(no subject)

[julibahana]

"How do you feel?"

Juli felt anxious for Giorno, though she tried her best not to let it show. And true enough, her words came out sounding unworried and confident. Because even though she was concerned for Giorno, she knew that if there were anyone in this world who could help Jojo, it was him.

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[unchill_chuck]

~~

It was quiet in his workshop—so far so good. No one had run to him with anything broken that day, whether it was a watch or a relationship. Still, he wasn’t exactly lounging…

“God, why do I keep saying yes?” Chilchuck, despite his every attempt to enjoy his meager moments of respite, kept filling his time with special requests from Zelda to inspect whatever new relic that was unearthed from the big dang hole that nearly killed him. The latest was a strange engraved cylinder—its locking mechanism wasn’t clear. It was covered in rotating rings of what seemed like stars. His immediate guess was mapping out a constellation, but it probably came from a world where the stars looked nothing like they did here, so plan B was bypassing the puzzle with his trusty lockpicking set.

“Hey! Councilman? Are you in here?” Someone yelled—a young lady.

He looked up to the open door, his large eyes squinting as they adjusted to the bright sunlight flooding in. “You need something?”

[takeba]

"Sorry," rang out Yukari's voice. "I hope we're not interrupting."

[unchill_chuck]

“Nothing urgent.” Chilchuck put the relic down and grabbed a rag. He slipped out of the chair—a normal height for a person but a high one for him—and got a good look at them. “Ah, a newbie.”

“This pretty gal is Yukari.” Iris gestured up and down at her. “I’m showing her around—she’s pretty skilled with a bow. Cool, huh?”

Chilchuck hummed as he approached. Another tallman from the looks of it. A young one—-plenty of those running around. “An archer, huh?” ‘Not exactly dressed the part.’

[takeba]

This guy looked even younger than she was. And he studied archery too?

"Well, I do in my school's archery club."

[unchill_chuck]

“Ah.” Chilchuck’s expression didn’t change much. “Have any experience shooting at anything moving?”

[takeba]

"Yeah." Yukari hoped Chilchuck didn't prod much about what kind of moving things she was shooting at.

[unchill_chuck]

"Such as?"

[takeba]

"Um. Moving targets?"

[unchill_chuck]

"Um. Okay." 'Not a response I'd stake anyone's life on.' Even if he was nice enough to keep that bit to himself, his expression said it all. "Let me try this...are you looking to contribute with those skills?"

[takeba]

"I guess I really didn't think about that." Now Yukari was feeling even more uncomfortable than she was before the interrogation started.

[unchill_chuck]

“Hey, I was just showing Yukari around today, y’know? Give her a chance to get a lay of the land.” Iris laughed in an attempt to break the tension, putting her hands on the back of the other girl’s shoulders.

Chilchuck rubbed the back of his head and stepped back to set his rag down. “My mistake. I thought this was a pitch. Well…I’m sure you’ll find some way you prefer to contribute. As far as what I run—“

Beep.

Chilchuck turned towards the small window right above his desk, and— “GYAH!”

A shocking blue eye gazed down at him, unblinking. The sight of it was replaced with a long mechanical tendril snaking in to drop a bag at his feet. Chilchuck caught his breath and shouted after it as it retracted its appendage. “Damn it, Zelda! Don’t sneak up on me with those things! They freak me out!”

A young blonde woman gestured in apology as she rounded the corner of the door. “I’m sorry, Mr. Chilchuck! I just wanted to show you how far the guardian tech has come…their fine motor skills have come so far in just days!”

“Yeah, so you can shove more weird crap on me to look at.” He gestured at the other pair. “Look, just make nice while I get it out of the way.”

“Oh.” Zelda looked from Iris to the unfamiliar girl beside her. “A new arrival, then? Well met.”

[takeba]

Yukari was relieved by the intrusion. "Yeah, nice to meet you!" she said cheerily for what felt like the millionth time that week. "I'm Yukari. Yukari Takeba."

[scholarandaprincess]

“I’m Zelda. I serve on the council, but my research keeps me busiest so…please don’t be alarmed if you see the odd mechanical beast following me around.”

“Nah, Yukari doesn’t look scared at all. Unlike some.” Iris thought she was quiet enough but grinned apologetically when Chilchuck shot a glare over his shoulder.

[takeba]

"Takes a lot more than that to scare me."

Yukari didn't want to admit that she had definitely seen weirder. And not on TV or movies, either. Things had changed a lot since she first joined SEES, though.

"So... you research robots?"

[scholarandaprincess]

Iris pulled up a seat to make herself comfortable. There was no asking that and getting a short answer back from Zelda.

“Of a sort…my focus is what’s called ‘ancient Sheikah technology. You see, in my kingdom, we unearthed artifacts from an ancient civilization. Just last month we unearthed the very same technology near here! It has all kind of applications from medicine to agriculture to architecture and even defense. I’m applying it now to assist my efforts in understanding this world we’re in.”

[takeba]

"Oh." That didn't go entirely over Yukari's head, but she got the feeling that if she kept asking questions, it would get to the point where it would. "Have you found anything else?"

[scholarandaprincess]

“Quite a lot! We have a dig site set up—everything unearthed goes through processing for safety, for use, curses, research potential, or cultural significance. I oversee that, so a survey will be making its way to you at some point soon. You’re not obligated to participate, but I would hate if something showed up from your world showed up there and you were none the wiser.” Zelda took her first breath in awhile. “Speaking of…if I may ask, where are you from?”

[takeba]

"Oh, um, Japan. On Earth." Yukari had encountered plenty of people from Earth (or some variant of it), but she had met just as many from somewhere completely else. She got the feeling Zelda was from somewhere completely else.

[scholarandaprincess]

Zelda made a mental note of that as she nodded in familiarity. Many people there were from ‘Earth’, but—

“Oh! Did you say Japan?”

[takeba]

"Yeah, do you know it?"

[scholarandaprincess]

“Giorno has family from there, in fact. He’s fluent.”

[takeba]

"I wonder if we're from the same place," Yukari said. Not Japan, but the same Earth. There were plenty of people out there who came from a totally different Earth than she had. "Maybe I should meet him."

[unchill_chuck]

“You should. He’s not taking visitors at the moment, but give it a few days.” Chilchuck dusted his hands off and straightened out his back as he finished hauling the bags of things onto the right shelves.

Iris whistled. “Wow. You already have something in common with the golden boy. I’ll have to tell Juli to watch out.”

Zelda laughed in a wispy manner and gestured for Iris to keep her voice down. “Well, that’s not…”

Chilchuck sighed and had to resist asking Zelda if Shepard was nearby so he could have an excuse to remove himself from whatever teen drama was brewing.

[takeba]

"What?" Yukari felt like she was out of the loop here.

[scholarandaprincess]

“Where is Juli anyway?”

“Um…I think I saw her about with Giorno just a few minutes ago—“

“Wow! This must be the first bit of sunshine he’s gotten all week.” Iris shot out of her seat. “Hey, Yukari, wanna see if we can catch them?”