<div align="center"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 18pt;"><strong><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: arial;">Between Time and Outside</span></strong></span></div><br/><div class="floatleft">(https://i.pinimg.com/564x/a5/4a/d0/a54ad0c78fe6f6ed9893fe8a6eb846e1.jpg)</div><strong>NAME:</strong>Date Toshiro | Date Marceline<br/><strong>DAY:</strong>June 15th, 2021, 9:30 AM<br/><strong>LOCATION:</strong>SOPHE Headquarters, Main Floor<br/><strong>TAGGING:</strong>Kyless | Mentions: Mallory, Azmodiel<br/><strong>EXTRA:</strong><br/><strong>WEARING:</strong>As pictured, but with a few more wrinkles in his clothing and a far more disheveled head of hair. | A red nylon collar with a small golden bell<br/><hr/><br/>Toshiro couldn't help but sigh in disappointment with Kyless' response to both his attempt at communicating in the language of storytelling, and her wide dismissal of what he found important with her describing them as “Pfft.” With as little time left, and with a somewhat diminished spirit hampering his previous enthusiasm, Toshiro slowly pulled himself out from Marceline's luxuriating, gathered up the pencil that Kyless had returned to him, and rose to his feet. “And the story not being about your home, does that make it something less to you?” Toshiro spoke with undisguised irritation in his voice as Kyless' statement, whether intentionally laced with disregard for humanity or not, seemed to strike an unpleasant chord with the now looming scientist. “Magic is not a natural thing to Earth, to my home, does that mean I should think less about the Jagraw?”<br/><br/>Of course there was no comparing a parable to a anecdote for importance, and while Toshiro would regret making the comparison in the future, at the moment the realization that he'd made far less progress with Kyless than he initially assumed had the scientist feeling too diminished to regard the situation as clearly as he should. It didn't help that Kyless largely repeated the most obvious part of his question regarding punishments back at him rather than provide the details he asked for. To the scientist who had spent so much time and effort to understand the creature in front of him, a refusal to answer on her part would have been more appreciated than her making small of his inquiries with her disinterest. Before she spoke again, Toshiro couldn't help but feel a nervousness regarding the trembling hand the trickster held over Marceline, his renewed uncertainty in the demoness' character leaving him unsure regarding her intentions.<br/><br/>Fortunately for the scientist, Kyless allayed his concerns by withdrawing her hand, however his apprehension was soon replaced with a deep concern with her silence and the slight but recognizable look of emotional distress passing across her face. Holding his hand out for Kyless to take, he considered the question for a moment as again some of the language was less precise than Toshiro would care for. “The dance club is outside of here, outside of SOPHE HQ. It is inside of another building, but it's usually a much funner inside than this one.” Knowing that Kyless may have had a more specific<em>Outside</em>in mind, Toshiro continued, “Although you're only going to the dance club for the very end of the mission. Much of the rest of your time on the mission will be spent outside, but...”<br/><br/>There was not denying that an outdoor mall was a poor excuse for a outdoor trip, and Toshiro wasn't about to risk losing Kyless' trust by making grandiose claims to the contrary. “I'll tell you what, if you don't enjoy your time on the mission more than you would being asleep...” Toshiro scratched his chin with his free hand for a moment as he thought on a safe way of proposing what he wanted to offer, he finished with a nervous smile, “Then I'm going to take you some place that's far more 'outside'. Near here there's a forest in the middle of the city with trees that dance and wear leaves that are never the same color for long. You, me, and Marceline will take a picnic basket and go exploring for a day.”<br/><br/>This was a dangerous prospect for a number of reasons, one being that being isolated with Kyless was still a risk, even with her diminished powers. The second was that between the thick magic in the air and the wandering of the trees, it was intensely difficult for a visitor to the deeper reaches of the park to find their way out. It was so difficult in fact that the Japanese government had forbidden the general public from entering the park after a significant number of visitors and researchers had vanished within wriggling boughs and colorful leaves. That being said, none of those explorers had been Toshiro, and he was fairly certain that proper preparation could see that their picnic went off without a hitch.<br/><br/>“Anyway, we'd best get you to Az... Azmodiel, he'll probably want to have a few words with you before the mission begins. He's probably going to assign some people to watch you until you meet up with the others. Then once we get there, I'll be around in case that sneeze gets any worse, and Mal... Mallory is going to be sticking close to you to make sure you're alright. She's one of the most dependable people I know, so you can trust her.” Toshiro spoke with far more conviction in his voice at this point, as while most things in life were too chaotic to stake a guarantee on, Mallory was one of the few exceptions to this constant. Regardless of whether or not Kyless took his hand, once she'd gotten to his feet, the pair would resume their trip to the briefing room where Azmodiel waited for them.