Steel Sky (Adelle/Mind Flayer)

[Guan Yu]

The man would agree in a fairly uninterested manner, probably focused on running the rest of his deliveries in the cart, and left the girls to their package shortly as he drove off to find the next delivery.

Squeezing the package would make it rip the paper as Adelle's fingers went through it, landing on soft fabrics inside, more or less confirming that it was indeed clothes. Somehow the paper had managed to hold the three full sets of clothing inside up to that moment, which was somewhat impressive given they were Rose-sized and included a set with a leather jacket for someone her size.

"That is something alright... looks like that tailor of yours is worth their pay if they can make this happen." Taio would comment as she saw the clothes, the three very different sets being better laid out on the table at the moment as they started coming out from the torn bag. "Did you make the decision for these skirts or was it all her?" she would question the shared theme of the tight miniskirt on each otherwise fairly different set.

 

[Mind Flayer]

"Mmm, at least it wasn't a bomb. Gosh maybe I'm just getting really paranoid," Adelle sighed softly to Taio and laying them all on the table to set them out.

"Yeah Josephine's the best around, and Rose helped pick them out, but I was the one that suggested them to her. I hope that Rizzet can make her able to materialize her claws and stuff, so that she still has her weapons and stuff at will too," she'd comment and enjoy the sight of the clothes. "Hmm, which outfit you think I should take with me to pick Rose up for her to change into?" Adelle asked Taio curiously as she looked over at her, and would take the two outfits she wouldn't be taking with her to the bedroom for now.

"Also Taio... you're really good with hand to hand combat. Do uh, do you think you could teach me how to fight better at hand to hand?" Adelle asked after picking out the outfit to take with her.

 

[Guan Yu]

"For something like this? The sweater set. The office lady getup is a little too formal for a casual thing like this in my book, and while I am a fan of the corset dress I think that's not the right pick either. The sweater and skirt are very comfy and casual, that would hit my marks for something like this." Taio would offer her opinion, for what it was worth in the grand scheme of things.

"I'm not THAT good, but I've had to brawl it out in the many business calls of the past, so I might be able to teach you something."

 

[Mind Flayer]

"Mmm, agreed," Adelle replied with a nod and smiled when Taio told her she could teach her a thing or two.

"Well, the thing is, there's this woman, two of them actually, that work for that Miguel bastard, One of them, she was originally with the girls I work with from time to time, and she has this aura... that says if you get near her, she Will fucking kill you, and there's not a damned thing you can do about it. And the other woman, is more a business like one, who really just pisses me off because she betrayed me, but I'm positive that she could handle herself in a fight nonetheless. I'll admit, that first one I mentioned... she put that aura out next to me once and I damn near pissed in my pants..." Adelle would go on to say as she picked out the sweater and skirt for Rose. "Even Rose gave pause to her aura, and Rose nearly made me piss my pants too the first time I met her," she'd add.

 

[Guan Yu]

"Sounds like a tough cookie. But not completely new, one of the patriarchs in my past was a juggernaut of a fighter and could manifest something similar. It even made the dragon tattoo on his back light up with power when I saw it happen one time." Taio would share a similar experience from her own past. "But that probably won't make me back out if I'm interested in the throwdown."

 

[Mind Flayer]

"Wow... that sounds intense," Adelle commented, and smirked at Taio. "Be careful with her though hon. She's a killer, and when I say a killer, I mean she will murder you without even thinking twice. I'd hate to lose a friend, and a lover," she'd add after a moment and lean over to kiss Taio on the lips.

"When I get Rose back I'll take you over to the guild I work through so you can meet everyone if you'd like. It's a good place to get some work done if you wanna," Adelle told her after the kiss, getting her own clothing on to go and get Rose after she was ready.

 

[Guan Yu]

"Might not be that bad of an idea. Money's not something I have lot of right now and getting more clothes would be nice, given I only have this set of clothing and the yukata..." Taio would agree to see the bounty hunter bar and what they had to offer soon after the first task of the day was dealt with.

Heading on over to Rizzet's would make the reunion with Rose a snappy event, her being at the main room with Luna as the pair entered. The large girl now had her normally proportioned hands, though they retained their claw shape even in this smaller form. Nonetheless, the dexterity they had been looking to get seemed to be achieved as she was deftly separating different berries into their own jars without squishing them, having apparently decided to give a little help in the ingredient management while she was waiting to be picked up.

 

[Mind Flayer]

Adelle nodded and they headed out to Rizzet's mage tower, and when they arrived Adelle hugged Rose. "Oh hey, Josephine sent the package with your new clothes over. I brought some over for you to change into so you can look nice and stuff," Adelle told Rose, pulling the package with the outfit she'd brought for Rose to change into out of her backpack, and making sure to help Rose get them on, or at least showing her what buttoned where.

 

[Guan Yu]

With all of the people present familiar to her, Rose was quite willing to exchange into her new outfit then and there, the usual she had worn until then coming off by her own hand now that she could open the metal hinges unaided. For just a moment she was there topless, the pencil skirt going on first, the only thing that needed closing being the zipper that went partially down the height of it to allow easier wearing. While it was a bit higher on the waist, the lower part of the shiny skirt reached just barely onto the middle of the large girl's thighs. The sweater was an easier deal, only needing to be pulled over and down while making sure there were no new and unnecessary holes made by the ever-present horn of Rose, especially with the turtleneck desing making the neck area a place of care.

With her new clothes, Rose would look like a warm and comfy mom in her sweater. The white sweater and black skirt worked fairly well with her usual shoes, so there was no need for different ones with this particular costume. The large loose sleeves on the sweater looked a bit out of place but were still necessary to avoid tearing them if there ever was a situation where the large girl reverted her claws to their bigger size.

 

[Mind Flayer]

"Well... how's it feel? Feel nice?" Adelle asked Rose, happily helping her get the clothes on, and making sure she had them on properly, but letting her get it on for the most part herself, so that she knew just how to get it done in the instance that Adelle wasn't around.

As soon as Rose was fully dressed, Adelle would hug her and peck her on the cheek. "You look beautiful. And, you got some dexterity now too with your hands. I mean... i-if that's okay and all I mean..." Adelle said as she hugged Rose, finding the larger girl to be so huggable and feeling very attracted to her, even before her hands had changed.

 

[Guan Yu]

"It's... warmer than my usual clothes, covers more and the fabric is thicker. But I have never worn anything else besides that so..." Rose would point out, her skimpy usual clothes being easy to improve on. "Why wouldn't it be okay? Yes, I was used to my state but... it feels embarrassing to rely on other people for the most basic of things, so I welcome this change. And it's not like... I can't switch back to that state." she would go on and demonstrate, holding a hand on her horn and focusing, which would make her claws grow again. Thankfully Josephine's work had taken this into account and the claws would fill out the large sleeves without straining them, letting the display come and go as Rose would go back to her smaller hands again.

 

[Mind Flayer]

"Yeah that's true I guess. I'm just happy for you is all. And... I love that I've got such a good friend as you," Adelle told her and kissed her on the cheek again as she hugged her, clearly happy for Rose, and glad that she liked her new hands.

"Well, if you'd like, we can head back home while you adjust to having those. But I was gonna take Taio to the guild to show her around, see if she might like any jobs that they had to make herself some money," Adelle would say after a few moments, and if Rose was ready to leave, she'd say thanks to Rizzet and Luna both before bidding them farewell for now, and heading to the guild hall with Taio and Rose both, to see about getting Taio set up with them, and to get her some work for making a bit of cash.

 

[Guan Yu]

Rizzet himself would not be present as thank yous were shared, Luna telling the girls that his work on Rose had left him fairly tired and he was having his rest to get back to normal operation sooner tahn later. But she would assure that the message would reach him once he was out and about again. This would free the girls up to do as they pleased, and would involve taking a brief detour to drop Rose off at the home, where she would go on to try all sorts of things with her newfound dexterity, leaving the duo to go on their way to the hunter bar and see what was up.

As soon as they entered the place however, an ominous, tense atmosphere would hit the two, the usually jovial regulars looking rather concerned and quiet. A female of slightly smaller stature than Adelle was standing and looking around in the middle of the hall, nobody stepping up but once the two entered, she made a beeline for them. This girl was dressed in a rather girly and colorful way, the getup on her being made up of primarily pink, white and purple, with a beret decorated by several pins on her head. But this was contrasted by the large folded weapon in her left hand, a chunky, well-worn saw blade mounted on a double-bended handle. A holster strapped diagonally on her left side held what looked like the grip of one of those old time flintlock pistols, a fairly large one at that. She would come uncomfortably close, holding out a stack of money to Adelle, probably a payment from a job. "I want you to have this." she would speak in a voice slightly louder than a whisper, making eye contact all the time. Something in her eyes, those deep pits of bright blue, was telling the busty the girl that she should accept unless she wanted bad things to happen. While she was hardly aggressive, that intense stare and the general unease of the atmosphere suggested something was not quite right with her.

 

[Mind Flayer]

"Thanks a bunch Luna. Tell him I really appreciate what he did," Adelle told Luna before they headed out.

Adelle would take them back home first, so Rose could relax and get used to her new hands. Once she was there, Adelle got her plate of food she'd made her earlier out of the microwave for Rose to eat, making sure it was heated up first. "Don't worry too much about cleaning up unless you just want to Rose. Take some time, get used to the hands. I'm gonna run Taio over to the guild and show her around," Adelle would tell Rose before they left.

When they arrived at the guild hall shortly after, Adelle was a little worried by just how quiet everyone seemed to be. When she looked at the girl that rushed over to her, Adelle was about to defend herself. But, she seemed... oddly familiar somehow. "O-Oh, okay thanks a bunch. I... hmm... you look familiar. Please forgive me if I can't remember. I've had a long week. But... have we met?" Adelle would say to the girl, trying to be friendly and putting on her best friendly face, even if the girl seemed to make everyone else, aside from Taio most likely, uneasy.

 

[Guan Yu]

"No, I don't think we have." the weird girl would answer Adelle's suspicions, before bowing ever so slightly and walking past her as she pulled out a paper that looked like another job detail as she did. Only after a minute of her departure did the mood seem to settle down to the usual it had most often been, the tension vanishing as her presence did. Even Samson and the barkeep, who were usually the coolest of cucumbers around had been shaken by her being there.

 

[Mind Flayer]

"Oh... I see. W-Well, what's the pay here for then?" Adelle replied as the girl prepared to leave.

Afterwards, Adelle would walk over to Samson's table and sat down. "Who was she exactly?" Adelle asked him, still a bit unsure of just what was going on. "Also this is Taio. Rose and I met her on our last outing for the old wizard Rizzet," she'd add after a few moments, introducing Taio to him.

 

[Guan Yu]

There would be no further things to be said, so Adelle had her plan set to see Samson. "I really don't know to be honest. She showed up here a few days ago and asked for a job. I was not quite sure if I should just blindly trust someone who came in like that but... I did give her a simple bounty on a crook." he would explain what he knew of this girl. "But, she would come back fairly quickly with the bounty from the police station, and was already asking for another one. I was not quite ready to hand her a new one this quick but... she would not take that answer and would just repeat the question and start with the stare, which she would not let up with until I agreed to hand out a new one. And if anyone tried to interfere, she's stare them down too."

A brief pause would take place for a cigar lighting before Samson would go on. "Weirdest thing is, she always hands out the payment to some random person before leaving on another job, and she'll stay as long as it takes to get someone to accept. One of the regulars tried to argue against it and hold back against her staredown but he started to have a sudden stinging headache and feelings of nausea after a period of locking gazes with her. She doesn't seem to sleep or eat, and was here waiting for me today when I came from home. According to the barman, she had been sitting there for almost a dozen hours without any human needs being filled besides drinking a half glass of water he brought her after a while. I mean... I'm not sad that someone clearly capable is willing to do these jobs but I'm going to run out of things if she keeps coming back every couple of hours."

 

[Mind Flayer]

"Huh... well I mean I'm never one to turn down free money and all. But I swear she seems familiar somehow. I just can't place it. Maybe she's just one of those people who seems familiar or something," Adelle hummed softly, looking at the girl as she left. "She's sounds almost like... a robot, or an android or something. Hmm, maybe even like that girl from that space station I keep running into every now and then," she'd add after a few moments.

"Anyway though, you got any jobs for us? Bounty or otherwise. Or has she taken them all?" Adelle asked after a few moments, chuckling as she finished.

 

[Guan Yu]

"While I'd be ready to argue for the whole robot thing, I have this nagging thought that she is somehow not. There's something else going on with her, and I'm not sure if I like it. Her presence always puts everyone on edge. I'm considering sending someone to follow her and see what she does, but if she always has the bounties I doubt it's anything unusual..." the man would explain his thoughts a little further. "But I do have a request that came from this... peculiarly dressed other woman for some help. Something about cleaning a creature nest?"

 

[Mind Flayer]

"Hmm... maybe you're right. But then again it probably wouldn't hurt to see just... you know, what she's been doing. Just in case. Obviously you'll want someone who's Very good at stealth. And unfortunately that isn't me, heh," Adelle chuckled softly before asking about a job for her, and Taio if she wanted to join her.

"Mmm, yeah I don't mind that. Taio? You wanna come with, see what's what? Split the cash too?" Adelle would say when he mentioned the creature nest, looking over at Taio and accepting the job regardless of if Taio wanted to come or not, and figuring if Taio didn't want to join her, she should be able to handle it alone, surely.