Floor 1, Room 6

[annihilator]

MALICE

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thread #9999999

[dadsandals]

[ Knock knock! Yamato is here and actually looking geared up to go somewhere. He's hoping Malice is down to join him on one of the jobs, but only one way to find out...! ]

[annihilator]

[Malice is also looking like he's prepared to head out somewhere when he gets the door. His smile is bright as he greets Yamato.]

Hey, Yama! Headed out somewhere?

[dadsandals]

Yeah, actually. I was going to check out the barrier in Central.

[ He notes how Malice also looks ready to roll. Huh. Coincidence? ]

Are you headed somewhere?

[annihilator]

I was thinkin' the same thing, actually!

[...does he really need to bring the claws for that, though??]

The whole thing sounds suspicious, yeah? I wanna get a closer look. 'Sides, think I can manage that much even if it ain't flingin' fireballs.

[dadsandals]

It does, I agree.

[ He trusts Malice. They'll have each other's backs on this no matter what. ]

Let's go together, then. I'm curious about what they're hiding.

[ He phrases it more like a statement than a question; he has a feeling he knows what the answer will be. ]

[annihilator]

'Course! Let's see if we can figure out what they're hidin'!

[And off we go!]

[dadsandals]

[ Aaaand down the elevator and off to the castle they go! ]

...Huh. This is a lot larger than I thought it'd be. No wonder why they need more than one of us...

[annihilator]

[Malice has noticed it too, and he's got his head tipped back as he figures out how far the barrier reaches.]

Makes sense, yeah. Even someone experienced in barriers'd have a tough time with this!

[But he's not going to get started right away, instead he's going to enter the castle; once again, his head is tipped to the side like he's trying to study something.]

[dadsandals]

Ah-

[ Okay, okay, just gonna follow Malice in, then. Are they allowed to be in here? He has no idea, but he feels...something. ]

...hey. Feel that?

[annihilator]

[It's fine, they can't kick us out when they're relying on us, right???]

I do, yeah. Somethin' - or someone - powerful's bein' kept here. Maybe that's why they need the barrier?

[dadsandals]

Mm...probably. It feels different.

[ And he doesn't know if he likes it or not. Probably not.

Quietly: ]

Any idea of who or what it might be?

[annihilator]

[Oh, right, might be better to keep this conversation just between the two of us. Malice lowers his voice as well to reply.]

No idea. [He struggles to remember everything that happened in the meeting of Norths, but nothing really stands out.] The prince here's missin' but I kinda doubt they're holdin' him captive down here, right? Can't see what the point in that'd be.

[dadsandals]

Yeah, I can't, either. Unless they're trying to protect him, but...

[ That seems like a pretty shitty way to protect someone, huh. Hm. ]

I don't like this.

[annihilator]

[Yeah, exactly. It doesn't really make sense, but nothing else comes to mind... which means that maybe it's something they aren't supposed to know about.]

Yeah. What d'ya think we should do? Leave it alone an' just repair the barrier an' tell the others 'bout it? Or see if we can get to the bottom of it ourselves?

[The latter is infinitely more dangerous, he knows that. It doesn't seem likely that they'll move whatever it is they're hiding, especially once the barrier's up and running at full strength again. But if they do that, then it'll be harder to track whatever it is that's giving off that aura... Malice doesn't want to put Yamato in any danger, otherwise he'd already be suggesting that they charge in.]

[dadsandals]

[ You know, he thinks they should leave figuring it out to someone else, because he is going to eat shit if they need to fight powerful enemies. He doesn't like what they might run into, so.

Yamato shakes his head and frowns. ]

I think we should leave this to someone else. If we run into anything too powerful, it might be bad news -- for me, I mean.

[annihilator]

[He's not going to say he agrees, but like... he agrees...]

Fair enough. Think it'd be better to let everyone know - they'd probably yell at us an' say we did somethin' dumb if we tried to do this on our own, yeah?

[He gives one last look in the general direction that aura is coming from before turning and heading back over to look at the barrier.]

...Though, given that we're still pretty new at this whole wizard-in' thing, surely they wouldn't think anythin's off if we fail to fix it up perfectly, yeah?

[Given the sly look, it's obvious he's suggesting they do this on purpose.]

[dadsandals]

H'oh. I like what you're suggesting.

[ They can leave a little patch or two, you know, it's fine. They can be a little petty. Surely someone else will go to take care of it, right... ]

Too inexperienced to do a proper fix? Sounds reasonable.

[ Lightly, he bumps his shoulder against Malice's. ]

Let's go, then.

[annihilator]

[Malice grins at that and bumps Yamato's shoulder back, which may still be a little too hard given his natural strength, but he's trying to hold back!!]

Startin' over here from this side - I can sense where we need to focus, so follow my lead.

[Probably for the best that he has help on this anyway, because he's really only good at sensing where the barrier is weak and needs help. His own attempts at patching it are... frankly quite pathetic because he's never done this before. But hey, he's trying, and it's not like they need it to be perfect just good enough for right now!]

[dadsandals]

[ He's just accepted that he'll get a little roughed up sometimes by Malice, but the way he flinches may indicate that yeah, it was a little too hard.

But, yeah, time to patch up the barrier! ... Or try to, rather. "Try to". Yamato certainly isn't going at full strength, nor has he done this before himself, either, so this is...not going well, probably. ]

...How's it looking?

[annihilator]

[Sorry, buddy...

But anyway, this is proving to be quite the hassle, one that we are doing very, very poorly at. This is the equivalent of trying to stop a leak with napkins, we are accomplishing a whole lot of nothing here.]

...'Kay, so this is turnin' out to be harder than I thought. Guess we're gonna have'ta put a little more effort in...

[dadsandals]

Yeah, I think so.

[ 'kay, barrier, have more effort (12). This little burst of effort actually helps, because it seems to slowly -- very slowly -- start patching itself up in one of its exposed areas. ]

Oh, there we go.

[annihilator]

That's lookin' better! Here, lemme see if I can copy that...

[He cannot. Malice is rolling poorly tonight (7). His rather pathetic attempt to help has patched it up a tiny bit more, leaving quite a bit of open space in this one area.]

...I really do not have a knack for this, huh.

[If only it involved fire...]

[dadsandals]

Need any help?

[ He doesn't want to just step in and do it himself, because if Malice wants to figure it out, he can. But he'll offer anyway, just in case. ]

[annihilator]

[Malice gives Yamato a wry grin.]

One last time, then I'll let'cha step in.

[And here he goes! Third try's apparently the charm because this time he's able to patch it up quite nicely (19)! The break in the barrier over here isn't completely sealed up, but it's very close to being so, and Malice looks quite pleased with himself.]

Yeah, that's better! Alright, think I've got the hang of it now! Let's try movin' over here next.

[He points out the next spot. Might as well try to mostly seal them, right?]

[dadsandals]

There we go.

[ Good job, Malice. He'll give him a light pat on the back before they move to the next one.

He goes over to the next open patch, and manages to fix it at a slow and steady rate again (10). This is just his M.O., apparently. ]