step one ❚ a flight on clipped wings ( video )

[steelettos]

( the only reason you're seeing this feed is because lenalee has accidentally fallen on the device. she hasn't got a clue that it's been turned on and that it's currently filming the scenario before her -

which is a family room of sorts with the npc owners of said family room standing all around her, a mixed expression of surprise, disbelief and wtf-are-you-doing-here on their faces. above them, a great hole in their ceiling, much thanks to her activating her boots midair. not that it helped, but at least it missed light fixture. )

A, ah - ( nervous chuckle from the person who's lying on top of a ruined center table, whose usually prim uniform is now covered in dust and debris. ) - I'm terribly sorry to barge in. I usually use the door and I, I promise I'm not a thief -

( hastily said, with hands raised even.

she looks around, giving the device a glimpse of her briefly panic-stricken face, then turns back to the house owners. ) - But may please I borrow your phone?

Comments

[steelettos]

Lenalee is fine. It's strange for me when someone calls me Miss Lee.

( it's like the inspector calling her.

her smile does get bigger at his next response. it's a pleasant surprise, meeting others like this. especially since most of her chinese acquaintances are also people from the order. )

Are you from the mainland?

[mortemscintilla]

Lenalee it is, then. But only if you call me Li.

[ He's past the point of potential homesickness, or delight at meeting fellow countrymen. He's spent a majority of his time in South America, in warzones along Brazil and Paraguay. It was those experiences -- Heaven's War -- that shaped his personality. But he understands the benefits of a common ground. With a good-natured smile, he says, ]

I've only spent a few years there. Shanghai, specifically. But most of my childhood, I lived in Hong Kong. A few summers in Macau, too. [ Truth? Fiction? Maybe it's a little bit of both. (Or maybe it's whatever you want to hear.) ]

[steelettos]

( it's going to be weird, calling someone li. like her name. )

Mm, it's a deal.

( she listens intently since while she has gone back and forth from the asian to the european headquarters, it's still - different for her. )

I've only been there a few times - and mostly for business. You must have traveled a lot then.

[mortemscintilla]

[ (If it's any consolation, Li isn't his real name. Then again, neither is it Hei.) ]

A little bit. Most of it was for [ espionage and wetwork ] studies. How about you? You mentioned business. [ There's a good-natured tilt to his smile. ] Are you an up-and-coming entrepreneur?

[steelettos]

( gotta love secret identities. everything's a secret. )

Ah - no, not at all. ( she laughs and shakes her head. ) I'm what you would consider a traveling priest. Or nun. Whichever you want to call it.

[mortemscintilla]

[ (Welcome to Hei's life. One big secret, surrounded by a bunch of subsidiary lies and secrets. Beautiful deceptions shooting in all directions.) ]

A nun? [ He sounds understandably shocked. ] B-But you seem so young. I-I mean -- [ He still holds the stereotype that nuns are middle-aged matrons with somber smiles and penguin-esque habits. Clearing his throat, he asks, ] What order do you belong to? Are you a bhikkhuni? [ Because if you are, you're hair's fabulously long. ]

[steelettos]

( lmfao here we have hei, stereotyping nuns. she laughs, amused. )

I was raised in the Church, that's why. I guess when you've lived much of life there, you end up staying there for the rest of it.

( WRONG. it's only because she can't - escape. )

Ah - it's a bit complicated, the order I belong to. ( since technically, they "don't exist". ) But I guess you could we're directly under the Vatican's wing.

[mortemscintilla]

[ He can't help it. You don't meet any nuns in the killing trade! :< ]

Directly under the Vatican's wing, huh? That sounds really important. [ Secret organizations ftw!!! Teasingly, he asks, ] You're not one of those assassin priests or warlock nuns like from the video games, are you?

[steelettos]

The Order itself, perhaps. ( she refrains herself from saying but not the people.

and then she laughs again at his question, somehow feeling more and more - trapped, in a sense. aha aha ahaaa. )

Nothing that amazing. It's still against the Church's edicts to harm another human being.

[mortemscintilla]

[ He notes that uncomfortable little laugh, but resists the instinct to prod further. (Or the instinct to ask: What about those who aren't human beings?) Instead, ]

Well... the City's not exactly the most religious or ecumenical place. But it does have a pretty Cathedral. Maybe you can visit it when you get the chance.

[steelettos]

Ah - ( she's not the religious type either. but then, if it's a viable source of info ... ) - I didn't even know there's one here. But thank you, I will.

[mortemscintilla]

Neither did I. I sort of stumbled upon in during [ early reconnaissance ] a walk. It's ... a peaceful place.

[ Past circumstances (war -- death -- betrayal) have cultivated a fondness for monastic settings in Hei. ]

[steelettos]

( when people are not getting dragged into holy wars, sure. )

Is it far from the Welcome Center?

[mortemscintilla]

[ s-sob the mention of war makes him eyetwitch a little. (Might be related to his little sister erasing half of South America in the last war he fought in ._.b ) ]

About a block or so. You can't miss it.

[steelettos]

( mm wars. good times, good times. )

Looks like I've no choice but to drop by then. Do you know who's in charge of the church or ... ?

[mortemscintilla]

[ Great for character-building, though. And. Hooking up with really badass chicks. Who turn around and stab you in the back, but that's neither here nor there. ]

It seems to be open to the public, more or less. But I hear they have rooms too, if you ever want to stay there. [ Several people from his CR chart have, in the past. ]

[steelettos]

( there there. there's always one somewhere down the road. )

Aah, I think I would prefer staying somewhere else. It's less - ( suffocating ) - imposing on other people who live there.