[ti]event[/ti] Mile High Club (Pre-Raid Event)

"Hm. I had never realized it before, but Cygnus gives me some real Daedalus vibes."

Such is the judgement that Tuesday passes when watching Cygnus and hearing his speech, and it just makes sense, right? Inventor, wise, kind of crazy, makes flying devices, hell... he was even trapped once. Which, of course, also leads to another thought: "Here's to hoping none of us becomes his Icarus."

For some reason, she looks at starlitlover in particular when saying this, an eyebrow quirking. How had they ended up here together? Good question! Tuesday is still wondering that herself, but thankfully, there's plenty of fancy gadgets nearby to steal her attention away from the complexities of this dynamic!

"Oh shit, is that a flying windboard?" A steampunk flying windboard with what looks like solar cell fabric for a sail. Kind of reminiscent of a much sleeker version of the one in that one iconic Disney movie Treasure Planet. It would go well with her armour and cloak of pearlescent white feathers, but does this sail also retract for it to become a sick hoverboard? Only one way to find out! Of course, given Mars' own fondness for snowboarding and wakeboarding and the fact that it looks sick as fuck, Tuesday is quick to go for one of those.

"Looks like we're splitting up into groups of three. Hm..." Her golden gaze scans their surroundings, considering potential team members until her gaze falls on Saint. She smiles oh so warmly at that moment. "Hey, wanna come with us?"

Sorry, Saint, looks like you're playing buffer today.

TEAM: TUESDAY, STARLITLOVER, AND SAINT

To tell you the truth, Muin isn't sure what's worse: the fact that being in the middle of this huge group of people makes his skin crawl with discomfort behind all the gelid stoicism that he wears as if an impenetrable shield or the fact that they're being asked to do something that sounds dangerous, reckless, and potentially extremely painful. See, Mythstar member as Muin may be, the only reason he's here is the fact that ibis had sent him no less than fifty DMs about it, until he finally managed to make him cave and convinced him to come (quite the achievement indeed!).

"It seems like we might be in need of a third member for our team." He observes, ever proper and oh-so-very formal. As if things weren't already uncomfortable enough for him, the thought of meeting new people is added to the mix, and even worse than that: the knowledge that if he leaves their choice of teammate to Ibis, he'll probably pick someone annoying and loud.

So, with a sigh, Muin takes the heavy weight of such a responsibility upon himself before Ibis can declare otherwise, and looking through the crowd, his unemotional amethyst gaze searches for someone that looks like they won't be annoying to deal with. That's when he sees Silvermoon.

"Hm... What about them?" He tells Ibis while meeting eyes with the stranger. Yes, he's leaving the rest of the work up to whichever of them decides to do the approaching first. He can only manage so much, okay?

TEAM: MUIN, IBIS, AND SILVERMOON

Sarah nodded as Cygnus spoke. His words may be strange, but the meaning was clear. The birds were a metaphor for oppressive forces beyond our control, wings were a metaphor for technical advancement, and- oh wait. The wings appeared to also be literal.

Well that didn't mean they couldn't also be a metaphor.

Sarah found Laguna in the crowd and they walked over to the table together. "What shall we pick? I want something that goes with my cloak." For high-tier players fashion was always a concern, and Sarah's signature cloak of black feathers would clash terribly with a set of big clunky boots or, god forbid, a bicycle. "Oh! What about this belt?" she asked Laguna, holding it up for her opinion. It was sleek and sophisticated. A band of dark, brushed copper covered in reticulated silver polygons. There was a dial clipped to the side, along with some sort of altimeter. "Whatever this is, it looks amazing," Sarah said, clipping on the belt.

"What are you picking Laguna? Let me see if I can find anything blue..." she did a quick sweep of the table and frowned. "Preferably something that isn't a steam-powered surfboard."

Teammates: Laguna and Bergamot Gristleborg

"I'm not Laguna," said Morgana, taking off her blue wig and obediently inspecting the steampunk belt Sarah Lee had just tried to show her. "It's perfect! I'll take it." She held out a white-gloved hand expectantly, then gasped in exaggerated outrage when Sarah Lee ignored her and clipped it onto herself instead. "How selfish..." she murmured, turning away.

She inspected the table for items of equal stylishness-- if Sarah Lee was going to hog all the altimeter belts, well, Bergamot would just have to fashion her own. "Observe, Laguna," she said to the women's suffrage activist, who'd actually been on Sarah Lee's other side. "As a member of Mythstar, tinkering with such things is but second-nature to me." She spoke quickly, softly, hands moving on the table in front of her in a blur of activity. "And now... voila!"

The canister she'd been holding exploded, spraying her from head to toe with oil.

For a moment she simply stood there, looking like a pelican after the BP disaster.

Then Morgana put both hands on her hips and laughed, convincingly, as if this had been all part of her plan. "Ohohohoho! You see, Laguna," she said, sending out a water Pokemon to hose her off. Water blasted in a six-foot radius around her as a Gyarados blasted her like a fire hose. "I- fssst!- Bllbbt! -Sarah Lee- RSHHHHHHH! -fashion."

Everything was going well, in other words.

TEAM (WOMEN'S SUFFERING): Sarah Lee Laguna

Despite being told by Professor Ash to go meet Cygnus to address his issues, Kazuki had made no effort to follow that advice and held no plans to—at least until now.

Verai next to him parrots his guild leader’s words. Kazuki chuckles, arms crossed as he leans to murmur with him. “He’s nuts,” he says as a high-tier compliment. As much as he enjoys C.L.A.W., the kooky old man seems like he’d be fun to mess with. He hangs back as everyone moves to inspect the contents of the table, not really in a rush. While he signed up to prepare for the raid, the whole flying bit is—he’s already had his fill. Flying lost its magic for him years ago.

When Verai returns, Kazuki raises a brow at the chosen equipment and the accompanying request. “Of course you’d pick the wings,” he scoffs, taking the offered harness. “Arms up, then. You've got to put it on like a bra.” Laughing, he does as asked, the mechanical harness being in fact more complex than a bra. There are additional locks and fastenings to secure it to the body, which Kazuki aids with until he ends it by pulling taut a belt that wraps over Verai’s midsection. He pulls one wing open, the feathers unfolding like a fan under his hand. “There we go. Now all we need is some glitter and you’ll be able to upstage the Prince.”

Now it’s his turn to suit up. There are still a couple of contraptions on the table. He spots Tuesday nabbing a glowing sailboard and a kid he doesn’t know hopping off with both a jet pack and a pair of boots. He takes an antigravity belt, figuring it will obstruct him the least should all of this go tits up because they’re doing flight tests on the route known for storms and gravity surges.

He pauses as he moves to secure it around his waist, noticing a very small player with a very big, poofy hat nearby. “Oi, kid. You need help with that?”

TEAMMATES: Verai and Jinx

If Tuesday were to realize that starlitlover doesn't recognize the flying windboard to be a obvious reference to Treasure Planet (it's actually supposed to be a called a Solar Glider), much less know what a windboard is, she would be utterly shocked and disappointed. Hell, maybe she would even suggest they need to fix this problem ASAP.

Thankfully, she remains oblivious to it, distracted by how fucking awesome and so much better than the janky original this board looks and also distracted by one of her favourite things in the whole damn world: meeting new people.

"Saint, huh? That's a pretty cool name you got there. I'm Tuesday and this is Starlitlover, who apparently forgot his manners. He can be like that, don't take it personally." The sound of her laughter comes effortless and light, being carried away by the Steppes' breeze as she gives Saint a smile that is so full of confidence that some might just find it reassuring. This same smile becomes a teasing grin when looking at Starlitlover once more.

"Are those bat wings? They're kind of cute. Very aesthetic." And potentially very impractical too, but for the sake of the stability of their already unstable team and also for the sake of not stealing away Adarsa's joy in his choice, she holds back that last thought. Despite everything, she does want him to have a good time during this event. Why else would she be here with him, after all? In fact... "Want me to help you put those on?"

She tilts her head, offering a smile as cat eats twitch once, but Tuesday isn't socially impaired, and best believe she isn't going to let poor Saint seclude himself so easily:

"What about you, Saint? Need any help?" She asks when he returns, noting his choice in flying contraption. "Cool glider, should do well up there... Honestly, I bet at least a few of these things are gonna malfunction or we'll have to do one of those gliding challenges I've heard some games like. Should be interesting."

Exciting. Tuesday clearly loves herself some Adrenaline.