Ball of Stress [Open]

Renji had been to the welcoming halls of Sabertooth’s castle a few times already, but he had never really sat down and interacted with anyone. Part of it was due to his anxiety, and the other part was he needed to keep himself busy. This meant that Renji had gone and done a couple of jobs already on his own, but not entirely on his own for there were other people. Renji knew that he would need to build connections within the guild as that was the essence of one. Connections to establish friends who more than likely fight alongside him when the time comes, but that time isn’t here yet thankfully.

At that point, Renji found himself at one of the guild halls within Ace of Spades. It wasn’t as grand as the big one in the castle, but still warming enough to feel welcomed. What Renji was slowly beginning to realize, it was actually a lot harder to strike up a conversation out of the blue. He seated himself over at a booth as he held a drink of OJ in his hand. Renji’s amber eyes shifted from one new person to another, and a couple of times he just wanted to ask them how their day was. Yet it felt like there was something wrapped around his neck to where he couldn’t speak, and then he started to overthink with worry that he might be saying the wrong thing around here. He didn’t have that problem when Renji was out on the jobs! A sigh escaped from his lips as Renji cast his eyes downward at his table.

I don’t get it… It was a lot easier to talk to people and my clients. But I can’t even speak a single word outside of it. Granted this had always been a problem for Renji. If there wasn’t a clear goal of what he wanted to achieve, then he’d choke and worry too much. Yet he believed the attempt to talk to people is a clear goal, but then the problem became that he didn’t know who these people were. In which spiraled down to where he doesn’t know what to say that won’t offend them or what they like.

373 Words

Perhaps it was a bit too soon for Renji to try to randomly strike up a conversation with somebody. Renji thought he was ready for this, but in the end it felt like he overestimated himself a bit. He took a deep breath as his amber eyes shifted up to the board as some of the wizards crowded around for jobs.

”Maybe I’m just cut out for the social stuff. I’m sure there’s other wizards around here that’s like that too.” Renji muttered to himself as he wondered if he should go on another job or not. He’s not exactly an experienced wizard either, and Renji is not authorized to take on the more difficult jobs. So it wasn’t like he needed help unless it was with another Sabertooth of near equivalent to himself. As his mind mulled over the possibilities in the near future, Renji’s amber eyes subconsciously gradually shifted over. It was then that Renji realized that someone was staring at him, or at least he thought he was being stared at. He didn’t know how long her eyes were on him. Was he being weird? Did he stick out like a sore thumb or something? Renji didn’t think he wore anything flashy that would draw attention to himself.

There was hesitation from the brunette mage’s side as she raised her hand to wave at him. Renji responded in kind with a soft smile as he waved in acknowledgement. Truthfully Renji doesn’t actually know if she does sign language, but he strung together signs to form a question towards her without verbally speaking it. He felt like just getting up to talk to her might be a bit much as personal space was a thing. Renji already knows what it was like having someone approach him, especially if that person wasn’t someone he’s familiar with.

~~Are you studying for an upcoming exam?~~ A standard question in relation to the number of tomes Sybil had piled up on her table. Renji was too far away to make out any titles, but he was also at the wrong angle anyways for that.

352 WC

Dressed in her white Steel Matron band shirt and black skirt with white tennis shoes, Victoria left her room behind to visit Ace of Spades. She wanted to go grab something to drink that was not vodka or tequila. She was also going to look for another job to take. Beating up pirates was a lot easier than fighting demons and cultists, but she felt somewhat bad about what had happened during her voyage aboard The Traveling Merchant, a merchant vessel under the command of Captain Mercator.

Victoria had been hired to protect the ship from pirates and she had done just that, but what struck her was how one-sided the fight was. Victoria and the other people hired to protect the ship had all brought modern automatic weapons with them. The pirates had a collection of flintlock muskets and some bolt-action rifles and had numbers on their side, but that was not nearly enough to compare to what Victoria and the others had brought. The end result of the "fight" could be best described as murder.

Most of the pirates did not even get a chance to board The Traveling Merchant and the few who did did not last very long. In between the bolt-action rifles of the crew and the automatic weapons of the hired guns, the pirates did not have a chance. The greatest challenge the vessel's crew faced was cleaning the decks of all the blood and shell casings after the horribly one-sided fight.

Victoria was not terribly distressed by it since she was acting well within the law, but part of her could not help but feel bad for the pirates who expected easy prey only to get tossed into a lopsided battle they had no hope of winning.

Victoria put that out of her mind and instead focused on a pair of people in front of her. One was a new guy with black hair and white skin. The other was Sybil, the strawberry blonde she had met several days ago. The tall brunette figured that she should introduce herself to the new guy before she spoke to Sybil. Facing the new guy, she spoke to him.

"Hey there. I'm Victoria Sheridan!" Victoria introduced herself to him. She noticed Sybil a short distance away and waved at her.

[Post Word Count: 384]
[Victoria's Word Count: 384]

Perhaps it was a bit rude on Renji’s part for not getting closer to the petite mage. However, he felt like this was the comfortable approach for both of them. Even so, Sybil seemed hesitant to respond. Her response was relatively short, but Renji didn’t mind it albeit he was curious.

Perhaps reading books is just her hobby of sorts? Renji thought to himself as he didn’t verbally say it. Frankly he wasn’t well versed in many books especially if they’re complicated or rare to find. Still, Renji was about to inquire about the books when he noticed someone had approached him. His amber eyes shifted over to the new presence to see a short haired mage greeted him. The first thing his eyes fell on were her gray eyes, and frankly he was more surprised that he didn’t notice Victoria approaching him earlier.

”Uh… My name is Renji Sahano.” Renji didn’t know if something he did caused Sybil to be upset. However when she left in a hurry, Renji couldn’t help except to wonder if he did something wrong. Honestly he didn’t mean to have chased her away, but not much Renji could do. At the moment Renji cast aside those thoughts as he nervously chuckled and returned his attention over to Victoria.

”Sorry, I’ve only been here for a couple of weeks, but I’m still getting used to everyone here.” Renji admitted in an apologetic tone towards Victoria. He wasn’t exactly an extrovert, and striking up a random conversation without an objective in mind made it near impossible for him.

"Thanks for the welcome, Sybil. How's it... going...?" Victoria started to speak to the strawberry blonde when she got flustered, hurriedly packed up her books, and left in order to go to the library. The brunette blinked. Why was Sybil in such a hurry to leave?

Victoria stood by and watched Sybil depart without another word to either her or the new guy. The brunette saw the redness of her face and guessed that the strawberry blonde was a shy sort who was so painfully shy that she would rather flee elsewhere than risk looking like an idiot in front of someone she did not know. Victoria was not one to lecture on behavior like that because downing vodka like it was water was not a healthy coping mechanism for her problems. They were of a different sort and involved the awful memory of her first encounter with the demons named Maws Of Hell.

When she had met them in an underground crypt in Silent Cemetery, Victoria could hardly believe that such monstrosities existed. The brown blobs with horns and muscular arms and a single red eye were intimidating and had a rudimentary intelligence that allowed them to form into groups and coordinate their attacks for the best effect against lone targets or small groups of targets. Looking into their open mouths before they fired a flaming skull was a lot more terrifying than it sounded. The very first time she did so it looked like the mouth of Hell itself was opening to swallow the brunette.

That affected Victoria more than she was willing to admit. Who in their right mind would willingly summon such beings to the physical plane? Only cultists who were either supremely confident in their control over demons or cultists who were supremely desperate.

"It's no problem, Renji. I've been here for over a year and I still don't know everyone here." Victoria replied calmly to the latter's apology for not knowing everyone here. He had been part of Sabertooth for only a matter of weeks and she had been part of the guild for almost two years. He had a far better reason than her for not knowing everyone.

[Post Word Count: 365]
[Victoria's Word Count: 749]

It made sense that both Victoria and Sybil knew each other. Renji didn’t even know their names until then, albeit Sybil became known to him only because Victoria addressed the strawberry blonde as that. Yet Renji found it strange that Sybil was in such a rush to get out of there.

Were the books that important? Renji thought to himself as Victoria trailed off while Sybil ran off. It was odd as Renji didn’t think they said anything wrong to the strawberry blonde. Perhaps she was just that dedicated to whatever she was studying in? Granted Renji wasn’t familiar with what would get someone dedicated to their books, but if there was anything Renji could relate to was the search for answers in knowledge.

Frankly Renji didn’t really press into the matter as he felt like he shouldn’t pry into matters when it could have been something personal. Yet he felt conflicted especially after Victoria replied. Renji assumed that Victoria had other reasons as to why she doesn’t know a good portion of the guild by this point, but it just meant Renji should try to establish a good connection with the guild. Being too disconnected with the people could have bad effects, Renji reckoned. The teen lifted his glass to drink the remains of his juice when his amber eyes spied something in Sybil’s booth. There were loose sheets of paper on the cushion, not many of course, but enough for Renji to have noticed.

This sparked an idea in Renji’s head as he could use this moment as an excuse. Not just for himself or Sybil’s, but to Victoria as well. Renji set his glass back down as it was drained of its contents.

”Seems like uh… Sybil was it? She forgot some papers over there.” He started as the teen stood up on his feet as he paid his respects to mind the space between Victoria and himself. The Phoenix approached Sybil’s booth where he picked up the notes and his eyes skimmed over what was written. His mind was curious as to what exactly Sybil was looking into, but Renji shook his head as he dismissed the thoughts. He turned his attention over to Victoria as he held up the bundle in his hands.

”I don’t know if these notes are important to your friend, but let’s give them to her. She might need them.” If Sybil was a researcher then all the more reason they should get it back to her. That moment was a prompt to give Victoria a push to follow Sybil, and perhaps Sybil would be more comfortable talking to them.

439 WC | Renji: 1,426

Victoria watched Sybil depart in a hurry and wondered why the strawberry blonde was so quick to leave Ace of Spades.

Was it something that she had heard about Victoria? Was she afraid of Victoria's power level but was too ashamed to tell the brunette to her face? Was she such a bibliophile that she had to get to the library right this instant? Or was she really that shy around new people?

Victoria was inclined to think that her power level was the cause of Sybil's discomfort. Almost everyone she had met was comfortable with her power level. While a few people here and there were intimidated, they were never outright afraid... as far as Victoria knew, anyway. Most people were happy to work with the second-strongest mage in Sabertooth because she had more than enough firepower to back them up in a fight. She could also heal her teammates if they got hurt during a job, giving her the flexibility to take a frontline or supporting role as needed. Maybe the brunette had too high an opinion of herself and Sybil had a more mundane reason for leaving in a hurry.

Victoria had no idea what that reason could be. She was not inclined to pursue the strawberry blonde and was going to leave her to her own devices when the new guy picked up some notes that Sybil had left behind and arranged them into a neat stack that he then presented to the brunette. He suggested that the pair follow her and return the notes to their rightful owner.

Victoria looked at Renji and debated the wisdom of pursuing Sybil when she wanted to be alone.

It did not take very long for Victoria to make up her mind.

"OK Renji, let's follow her and return the notes!" Victoria voiced her agreement with his suggestion after only a few moments of thought. No one had ever accused Victoria of overthinking an issue. This was no exception. Victoria saw that Sybil had left her notes and she and Renji would return them to the strawberry blonde before she ventured too deep into the library to be easily found.

[Post Word Count: 361]
[Victoria's Word Count: 1,110]

For a moment there it was like Renji suggested an odd choice to Victoria. Perhaps she was the type to leave people alone to allow them to cope on their own? Renji knew that does work on some people, but others tend to cope differently. Besides as far as he was aware they haven't said anything wrong to Sybil. Aside from that, Renji saw this as an opportunity of getting to know his guildmates.

Once Victoria took the notes and agreed to follow after her friend. Renji's expression remained the same with a smile on his lips and nodded his head in agreement.

"Agreed. Let's get going then." Renji admitted to Victoria as being on a couple of jobs had also gotten him to explore the area more. At the very least Renji knew of the major facilities available in the Ace of Spades. Granted Renji kept the possibility of there being multiple libraries in this private resort with an open mind. Even so Sybil had quite a headstart from them, and she seemed to have been quick on her feet too. So it took Renji quite a bit of time to reach this library, albeit Victoria certainly could reach faster than he could.

Granted this certainly wasn't any of Renji's business to meddle in other people's affairs. However, at the same time how could he have been anyone's real friend if he doesn't lend them a hand or two when they need it? Even if they didn't ask for it, Renji didn't feel obligated to help both Victoria and Sybil. Rather he wanted to help them. Perhaps that was odd to some people, but it was who he is.

Post WC: 280 | Renji: 1,706

The path to the Ace of Spades’ library wasn’t complicated, but it at least took Renji a few minutes to reach said library. Between Victoria and himself they were relatively quiet as they hurried over to the library. It wasn’t like they really had anything else to say really, or at least that’s what Renji thought. With the sun glaring at them from above, Renji saw the fluffy white clouds gathered within the horizon. Above it was a clear, solid blue sky, and frankly he wondered if he could discover a spell to fly. It was a thought that occurred to him, but as they drew closer a turn along the streets Renji casted away the thought for the time being.

Eventually, the pair came upon the library as Renji stopped to catch his breath. Not necessarily winded, but the adrenaline in him was making it a little bit difficult to think clearly. Renji entered the library as the door opened with a familiar chime that alerts the librarian and the other patrons within the building. The librarian had a serious expression on her face that Renji opted not to talk to her. It wasn’t that he found her intimidating, but she definitely had that aura where she doesn’t want to be talked to. So instead of just calling out, Renji searched via magic sensory to find any non-hidden sources of magic which included people. Much to his dismay, the sensing for magic didn’t narrow down which one was Sybil.

Even so, Renji lets out a low sigh before he would turn his attention over to Victoria with a faint smile on his face.

”I don’t suppose you have an idea on what subject Sybil tends to favor?” Renji tried his best to keep it into a whisper, but also still clear enough for Victoria to hear him. Who knows? Maybe Sybil would hear him as well, but something told him that Sybil isn’t comfortable around him.

Post WC: 328

Victoria followed Renji to the guild library for her first-ever visit to the guild library and found it after following him around for a bit. It took the two of them a few minutes to find the library, but once they located the place they entered with the quiet expected of patrons of the library. The librarian stared at them like she wanted nothing to do with them, which was fine by Victoria. She would not bother anyone who did not want to talk to her and Renji did not seem like he wanted to chat with the stern woman either, so the pair kept going.

Victoria and Renji kept going and the brunette hit upon the idea of using her magic sensory ability to try and ferret out Sybil. The moment she used it she detected quite a few magic signatures; there were so many in the building that it was hard to pick out which one of them was the missing strawberry blonde. After a minute or two of trying Victoria just gave up on the endeavor and resolved to find Sybil the old-fashioned way by combing every floor of the structure.

Renji apparently had the same idea at roughly the same time as Victoria because he asked the latter what subject Sybil liked to read about the most. That was an easy and clever way of finding the missing mage without spending all day combing every last inch of the library for her. Unfortunately, there was one small problem with that plan.

Victoria did not know which subject Sybil liked to read about the most!

"Dude, I have no idea what Sybil likes to read about!" Victoria whispered to Renji so that the vigilant woman behind the desk would not swoop down on the pair like a pissed-off bird of prey. The woman continued to glare at them like they were hyperactive children planning to run around the library and knock over the shelves or something. Victoria did not like the woman's attitude and she might take the matter up with Itori, Gaia, or Imai. The brunette was a member of Sabertooth in fairly good standing and she was not going to take any guff from an ill-tempered librarian.

[Post Word Count: 372]
[Victoria's Word Count: 1,482]

With Victoria held no clue as to what subject Sybil was interested in, Renji could only think of doing the search in the old fashioned way. And that was to seek out each signature until they found the mage.

"Well then I guess we'll do this the old fashioned way. I guess I'll cover the west and you cover the east-" Renji stopped when the woman of the hour came around the corner, who was accompanied by an unfamiliar face. Sybil was surprised to see Victoria, but the second those eyes were turned towards Renji he could tell that she was uncomfortable to say the least. Even as she questioned as to why he of all people was here, Sybil was rudely interrupted when a book was thrown at her so hard that it made the poor girl fall on her back. The culprit was the cranky librarian who really became foul with disdain.

The blue haired mage was familiar with Victoria as well, and frankly Renji was starting to think that Victoria knew a lot more people than she thinks. Velvet stated that she couldn't remember his name, to which he chuckled in response.

"I'd be surprised if you did. I haven't exactly been social with anyone for the past couple of months, but my name is Renji Sahano. However, I suggest we take this conversation outside so that we won't have another book flying at someone's head." Renji stated as he took a step to the side with a pivot and half-extended his left hand towards the entrance/exit. It was more of a suggestion technically, but if it keeps the librarian from knocking people out with books then Renji thinks that would satisfy both parties. Granted the books that fell by strange means, Renji registered that simply fell because of physics and poorly stacking skills.

WC: 307

"Yeah, guess we'd better split up and go find... Sybil..." Victoria trailed off as Velvet and Sybil appeared before them. The cat chick greeted them politely while Sybil expressed surprise that Victoria and Renji had followed her to the library. Sybil was about to say more when a book flew towards her head and knocked the hapless strawberry mage to the floor. Victoria turned her head and saw the librarian pointing a finger at the door after issuing a stern admonition to "get studying or leave."

Victoria hit the roof. Her teeth clenched and she frowned deeply. That hateful old crone had just made a big mistake in throwing a book at Sybil.

The livid brunette bent down to pick up the book that had been thrown at the younger mage. She scooped it up in her right hand while her left hand remained balled into a fist. She would return the book to its sender.

"Hang on guys, I'm gonna deal with this." Victoria said to them, barely able to keep control of her emotions. She hated bullies with every fiber of her being. She hated them almost as much as she did slavers and that was saying something.

Years ago before she met Lawrence Sheridan Victoria had been the poor street kid everyone picked on in Capital Crocus because she was small and not able to effectively fight back. She also had no one willing to stand up for her. The librarian was just a bully hiding behind her age and title. There was no way in Hell she was going to let that crone masquerading as a librarian get away with what she had done to Sybil.

Maybe Sybil should have been a little more quiet, but assaulting someone over such a little mistake was not necessary.

Victoria was dying to give the librarian a taste of her own medicine. She wondered if the hateful librarian would enjoy having someone throw heavy things at her head. If she knew that she would not get arrested for assault and expelled from Sabertooth, the brunette was willing to find out. As it stood she contented herself with staring down the woman as she approached the circulation desk.

"Are you deaf? Either go study or take your little friends and-" The librarian began to bark before Victoria glared into her eyes and slammed the book on the counter with her right hand, causing the librarian to jump.

"I don't know where the Hell you got the idea to throw books at people and I don't really care, but that's gonna stop." Victoria sternly admonished the librarian. The old woman recovered from the shock and got aggressive with Victoria.

"I'm gonna report you to your Guild Master for threatening me!" The librarian vowed. Victoria saw that the woman was serious.

"And I'm gonna report you to my Guild Master for assaulting a member of Sabertooth!" Victoria retorted. The woman saw that the brunette was serious.

"Just who are you? Give me your name!" The librarian demanded.

"Victoria Sheridan." Victoria replied. The woman blinked. She then took a half-step back away from the brunette who was the second-strongest member of Sabertooth.

"Recognize the name, huh?" Victoria asked a rhetorical question. The woman did not respond.

"Are you gonna throw a book at me too or do you only do that to people who won't fight back?" Victoria asked through clenched teeth. Again the librarian had no response.

"Of course you won't throw a book at me. You're scared of people who fight back." Victoria answered for her. For the third time no response was forthcoming.

"At any rate, I'm done here. I'm gonna take this matter up with a Guild Ace or Guild Master." Victoria promised. The librarian finally found her tongue and spoke up.

"I'm gonna report you to them! You'll be thrown out of the guild!" She vowed.

"We'll see about that. See you in their office." Victoria said before turning around and walking towards Renji, Sybil, and Velvet.

"C'mon guys, let's get going." Victoria said calmly. She had made enough of a scene for today. She might get punished for this incident, but the brunette did not care. No one threatened or assaulted Sabertooth's younger members in front of her and got away with it.

[Post Word Count: 716]
[Victoria's Word Count: 2,198]

Frankly Renji had half a mind to do what Victoria was doing to this librarian, but with restraint he did not. Unfortunately he was not in any position nor had half of the influence Victoria carried with her. Fortunately the brunette used said influence to her advantage to counter the librarian’s position, but the harsh words being exchanged between the two got Renji into thinking. Not everyone acted the way they do without a good reason, but by the same token there were people who acted foul just because they could. It was hard to picture what sort of treatment this librarian had growing up. Renji practically never knew she existed until now.

After Victoria turned with their cue to leave, Renji followed everyone outside of the library, and he hadn’t realized how late it was until he stepped outside. The sun was setting over the horizon and night began to close the curtain on the group. It didn’t really bother Renji as the Ace of Spades felt safe enough to not get mugged on the streets. Once they were outside, Sybil began to sheepishly introduce herself and brought up the same question as to why Renji of all people was here. Followed up was Sybil’s companion, Velvet Skydancer, and frankly the last name sounded more like an alias to him. Of course, he neglected to pry into it since he found it to be unnecessary.

”So I’ve noticed, but it’s alright. Earlier when you left; you also left behind some paper of what I guessed were notes on your booth. I figured you would like for them to be returned to you, so I requested Victoria’s assistance on the matter.” Renji answered Sybil’s question, but as he remembered her earlier comments Renji assumed that he wasn’t entirely welcomed either. His amber eyes glanced off to the side over to Velvet’s direction before he nervously chuckled.

”Although I can see how it can be creepy on my part. I figured today I’d try to at least talk to people, but I have terrible luck when I’m not on jobs apparently.”

WC: 381

Once the fury had subsided Victoria felt that she might have made a mistake by acting the way she did towards the irascible librarian, but it was too late for apologies now. Victoria had made her stance plain and clear. She was not going to apologize for putting that hateful harpy in her place. Someone needed to do it because if word got around to the townspeople that it was OK to abuse Sabertooth members because the wind shifted in the wrong direction, the dog chewed up the morning newspaper, or just because they felt like it, the younger members of Sabertooth would always be abused by the townspeople.

Originally Victoria had planned to fling books at the librarian's head to give the latter a well-deserved taste of her own medicine, but thankfully she had exercised just enough restraint to avoid doing something that violent.

If the librarian had just limited her censure of the Sabertooth quartet to telling them to be quiet, Victoria would have complied and let it go at that. Throwing the book was what had set Victoria off. That and the look of contempt she had given the quartet.

Victoria had seen that kind of look far too many times on the streets of Capital Crocus. That look that told her she was not a human, but a thing. Something to be chased away from the "good" people of Capital Crocus, something to be shoved back into the bad part of town and forgotten about in the hopes it would just go away and die. Victoria hated those looks.

"I might have overdone it just a little. I also cost us any chance of getting library cards any time soon, if ever." Victoria said to the others. She looked at Sybil and felt that the comment would not be amusing to a bibliophile like her, so the brunette did not repeat it. Poor Sybil probably felt embarrassed that someone had defended her in such a fashion.

"Maybe I went overboard, but I don't regret it. I'm not gonna stand for anyone abusing Sabertooth members around me." Victoria told Sybil, Renji, and Velvet. She was not trying to posture or look cool. She was speaking how she really felt. The brunette did not have an official rank nor official sanction, but she did not need either to defend her guildmates from people who thought that it was OK to abuse Sabertooth's younger members. She then shifted gears to the topic of helping Renji find Sybil.

"Renji's telling the truth, Sybil. Renji needed help finding you and I offered to help, but I didn't know what you liked to read and there were so many magic signatures that I couldn't pick you out." Victoria said to the bespectacled guild member.

[Post Word Count: 462]
[Victoria's Word Count: 2,660]