cast in this unlikely role, ill-equipped to act, with insufficient tact

[railgunning]

[It's the awfully fresh air that causes her to wake up, head bobbing forward, blinking blearily. The air of Academy City isn't this easy to breathe, and this air lacks the undercurrent of smog and who-knows-what-else due to the rampant urbanization of the modern age. Grunting woozily, Mikoto rubs at her eyes.

And stares once her vision clears. Her ears perk up at the sound of horses' hooves clopping against the cobblestones, replacing the rumbling of engines and beeping of horns so familiar to her. Her eyes widen at the sight of castles and wooden houses and wow is she seriously on a friggin' horse-drawn cart?

Mikoto swallows.

Well, she's definitely not in her proverbial Kansas anymore. All she's lacking is a small black Scottish Terrier and ridiculous bedazzled red shoes. Actually---when the hell did she change clothes? This humble dress wasn't her Tokiwadai uniform.

She frantically starts to look around in a futile effort to try and piece things together. Yet, absolutely nothing was striking her as familiar or jogging her memory as to how in the name of arse she could've possibly arrived here to begin with.

The carriage slows upon reaching a rather imposing-looking fortress. Men---armed men, with rather archaic weaponry---are starting to file out of it, surrounding the cart.

The women, elderly, and children around her are murmuring and shifting in what seems to be excitement, but Mikoto's body tenses.

She slowly rises, electricity briefly sparking by her head.

Holy shit if she's being taken prisoner, they've got another thing coming.

Actually, no, someone should just subdue her before a massacre takes place.]

Comments

[railgunning]

["Daddy's sure to notice. I bet he won't be a big jerk about it this time, either"

Mikoto has to swallow a sigh as she remembers the above remark made by Clara once dress-up was done and over with. Notice what? She didn't get any of this; not Douglas' fairly off-color remarks, not the sudden plague of chuckling and whispering amongst the rest of the mercenaries, not being all prettied up in a light blue dress with flowers on the side of her head (and Ariadne wouldn't stop gushing and rearranging them and going through several different dresses with her until Helena had to alert her to the time constraints---girl was nice and really funny, but it was clear she was having too much fun.), and definitely not how Baroona even tied into all of this to begin with.

Because, seriously. What was there to notice? She didn't feel any different. A bit awkward, self-conscious, and irritated at having to lift up the skirt of the dress to walk, seeing heads turn as she passed by, and catching snippets of whistling and more weird whispering, but for the most part? There was nothing mind-blowing about any of this.

Not in the slightest---until she hears a particularly loud whistle and looks up. It's Douglas, who's standing (while grinning suavely and winking in her direction) next to Baroona, some tall, rather elaborately-dressed guy she's never seen before (Icarus), and Gohu, who gives Douglas an exasperated look. Ares, meanwhile, blinks and frowns.

Mikoto has to swallow back a grumble, waving at the group while passing by.

You know what? She's suddenly thirsty. She'll be perusing a drink, dear sirs. Minding her own business.]

i actually have an account for icarus cries

[broroona]

["So that's the goddess you passed up." Icarus mutters with a smirk. It's directed at Baroona but the rest of the group reacts–douglas snickers, Gohu looks away, Ares' frown pulls lower. Baroona, on the surface, remains fine. But there are small hints–a downward pull at his lips, a stiffening of his posture, and (the most obvious) a short glare shot from the side of his eyes at the king. He blows out a puff of air.]

I didn't do anything.

["That's basically the same thing, isn't it?" Another twitch of a frown; Icarus smirks in triumph, keeping his eyes trained on Mikoto. Baroona follows suit–he has since the moment she walked in–convincing himself that he's watching her actions in a professional sense, not a personal one. Icarus, to his chagrin, continues with a shrug. "Your loss. She's pretty easy on the eyes. Someone'll snatch her up pretty soon." For a moment, Baroona's grip tightens but it passes quickly. He looks away casually (though keeps Mikoto in the corner of his eyes).]

She's too dense for something like that.

["doesn't mean no one will try. Hell–" Icarus laughs. "–I think I might try my hand." At this, all the mercenaries glance towards the king as he steps off his throne. Baroona moves the furthest and fastest, stopping short only when Icarus holds up a hand. "You boys can wait here." Reluctantly and with gritted teeth, Baroona allows himself to be pulled back by douglas and Gohu, left to watch while Icarus approaches the group of suitors already starting to surround Mikoto.]

that intrigues me

[railgunning]

[Mikoto finds herself wanting to slowly back away the moment about five young men---from the way they're dressed, she assumes they're probably of noble origin---approach her, more or less tossing offers her way like telemarketers: "hey, you want a drink?" "mind if I join you?" "why don't you come sit with me? I'd like to get to know you." "did you come alone? would you like to dance later?"

Boys are so weird. Why are they being so...friendly? Was this what Clara meant by 'noticing'? This wasn't noticing, this was straight up mobbing.

Nothing about it is flattering.

The best she can do is smile, laugh awkwardly, and nod, make up stupid excuses about how she's waiting for someone, or that she's not sure her family will be okay with her hanging around boys she doesn't know, or that she'll be leaving soon anyway----

"Really, now? The night's only just begun. It'd be a shame if you didn't grace at least one lucky man with your presence, don't you think?"

As he says this, Icarus briefly looks Baroona's way, giving him a sly look, almost challenging him to try and intervene. Douglas looks at the latter just as smarmily, while Gohu rolls his eyes, sighing.

"I'm going to dance with her, you know, if Icarus doesn't beat me to it." Douglas feels the need to announce, chortling.

"Knock it off, Douglas. You're going to piss him off." Gohu grumbles.

Mikoto, meanwhile, blinks up at Icarus, looking a bit taken aback---he looks important. The group of woud-be suitors quickly mutter greetings and disperse, appearing just as nervous.]

Uh...is there something I can help you with? Though I'm not even from around here...

[Icarus chuckles. "I didn't think a goddess would be shy. No need to be on guard; I'm just humbly curious. My name is Icarus; I hope your stay in my kingdom is going well."

And with that, he smoothly takes her hand and bows. She turns a slight red, frowning as she tries to swallow down her embarrassment, willing herself to not instinctively pull her hand out of his grip---she can feel people staring in shock at their king boldly approaching a random foreigner.

Why did these things only seem to happen to her?

She briefly wonders if Baroona's seeing this.

Her shoulders slump a smidge. He'd have intervened by now, wouldn't he? And they weren't on speaking terms, so...

...Dammit.]

I'm Mikoto, your, er, Majesty. It's an honor---and I'm doing just fine. If you've heard anything--- [Mikoto smiles awkwardly, forcing a laugh. Because knowing Douglas and some of the other mercenaries...] ---it's all an exaggeration. Really.

[Icarus laughs. "No worries. Who could ever be scared of a face like yours, hmm?"

Mikoto has to keep her eye from twitching.

Help.]