[The Norkari Mtns.] Chalet du Sommet Minuit

Skarlet listens to Grandma and nods in understanding. She was at the Midnight Sun almost every day anyway so that would work out.

Continuing on at her leisurely pace, Naoki proceeds, not really heading toward anything, in particular, simply walking through the halls through the halls for the sake of it. As Emahra elaborates, with that silly sort of smitten smile on her face, Naoki can’t help but grin herself, both pleased that Emahra is, herself, so pleased, and also finding some level of amusement in the manner in which Emahra is speaking.

At the comments about how ‘things progressed’, Naoki doesn’t bother to hide her chuckle but is careful not to chuckle in such a way that could easily be construed as hurtful, as that’s not her intention. The mental image of Emahra’s very first sexcapade is… entertaining, to say the least. If she’s blushing this much speaking about it after the fact, Naoki can only imagine how she acted at the time and finds the whole event rather pleasant to consider.

After it seems like her blue eared, red-faced friend is finished, Naoki responds, “Well, congratulations! I’m pleased that things are going so well for you; it sounds like you really enjoyed yourself last night.” With this, she offers a smirk, intending to play on Emahra’s embarrassment a bit.

Tilting her head to one side, she continues, “What about him, though? What sort of man is he, and what do you like about him?”

Listening on, Naoki nods thoughtfully. Silently, she notes that the majority of the sentiments and emotional concepts Emahra is expressing, she shares, to varying extents. Perhaps she’s reading a bit too far into it, she muses. Or perhaps the sentiments are simply vague or general enough that a majority of individuals might relate. However, regardless of what the case may be, Naoki feels as if she at least has a fair understanding of where Emahra is coming from.

Exercising the Hug License she has been granted, Naoki stops her meandering to wrap her arms around the other woman, pulling her close and lowering her voice as not to speak too loudly into the pointed ear only a few inches from her mouth, “He sounds wonderful; I think things will work out well between the two of you.”

Pulling back, Naoki leaves her hands on Emahra’s shoulders and continues, “Maybe once things have settled down a bit, you and he and Kate and I could do some double dates, mm? That might be fun.”

With this, Naoki offers a lightly teasing smirk, allowing Emahra the freedom to interpret it either seriously or as a joke, as she might prefer to.

“Excellent, I’ll look forward to that, then. Additionally, if you find yourself in need of someone to talk to, advice, or simply a fluffy ear to listen to your woes, you know where to find me.”

As she offers this service, Naoki’s tone adopts a somewhat more serious, cautioning edge, intending to imply that things don’t quite always turn out as one might like, and that Emahra should be prepared for a few metaphorical bumps in the road that is her upcoming relationship with Valerian. Naoki sincerely doubts that any insurmountable issues will find her favorite elf, but figures it best to remind her that such things exist regardless- what with how wonderfully naive she seems.

With this caution stated, Naoki’s tone lightens as she continues, “I don’t believe that I have anything, in particular, I need from you today, but you should be prepared for the summit tomorrow. As such, I would…”

Pausing mid-sentence, Naoki fixes Emahara with a searching sort of look for a moment before continuing, “... I haven’t invited you to live up here, have I?”

Indeed, as one might recall, Naoki has not.

“My apologies. Allow me, then, to extend this most sincere and much-belated invitation to you.” With a grand, two-handed gesture to the building around them and a humorously exaggerated formal tone, she continues, “I invite you to live here, at this: my house, The Chalet du Sommet Minuit, Cottage of the Midnight Mountaintop.”

Dropping the tone, Naoki turns about on her heel and begins to tread back in the direction they came, pausing to ensure that Emahra is following before continuing, “I realize that you may be spending a lot of time at Valerian’s, now and that you already have a room over at Headquarters, but I offer this as an alternative. It is equally- if not more secure, and offers the same convenience of travel as the other locations, but offers a few unique services- I doubt that Valerian's Villa has as well-trained kitchen staff, for one thing. Even if you don’t intend on spending every night up here, I think it would be a good idea to claim one of these rooms as your own.”

Gesturing, Naoki and Emahra seem to have arrived at one of the Chalet’s bedroom wings. Off to either side of the hallway, doors branch off at irregular intervals, some of them labeled with plaques listing the occupant’s name and decorations, others are blank and apparently unused. Down at the end of the hallway, Naoki’s own suite (which she shares with both Kate and Artemis) sits as the singular door occupying the far wall. Emarha would find the same system of doorknob locks utilised at The Sun Marshal Headquarters to be in use here, and each room to be highly varied in its decoration; she might need to do a bit of looking to find one that suits her taste.

With her invitation stated, Naoki stands off to one side idly, waiting to see how Emahra might react.

Standing off to one side as Emahra bounces from one room to the next, a certain phrase finds its way to the forefront of Naoki’s mind. An opinion, and outlook, that was shared with Naoki almost a full year ago.



Despite the rather roundabout way it was phrased, and what else was going on as it was being stated, Naoki did indeed take special note of this outlook, and though her analytical and utilitarian sides never quite bought into the philosophy, preferring instead to maintain more nihilistic views, right here, right now, watching this woman, this elf, Emahra Untyrid- sole survivor of a dead world, refugee from another dimension, the last of her kind, with no family to speak of and enough friends to count on two fingers, bounce around so excitedly, with such joy… Naoki is forced to conclude in her ponderous sort of logical manner, that, yes, bringing others joy does indeed make her happy. At least in this instance.

Unfamiliar with the feeling and unsure how to- or even if she should express it, Naoki continues to stand by somewhat awkwardly until Emahra turns to face her again. Waving a hand dismissively and flushing slightly in a clumsy attempt to navigate around Emahra’s appreciation, Naoki responds, “Don’t worry too much about the summit- get some rest. The small details of what I have planned aren't nearly as important as you being well rested and prepared for the inevitable imbroglio tomorrow.”

Gesturing down toward the end of the hall, Naoki continues, “That’s my room. As mentioned, I’m going to go spend some time with Skarlet and then have a nap. Don’t hesitate to reach out to the house staff for assistance- especially in moving your items, that’s what they’re here for. If you need anything from me, you know how to reach me. Unless we meet before then, I’ll see you here tomorrow morning.”

Figuring that going for another hug so soon after the last would probably be a bit more than may be welcome, Naoki instead offers Emahra a warm smile, a wave, and a nod before turning about to make her way back toward the library.

Grandma approached the door to Naoki’s room. She had almost finished up at the Chalet, but then she had remembered one other thing she had a duty to complete. It wasn’t something she was looking forward to, but measures needed to be taken just in case the worst came to pass. They wouldn’t, of course, but it never hurt to have a backup plan.

Knocking on the door with her cane, not too loudly as she didn’t want to startle Naoki, Grandma waited for a response.

Raising one hand before her, Grandma shows the object clenched in her hand to Naoki, something resembling a jar of sorts. Unlike a normal jar, however, this one is made of an unusual white metal, covered hundreds of tiny black runes. There also appears to be a clear colored gemstone capping the odd contraption.

“We’ve spoken about this before, but we never got around to actually setting it up. Considering how turbulent things are most likely going to be coming up, I decided it would be prudent to get this out of the way, regardless of how distasteful it might be.”

Unless Naoki had any objections, Grandma would enter the room, motioning for Naoki to sit down on either the bed or in a chair. In the meantime, she would begin running her hands over the object. If Naoki was paying close attention to it, she might notice some of the runes seemed to change positions with each other ever so slightly.

“Although not perfected, this is most definitely workable now. Improvements can be made later, but for now, I believe it is best to get an unperfected copy made to be on the safe side.”

Grandma decides it is probably for the best Naoki is slightly out of it as this wasn’t a particularly fun subject to consider. Ideally, it would never come into play, but it was a necessary precaution nonetheless. With a wave of her hand, the device floats in the air, level with Naoki’s head. It floats about three feet away from her, Grandma moving to the right of the gap between Naoki and the strange cylinder.

“First, I must make this statement. If you find yourself being awoken, and these words right here are the last you remember, then I’m afraid to tell you that your primary body has been killed. I or a trusted member of the household will fill you up to date with the info you are lacking and your security will be made the first priority.”

With the rather grim statement finished, Grandma begins channeling into the device. Wisp of energy began flowing out of it and towards Naoki, like thousands of ethereal strings of thread, each one attaching themselves to Naoki. Upon touching her, each thread became a vivid color creating a tapestry of sorts.

Naoki would feel thousands upon thousands of her memories surfacing for just a moment before another one replaced it. Memories she had perhaps forgotten would be brought to the surface for just a second before fading back into obscurity into the recesses of her mind. As this was going on, Grandma appeared to be intently watching the various strand like substances connecting Naoki to the device, ensuring everything was functioning properly.