Fate Testarossa is in Eclipse's employee lounge. There are snacks and soda here, and nearby is the door to the arcade, seperated from the lounge by glass walls, where employees can blow off steam. On the other side, there's a gym, for keeping in shape and, also, blowing off steam.
After all, the continuous frustration at having one's schemes foiled is very real.
Arf is sitting next to Fate, in human form, giving her a sad look. Fate herself doesn't seem to pay any attention to her, eating a chocolate bar and ignoring everything else.
This coldness isn't usual for Fate, but someone who has never met her before wouldn't know that.
The door to the lounge pushes open, and a teenage girl wearing a an Infinity Middle School uniform enters. Her eyes are cast towards the floor even as she moves into the room, so it takes a moment for her to notice that she's not alone, but when she does, they snap up and focus momentarily on Fate and Arf. Green eyes behind black-framed glasses widen slightly, and Yomi takes a nervous step backwards before seeming to gather herself and stepping forward again, towards one of the fridges.
"Good afternoon." Her voice comes, quiet and very refined, not trembling in the slightest but obviously being held steady by force. Look, it's not that a 9-year-old girl scares her, even one with a dog-person companion. It's more just that.. well, people she doesn't know well kind of make her nervous. She and Fate have that in common, on the surface level at least.
Fate barely responds to Yomi when she first speaks up. Arf turns to Yomi with a bright smile and a wagging tail, "Good afternoon!"
Once Fate doesn't respond, Arf frowns, gets frustrated, and says, "I've had it with that thing!"
The Familiar reaches into Fate's pocket and steals a small, grooved cube. She immediately bolts out the door. Fate is startled by this reaction, calling out, "Arf! Wait!"
She doesn't chase after the Familiar. Instead she waits in the break room. After a moment she remembers that there's another person in the room with her.
"Oh... hello..."
Fate kicks her little feet, that are hanging in the air from her too-high-for-a-nine-year-old chair. She continues eating her candy bar, studying Yomi from an angle.
Social interactions are hard.
Unfortunately, that's likely to be a theme of this interaction. On the plus side, however, Yomi is trained to be polite, even if she'd really rather be left alone. She does blink in confusion when Arf steals something (which she doesn't see) from Fate and bolts out the door, but she's not going to pursue it, despite being curious.
Instead she grabs a soda from the fridge, then glances around the room again. She wants to just retreat and drink the soda at her desk, but long years of social pressure from her parents and others have instilled in her a requirement of at least pretending to be civil.
So instead she walks over to one of the chairs opposite Fate, pulls it out, and sits down, fingers toying with the soda for a moment before she speaks again in her quiet, precise voice. "You must be Testerossa-san? I've heard of you. My name is Yomi Takanashi. I hear we'll be working together."
Fate continues to nibble on her chocolate bar, dark red eyes watching Yomi as she gets a soda and takes a seat. She's quiet, but not unobservant, and she does look Yomi in the eyes when the other girl faces her.
Unlike with Kyouko the other day, running away isn't really an option in this case. On the other hand, lying isn't necessary. Fate knows that just by virtue of the fact that Yomi is here, in this building.
"That's right. I'm Fate Testarossa. So you're joining up with UMBRA?"
Fate's voice is so soft one might not even hear it if not for the fact that this room is pretty quiet and well soundproofed. She's not sure how to respond to the new girl. Yet, this is going to be her teammate. "Um... my friend who was just here was Arf. She's my familiar. She's... she does strange things sometimes." She says that by way of apology for the earlier outburst from her.
"So... what do you do?"
Yomi lifts her soda and takes a small, dainty sip. Everything about her is controlled and precise, as if she's always conscious of appearances and always wants to look as dignified and elegant as possible. "Yes. Well, I was assigned." Her voice is a little louder than Fate's, but still quite low, and the idea of her shouting or otherwise being boisterous is hard to imagine just given her demeanor.
"Apparently they thought it would be a good test of my.. my abilities." SHe fidgets with the soda for a moment, glancing with her bright green eyes towards the door when Fate mentions Arf. "Familiar. I see.. I'm not.. not familiar with such things." She stumbles a bit, realizing her choice of phrasing was a bit odd. "I suppose I shall have to learn if I'm going to be of use."
When asked 'what do you do', Yomi hesitates for a moment. "I'm.. not really sure how to answer that. I suppose I have a.. familiar as well." It's not the same thing at all, but she doesn't really understand what a Familiar is, and she's not sure how else to explain Deadmaster.
Fate tilts her head. "Your abilities?" Testarossa hasn't read anything up on Yomi yet, as she's been busy with other things.
Well okay, actually she's been eating a candy bar, but Takashi said that fun was really important! Fate wants to listen to the advice of her elders.
"Well Familiar is kind of a vague term. It means different things in different contexts. Like there are monsters called Witches that have minions called Familiars. In Arf's case, she's a Familiar I created by putting a bit of my Linker Core into the soul of an animal."
Explaining things is easy. It's just facts, right? You can't argue with facts. You can get the facts wrong, maybe.
Upon hearing that Yomi has 'familiar' of her own, Fate perks up a bit. "Oh yeah? What's your familiar like?"
Yomi looks a little unnerved by the track of this conversation. She shifts in her chair a little bit, fingers toying with the soda she is now very much not actually drinking. Her eyes cast down and to the side as she tries to think of a proper way to explain.
"She's.. not very nice." She says after a while. She honestly doesn't /know/ the real story behind Otherselves and the Otherworld. There are people who know out there, but it's not like Yomi got a talking-to from some helpful mascot. She knows Deadmaster is somehow a part of her, but she has no clue how, or why, or exactly what gave her this power.
"I mean.. she wouldn't hurt you or anything." The girl is quick to add, cheeks flushing slightly as she realizes that might have sounded a bit threatening. "I've told her not to, but.. well, she's kind of scary. I think so, anyway." Scared of her own anger made manifest.
Fate looks at Yomi curiously. She's not really able to pick up on the source of Yomi's discomfort. Yet, when the answer is slow in coming. Fate starts to wonder if she said the wrong thing. When the answer is vague, and then scary, Fate blinks.
"Oh..." is all she offers in return. She's not sure where to go from there. "Well sorry you have a mean familiar. As long as she works with us I guess it's okay."
Fate finishes her candy bar and fidgets with the wrapper a bit. She's quiet for a good few moments before she says anything else. "Arf is really nice. Does your familiar have a name?"
Yomi fidgets again, then takes another drink of her soda. It's clear that she's in a similar position to Fate- normally she wouldn't want to share these things with someone she doesn't really know, but on the other hand- they've been assigned to the same team. Fate is going to find out anyway, and besides, shouldn't they make an effort to work together?
Yomi really wants to appear useful. She would like it if her new teammates considered her valuable. Maybe they'd even like her, and she could make some new friends. "She won't hurt you. I've forbidden her to." Yomi repeats, staunchly. Perhaps meant to reassure Fate, the way she has to say it twice perhaps underscores a bit the fact that she needs to say it at all.
Then Fate asks for her Familiar's name, and Yomi hesitates for a moment before replying, "Her name is Deadmaster." She hesitates again, her eyes turning off to the distance as she feels that presence in the back of her mind, and gleans its thoughts. "She wants to meet you." She says after a moment. She neither indicates whether this is a good or a bad thing.
Fate Testarossa sits up straight at the mention of Deadmaster wanting to meet her. Deadmaster itself seems like such a scary name, and everything else about her seems scary as well. Yet, Yomi seems to feel like she can control Deadmaster, and Deadmaster is probably going to be an ally in their next battle.
"Well... if she wants to, that's okay," says Fate. She's a little worried about what will happen if she meets Deadmaster face to face, particularly because of the constant reassurances that Deadmaster wont hurt her. Yet, they're going to meet sooner or later anyways, right?
Besides, if anything too dangerous happens, Fate does have Bardiche, and Arf isn't that far way.
"When does she want to meet?"
Yomi looks up from where she's been staring at the table and offers a small smile. "Right now, if it's okay with you." She says, shifting in her seat a little bit. "I need to.. practice, anyway." Practice henshining, or practice controlling Deadmaster? It's not clear, and honestly she could mean either!
She glances around the break room, but it's empty at the moment aside from the two of them. Finishing her soda, she turns and leans over to place it in the recycling bin, then turns back to wait for Fate's answer. She doesn't want to just go ahead and henshin without the other girl confirming it's okay.
"It's alright," says Fate, watching her as Yomi finishes off her soda. She still doesn't know what's going to happen here, and Yomi's been pretty mysterious about it. Yet, Yomi says that Fate can meet Deadmaster soon, so maybe the mystery would be solved, then?
"We'll have to work together anyways. Now is fine."
Meeting new people is always awkward. Hearing that they're scary before meeting them is never promising. Which is why Fate is already considering her exit strategies in case things went wrong. Depending on how things go, she might end up bolting out of this room, too!
On the other hand, running from a co-worker probably isn't a good idea unless they're directly threatening you.
Yomi simply nods. "Alright." She says quietly, and then closes her eyes. For a moment, nothing happens.
Then, seemingly emenating from within her in some unexplained manner, green light begins to shine into the room. For a moment, it grows blinding, and Fate will have to either close her eyes or look away.
Then it's gone as suddenly as it appeared. And so is Yomi. Sitting in her place across the table from Fate is a different woman altogether.
She's taller, for one thing. That much is readily apparent. Her resemblance to Yomi is obvious- they have the same face, the same hairstyle. The same eyes (although Deadmaster's eyes are a more luminescent green, and contain a strange ceries of concentric circles which are absent from Yomi's). But then there's.. the horns, curving upwards from out of her hair. And the claws, where her hand rests on the table, each finger an almost skeletal, metallic talon. And the little wings protruding from the small of her back, which appear more decorative than anything else.
And the expression on her face, which is far different from Yomi's reserved, shy politeness. Deadmaster's face, paler than Yomi's, her skin a milky white, wears a confident, almost arrogant little smile, as her eyes dart around the room, taking it in curiously. Then they settle on Fate.
Her head tilts slightly examining the small girl, but she doesn't move from the chair, and she also doesn't speak. Instead, she just inclines her horned head slightly in a greeting of sorts, that smile unchanged. At least her scythe hasn't manifested, nor have any floating skulls.
Fate raises her arms to cover her eyes. The green light /is/ blinding. When she lowers her arms again, Deadmaster is sitting across from her. She blinks for a moment, trying to clear the spots out of her eyes. Once she can see relatively well again, Fate waves meekly at Deadmaster, in response to the nod.
Deadmaster isn't speaking, but she certainly looks scary. Yet, it's a scary that Fate can probably get used to. At least this scary person is on her side, right? At least that's what Fate tells herself.
"So... you're her familiar? I don't think I've ever seen anything like you before."
For once in her life, Fate may actually be the talkative one here.
It's tue that Otherselves seldom talk. They can, actually, they just usually don't. Deadmaster seems to be following this general rule as she makes no sound as Fate speaks to her, her eyes again moving around the room. The impression is that she's fascinated by everything here- this world is very different from the one where she spends most of her time, after all.
Those green eyes with their weird circles turn back to Fate again, after the girl mentions never having seen her like before. Shoulders lift in a brief shrug as that smile remains unchanged on her face, as if to say, "I have no explanation for that", though again she says nothing.
Instead, she suddenly rises from the chair- reinforcing the impression that she is quite a bit taller than Yomi as she comes to her feet. She walks with a fluid grace over to the vending machine, eyeing them quizzically, clawed fingers beginning to poke at the various buttons. A brief look of disappointment crosses her face as nothing happens. It had worked for Yomi!
Fate's eyes continue to stare at Deadmaster. What an unusual person. Fate considered most social interactions to be strange. Well, really, most of them were a waste of time. No one ever really listened, not deeply, not really, no matter what you told them. Still, her distaste for interaction was a part of why she was bad at it.
Deadmaster walks over to the vending machine and pushes the buttons. It's not working for her? "Um... you need to put in money first," explains Fate.
How odd, that this person who looks so much older than Fate, doesn't understand such a concept. Maybe it just doesn't exist where she comes from?
Fate gets up and walks over to the vending machine, fishing into her pocket for some change. She puts it in and pushes a few buttons, getting some kind of trailmix snack.
"See?"
Deadmaster takes a step back from the machine as Fate approaches it. She watches with an interested expression as Fate puts the money into the machine, and then gets her snack. A small frown touches her lips. Of course, there's no money OR vending machines in the Otherworld- the more Yomi summons her into our world, the more Deadmaster will learn, but right now she knows very little about it.
All she knows is that Fate had some kind of small discs, and when she put them into the machine, it gave her a snack. Deadmaster doesn't have any small discs. This is somewhat upsetting to her, because she wants a snack. Why? She doesn't need to eat. Probably just because Fate and Yomi got something, and so she wants something too. She is an Otherself composed of a large quantity of jealousy, after all.
She seems to consider for a moment, and then that little smile returns. She holds her hand out to the side (luckily, the one away from Fate). With a flash of green light, she's suddenly holding a gigantic black scythe. Like Bardiche, but a lot bigger, and also made of gleaming black metal rather than having a blade of yellow energy.
Deadmaster swings the scythe in a tight arc. It never threatens to hit Fate, even if the girl stood still next to the machine, which is unlikely. It does, however, slice the vending machine neatly in half. The top half slides off and to the floor with a crash.
Deadmaster dismisses her scythe, it vanishing in another flash of green light. Then she bends over and daintily retrieves a packet of chocolate candies from the bottom half of the machine, turning to regard Fate with a satisfied look on her face. She sure showed that machine, didn't she! That expression seems to say.
Fate looks up at Deadmaster, trying to see if she understands. The Otherself seems to, but then she's frustrated. Uh oh, is this the scary part that Yomi warned her about?
Fate backs away from the vending machine and Deadmaster. The scythe appears, and then comes down, slicing the vending machine in half. Fate winces as the vending machine is sliced apart, but it's clear after a moment that she was never being threatened. The vending machine, however, certainly wont be witholding its goods from Deadmaster anymore.
Fate sneaks past Deadmaster and grabs another snack. Skittles, this time. What? They're villains. Honestly and fair dealings aren't a part of the job description. Heck, some Eclipse executive is probably pleased that Deadmaster is willing to resolve her problems through force.
"You use a scythe? I use one, too."
Fate holds out her hand, and a yellow triangle with the points cut off, Bardiche in standby mode, pings. After a moment, Fate's barrier jacket appears around her, and Bardiche appears in her hand. Bardiche's head turns sideways, and a large energy scythe appears out of the sides.
"It's not exactly the same, but we've got similar fighting styles."
Deadmaster smiles as she uses her claws to delicately peel open the wrapped on the chocolates, wielding her razor-sharp digits with surgical precision to strip the foil away. Then she takes a bite, chewing slowly, her face showing that she relishes the taste, whether she actually needs to eat or not.
She looks amused as Fate sneaks past to grab a package of Skittles, and the grin she gives to the smaller girl is clearly one of approval. Hey, maybe Deadmaster and Fate will be friends after all. Take what you want, girl, that grin seems to be saying.
She tilts her head, spiral of black hair falling against her chest as Fate mentions using a scythe also. She watches with interest as Bardiche is summoned.. her smile growing again as it assumes its scythe form. A hand stretchess out as if to touch that energy blade, but then pulls back, as if she realizes that would be a poor idea. Instead, she just nods, taking another bite of chocolate and still looking pleased.
Fate smiles up at Deadmaster. The oddity of dealing with her might not ever completely go away, but at least there's some form of communication. Maybe words really aren't necessary after all. As Deadmaster reaches out for the scythe, Fate opens her mouth to warn her, but Deadmaster seems to understand the danger of that on her own. "Yeah, it'll hurt if you just touch the energy part. The solid part is fine, though."
The energy scythe of Bardiche vanishes after a moment, and Fate dehenshins into her normal self. Bardiche becomes a small jewel on the back of her hand.
Fate quietly eats her skittles for a moment as she studies the much taller girl. She eats in small bites, popping in exactly one skittle each time. She smiles up at Deadmaster. Her smile is a bit meek, but she's starting to think that Deadmaster, at least, is someone she can get along with.
Deadmaster finishes her chocolate after a few moments of delicate eating. She hasn't gotten a speck of chocolate anywhere other than in her mouth, being such a neat and meticulous eater. She smiles at Fate the entire time.
When Fate de-henshins, Deadmaster seems to take that as a sign. She reaches out one clawed hand.. and gently pats Fate on the head. Then there's that blinding flash of green light again.. and when it clears, Yomi is standing there instead, her hand still outstretched onto Fate's head.
She pulls it back quickly, a small flush touching her cheeks, but she does say, with her own little smile, "Well. It seems like she likes you, at least.."
As Deadmaster de-henshins back to Yomi. Fate continues smiling up at her. "She seems nice," says Fate. "Unless you're a vending machine."
Really, a vending machine in the middle of a villain base is just asking to get punched open at some point. Maybe it eats someone change, or maybe someone just doesn't like it getting in their way.
Fate looks up at Yomi, expecting to see some other form of nonverbal communication, but despite their similar faces they really are almost like two different people.
"Well, I think she's strong. I think she'll do well with us here in UMBRA."
Fate finishes her bag of candy and tosses it into the garbage. The vending machine is someone else's problem. Talking is still hard for her. She doesn't know what to say, but at least her misery isn't shared.
I.. ah.." Yomi looks at the destroyed vending machine, flushing. "I hope that doesn't come out of my pay.." She says softly, fidgeting a bit.. then sighs. "Well, I should get back to my desk. It was.. nice to meet you at least, Fate-chan." She offers a small little smile, so different from the confident smile Deadmaster displays.
Stepping around the broken glass and twisted metal daintily, she drops the chocolate wrapper (still in her hand) into the garbage, and then vanishes through the door, apparently heading back out towards her desk and whatever menial task Eclipse puts her to when she isnt needed in the field.
Fate glances between the vending machine and Deadmaster, shrugging. Does it come out of her pay? Fate doesn't know. She says, "Goodbye!" as Yomi leaves. Fate watches her go, stepping around the glass, and grabs a few more packets of candy when she thinks no one is looking.
The pieces of glass are spread all over the place. Fate feels bad just leaving it as it is. She finds a broom nearby and sweeps the glass into a pile, scooping it up with a dustpan and throwing as much as she can into the garbage.
The top half of the vending machine is... going to be someone else's problem. Fate leaves the room to go track down Arf.