Act 1, Scene 1: CEO ☆ S2FpYmE=

[opening_act]

[ A notification on your phone goes off, letting you know the purchase of your meeting with Exael has gone through.

There is an attachment. Where are you, when you open it? ]

Comments

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

[Then that's the building he's headed for]

Satisfied with your choice?

[opening_act]

[ An elevator is waiting for him in the lobby, which takes him up to a fully furnished floor, judging by the halls. If he follows his map to Exael's door, he'll find her apartment unlocked. It's cavernous, which isn't a descriptor you'd expect to apply to any apartment in any Tokyo, but there you go. She has her ceiling tented with fabric and the walls, alternating wide pastel stripes, a trapeze (why), a wall that's pink neon signs and lava lamps, and out her window is a view of the place you were just at before— those spires and stars are distinctive.

She's hanging upside-down from her trapeze, phone in one hand.

He can see she looks a little worse for wear. She's got a bloody lip, gold ichor crusted at the side, and her skin seems kind of see-through luminescent in places. Maybe they're bruises and she waves at him with the hand holding the phone ]

And so our guest arrives!

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

So I have. Hello, Exael.

[Walks until he is standing directly underneath her]

You going to come down or do you prefer to be up there?

[opening_act]

Will you catch me if I fall?

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

Of course.

[opening_act]

[ drops off her trapeze! ]

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

[And catching!

More to get a closer look to see if she's human than anything]

[opening_act]

[ mmmostly? do humans usually bleed gold ichor.

if you're going to stare at her like that tho, after a moment you feel her form in your arms changing. her limbs lengthen, and. . . those aren't eyelashes, huh? they're feathers. Her eyes are all full of stars, the same as the ones out the window. ]

Looking for this?

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

[His eyes do widen slightly but:]

Not exactly.

More curious about what happened to you at the end of that Horror House?

[Pointedly looking at the gold ichor on her lip]

Seems like you upset your boss. Azzy, was it?

[opening_act]

Oh, he isn't my boss.

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

Another actor then?

[opening_act]

Getting colder.

[ and she'll go back to her smaller form, stretching her arms behind her head ]

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

Looks like I'm missing a few pieces then.

What was it about the game that got you in trouble?

[opening_act]

Good host tips! When the game makers give you a template, they probably don't want you applying it to their boss's vacation home! I don't think Azzy liked it, especially since I didn't clean up his mess first.

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

Slipped your mind, I'm sure.

[Finally setting Exael on her feet]

So what is dear old Azzy's job title?

[opening_act]

[ on her feet now, so she has to look way up to talk to Kaiba. Since her hologram usually floats, how short she is doesn't really come up most times. ]

You haven't guessed? He's one of the producers.

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

Does that mean he's at the top of the food chain?

[opening_act]

"One of the".

[ She repeats ]

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

So not the Executive Producer then.

. . .

So are we going to keep doing this ridiculous back and forth, hinting at the cards in our hands. Why'd you indulge this little meeting request? What do you get out of this?

[opening_act]

I think if I give you info now, you're more likely to do what I want later! We'll see how it turns out.

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

[He gives the room a once over, gaze lingering on those stars outside before finally giving his full attention back to Exael]

Is this also being recorded?

[opening_act]

[ They are as dizzying as they were when viewed from the street ]

Not unless someone's bugged my apartment.

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

Then let's speak plainly. If you are offering an alliance, then I am accepting provided that our end goals are of a compatible nature.

[opening_act]

I'm not yet. I don't have that much to gain out of it. You can try again when you have something good to offer.

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

Touche.

But in order to be able to offer something good, I'll need to know what you want.