And now for some musical darkness - PSL for Easter's newest agent...

[utauhoshina]

When the portal opened to grant egress to Demyx, the street where he came out wouldn't be all that unusual. A slightly more crowded more built up Twilight Town, perhaps. More buildings more closely packed together, people bundled against the lingering chill in the air passing each other on the streets, some stopping to chat, others lost in their own thoughts.

The people are fairly uniform, in that they all seem to be human, and all dressed similarly enough in bundled hats and coats and scarves.His coat really only would stand out because it didn't look warm enough. But someone in a long coat, gloves, and boots.... would not stand out at all.

it might have seemed the perfect world to hide on. Boring and tame and safe. There was even a flyer on a nearby power pole for a concert held at Easter Stadium featuring Darts and Utau Hoshina. Whoever they were. But still, a concert is a concert. This world likes music.

Yep, the world was almost idyllic for hidung away in, not even a sniff of a Heartless.... and then.... something dark went flying right past his face. it looked like an egg of all things...

And if that wasn't odd enough, it had flown straight as if launched, but it skidded in midair and flew back to him, making odd muffled noises as it started to circle his head, as if curious about him.

Comments

[waterintowhine]

It was risky, opening portals like this with no set destination in mind--like throwing darts blindfolded. He could end up absolutely anywhere, hostile or safe. The one and only guarantee he had was that if he had no idea where he was going, then neither would the Organization--whatever was even left of it, anyway. The Lightsiders shouldn't have a clue either, if they decided it would be better to hunt him down and make sure every last hint of the Organization is snuffed out.....

Brrrr! It was more than just the thought of being stalked and killed in cold blood making him shiver. It really was chilly here, wherever 'here' was. Demyx found himself quickly wishing he had at least a scarf to go with his coat, pulling his hood up in an effort to block out the wind. If this place took Munny, maybe he could find somewhere to duck inside and warm up? Maybe a restaurant or something?

A restaurant, or..... a concert. Hell yes! Demyx stopped immediately to read the flyer, engrossed enough that he nearly didn't notice the odd, dark egg hurtling towards him until it was almost too late. "Gyah?!"

Demyx jerked back in instinctive alarm, raising an arm to protect his face--and promptly slipped on fallen leaves, arms windmilling as he toppled back onto his ass. Groaning, he glanced over his shoulder to see if he could spot where the egg had gone--only to yelp again and cover his head at the sight of the thing flying back towards him. What the hell was even going on, here?

[utauhoshina]

People had turned when he fell, but most went back on with what they were doing after a moment. But one girl didn't. Looking up from the ground he would see why he had missed her before. Because she was standing on the roof of a low building. And she was staring down at him... and the egg.

The girl was mid to late teens, and somewhat familiar. Her face was on the poster he had just been looking at. Her blond hair was in neat twin tails high on her head. Despite the chill she wore what looked like a small red leather dress with decorative miniature bat wings at her back, and she carried, of all things, a pitch fork.

She jumped down to a dumpster beside the building neatly, then onto the ground. All in heels. She looked down at him, pitchfork aimed at the snow, her eyes like ice. "You see it, don't you?" she asked.

[waterintowhine]

Demyx laughs sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck and waving to the handful of people who had turned to look. He's fine, everything's okay! Nothing to see here! Just a goofy klutz who slipped and fell in the snow and ice, no reason to worry at all! There's definitely not some kind of bizarre, kinda creepy, floating egg-thing creeping on him, no sir. Why would you ever think something crazy like that?

If nobody else had reacted to this thing yet, then he probably shouldn't, either. Easier said than done, but hey, he'll give it a shot? He's about to get his feet under him to stand back up when he spots the blur of motion overhead; for a moment, Demyx just gapes and wonders how the girl doesn't break her neck pulling stunts like those in honest to Light heels. Or..... honest to Darkness heels, maybe? That sure does look like a devil girl getup, if you ask him. It's kinda cute, actually.....

Should he be worried about the pitchfork, though? Or the way she's staring down at him? (Or at least, as close to worried as a Nobody can be, anyway?) He feels like (heh, feels) he probably should be--with the same gut instinct that's telling him it's probably a bad idea to tell the truth right now, but an equally bad idea to tell a lie she'd never believe for a second. "Um. Yyyyyeeeeeesssss.....?"

The suavest, most confident answer ever, clearly, and delivered by the most poised and unflappable man in the multiverse. Nailed it.

I should figure out colours for them at some point... lol

[utauhoshina]

Her brows raised, and she seemed about to say something when a womanin a long winter coat that was open over a buisness suit strode over. "Utau, the concert isn't over. We have people to clean up the mess, you need to come back and finish the show," she said, her voice crisp and firm, giving Demyx not the slightest bit of attention. All of that was fixed on the girl in the red dress. "And what if your fans saw you out here like this?"

The girl in the dress simply pointed at him.

The woman looked back at him irritated, then stopped, narrowed her eyes at the egg that was now hiding BEHIND his head, then looked back to the teenager.

Who, like a teenager, sighed in exasperation. "He can see it," she said, simply.

The woman gave a small start then turned and stared at Demyx again, as if really seeing him for the first time. "Really?" she asked, and it was hard to tell which of them she was asking. She clarified. "What exactly is it that you think you saw?" And that was very much to him.

You should~

[waterintowhine]

Oh--Utau, huh? So she's the girl holding the concert? Guess he's pretty solidly missed that opportunity, what a bummer. Still, there'll be other chances, right? What's more important is the fact that the egg is hiding, with the arrival of Utau's manager. That's..... not a good thing, is it? Is it scared? Of what?

More and more, he finds himself wondering how he managed to earn this much attention, when he hadn't even been on this world for more than five minutes yet. How can he get out of this without getting caught in a lie? "Um. An..... egg.....? I guess? I mean, it--I'm not really sure, 'cause it was moving pretty fast. For an egg, I mean. I thought those weren't supposed to move until they hatched?"

Okay, despite the costume, the woman is red, the teenager purple.

[utauhoshina]

A silky smile slid into place. "Well then." She glanced at Utau. "Get into the car, it is just around the block, I will text and say you were too shaken by the accident to perform, and have them send Darts in to take over." She turned to him again. "How you you like a job, young ma? Good wages, decent benefits, and a fantastic retirement plan...."

Utau studied them a long moment, then the egg, then she frowned. She didn't speak but it looked like se was giving a snippy retort. There was a shimmer of light and the red dress was replaced by a black short dress; the decorations in her hair and the pitchfork both vanished. When she turned to stalk off, the gold chain belt around her waist was shown to have two decorated eggs hanging from the back, like ornamentation.

I'm having flashbacks to the game I played logs in with colored tags in google docs

[waterintowhine]

Darts? That had to be a stage name, right? It must be. And this lady must be Utau's manager. So it made sense that she was bossing around an idol and making arrangements to salvage a concert, didn't it? Which meant she was probably offering a job as in..... moving equipment or being a stage hand or something. It was the logical explanation.

But that didn't explain why they seemed so interested in the fact that he saw a flying egg, or whatever magic Utau was using for that nifty costume change. (At least it was good to know magic existed in this world in some capacity. Why did she have eggs on her belt, though?) And it really didn't explain the sinking suspicion that he was about to do something stupid. But did he really have a choice?

"Well..... I guess I am kind of homeless at the moment....." Not to mention very, very unemployed. He'd need some source of Munny to be able to hide on this world for long. It couldn't be as bad as working for the Organization, right? Light help him if he had to actually think about that 'retirement plan'..... "What kind of job are we talking about, here?"

I did a lot this way on Gaia.

[utauhoshina]

She gave him a smile that could have been at home in the circular room, "It's cold out here, come on, we can talk in the car, and I can fill you in. And I am certain a place to stay can... also be arranged."

She adjusted her glasses and nodded for him to follow the way Utau had gone.

It's definitely useful when you're NPCing~

[waterintowhine]

"Y-yeah. Okay." Oh, that's comforting. Real comforting. He's definitely getting Organization vibes already, somehow; this probably isn't going to be a normal roadie job. Please don't be like Larxene, please don't be like Larxene.....

At the same time though, she's definitely right. His butt is going numb from sitting out here in the snow, and public isn't exactly the best place to discuss whatever sketchy business he's being recruited for. Demyx stands and dusts himself off, moving to follow the woman even as he glances over his shoulder. The egg is coming too, right? It's the one that got him into this whole mess to start with, after all! It has to take some responsibility for getting him in over his head again.

Yep

[utauhoshina]

Yes, the egg was following, sticking close to him.

She brought him to a nice car that was what a limo would be if it was trying to blend in and be inconspicuous. The interior while smaller than a limo had seats facing both ways.

Utau was already in a seat, facing forward, as far from their door as she could get, arms closed, head leaned against the glass as though she was sleeping. But the reflection gave away the lie. The eye that couldn't be seen from his angle was reflected in the window, open. She was watching the street outside, but since her more easily visible eye was closed, she was clearly trying to be subtle about it.

Most importantly, perhaps, the interior was warm.

While she waited for him to get in, she pulled out her phone and dialed. "The lights that crashed onto the stage upset Utau, when it is cleared, have Darts do an extra set, give everyone a voucher for free passes to a second concert, date TBA. We're heading back to the boss." She snapped the flip phone shut and shoved it back in her pocket.

[waterintowhine]

Daaaaamn, now that was a sweet ride. Just look at that thing! These guys must be loaded. Did that mean he'd actually get paid to be in some super sketchy organization this time? Here he was used to just getting room and board, and any Munny or items he could scrounge off the corpses of the Heartless he killed. (He tried not to think too hard about where they were keeping that stuff) Oh, and how could he forget the amazing retirement plan of a guaranteed fate worse than death for attempting to leave, if the manipulation and threats didn't keep him in line?

A salary would be nice. So would a room with actual..... y'know, stuff in it. What good was living in a castle, when you had to live in rooms like those? Whatever they wanted him to do, it had to be better than the Organization. Right? He could do this. Piece of cake! Maybe if he was lucky, they weren't even evil, just shady.

Demyx ducked into the car without any further protest, crawling in to make room for Miss Manager and sneaking a peek at Utau. Was..... was that her idea of eavesdropping? Pretending to be asleep and watching them reflected in the window? It wasn't as though he had anything secret to discuss right now, but--well, hopefully she was a little more subtle than that. "So..... who's the boss man, huh?"

[utauhoshina]

"You'll get to meet him in due time, if we succeed. Until then you will be mostly reporting to my boss, or to me," the woman said as she got in. She clossed the door and rapped on the glass behind her for the driver. He took the hint and pulled carefully into traffic.

"We still need to figure out exactly what you will be best suited for, but I have a few ideas in that department. And perhaps Utau is right, it is time for her to have a partner. Of course that would require a cover, and I do not think anyone would buy you as the bodyguard type." A small sigh. "I don't suppose you happen to have any musical abilities we could exploit?"

Utau rolled the eye that was open, but said nothing.

[waterintowhine]

He could have been intimidated at the idea that this organization was big enough to have a chain of command at least four layers deep. He could have pouted at the thinly veiled insult, no matter how accurate it was; Miss Manager was absolutely right, he was neither intimidating nor aggressive enough to make a convincing bodyguard. He could have probed further into what he would be partnering with Utau for that they would need a cover to work with, too. He's done plenty of espionage in his day, so maybe it wouldn't be too bad.

Orrrrrr he could just light up at the question, entire demeanor brightening from how uncertain and reluctant he'd been up until now. Now this? This he could do! Even if it was just a cover job, he had it in the bag. "Hey, yeah! I can sing and dance some, and I--" There's really no graceful way to say I used to command a legion of monsters that could dance you to death, so Demyx faltered for a moment, before opting for the vaguest, most benign interpretation he could think of. "--uh, I've done some song writing and choreography work, too. I'm best at playing the sitar, though."

[utauhoshina]

"Good to know. We'll have to get you set up in the studio and see what I can do.But so long as you aren't an embarrassment, we should be able to work something out." She adjusted her glasses as the limo slowed to a stop outside a rather large office building. A sign outside read EASTER.

The driver came around and opened the door for them. She glanced at Utau, then stepped out of the car.

Utau opened the door on her own side and let herself out, heading up the stairs without so much as a backwards glance at them.

"Come along, and bring the Batsu-tama with you," Yukari instructed Demyx as she made her way slowly up the outer steps.

[waterintowhine]

"As if! I couldn't be an embarrassment if I tried." For music, at least. He was more than able and willing to be an embarrassment for other things, things he was hoping this whole arrangement wouldn't be so heavy on. Writing reports, fighting monsters, condemning people and worlds alike to Darkness..... Well, he was pretty sure just about everyone was happier that he wasn't eager to be competent at screwing people over.

Batsu-tama, though? Demyx glanced from Utau and Yukari's retreating backs, to the driver, then to the egg hovering nearby, voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper as he headed up after them. "She means you, right, little guy? Is that your name?"

[utauhoshina]

The egg pressed itself firmly against his face, like it was a pet and was making sure he didn't leave it behind.

[waterintowhine]

"W-woah, hey, easy there--" How in Light's name could people not tell these things were here? His cheek was literally being smooshed by it! What, would anyone wandering around think it was a ghost or something making him look like this? Geez, talk about ridiculous....

"You're gonna crack your shell if you do stuff like that. C'mon." Demyx reached up to grab the egg, carefully cradling it in one hand as he jogged to catch up with the pair. It--he? She?--should feel better if he was actually carrying it to make sure it didn't get left behind, right? (Was a flying egg more or less ridiculous than the fact that he was even bothering to consider the egg's feelings?)

Sorry, this journal had the icon I needed, and Utau vanished anyhow...

[amu_chan]

Muuuuurrrrrrrrr was the almost purr like sound from the egg as it settled in his hand.

She stopped at the top of the stairs and looked back, waiting for him. "Follow me, say nothing unless directly addressed and even then think twice before speaking. We pull this off and we'll both come out of this the better."