Trog's Tavern CLIII

[Chaotic Bob]

"Russian judge needs to eat more brownies, they're a butt."
Karaglen is doing a fantastic job of not glowering and grumbling about her wonderful little face-plant, by the time they're downstairs with the populace again.
Mostly because she's basking in all the general wonderfulness of the situation as a whole. This makes it difficult to be a sourpuss about things, really, particularly in someone predisposed towards not being that way in the first place!

Unrelentingly happy. The way she's supposed to be.

Also halfway on top of Zee's head. The over-the-shoulder spot is nice for general cuddliness, but downstairs the head-perch is the best for seeing what everyone is doing.
And she's reasonably confident she won't trip and fall off. Reasonably.

A wave is passed to Cosmo, and another to the lizard-fellow.
She would wave to everyone else here, but there aren't a whole lot of other people in the immediate neighborhood.
"I didn't know it was so late."

[Rebonack]

"In Soviet Russia brownies eat you," Zee whispers back.

Gosh.

If that's true, then no wonder they're so grumpy!

Zee does her best not to make too many sudden, whipping motions, mostly because she really doesn't want to dislodge Karaglen. Especially not when she's cooking. Potatoes, onions, and garlic are diced and sauteed. Bamhacon is fried. Eggs are cracked and scrambled. Cheese is retrieved from the mini-fridge (mozzarella this morning, nice and stringy) grated. And then everything gets mixed together! Along with just a dash of the right spices.

Very quickly it's smelling delicious and more than a few patrons are following their noses.

Thankfully Zee has the good sense to prepare quite a bit, just in case.

Cosmo tightly purses his lips and clenches his fists, but if Kara keeps up the little wave for any length of time the grouchy gnome will eventually break down and wave back. It's like trying to be grouchy at a giant, friendly, scaly kitten. No one can keep that up for very long.

"It's pretty early, which I guess is the same as super-late," Zee muses. "It's hard to tell sometimes. Everyone has their own little time zone going on! Breakfast is just about ready, do you want to get some plates for us, Kara?" Zee asks as she turns the burner waaaay down to keep the food warm with little risk of burning it. While Kara is after plates, Zee begins collecting fruit juice! Concentrate fruit juice. Ugh. Was it really THAT hard to squeeze juice for customers? She casts an obnoxiously large smile over at the lizard man. See! There it is. "Would you like some scramble as well, sir? We've got plenty."

[bc56]

"Yes, please. I thank you, miss." The lizardman nods in appreciation. The food certainly smells good.

[Chaotic Bob]

With no fuss or complaint to speak of, Karaglen slinks off of Zee's head in order to go fetch the plate ware.
Carefully, too, not wanting to slip on any of these surfaces around here and break all the dishes.

Or somehow ruin the food. That would be the true tragedy here.

The little dragon's stomach is growling quite determinedly the entire time, but she will also be volunteering to ferry food on top of her wings to the various interested customers before she acquires her own helping. This will include Lizardman, if it doesn't end up being faster for Zee to simply reach over with the plate herself.
"I wanna help!"
It's just shy of physically painful to delay eating, but it's important to respect Mother's business over her own selfishness.

"Wow, this almost smells as good as brownies."

[Rebonack]

Well isn't that just precious.

Zee heaps the scramble onto plates, and then hands them off to Kara for distribution to hungry customers. The soothing, warm scent of breakfast almost seems as if it were awakening the world since little slivers of sunrise orange light are beginning to filter through the windows. Time is weird in the Nexus, occasionally.

Or most of the time, really.

Should Kara glance back at Zee, she'll find the woman watching the wyrmling's servant-hearted activities with glowing pride. Thankfully there aren't that many people in the tavern right now, so Kara will have a plate waiting for her back at the bar. Zee likewise, settling down on a little stool herself and poking at her meal with a fork. It's good, the sort of flavor that just explodes in your mouth, all the different tastes and scents blending into a harmonious melody. Zee doesn't have anything to say, just quiet joy sitting there next to her daughter, occasionally reaching out to scratch Kara on the neck.

There's a little bowl of orange juice waiting for the wyrmling, too.

Store bought.

Alas.

Fresh fruits are on Zee's list of things to acquire.

"You're welcome," Zee replies to the lizardman. "I hope you enjoy it. If you need anything else, just let Cosmo know, okay?"

[Chaotic Bob]

\// /// /\\\/\/

DIVIDE

\\\//\/\ ////\\

SEAL

The already mutable shape of Trog's is set to groaning, as the intervening space between the bar and rest of the lower floor distends into some impossible infinity without actually looking different at all.
Like the infinite hallways of nightmares, traveling the distance just doesn't seem to actually get you anywhere no matter how far you go.

It is accompanied by an abstract weight over the bar, as that space is locked off from the usual extradimensional channels.

Just beyond the distorted zone, the mage Xeni appears in a vortex of azure flames and rage.
"This stain on her memory ends today! DISA-...puh...what."

Almost as soon as this shouting maelstrom of a man appears, his bluster seems to sputter out like his flames. His forward gesturing hand even droops a bit, like a limp puppet limb.

"What?"

Karaglen has frozen with her face halfway inside of her orange juice bowl, eyes in a equally perplexed state of widened.
Her eyes flick from Xeni to Zee and back.
Then, face still in the orange juice, gives a cautious little wave.

[Rebonack]

Zee had, all things considered, a pretty good idea of how things were going to go down. Any newbie who survived the process of getting dumped into the Empyreum as a cherub was generally expected to aquatint themselves with past iterations of the Eternal Game. After all, they were on the Correct side at that point and expected to contribute. Zee had been given a head start since there were so many of her. Gobbling up all her other selves (and any cherubs and even a few copper-hosts who got in her way) had helped launch her head and shoulders above pretty much everyone else in her layer's bracket. She really hadn't paid a great deal of attention to her progression, which is the main reason why discovering that she was in the bronze host by the time she got back in the Game had been such a surprise. Regardless, her standing got her a few privileges. Viewing the current session of the Eternal Game, and getting to run relatively regular simulations.

Nearly all of them had been on what would happen with Kara if she got back in the Game.

From reviewing past sessions, Zee knew that she was more or less treading new ground. No one had ever really done what she was doing right now, but characters were defined decently enough that certain behaviors could be predicted.

Meet Kara while she's in control at Inari's. Start talking to her. Pounce on the daemon while Kara is overwhelmed with emotion. Seventy five percent chance that she would devour the daemon and be able to patch Kara back together. Twenty percent chance that the daemon would put up enough of a fight that both Kara AND the daemon perish. Five percent chance that the daemon breaks free and Zee has a nasty fight on her hooves. Those were the best odds she had. Chances of getting into a confrontation with one of the fox priests? Pretty much one hundred percent. Chances of something really bad happening as a result of that? Fifteen percent, give or take. Acceptable risk, big payoff.

Then it was just a matter of bringing Karaglen back into the world and having some breakfast.

Somewhere between five and twenty five minutes after they start eating, Xeni would arrive looking to wipe the daemon off the face of existence. After that point, things got increasingly fuzzy, but that was fine.

Objective complete. Quest-log updated.

And that is why Zee is all exhausted smiles when the magical warping and maelstrom of arcane flames fills the tavern. She even has an extra plate of scramble set aside. Like Kara, she offers the mage a wave, though a slightly more enthusiastic one. "Howdy, Xeni!" comes her typical greeting, full of cheer. Xeni might be struck that Zee looks absolutely dead tired. Haggard. And at the same time, nearly bursting at the seams with joy. "Want to join us for breakfast?"

Zee has absolutely no idea what will happen from this point forward.

And she is one hundred percent okay with it. That's part of the fun of the Eternal Game. There are always surprises buried everywhere, which helps keep forever interesting.

[bc56]

The lizardman at the bar turns, seeing the unnaturalness appear. "Foul trickery!" Before you can say "Far Realm," his axe and shield are in his hands, and the head of the axe bursts into flame. "Tlacua protect us." A holy, soothing radiance explodes out from him, casting the bar in rippling sunlight.

[Chaotic Bob]

The Zee and Karaglen responses were infinitely better than Xeni was expecting.
Mostly because he was expecting to come into a bloodbath, with a rampaging daemon slaughtering everyone in the room.

Heck, even the lizardman's reaction is better than expected. Just posturing and shouting, rather than engaging in active violence.

"Uh."
At the moment though, he seems to be rebooting his brain a little bit. This is expedited quite a bit by a little mouse crawling out of the corner of his robe and biting him on the chin.
"Ow! Damn, Yu, your teeth are sharp."

But this has the benefit of getting the mage to actually properly pay attention to what is going on, starting with the sunlight-blade lizard.
"\\/ /// "
RESTORE

With another peculiarly incomprehensible Word, the bar is restored to the way it was before he arrived. No weird spacial warping, no dimensional lock-down.
"Peace, scaly friend. Just...gonna go over there...and be with my niece who I haven't seen for a very, very long time and my friend. Okay?"
Both of his hands are held up in a peaceful gesture as he starts inching over towards Karaglen and Zee.

Although, Karaglen seeing the de-escalation from Zee's reaction and Xeni's own words, moves quickly from bewildered to excited.
Uncle Xeni is here! She hasn't seen him in...how long has it been?
Weird, she's not really sure.

Pulling her head from her orange juice, she's very tempted to try a running leap towards him, but the recent memory of face-planting onto Zee's leg remains fresh on her mind. So she doesn't. Just impatiently waits for him to get close enough to grab, presuming the lizard fellow doesn't decide to get a bit more physical.
"Uncle! I'm so glad you're here!"

[Rebonack]

When your expectation is set at 'horrific slaughter' it doesn't take much to leave you pleasantly surprised.

While Kara is eagerly waiting for Xeni to pick her up, Zee scoots over to the understandably worried lizard man. Just kinda shimmies right over there, clad in pajamas and fuzzy slipper socks. Not even a scrunchy right now, in fact, allowing her shoulder length wavy black hair to hang loose. She offers a kind smile, even reaching out with one arm to place a calming hand on his shoulder if he's close enough. "It's okay," she says. "This was just a big misunderstanding. My friend there-"

She nods at Xeni.

"-was expecting something terrible. I already dispatched the threat he was anticipating earlier this evening."

Oh.

Hmm.

That might be some useful information for Xeni, right there.

Though one might wonder if the lizardman is skeptical of Zee's claim. She doesn't look particularly powerful. Maybe a wizard or a sorceress?

"I'm Jezekiel, by the way. My friends mostly call me Zee. Which you can consider yourself, if you like. It was very brave of you to stand up for the people here in Trog's in the face of a threat, even if it wasn't a true one."

Her voice, her mannerisms, everything about her is calming. Safe. Normal. Nothing to be concerned about.

[bc56]

"I give my apologies. Peace, friend." Kothar un-ignites his axe and puts it away, followed by his shield. He turns back to the bar. "I named Kothar. I protect others. It sacred duty to Tlacua."

[Chaotic Bob]

"Hey there, kiddo."
"Wee!"

True to expectation, pretty much the moment he got within absolute safe distance, Karaglen leap onto the man. He spins her up in the air a bit, eliciting a pleased giggle, before they get down to all that hugging nonsense.
She babbles a little bit about something pertaining to the breakfast, Zee, and upstairs, but he isn't paying a whole lot of attention.

Xeni would feel bad about that, but that sense of emotional shell-shock has settled back in and he just holds the little dragonling and nods along with her voice.

Pay attention. Jezekiel just claimed responsibility for the daemon's disappearance.
That little mouse hiding in his robe collar swats Xeni's face again before moving himself off and onto the bar.

It's enough to get his attention over to Zee though and subsequently spend the next several seconds moving behind the bar to invade the personal space of Zee for a desperately thankful sort of hug. Pending her acceptance of such a thing, anyway.
He doesn't say anything though, either to not interrupt Kothar-the-lizardman, or just because he doesn't have anything to say at the moment.

There is high degree of probability that Kara will be mushed into the hug and she is very much okay with that.

[Rebonack]

Zee smiles warmly at the lizard fellow. She's not super fond of gods in general, but if they encourage people to do well then that's okay. People often need an impetus to drive them, and if it has to be a divine imperative then well enough. "It's nice to meet you, Kothar. I think helping others overcome adversity is a very Correct thing to do. I'm glad that's such an important duty to you."

He doesn't seem like the talky sort. Zee LOVES chatting with new people, but she's getting the impression that lizard men (or at least THIS lizard man) aren't really conversationalists.

That's fine.

Allowing your actions to speak for you is just as well. Zee will allow him to enjoy his meal in peace.

Silence is nice, sometimes. That was one thing she rather liked about Empyreum, as strange as it was sometimes. Every now and again waves of sacred silence would just roll over a layer. It was very... peaceful.

She can't help but smile at the sight of Karaglen pouncing on Xeni. She knew she would have to share, and that's fine. Xeni had raised her, after all, the orphan that she was. Or raised her through her youngest years at least. Once she started moving around on her own (as young dragons quickly do) she had settled in Trog's and that's when she became Zee's charge, after a fashion. The scene is sweet. Heartwarming. Seeing the payoff after all the research and worrying she had been through in these last seven years? It's wonderful.

And even more wonderful?

Group hugs.

Zee wraps her arms around Xeni and Kara both, resting her head on the little wyrmling. "I'm sorry that I couldn't get back to help sooner."

[bc56]

With a "Nice meeting you too," Kothar goes back to eating, keeping one eye peeled for further trouble and the other on his plate.

[Chaotic Bob]

Kothar doesn't seem to be the only one watching things with a hawkish gaze.
The little mouse Yurioc is doing the same, from over by Karaglen's plate. Although his gaze is mostly on Zee.
Good thing mouse faces aren't particularly good at conveying suspicion.

Xeni's hug is perhaps a bit tighter than your casual hug really should be, but it's currently acting as the delivery method for a level of appreciation that words can't quite latch onto.
"You've done so, so much more than I was able to. I...made a terrible mistake..."
He drops his voice to a bare whisper, as remembered grief surfaces to the front.

Karaglen is a bit oblivious to the source of this, although she is grasping at least some of the tone here and that it's about her.

A terrible ill they both had moved to correct, Zee winning the race.
Zee cries as opalescent white 'blood' begins to seep out of her mouth and nose and eyes and ears.

The wyrmling flinches, notably.

[Rebonack]

[Lizards]

A trio of copper-scaled kobolds cautiously approach Kothar, apparently having taken note of his display of raw divine power. Sure the wizard was doing some magical stuff, too. But that was wizardry and they would really prefer someone a little more like themselves rather than a weird softskin. Servants of divine appointment are much more of a known quantity. They yap among themselves for a few moments, then one of them steps forward, eyes on the floor, to address the lizardfolk paladin.

<Oh Divine Champion! My clan humbly wishes to entreat you for your mercy and aid,> the kobold yips in draconic.

Oh hey!

This looks like a plot hook.

It's something of a trope for heroes to be recruited in a tavern, but it's a trope for a reason.

[Mammals (and also a lizard)]

Zee isn't doing much that's particularly suspicious, aside from being not-dead. She died pretty solidly when K'rax got blown up. But in this world where raising the dead is a very real possibility, is that so strange? Seems the psionic mouse believes it to be.

"I had a lot of time on my hands to figure it out, is all," Zee replies, her tone reassuring. "I came back equipped to deal with the problem. It's gone and forgotten."

The implication is pretty clear, here. Zee killed that daemon so hard that it isn't coming back. It's been scoured from the Warp's memory. Not even an inkling remains.

Zee reaches out with a hand, using a single crooked finger to lift Xeni's head so his eyes meet her own. "We both messed up on this one. Lots of people did. But now a wrong has been Corrected."

Then the wyrmling flinches, causing Zee to start and loosen her grip.

"Oop! Hehe, sorry Kara! We must have been squishing you, there."

Yes.

That's certainly what it was.

She laughs, beaming down at her daughter. "Do you want to finish your breakfast? You're welcome to join us, Xeni. You too, Yuriok."

[bc56]

Lizards

<A blessing upon your lands and your families, young ones. What is your problem?> Kothar smiles. It's been a long time since he has been addressed in his native language.

[Artemis97]

The front door of the tavern creaks open slowly. Grunting and groaning with every step he took, in came Raril. He was looking pretty bad, his clothes stained with blood and gore. There were large bite wounds on his arms and torso, defensive wounds from a recent fight. His rapier dangles from the drow's fingers, and once he's inside, it clatters to the floor. Blankly, he looks around the room, hardly seeing. Was he safe? Why had he come here?

"Help." Raril whispers, dropping to his knees on the floorboards.

[Rebonack]

<The great one, our leader, the cunning and wise Tazmikella has been bewitched! Awful creatures of embers and ashes have turned her against us, her humble and faithful servants! They whisper lies and evils into her mind and her jokes and pranks have become increasingly cruel. They came in the guise of kobolds and she took them in as guests, but soon she started acting differently. Once they had her under their spell, they dropped all pretense of pretending to be wholesome creatures and revealed their awful, demonic forms!> the kobold recounts. <She was so bewitched by them that she took not notice! Tazmikella would never harm anyone with her jests, but we fear that these vile creature may eventually drive her begin to slaying innocents as a heartless prank. Please! You must help us! You must purge these terrible false-kobolds and free our great leader from their lies!>

Well!

That certainly sounds like a pretty noble quest, doesn't it?

And then a drow who's apparently busy bleeding out stumbles into the tavern.

Zee, who was in the process of fetching a plate of scramble for Xeni, springs into action. Thankfully she doesn't just drop the plate on the floor. That would be a waste of perfectly good food. Plate goes on the bar. Hand goes on the bar. Zee vaults over the bar and dashes to Raril's side. She's down on one knee in an instant, pale starlight licking across her hands as she touches one of the drow's wounds-

-only to recoil with a hiss, the light around one hand blackening and peeling away with a little puff of ash.

"Cursed wounds. Barghest bites!" her attention immediately goes to- "Kothar! Can you remove a curse? His wounds can't be cured until this hex is lifted."

Her tone is desperate. Pleading. No no no, she didn't see this happening at all. She should have been paying closer attention to Raril! But she had been so sure he would be fine, he had been fine all this time on his own!

[bc56]

Kothar rushes over to the dying drow. He holds out his hands and begins chanting, droning a prayer in his native tongue. <Mother Tlacua, your blessing. Strip the shadows from this one's body and soul. Do not allow his spark to be extinguished.> His hands glow with holy power, and wisps of shadow boil off of Raril's body, the curse lifted. When that finishes, Kothar stands once more and bows his head. <Thank you.> He returns to the Kobolds. <Where were we? Right, your leader is dominated. I'd be glad to help.>

[Artemis97]

Raril gasps as the curse is lifted, and his natural werewolf healing abilities take effect. He coughs hard as wounds close, and he slumps over and finally, looks up into the eyes of the woman beside him.

Blinking in confusion, he whispers. "Zee? No... I must be dreaming... I couldn't get to you before...there wasn't a way. I'm sorry."

[Rebonack]

<Bahamut be praised!> the kobolds cheer. <We see you are a great divine champion! Selfless and good, you even heal old enemies of the scaled folk.> Drow are, after all, known for taking kobold slaves. Really, pretty much everyone in the underdark takes kobold slaves. They're pretty much at the very bottom of the food chain. <Please, oh great divine champion, we humbly ask that you follow us. We will lead you to Tazmikella's lair. We are SURE you will be able to cleanse it from the foul creatures that lurk there and free our great leader's mind!>

Well.

Quest start, it sounds like!

The kobolds, yapping praises to Bahamut the whole time, will be leading the lizardfolk paladin to the Yellow Wastes in Outside. Because of COURSE a copper dragon is going to live in a desert. Where else would they be?

Meanwhile!

<Thank you, Kothar!> Zee calls after the lizardman. In draconic. Apparently she knows draconic? Her accent isn't particularly terrible, either. Humans usually have trouble with the sibilants.

Then?

Her attention turns back to Raril.

Relief?

Yes, certainly relief.

Longing?

Longing fulfilled, just to be touching him again. She's been watching for so long, but that's just so... distant. Impersonal. There just wasn't any reality to it. But to be kneeling here beside him? To feel his breath and fill her nose with his scent? No, this isn't impersonal. Not even a little bit. "You silly rapscallion. We both know I would be naked if you were dreaming," Zee giggles, fighting back tears as she reaches out with one hand to touch him on the end of the nose with a finger. "Boop. No dreams now, just me in the flesh."

Then? She'll lean forward, wrap her arms around Raril, and provide him with a very real, very non-dream kiss full on the lips.

Hopefully that'll help chase away the post-mauling mental fuzziness.

[Artemis97]

Raril's eyebrows shoot up and his eyes go wide at the kiss, and then he closes his eyes and wraps his arms around his wife. His Wife! After so many years, she was back in his arms again. He'd hoped and he'd prayed, and it was real now. She was back.

After a long blissful moment, he breaks the kiss and leans back a bit, just to take Zee in."Zee, it's really you. Oh gods, how? How is it you've come back?" He moves to run a hand through her hair, but pauses, realizing how gory he was, and remembering what had happened to him. "Oh, oh gods, there's things out there, great beasts. They're hunting farspawn. The children... our children."

[Chaotic Bob]

Karaglen's remembered horror fails to get terribly far, for reasons she can't immediately answer.
There was a vague impression of fuzzy squeaking somewhere and then she felt better?

Yurioc nibbles on a liberated piece of her breakfast and looks as innocent as mice tend to.

And all looks poised to continue going weirdly well up until Raril starts bleeding all over the floor.
This problem draws concerned looks from everyone present, though it is swiftly remedied by Kothar.
Karaglen tries to squirm her way out of Xeni's arms to go rejoin Zee, only to be gently restrained.
"Hold on a minute, kiddo...let's give them a minute. Hey, don't pout at me. Grown-ups sometimes need to talk privately about things."

She is definitely pouting at him.
"But what if Mom needs help now?"

The immediate reply to that is pause during a moment of confusion, followed by Xeni sitting down in a nearby seat with the little wyrmling.
"The nice lizard fellow fixed the immediate problem...if your, ah, mom needs more help she'll let us know. We'll keep an eye on her from over here though, okay? Just in case."
There is some more mild protesting, but for the time being they're going to stay out of Raril and Zee's immediate way. Unless that "great beasts" thing gets spoken a little louder.

That might qualify under "needs help now".

[bc56]

Lizards on a quest

Kothar follows the Kobolds out, answering any questions he can.

[Rebonack]

Being in Raril's arms again is... nice. Even if the situation surrounding the reunion could be better.

"It's really, truly me. Really really actually," Zee confirms. "And I'm not totally sure, I think someone sponsored me. Probably thought my familiarity with the Nexus would help my side of the Game against whatever the fae are up to. The... umm... great beasts? Barghests. They have something to do with it, I bet."

Barghests are pretty much the worst type of fae hound. She makes a sour face. "As beasts go they aren't that great. They're pretty terrible."

Then she frowns slightly, her eyes downcast. "The children, they... I don't want to sound heartless here, but they aren't mine. K'rax made them. They're her work. When she got blown up my strings were cut, Raril. I'm free. She may have been well meaning, but she was doing some pretty awful stuff behind the scenes, Raril. I- I figured out why I always felt different every time I came back. I was a different person every time. That's how she kept me coming back, Raril. She would grab people and twist them until they were me. But she experimented. She changed things. And whenever one of me would die they would get dumped into the Empyreum to flounder blindly or get eaten. And then she would deploy the next iteration."

Oh. Well. That sounds pretty bad.

"When she was killed by Remnant all the unused mes she had waiting got dumped all at once. I-we- figured out what she had been doing. It was so obvious with all of there at once. We joined forces, ganged up on other cherubs that were constantly spawning, consolidated our power. Played a little game of Highlander to figure out who would eat who. Hunted down the monsters that ate the earlier versions of us. I've spent the last seven years up in the Empyreum putting myself back together. And then all of a sudden I'm back in the Eternal Game in this little fox-body I had totally forgotten about in a burrow Avatar had made. And now I'm hugging you and giving an exposition dump."

She hugs Raril a little harder at that. Just because.

Meanwhile!

Fun Fact: While all this has been going on, Zee has also been over there stuck in dead time chatting with Sarah. And with Sarah still trapped after over a week, Zee decides that it's time to get moving again. Being able to operate on several slightly out of phase timelines at once is a vital skill for any barmaid at Trog's. Lets you serve a whole bunch of customers simultaneously and it cuts down on payroll. Zee steps free of the dead-time ooze and braces herself against the counter as she sort of... vibrates. As if dozens of mirror images of herself were overlapping her and moving slightly out of sync. It only lasts for a few seconds, but she breaths a sigh of relief when it's over.

"Okay... continuity snap done," she mutters, glancing over at the tearful reunion near the door. "Karaglen fixed," she ticks off a finger. "Raril is okay," she ticks off another. "Still trying to get pants from the dorfs. Still talking with Ravanys and Hannah and haven't managed to get groceries yet," she ticks off a third and frowns. "I was really hoping the grocery fetch-quest would be done by now." She takes in a deep breath and lets out a sigh, rubbing her temples. "The Nexus just can't let anything be simple, can it? At least I finally got my class locked-in as Seraph. That's some progress, I guess."

Mental tally done, she scoots in a Xeni-ward direction, picking up the plate of scramble other-her had prepared before joining Raril in a hopefully brief bout of dead time. She's planning on surreptitiously slipping into the kitchen when Raril manages to start moving again. Hopefully without too much temporal tension created in the process. This Zee is dressed in her usual outfit, denim pants, tan turtleneck, olive jacket and sturdy boots and a Trog's Tavern apron over the whole thing. Her hair is held in a high pony tail by a green scrunchy. She slides the plate of food in front of the mage. "Breakfast. Before it gets cold. Eeeeeat."

[Chaotic Bob]

Well that gets everyone but the mouse to jump up a bit.

Xeni is familiar enough with things here to recognize the whole independent clone thing, but still! His focus was sort of on the unhappy dragon and the other Zee (plus Raril).
"Gah. Okay, okay. Food, eating it."
Cautiously releasing his grip on Karaglen (who immediately scuttles up onto the counter towards Zee, but he finds this acceptably better than towards the reunion), the mage will proceed to start eating the food.
And then start eating the food with gusto.
"Oh man, this is so much better than those godsawful trail rations."

Karaglen, meanwhile, just goes straight into being nosy.
"Mom, what's going on? Uncle Xeni wouldn't let me go over...to...other you? To help. Is everything okay?"

[Rebonack]

Not a clone in the traditional sense. Not like Magtok used to do things. More like... a time clone? Sort of? She was in here already, then she came down the stairs. But those two things happened days apart, except not really, because time in the Nexus is weird. And Zee knows how to bend that weirdness to her advantage, especially after getting a chance to view how things operated from the outside.

"Of course it's better than trail rations," Zee laughs as she holds out her arms to intercept the incoming wyrmling. Kara will be on the receiving end of a hug and scratches. "You haven't been eating that stuff just... like normal meals, have you? I know you've been around town for a bit, there are plenty of places where they have real food. Cram rations every day can't be good for you."

She is, in fact, quite certain they aren't good for you.

Biomechanics is her whole thing. She can tell pretty easily when something isn't providing someone with the nutrition they need to thrive.

Lets her kinda cheat with her recipes.

Make things that are healthy and delicious.

Zee turns her gaze down to Kara and gives her daughter a little squeeze. "Raril just hasn't seen me in a really long time, Kara. We-" she sniffs back a tear. "We just need a bit of alone time to catch up, is all. You were there for our wedding at Inari's, Kara. Raril and I are husband and wife, remember?. And sometimes mommies and daddies just need a bit of time to hug each other."

This is very true.

They also sometimes need well meaning uncles to rangle the kids while they get well deserved alone time.

She then gives Kara a little boop on the nose. "Everything is okay. This is one of those times when people are just so happy they cry."

Except Yurioc. Yu isn't crying much. He's just sitting over there watching. What's his deal?

[Chaotic Bob]

"I feel like I should not answer that question."
Because the answer is that he's been eating pretty nothing but for a long time now, probably only surviving on his weird doppelganger biology and some magic.
There's a multitude of reasons for this particular diet choice, but they all suck and he knows it.

So he just looks embarrassed and eats more of Zee's food instead.
"Though if we're going to get food like this all the time here, I might be fixing that in the near future..."
This is actually a subtle inquiry to Zee. 'Are you sticking around?'

Karaglen is pretty okay with the vast majority of Zee's explanation here. Her uncle sort of vaguely covered that "hugging time" thing and the wedding thing is familiar...
She is similarly aware (or reminded, at least) that this technically makes Raril her father? Maybe?
This is something that is absolutely going to get returned to as it seems pretty darned important. Maybe even moreso because she's not really familiar with him...

But Zee has avoided a particularly important thing here, that Karaglen is more familiar with than she really should be at her age.
While she isn't fighting any of the hugging and boopings (these are all fantastic things that she is wholly embracing and participating in), she does squirm a bit to make sure she can keep a good look at her mother's face.
"But what about all the blood?"

This question also gets her uncle to pause his eating and present a similarly inquiring eyebrow.

Meanwhile, Yurioc is totally avoiding Zee's gaze and distracting himself with tiny pieces of Karaglen's forgotten breakfast remainders.

[Rebonack]

Zee provides Xeni with a look. Not anger. Or irritation. Not even disappointment. Just a touch of disapproval. The 'you should know better than that' sort of disapproval.

That quickly dissolves into Zee's kind smile. "Maybe not exactly like this all the time! I try to mix up the daily meal specials a little bit. People like routine, and that's what the routine menu is for. But a little variety is the spice of life. And you can have too much spice, too. Like, don't try to lick a pile of cayenne pepper. That's WAY too much spice and not fun at all."

It sounds like Zee knows this form personal experience.

"I'll be around. I really, truly plan on staying in the Nexus as long as I possibly can. I'm made of way sterner stuff than last time I was around, so I think I should be okay."

Or in other words? She's has no intent of leaving of her own volition.

And hopefully no one blows her up.

That would be terrible.

As for Kara? Father is accurate. Step father, maybe? Adoptive father? Raril wasn't exactly involved in the process of putting the wyrmling back together again. Maybe he should have been. Making a baby is a fun team effort, after all. Sadly the chronology didn't quite match up, there. Biologically, Kara isn't terribly different from before her unfortunate run in with a certain sword. There's more than a little Zee mixed in, though. With lifeshaping that intimate, building someone again from a razed foundation in love, it's inevitable that a little bit of both would rub off on each other.

And then a question that jars Zee's smile a bit.

Oh.

Right.

The blood.

That.

"He met some very mean fae dogs that bit him," Zee replies after taking a few moments to straighten the facts out in her mind. That was one of the things she had seen. She knew that he would survive the encounter, but it wasn't pretty. "But that nice paladin helped. Everything will be okay."

Then she gives Kara a very serous look. "This is why you should always make sure a dog is safe before you pet them."

Wise council.