Log:Princesses' Guard Revived, Scene 13

Princesses' Guard Revived 2014/04/14 	 Ghost Pelana

13

Arrivals Lounge, Reykjavik Airport
Ghost is waiting in the arrivals lounge as Pelana's flight disembarks after landing at Reykjavik airport. She's fairly distinctive in appearance and thus easy to spot.

Pelana is indeed quite easy to spot. Not many tall, red-scaled women with expansive wingspans and a tail, after all. Plus, even in Iceland, she's wearing a t-shirt and shorts; her sole concession to the weather is the t-shirt isn't a crop-top and the shorts actually reach her knees. She's packed fairly light as well, or at least, all she seems to have is her carry-on, not bothering to wait for the checked baggage to come off.

Ghost waves and then makes her way though the few people in the arrivals lounge to you. She smiles, "Hello, Pelana. The cold doesn't bother you then?" she asks on seeing the attire you're wearing.

Pelana shakes her head. "Not since a few months ago. Figure I'm coming into, like, my magical dragon-powers. Whatever those are. Not that the ones I have are rotten or anything, I mean. You're with the Guard, then?"

Ghost chuckles, "Yes. I'm the Guard Team Leader. Although the Guard is here on its first active mission and I'm needed back in Undermoon so I can't be here with the team. And that is just wrong. Johnathan, that is Titan, will fill in for me perfectly adequately I'm sure but a team leader's place is with her team. It's politics.. And that's one of the reasons I'm here, Pelana. To bring you up to speed on the current situation in Undermoon and how it may affect you."

Pelana ahs. "Well, I was warned I probably wouldn't be very popular. Incidentally, you wouldn't know if they were able to get any good place for me to sleep? Y'know, with my special needs. I suppose I could negotiate, but a good warehouse is sometimes a bit harder to come by than a hotel room."

Ghost points to a cafe with tables, "Let's go sit down and I'll tell you what's happening. Do you drink? I brought a bottle of fae wine. If you've never tasted fae wine before you're in for a treat."

Pelana shrugs. "Well, I won't pass it up. I try not to get drunk. It can wind up really badly, I've found. You can probably guess why."

Ghost nods as she leads the way to a table. When the waitress comes over Ghost hands her a hundred dollar note and asks for two glasses and some peace and quiet. "First, so I don't forget, Pelana, here's a team communicator. It's magical. You just need to have it in contact with some area of skin..." Ghost pushes her left sleeve up to show the small dime sized black disk adhering to the back of her forearm, "and then concentrate on thinking whatever you want to send. It's not point to point. Anything sent goes to everyone with a communicator. The range is about 30 miles on Earth and 60 miles on Undermoon."

Pelana nods, taking it. "Hm. Problem is, MY skin is all scale. Well, except for..." She places it on an earlobe, which is conventionally fleshy, albeit red, so it looks like an interestingly different ear decoration. "Should work, yeah? More range on Undermoon due to more magic, I'd guess. Wonder how I'll do there."

Ghost says, "That Pelana is the question. However before I get to that..." She breaks off the acknowledge the waitresses' return with glasses. Opening the bottle of wine she pours a generous measure into each glass. "... before I get to that, the current mission is to watch over a group of children. The children are all metas. And from what I've been told they are trouble magnets. The holiday trip is supposed to teach them to integrate into normal society so they have been forbidden to use any of their powers. And the watchers, that's us, are supposed to keep a low profile as well. So no display of powers from the team unless needed. The more well known or distinctive have holographic disguises." She pushes a belt across the table to you."This is one such. You'll look a normal human person when wearing it... Now about your sleeping arrangements. Do you need a warehouse, or can you manage in a hotel room? I guess what I'm asking is, is returning to normal size needed when you sleep?""

Pelana replies, "It's automatic. If I go to sleep, or pass out, I go back to my natural size. It's no effort to keep the smallness going when I'm awake, but it only works then."

Ghost nods. "Okay. I'll make the required arrangements and send you a voice mail with the address when it's done. You'll have a place to sleep before night. You know I shouldn't have to ask these questions in the field and then play catch-up. I ought to know the answers from training with and chatting to you and each of the team members. But the formation of the team is being driven by external factors and we're being rushed into action well before I would have wanted. Which brings me to the main reason for me coming to see you. However, do you have any questions up to this point?"

Pelana shakes her head. "And, honestly, a shelter is more for privacy than necessity at this point - I'm pretty sure I could sleep comfortably in the snow out-of-doors, if I wanted. I'm even wearing some of my specially-tailored stuff right now, just in case. I tell you, I really need to work on seeing if I can magic CLOTHING, it'd save me a bundle. Maybe it's better to ask what do YOU want to know?"

Ghost smiles, "Everything. The more I know about the abilities and weaknesses and needs of the team members the better I can co-ordinate the team efforts and keep the team members as comfortable and as safe as possible consistent with whatever mission we're engaged in at any given time. However that will take time to learn. And time is what we don't have, Pelana. What I'm about to tell you is confidential and not to be revealed outside of the team. Do you agree to that restriction on your speech?"

Pelana shrugs. "I didn't figure that it'd be without that kind of thing. I don't blab. I mean, I can keep production details secret, and all that goes wrong then is somebody posts to the fan-sites. So what's the big secret?"

Ghost looks straight at you, "The big secret is that very soon it will be announced that our sponser, Princess Stephanie, is getting engaged to Duke Vanatherion of Westmarch. I'll assume you don't know the in's and out's of fae politics... So I'll just say there are a multitude of groups and individuals who won't want that to happen, and will use every means at their disposal to prevent it. Upto and including assassinating either or both Princess Stephanie and Duke Vanatherion."

Pelana huhs. "Well, I guess I can see that easy enough. If kind of funny. I mean, Stephanie don't sound much like a fairy. But I don't want to see anybody killed on my watch. Nobody who doesn't need it, anyway. How soon is this going to go down?"

Ghost says, "In Earth terms, within the next few days. And this is why the team is being rushed into operation. We, the PG team, will have the duty of safeguarding the Princess, and by implication Duke Vanatherion, from harm, whether physical or political, during the period of the engagement and also the wedding itself. And this brings me to... first I want to assure you that whatever you decide your place in the team will not be affected. But... it's a matter of timing, you see. The inclusion of a half-dragon in the PG team may be used against the Princess as she is our sponser. Under other circumstances, the Princess and I would agree with Titan's viewpoint - let the fae nobility choke on it. But the timing is unfortunate. I've spoken to the Princess, and we see three possible alternatives. One, if you are agreeable, is for you to pretend to be a 'tame' dragon. I don't mean a collar and leash. But be deferential to the fae, no matter how much of a pain they make themselves. The second alternative is to hide you on Earth until after the wedding is over. But that isn't fair on you. You are a full member of the team. The final alternative is to, as Titan would say, tell the fae to 'shove it' and try to deal with the consequences. However the consequences could include the defeat of the progressive movement, weak as it is, and the end to any realistic hope of the fae breaking free of their currently static going-nowhere culture.""

Pelana hms. "The first is what I assumed you wanted. Not really my nature, but you know, I really do a bit of actin'. It's not just smashin' models, I've done a little voice work. Nobody can tell you're a dragon on the animes, after all. If you think I'd be a real problem, though, it might be safer to keep me here." She hmms. "I suppose if I went, you'd want me to avoid bein' big. unless you think having giant dragon-lady being deferential might sort of help the Princess get over."

Ghost says, "It's complicated, Pelana. Although if you could view pretending to be a tame dragon as a acting role that might make it more palatable to you? And actually having a 50ft half-dragon being deferential could well stroke the ego of a fae. The princesses' thought is that hopefully such a ruse would boost her reputation, the Princess who tamed a dragon, rather than damage it. Meanwhile your actions will be pointing out to those fae flexible enough to realise it just how foolish their prejudices are."

Pelana nods. "That's how I'm intending to. Look, I mean, on the one hand... this makes me think of askin' a black girl to be all polite and yes-massa. On the other hand, I fully admit there's a difference between a human with a different skin color and a gigantic fire-or-whatever breathing creature that's practically a living, flying tank. So I'm trying very hard to consider this an acting role instead of something insulting, you get me?" She pauses. "Suppose my normal clothes would be really out of place. Think you could manage something more, like, idiomatic?"

Ghost gets out her PDA, "Excuse me for a few moments." she says, and plugs a thin cable from the PDA into the cyberjack socket behind her ear. Her face loses animation, becoming an emotionless mask. A minute passes, then another. before Ghost stirs again and unplugs. "I'm not from Earth. I needed to access historical records to understand your comment. You know what, Pelana? You're right. It's exactly the same as asking a black girl to be polite and yes-massa to a racist. Forget it! I see where Johnathan was coming from now. Forget everything I said. You just be yourself, Pelana. Do try not to slap around any fae but I'm not going to ask any of my team to demean themselves in that fashion. I'll take full responsibity if the Princess is unhappy."

Pelana smiles. "I appreciate the thought. But I *can* behave myself, I'm not going to be a Django. That's the later one, not the original Westerns, if you look it up. I'll be polite and I won't eat anybody. But we'll make it clear that it's the *princess* that I'm loyal to, right? That might work pretty well, make it obvious that hurting the princess is one way to get a really big red foot up their behind."

Ghost nods and extends a hand across the table in a offered handshake. "Agreed. And you can pass on a message to Titan if you would. Tell him he was right and I was wrong."

Pelana extends her own, her grip firm, not bone-breaking. "O... kay. I'll try to remember that. Hopefully it's all to the good."

Ghost smiles and lifts her glass to finish the wine in it. "You can use the communicator to contact Titan and find out where the rest of the team is so you can join them. I need to get back to Undermoon."

Ghost says as an aside, "I'm half fae. I come from elsewhere. This," she touches the belt around her waist, "is a combined spacesuit and force armor. Standard issue for the Sercian space navy. Space navy. When I see the Undermoon fae riding around on horses and using carts for transport I can't help wondering, what the hell have you guys been doing for the last 1200 years." She sighs. "Anyway I have to dash. Good luck on your first team mission."

Pelana nods. "Thanks. I feel like this might be a good step for me. I hope it is."