It's Like Catching Lightning • Open, Intro

When Kiru started speaking? Was when she started boiling deep inside, because of the attacks being spoken by someone who was supposed to support them. Only, it wasn't Kiru the black haired girl was most upset with, that would be so easy to deal with she could just make the other girl disappear, she wasn't without power as she once had been. Yet, with all the power she had collected? Mikka was still weak as the day she had run away, and hearing this hit her in the face with it. How many times had something like this happened to Astrid, without her there to protect the other girl? She did not even want to consider if anyone had decided to take out the beatings she had once dished out on the elf after she vanished from their hometown in the dead of night, leaving her defenseless from bullies. Sure, Lucius could have, but his brand of justice was death.. Maybe she should tell Lucius about this when she went home today. It would be so easy to disguise within the normal aimless chatter she sometimes filled their home with, she wouldn't even have to admit just who she was to him, simply mention someone had been picking on the new member of the guild and that the newest member was Astrid.  

She had to protect the white-haired girl somehow, the countless times she had failed Astrid in the past simply by not being there, she couldn't fail when she was standing right here. "look own 'Strid." with the comment her hands suddenly shot up to slip over the wizard saints ears tightly, pressing herself into the other girl, starting to make that soft rumbling sort noise dogs make to hopefully drown out anything that got past her hands. One way or another, she was going to protect her this time. "It's not actually related to you." she was speaking kinda loud, but she had to make sure she couldn't let Kiru's words get through to Astrid, the elf was sensitive and she was not about to let some bully make her cry. "She's just been mad lately, it's not you, so ignore it, just listen to me." Izayuki would make Kiru stop or the other Ace would storm off eventually, she just had to protect Astrid until than, continuing to rumble. "Hey, hey remember when that one jerk knocked over the kid-sized block castle I'd spent all day on?" she laughed the comment out, if she could keep Astrid thinking about something, anything, focused on her, than the elf wouldn't hear the hurtful words.

Mikka would have been content just running 'interference' like she was doing, someone had to protect Astrid from hearing it, and she couldn't do two things at once right now. Yet, the water user made the Inugami's original task impossible the second she uttered the words about Astrid being unstable. How many times had she heard that implied or spoken before? The sweet elf had always had her temper, and as a child it was even worse because she didn't need to be upset to hurt someone, she hadn't known her strength. With those two traits in one person? It had been next to impossible for someone to not eventually at least imply that the other girl was unstable, and something like that was so hard to shut down once it got started. Of course, giving people another unstable person to gossip about had always worked about in the past and who was more unstable than someone who couldn't even decided who they were.

The instinct just took over, suddenly it was not Kiru her own guild-mate standing in front of her, it was someone who had made fun of Astrid, made her feel bad. No one got away with that! In this entire world, she would never let anyone hurt the elf, not while she was around, especially not hurt her emotionally. Astrid had been through enough, heck the wizard saint was sometimes entirely not even aware of how much she had been bullied when they were kids, she was too sweet-natured to realize every instance. Plus, Mikka had done a damn good job trying to make sure Astrid didn't have to truly take note of how malicious some of their peers had been when she actually went to school. "WHY DON'T YOU PICK ON SOMEONE WHOSE ACTUALLY GOING TO PUNCH BACK, YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT HER!" someone calling Astrid unstable, it was always the response she would have, proving she was more unstable so that the light-haired girl didn't have to feel bad over her temper nor the past. She had resorted to physical violence when she viewed Astrid as threatened, no one could count how many times the elf or a teacher had to pull her off someone. Mikka threw her arm out, fangs bared as she attempted to punch her fellow Ace.

It would likely surprise most, she was impulsive sure, but she typically was not violent unless a man touched her. Not for a second did she believe it would shock her friend, Astrid had seen this before. Of course, she had been stronger physically back than. "Leave 'Strid Alone, Go Fix Your Personal Shit On Your Own Time And Toll Kiru, If I Find Out You Bullied Her Again, You'll Need A Emergency Room!" her eyes were somewhat distant, a growl deep in her chest echoing out of her open heaving mouth, the negative energy she normally kept in check flowing freely from her, likely resulting in several things like plates breaking or such, Mikka really wasn't paying attention. The only reason there was a warning here was because it was a guild-mate, but bloodlust was clear on the canines face, her growl still rumbling within her chest. She had never been one to call herself off, the only reason she had not put people in the hospital as a child was Astrid and the Teachers who were strong enough to pull her off whoever she decided needed a punching bag treatment.

If Kiru wanted unstable, Mikka would show her unstable.

Victoria remained quiet and let the guild's senior membership talk without interruption. Jiyu seemed displeased with Kiru's attitude towards Astrid and was ready to escalate to a more physical form of protest. The bartender knew nothing of Astrid's history with the guild other than what she had heard earlier. It was not her place to pass judgment on anyone.

Speaking of Kiru, Victoria's thoughts turned towards the girl whose hair was evenly split between black and white. Kiru's hair reminded the brunette of a popular cookie that she used to eat whenever she could get them. The last time she saw Kiru was when the guild was conducting "business" with Basilisk Fang. The Ace was sulking in a corner because of what was going on. She just sat there looking pissed at the world for whatever reason.

Victoria got an unfavorable impression of Kiru from that encounter. It seemed like Kiru always established herself on the other side of an issue to look like the smartest person in the room. It also seemed like if Kiru did not get her way, she would sulk and glare at people. That did not endear her to the brunette. Still, Kiru was a senior member of Black Rose and Victoria a newly minted Ace, so it was not the latter's place to question too much.

"What's the deal with Kiru?" Victoria asked before she realized what she had said. The brunette had really put her foot in it. It was too late to back out now.

Victoria calmly received the coin from Astrid and quickly put it away. She was going to hang onto the gold coin for the rest of her life. Even though the coin was not imbued with any special powers, it had acquired the status of a relic because Astrid Foss had given it to her as payment for a drink. Victoria was thrilled that she had gotten to meet a Wizard Saint who had actually spoken to her and treated her with respect. This would be an occasion to remember.

"Thanks Miss." Victoria thanked Astrid without using her name. It did not matter that Astrid did not drink the Screwdriver that was made for her. The brunette bartender was just happy to have met such a famous mage. After the Wizard Saint left in a burst of light, Victoria had to think of how to get rid of the drink. She was still on duty, so drinking it herself was not an option.

"I've got this." Samantha said as she swooped in and took the beverage into the back before reappearing.

"Thanks Samantha." Victoria thanked the red-headed employee. Samantha nodded and picked up a few plates of food to deliver to tables. Now that the drink issue had been settled, her thoughts turned back to Kiru. Since the prevailing mood was calm, she decided to let the matter drop. When someone wanted to talk about it, they would discuss the Ace.

With the departures of Kiru and Astrid, everything seemed to go back to normal. Victoria busied herself preparing and serving a Long Island Iced Tea to a female patron. She waited to see who among the star-studded cast present would speak next.