Maribel Quest Adjoining: A Z-Machine Adventure

[E-Nazrin]

... to be fair, Yukari would probably enjoy that even more.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Well, you probably never thought fairies quite like these existed, either."
>"But that's... uh, not exactly what I was getting at, either..."

>"You're being really evasive," says Renko, raising an eyebrow. "You afraid I'll get mad at you or something? Don't worry." She smiles at you. "Just tell me."
>Yukari watches with a small smile.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Yeah, I might be afraid of that... or that I'd hurt you..."
>"Look, Renko, you know how much I love you. Please never feel the slightest bit insecure about that."
>Give her a deep hug
>Let go. Deep breath
>"In fact, that's the very reason I'm asking about this. And remember what I said about being honest with what you really feel. I meant it. If I'm about to make you feel very uncomfortable, I apologize in advance. Maybe Gensokyo's getting to my head, too. But... have you ever considered being... physically intimate... with more than one person? At once."

[E-Nazrin]

>"Yeah, I might be afraid of that... or that I'd hurt you..."

>"It's... more that it's sort of embarrassing. I... Yukari has... taken a bit of a shine to me, and..."
>Hesitate.

>"Look, Renko, you know how much I love you. Please never feel the slightest bit insecure about that."
>Give her a deep hug
>Let go. Deep breath
>"In fact, that's the very reason I'm asking about this. And remember what I said about being honest with what you really feel. I meant it. If I'm about to make you feel very uncomfortable, I apologize in advance. Maybe Gensokyo's getting to my head, too. But... have you ever considered being... physically intimate... with more than one person? At once."

>Wonder what Ran would think of this.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Yeah, I might be afraid of that... or that I'd hurt you..."
>"Look, Renko, you know how much I love you. Please never feel the slightest bit insecure about that."
>Give her a deep hug
>Let go. Deep breath
>"In fact, that's the very reason I'm asking about this. And remember what I said about being honest with what you really feel. I meant it. If I'm about to make you feel very uncomfortable, I apologize in advance. Maybe Gensokyo's getting to my head, too. But... have you ever considered being... physically intimate... with more than one person? At once."

>"It's... more that it's sort of embarrassing. I... Yukari has... taken a bit of a shine to me, and..."
>Hesitate.
>Wonder what Ran would think of this.

>You're pretty sure Yukari is enjoying your stammering more than she her current relaxed posture lets on.
>You give her a hug, take a deep breath, and let it all out.
>Renko looks at you blankly for a bit, then says. "Wait. Wait... You mean, both of us and her?"
>She laughs, putting her fingertips to her head while shaking it a little. "Wow, Gensokyo really has gotten to you, hasn't it? Is this the kind of thing you wanna do?"
>You have no idea what Ran would think. But if they've been together as long as Yukari's said, you wonder if this is the first time it's come up?

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Well, like I said, she... took an interest in me, and I said that I was loyal to you. Then, well, she suggested you come along, too...."
>"Please don't feel any pressure if this isn't something you can feel comfortable with. Your honesty means more to me than anything."

[Kilgamayan]

> Jesus, our cheeks must be on fire.

[E-Nazrin]

>Try not to give Yukari a nervous look.
>"Well, it was more Yukari's idea, I admit. I... think I could go either way on this. After what I tried to set up in the Underground, it would be hypocritical of me not to consider it at all. But I definitely won't do it if you're at all uncomfortable with it."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Well, like I said, she... took an interest in me, and I said that I was loyal to you. Then, well, she suggested you come along, too...."
>"Please don't feel any pressure if this isn't something you can feel comfortable with. Your honesty means more to me than anything."

>Try not to give Yukari a nervous look.
>"Well, it was more Yukari's idea, I admit. I... think I could go either way on this. After what I tried to set up in the Underground, it would be hypocritical of me not to consider it at all. But I definitely won't do it if you're at all uncomfortable with it."

>You do your best not to glance toward Yukari while your try to point out it was her idea without sounding accusative.
>"You're kind of dodging the dodging the question, Mary," says Renko.

> Jesus, our cheeks must be on fire.

>They certainly feel that way.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Well, in fairness to ourselves, the Underground Trio actually had someone in love with two people at the same time. The situation here is slightly different.

[E-Nazrin]

Frankly this is jumping into things a lot more than my tastes would allow and I'm inclined to say "not really, at least until we're better settled and I WE get to know Yukari better", but... this IS Yukari we're talking about.

[Kilgamayan]

You know, didn't we just get through lecturing Renko about being honest? And now we're trying to sell this idea to her that we're clearly very uncomfortable with.

Frankly, if I were Yukari, and I watched Maribel actually go through with this, I'd be very disappointed. Entertained, but disappointed.

[E-Nazrin]

On the other hand, one can only imagine Yukari's wrath in the event of feeling spurned.

So, I guess the question is... do we feel lucky, punks?

[DracoOmega]

I'm not sure we're trying to sell her the idea so much as gauge how she feels about it. We're certainly not going to push her into anything. As for being uncomfortable, I'm pretty sure someone not used to this kind of thing would be uncomfortable, whether they were also interested or not.

It's always a problem disentangling a player's familiarity with the character from the other character's familiarity, inside the player's own mind. Although, personally, I found this whole encounter rather hilarious in its way.

[Kilgamayan]

It seems Renko's feelings on the matter are more amusement than anything else, given how flustered we are about the whole thing. To be honest, I think she's figured out what's going on with the whole honesty thing, too.

[Kilgamayan]

tableflip.jpg

> "Well, uh...I think that...uh..."
> Nervously glance back and forth between the two while stuttering.
> "Well, because Yukari...and you...and I...and...uhh...I"
> FUCK IT
> Face Yukari, fold our hands together and bow our head (without dunking it into the water).
> "I-I'm sorry, Yukari! I can't do this! You've been great to me and you're more attractive than me and everything but I just can't do this!"

[Hello Purvis]

> "Well, uh...I think that...uh..."
> Nervously glance back and forth between the two while stuttering.
> "Well, because Yukari...and you...and I...and...uhh...I"
> FUCK IT
> Face Yukari, fold our hands together and bow our head (without dunking it into the water).
> "I-I'm sorry, Yukari! I can't do this! You've been great to me and you're more attractive than me and everything but I just can't do this!"

>You try to compose yourself, looking back and forth, and stammer out something, before just bowing toward Yukari and saying no.
>"A shame," she says, shrugging a little. "Oh well, perhaps you'll change your mind."
>Renko just nods. "Alright. I was wondering if you were really into that kind of thing."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

Huh. How unexpectedly anticlimactic.

> Sink further into the water. Maybe our cheeks will turn it red.

[Hello Purvis]

Huh. How unexpectedly anticlimactic.

> Sink further into the water. Maybe our cheeks will turn it red.

>You sink further into the water. This is so humiliating.
>Renko takes your hand and gives it a squeeze.
>"Oh, don't mope," says Yukari. "I'm not going to exact any horrible vengeance."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Might as well come back up far enough so we can speak. (Unless our mouth is already still above water.)
> "I'm really sorry. It's nothing against you. It's just...the idea isn't as appealing with anyone else."

[Hello Purvis]

> Might as well come back up far enough so we can speak. (Unless our mouth is already still above water.)
> "I'm really sorry. It's nothing against you. It's just...the idea isn't as appealing with anyone else."

>"Mmm, I'm sure you'll change your mind in good time," says Yukari. She glances at Renko. "Oh, don't worry. I have no intention of stealing her. Just borrowing for a bit."
>Renko looks dumbfounded.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Give Renko a sympathetic look

[Hello Purvis]

>Give Renko a sympathetic look

>You give her your most sympathetic look, trying to do something about the awkwardness of the situation. She looks at you, still dumbfounded.
>"So, what have you two been up to since coming to Gensokyo?" Asks Yukari, as if there was no tension in the air.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Well, uh, I already told you some of my story. But since I've been here I've generally just been exploring as many corners of Gensokyo as I can. I've been to Youkai Mountain, the underground, up to the Sanzu River, the far edges of the Netherworld. Now THAT is definitely the strangest place I've been to since I came here."
>"And, you know, lending a hand with little things where I can. Learning a few magical tricks when I can find someone to teach me them."

[E-Nazrin]

I'm too hungry/tired to articulate it, but that's a good excuse to ask about whether miko powers and sorcery are really mutually exclusive.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Well, uh, I already told you some of my story. But since I've been here I've generally just been exploring as many corners of Gensokyo as I can. I've been to Youkai Mountain, the underground, up to the Sanzu River, the far edges of the Netherworld. Now THAT is definitely the strangest place I've been to since I came here."
>"And, you know, lending a hand with little things where I can. Learning a few magical tricks when I can find someone to teach me them."

>"It's just like I said," says Yukari, smiling. "Looking over every horizon. And you, Renko?"
>"Well, I've mostly been with the faeries, I guess you saw that when you were looking through your window thing. We've been playing something, it's kind of a big deal. Keep your eyes on the newspaper, it'll show up there for sure!"
>"Perhaps I will have to subscribe to the Kakashi Spirit News after all," says Yukari. "Have you found a place to stay, yet? My home is a little too humble for that, but I could at least offer you dinner. Ran's cooking is superb."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"You'd probably have a good laugh at today's headline in the paper, actually. I have a copy with me that I can show you when I'm dried off."
>"And we may even have a home lined up, despite it not having the greatest history. Was an abandoned place, haunted by ghosts and everything. But we drove them off and got it exorcised. Just need to get it cleaned up, now."

[Hello Purvis]

>"You'd probably have a good laugh at today's headline in the paper, actually. I have a copy with me that I can show you when I'm dried off."
>"And we may even have a home lined up, despite it not having the greatest history. Was an abandoned place, haunted by ghosts and everything. But we drove them off and got it exorcised. Just need to get it cleaned up, now."

>"Oh, I must see!" says Yukari.
>"Oh my, that place?" Yukari says. She claps her hands. "We'll practically be neighbors!"

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Give Renko another sympathetic look for that last comment
>"I'm curious. You said earlier about how sorcery and spiritual abilities were incompatible in the same person. Does making borders essentially count as a spiritual ability, then? Would developing other magic impede by ability to improve at that?"

[Hello Purvis]

>Give Renko another sympathetic look for that last comment
>"I'm curious. You said earlier about how sorcery and spiritual abilities were incompatible in the same person. Does making borders essentially count as a spiritual ability, then? Would developing other magic impede by ability to improve at that?"

>She tries to hide a grimace, and doesn't quite make it.
>"You can make borders with sorcery, but it is terribly rare and not quite that efficient. In your case, I think you may have just tapped into a natural talent. I wouldn't know without a close examination, and a proper magician would be better for that."

>_