I do not mind it. I never said that.

[Her face is pink beneath the blindfold as she replies with shy uncertainty. She does not THINK it is a nice chest. It is far too big, but you know, whatever.

She clears her throat delicately behind a hand.]

Very well. I am not certain who all you know, however, you are rather friendly. Perhaps...Miss Eliza, Miss Felkin, and Lord Albarea.

[Does Crow even swing that way? She wonders belatedly. Most everyone she's known for a while has been bi or pan af]

[bad_crowmance]

[ He considers that for a moment. ]

Which Albarea? There's two of them.

[voreaciously]

[She considers this for a moment and holds her index finger and thumb up in front of her. In the space between ice crystallises into being. On one side, Rufus. She turns the other side: Jusis.

She flips it and lets it hit the sand.]

His Lordship the elder.

[bad_crowmance]

[ He watches with some fascination as the ice falls to the sand, revealing her choice. ]

Alright!

[ He nods, his decision already firmly in place. ]

In that case, I'd go with bedding Rufus, wedding Eliza, and beheading Elaine.

[voreaciously]

[Hm, but he's banging her teammate and she wonders if she should say anything, like, Rufus did not seem to have any compunctions but that was only to a few people who might have otherwise known or discovered.

She will keep mum, for now.]

Miss Eliza does seem as though she would make a good wife.

[bad_crowmance]

[ He's not seriously interested in Rufus that way, there's no point in bringing it up anyhow. But Rufus is hot and this decision was a very shallow one. ]

Yeah, she's got a very pleasant personality and she seems like a hard worker.

[voreaciously]

She most certainly is, and an intellectual. She also likes dragons. I endorse her taste.

[bad_crowmance]

You a big fan of dragons, then?

[voreaciously]

I could not trust anyone who was not.

[bad_crowmance]

An interesting standard! But I can't say I disapprove.

[voreaciously]

As well you should not. Dragons are amazing.

[But she is looking at her card like.]

Would you mind waiting here a few minutes? I will not be long.

[bad_crowmance]

Huh?

[ He glances at his card for a moment and then shrugs. ]

Sure, I can do that.

[voreaciously]

Thank you.

[She heads out for the water, but there is a brief momentary blue glow from beneath her feet and she walks onto it. the waves continue to roll in and she rises and falls with them, but her gait is steady. Natural.

And then she dives under.

It's not nearly enough time. It's never enough time, but she cannot have it both ways and she said she would not keep him waiting and so not much time passes when she walks out of the waves, normally this time. Her skin and hair wet and slick and shining with the sea. Her leotard leaves even less to the imagination than before.

In one hand are several tied to...something. She is certainly holding something--a string? But it is difficult to tell from this far. The other hand has a blue, glowing net of stones and shells.]

My apologies for keeping you waiting.

[bad_crowmance]

[ There's something inherently appealing about breasts covered in a pale, wet leotard-- even if he's seen those breasts completely unclothed, had them in his mouth. It makes for a very pleasant sight as she emerges. ]

What was that all about?

[ His tone is casual, amused-- not much different than usual, really. But his eyes are glimmering with curiousity and interest. ]

[voreaciously]

Sharing a meal is a square.

[It's early enough for it, but--]

Ah, unless you do not typically eat fish for breakfast. I can save these for later and prepare something else.

[She could dry herself--she's done it a number of times for him already--but she does not seem inclined to do so.]