Home 25: Still making mortgage payments

[Deathkeeper]

[Willa and Corvus' Place]

"Oh, hello again Libra." hearing Libra sound scared is definitely new. Is Luna really that scary? Does that mean Willa is scary now?
As for the story, she just shrugs. She's got no idea.

[Gullara]

[Kitty and Obriane's Apartment]

Kitty isn't a magician either but it does look like her words alone hurt the satyr as she flinches at each word the kitsune speaks. "L-let me explain, that part of the contract has already been performed. She, the fey contractor, wanted... a 'weird sex thing' with me." As she speaks the words she almost seems to deflate and lowers her head, staring down at the floor. "I can't say no as I-I'm under a special contract ma'am, that's why I need the service tokens." Jaahlyn glances up though still can't quite meet Kitty's gaze. "I'm so sorry, ma'am. She wanted it again and again and I had to note it down as it would get me closer to freedom from my contract. Normally, I don't even get anything from it..." She trails off and falls silent.

Then she abruptly bows down in a almost mechanical fashion. "Shall I take my leave?" Her voice is now drained of all emotions, coming off just as mechanical as her gesture.

[Kitty and Obriane's Apartment]

Kitsuki covers her face a moment. "How in the heavens do you expect Obriane to ever be aligned with this fey-self? There's nothing they share. Obriane is freaked out just thinking about it all." Her voice raises a bit now as her frustration rises all at once, her hands bunched into fists at her sides. If everything Jaahlyn says is true, they're in a no win situation. Obriane will forever be plagued by those damn spirits and this other Obriane will always be looming.

[Shadowcaller]

[Kitty and Obriane's Apartment]

It takes a moment for Jaahlyn to formulate an answer as emotions slowly seem to return to her features. "Ma'am, I have regretfully never met your Obriane. But since she's technically the same person as the contractor I thought it would be easier. I might have underestimate the power of nurture however as they sound quite different." She pauses thoughtfully. "If I may ask some questions, ma'am.... Have you communicated with her? The, ah, 'feyself' I mean? Is she against your relationship?"

[Willa and Corvus' House]

In a puff of black smoke libra makes her return, once again floating about in the air. "I ain't scared!" She proclaims, only answering unasked questions apparently. "I'm just not supposed to, uh, poke other worlds than the nexus." She waves her hands dismissively and quickly changes the subject she herself just brought up.

She then looks to Zee. "But yeah. Of course I got a sense of it. Happens all the time. You guys never had a story like that before? Didn't think the nexus would be so sheltered." Libra shrugs.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Fort Aegis]

Sam follows beside Sylvess, feet clicking.
"Aw, of course I do! I mean, I get to live in almost a castle? Also I've been living in that hotel room for a year and it's starting to get a little small. I'm sure Pippin will love it. The kobolds don't have anything against cats, do they?" He can't think of a reason kobolds would dislike cats. Even space cats!
"As long as the stairs fit someone my size it should be fine." Considering they were built with someone wearing power armor in mind, that should likely not be an issue.

[Fort Aegis]

"Um- uh, you know, I don't know if they've ever met a cat before. But, um, a-as long as the cat doesn't chase the kobolds I-I think it will be fine? It, um, should be fine. It might even be good? I mean, cats like hunting rats and stuff, don't they?"

Sylvess pauses and swishes his tail thoughtfully.

"I-I should suggest that to the kobolds. A-at the moment pest control requires bringing someone in now and then to just, uh, magically de-pest the surrounding tunnels. I-I imagine getting a few cats around the place would be a lot cheaper and I- ooooogh." Sylvess groans and leans against the nearest wall.

"Um. Uhhhh."

His body quivers for a moment.

"S-Sam, I have to...go. I- oooogh. W-would you find the nearest kobold a-a-a-and tell them to get Spako a-and feel free to have a look around your room and, uh, n-no time. Catch you later. Lucy says hiiiiiii-aaaah, really gotta go bye!" Sylvess abruptly turns and, well, he attempts to dash off, but it's really just a very awkwardly lumbering fast-walk as his back legs seem particularly uncooperative and his entire body seems to shake periodically.

Well that was sudden, wasn't it?

[Deathkeeper]

[Fort Aegis]

Sam looks surprised but not terribly bothered.
”Oh. Okay. You have a good one, Sylvess.”
Poor guy. Maybe he ate Magmart chili? No, that can’t be it. Everyone knows not to eat the Magmart chili.
Sam will doubtlessly have little trouble finding a kobold in a kobold fort, so Spako will be running to join Sylvess in their freshly-dug chamber swiftly and out of breath.

[Morty]

[Skullfort]

Sophie arrives here, the day after her conversations with Sekhmet and then Trick. She's not sure what to expect here, but talking to another Exalt is still probably the best first step of learning how to be dangerous enough to stand up to Sekhmet's mother. She'll go looking for Corvus, though she doesn't know how many other people live there. He mentioned something about a girlfriend or wife, didn't he?

[Karaoke Party]

Batu raises his finger and opens his mouth. How would they go about finding a girl for Jim? Neither of them is exactly a dating expert.

"We could, uh... I don't think I thought this far ahead."

[Recaiden]

What Sophie finds here is a small farming village (so a couple hundred other people), built in a chaotic jumble of architectural and cultural styles.
The place also boasts a black fortress in the shape of a skull, an observatory, an angel factory, and a few other odds-and-ends that most little villages don't have.
The largest demographic is 'bulbous-eyed people completely covered in winter clothes and thick goggles', then 'centaurs', but there's all sorts of races here: human, elf, hobbit, ogre, minotaur, manticore, lizardfolk, akarthi, spiderpeople, etc.
Corvus and Willa's house should be easy to track down. No promises about Corvus himself.

[Gullara]

[Kitty and Obriane's Apartment]

It takes a moment for Jaahlyn to formulate an answer as emotions slowly seem to return to her features. "Ma'am, I have regretfully never met your Obriane. But since she's technically the same person as the contractor I thought it would be easier. I might have underestimate the power of nurture however as they sound quite different." She pauses thoughtfully. "If I may ask some questions, ma'am.... Have you communicated with her? The, ah, 'feyself' I mean? Is she against your relationship?"

[Kitty and Obriane's Apartment]

Kitsuki cringes at that question and turns partially away. "Once, but I wouldn't call it useful." The whole encounter was something of a blur, even now. "I'd say she's find of me, but doesn't necessarily think that highly of me either." There's a lot left unsaid, but she's already shared more than she's comfortable with. Jaahlyn's a stranger.

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Willa and Corvus' House]

Corvus shrugs and shakes his head again.

"I didn't get any sort of story just now, either. Perhaps Luna's Blessings have shielded Willa and I from it? But you're correct. The Fair Folk do have their courts, and nobles, but no overarching king. Libra is also correct. I've heard variations of a similar tale in probably every corner of Creation. Usually they're some kind of reference or allusion to the Children of the Sun."


[Skullfort - Corvus' Dojo]

Sophie will find Corvus and Willa's house close to the edge of town. Corvus himself is easily found, as he's working outside at the moment, seemingly carving a small statuette of Luna as they recently appeared before Willa. On closer inspection, though, "carving" isn't really the right descriptor, so much as "sculpting". He's seated on what seems to be a large chunk of wood, a soft glow suffusing his fingers as he seems to be working the wood as though it were clay, adding delicate features with a fingernail, or pulling off the tiniest wisp of material in just the right way by pinching and pulling. It's odd to watch, but after a moment, he looks up and smiles at Sophie.

"Well, well. I wasn't expecting to see you today. How are you doing, Sophie?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Kitty and Obriane's Apartment]

"I understand and apologize for asking then, ma'am." Jaahlyn replies with a deep nod. "I still would like to help you in any way I can though. If there are any attempts to communicate with them I could always help-"

They can hear someone outside the door and a moment later it opens by none else than Obriane herself.
"I'm home-" She starts but pauses as she sees Jaahlyn and looks between her and her fiancee hoping one of them would fill her in. "Oh. Hey."

[Rebonack]

[Willa and Corvus' House]

Zee is suspicious.

Suspicious!

Maybe the nature of the shinanagins are preventing them from noticing that this is new information?

That's probably it. Maybe. It definitely doesn't have anything to do with the fact that she might be crazy.

Totally not.

"Okay. There's definitely something going on. I'll see if I can't get to the bottom of whatever it is. I'll try bugging the people over at VIGIL. Maybe see if I can't find any records of the story. Variants might point to the root cause. I'm glad things worked out okay for you guys. Feel free drop by Trog's and say hello!"

And then?

Unless something pretty pressing happens she's going to head off!

[Morty]

[Skullfort - Corvus' Dojo]

"I'm doing well, though I'm afraid the reason for my visit isn't purely social." There's a trace of embarrassment in Sophie's tone. She really didn't want her visit here to be about asking Corvus for a favor. "I'm facing a threat I don't think I'm strong enough to defeat. I know Exaltation only enhances what's already there and I've never been much of a fighter. So I came to ask for your help in training."

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Fort Aegis]

Some time later...

A very tired, slightly bewildered, and extremely panicked Sylvess is curled up beside Spako.

And in front of them is a clutch of seven eggs.

Were he less tired, Sylvess would likely be running laps around the walls at this point from sheer nervous energy.

"S-s-seven. S-seven of them. S-Spako, there's s-s-seven of them! That's too many! I-I mean, isn't it? I-i-it's definitely too many! What are we going to do with seven eggs?!"

[Deathkeeper]

[Willa and Corvus’ House]

Willa is definitely out of her depth.
”Uh, yeah. No idea.
So uh. Libra. Did you like...need something?”
After getting all upset Willa thought she would take off for good.

[Fort Aegis]

Despite his significantly lower contribution to this number, Spako looks like his soul is close to leaving his body.
”I dunno? Same thing we were gonna do with whatever number you were expecting? This is what happens when you get gods involved I guess.” Spako rolls over.
”Maybe we should take a minute to breathe. They won’t hatch for a while. We’re adults. We can plan stuff. Sitting here and worrying about it won’t help.” he tries to calm Sylvess down. But he’s not very calm himself.

[Murkus]

[Karaoke Party]

"Well we just pick one, Jim!" A tipsy Div says, a bit more enthusiastically than he intended. "I mean. One who looks like she might be open to some company. You know. And then you two can get chatting." Div spreads his hands as if to say 'easy as that', and looks at Batu as to affirm this fact.

"What's your, um, type, Jim?"

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Skullfort - Corvus' Dojo]

Corvus just nods and smiles, as if he were expecting that answer. Perhaps he was. Then again, perhaps he wasn't.

"I see," he says, leaning back a bit and straightening up, though he doesn't stand. Instead, he gestures towards another chunk of tree sitting nearby. "Perhaps you should take a seat and tell me about this threat, then. I can help you train in a number of ways, but it would help me to know what sort of enemies you're coming up against."

[Ashen Lilies]

[/COLOR][Cass' Tower]

Shortly, Electra arrives with a steaming mug of coffee in each hand. She bends down to give one to Cass and looks in on the lightning lizards.

"They're energetic today, huh?"

"Yeah," says Cass, filling up two small bowls with some greens and chunks of fruit, before accepting the coffee gratefully. She takes a sip, smiling as she watches the lizards quickly gobble up their breakfast.
"Well, they usually are," she continues. "They're better at mornings than I ever was."

She yawns, rolling her shoulders and padding over to the kitchen, coffee in hand, to prepare breakfast.

[Arkhosia]

155 Hastings Lane

Spoiler

Show

Laurent chuckles nervously.

"She saved you...what, like some kind of superhero? She just swooped in with her cosplay sword and-" he falters, glancing out towards the living room where Jenette and her mother are still talking. In spite of his wife's anxiety, in spite of the news his daughter got bit by a zombie, in spite of the fact that she was living in Skyside and was dating this rough-and-tumble woman with more scars than he'd ever seen on a living human being before, somehow it never occurred to him that little Jenny d'Aubigny could be capable of such a feat.

"Don't mention that to Cherise," he murmurs, pulling out a few chairs as dinner preparations are nearly complete.

”Heh, something like that,” Fidelia responds, a fond little smile making its way upon her lips. She’s not really sure what “cosplay” means, but she figured it doesn’t matter much in describing the event in the grand scheme of things. Unfortunately, the happier mood doesn’t last, and she pauses and raises an eyebrow at Laurent’s request. ”Do you expect me to lie to her if she asks?” Fidelia’s doesn’t sound incensed or offended By the suggestion, but her discomfort with the notion should be fairly obvious.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Fort Aegis]

"Y-you're right Spako. I should just- I should j-just be calm." Sylvess sighs and stretches out, awkwardly squirming round to lay his neck over Spako's chest. "I-I don't suppose you know how to tell if an egg is a boy egg or a girl egg?"

Sylvess, nobody knows how to do that with dragon eggs. You're meant to be patient and wait for them to hatch.

"I-I'm glad I decided to make the play area upstairs nice and big. Uh, d-did I tell you I was doing that?"

[Deathkeeper]

[Fort Aegis]

Spako shakes his head, grinning.
”Nah, I don’t think you can do that with eggs. I hear the humans have stuff for it. Unless you know a fortune teller.” He chuckles.
”Uh, you didn’t. Probably a smart thing. Oh hey! We can fit into things now! Sylvess we should go to our room in the spring! It’ll feel so much bigger if we scale ourselves down! ...we can sit there and think of names.”

[Morty]

[Skullfort - Corvus' Dojo]

Sophie takes a seat and begins speaking promptly. She expected he'd ask this question straight away.

"She's a devil-queen, a royalty of Hell of some kind. She's the mother of a person I'm trying to help. Not the first abusive parent I've dealt with, but certainly more dangerous," she observes with dry humour. "She herself is supposed to be incredibly powerful, and who knows what kind of devils she can command. I can shoot a gun decently and being a Solar seems to have improved it, but that probably won't be enough."

[Deathkeeper]

[Karaoke Party]

"Well we just pick one, Jim!" A tipsy Div says, a bit more enthusiastically than he intended. "I mean. One who looks like she might be open to some company. You know. And then you two can get chatting." Div spreads his hands as if to say 'easy as that', and looks at Batu as to affirm this fact.

"What's your, um, type, Jim?"

[Karaoke Party]

It's Jim's turn to squirm in the seat.
"Oh, well. I guess I wouldn't mind someone like me. You know, horns. Hooves. Makes you feel less weird, you know? But it's not a dealbreaker or anything. Just...girls, you know? And like, pretty is nice but... Cool, you know? Nice? Likes parties but doesn't need them? You know?"
It's entirely possible that they don't know. Talking about your preferences is kind of hard.

[Earl of Purple]

Benedict's Manse

He's still getting a bit used to seeing with his own eyes after the sight through Bitey. Bitey seems to have seen edges better than curves, and hard better than soft. Walls are obvious, but looking at Miri mostly shows her antlers and maybe her skeleton.

"Um... well, uh, yes. I think I would like to see more of you. If... if that's OK? I've had girlfriends before, but... I'm not sure that's what you're asking or wanting." Arron suspects Miri wants something considerably more casual than what he's had before, which is why he's unsure about how to proceed. Normally he waited to get to know the other person better, made things a little more official.

[Recaiden]

A skeleton that's good at seeing other skeletons. How interesting. And a little worrying.

Miri sits down on the edge of the bed, fiddling with the button of her coat. She's thinking that it seems she was too forward yesterday and nearly made the same mistake today. Things must have been done differently on their respective worlds.
"I know you like me. I know you want me. I don't know what things were like with your girlfriends, but probably the circumstances are rather different here. What are you worried about?"
She does not try to dig into his memories of past relationships. That would almost certainly go badly.

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Skullfort - Corvus' Dojo]

Corvus listens intently and nods when Sophie finishes.

"If you are seeking to slay this devil-woman, then I believe I can help you." He leans forward, and meets her eyes, his expression serious. "There are higher forms of martial arts that are accessible to people such as us. Your Second Breath coming from the Unconquered Sun gives you capacity to learn all that can be taught; arts that even I cannot begin to fathom, if the stories are true. I know of an art that burns away darkness and corruption; one that plays nicely into your capacity for being able to shoot. It is called Righteous Devil Style. While it was originally developed for weapons in Creation that used firedust and shot plumes of flame, I have been able to modify it for weapons Willa has shown me here in the Nexus that fire bullets. I believe the modified forms should still work exceptionally well against creatures of darkness." He leans back once more.

"If that suits, then we can begin training, but I would like to know before we start: have you grown used to using your Essence, channeling it to aid you in tasks?"

[Cass' Tower]

Electra smiles at Cass, and takes a sip of her own coffee. She watches Cass stretch for a moment, and her eyes linger on Cass' bottom as the sorceress heads towards the kitchen, before she catches herself with a start and a blush, quickly looking to the lightning lizards, watching them eat their breakfast. She's not sure what to say after last night, but perhaps it can wait. At least, until Cass is more awake, which is clearly going to be after she's had more coffee and possibly some food. Her eyes darken slightly as she watches the lizards devour their food and scamper around their enclosure. Her ghosts still haunt her. She doesn't want to burden Cass with them, but it seems she might not have a choice. Especially if these newcomers to the Nexus decide to bring the sort of war she lived through to the Nexus. Something else she needs to be frank with Cass about, when the time comes, it seems. For now, though, she should try to put that out of mind, and just enjoy her time with Cass.

[Shadowcaller]

[Willa and Corvus' House]

Corvus shrugs and shakes his head again.

"I didn't get any sort of story just now, either. Perhaps Luna's Blessings have shielded Willa and I from it? But you're correct. The Fair Folk do have their courts, and nobles, but no overarching king. Libra is also correct. I've heard variations of a similar tale in probably every corner of Creation. Usually they're some kind of reference or allusion to the Children of the Sun."

[Willa and Corvus' House]

Zee is suspicious.

Suspicious!

Maybe the nature of the shinanagins are preventing them from noticing that this is new information?

That's probably it. Maybe. It definitely doesn't have anything to do with the fact that she might be crazy.

Totally not.

"Okay. There's definitely something going on. I'll see if I can't get to the bottom of whatever it is. I'll try bugging the people over at VIGIL. Maybe see if I can't find any records of the story. Variants might point to the root cause. I'm glad things worked out okay for you guys. Feel free drop by Trog's and say hello!"

And then?

Unless something pretty pressing happens she's going to head off!

[Willa and Corvus’ House]

Willa is definitely out of her depth.
”Uh, yeah. No idea.
So uh. Libra. Did you like...need something?”
After getting all upset Willa thought she would take off for good.

[Willa and Corvus’ House]

Libra looks at Zee and Corvus as if they were crazy. "It's not dangerous. I mean, it's just a story. What could it possibly do? It's like being afraid of a joke." She chuckles to herself and then turns to Zee just in time to wave good bye as she leaves. "Bye I guess."

Next, she addresses Willa. "Just... one question, I did uphold my promise didn't I? Right?"

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Fort Aegis]

"Oh. O-oh right. Names. Yes, being smaller a-a-and in a hot spring sounds good for...that." Sylvess awkwardly climbs to his feet, gingerly stepping around the eggs as if they're the most precious, fragile things in the world.

Which they kind of are, to be fair. Precious, at least. Probably at least reasonably hardy things though. Still, he'd rather not make a habit of kicking them.

"Should I, um, go fetch a kobold? To, uh, stand here I guess?"

[Morty]

[Skullfort - Corvus' Dojo]

Sophie blinks slowly. This sounds extremely convenient, really. The Nexus' sense of humour at work? The will of the gods? The Unconquered Sun seems too hands-off for that.

"I have. It feels as natural as breathing, really. Whenever I do something I'm otherwise good at, I feel a pressure at the back of my mind a wellspring of power ready to flow into my actions. It's mostly when I apply myself to understanding and convincing people, of course. But also uncovering mysteries and the like. And... shooting as well." Her expression turns even more serious. "I had to shoot someone after Exalting. It was frighteningly easy to suddenly shoot like an expert marksman."

[Deathkeeper]

[Willa and Corvus' House]

Willa looks at Libra. She isn't sure how to feel about her anymore.
"Yeah, Libra. I guess you did." Even if she nearly scared Willa to death. When she grinned like that Willa was sure something was about to go horribly wrong.

[Fort Aegis]

Spako stares at Sylvess, stumped.
"Oh. Should we? Can we trust them? Do we need to have one stare at them? We'll be close by but they probably should...hrm." Spako is torn between his instincts to make sure the eggs are defended but also to keep them as secret and safe as possible.

[Earl of Purple]

Benedict's Manse

"I'm... honestly not sure what I'm worried about. It's odd. I'm... Worried we won't click, that we'll do something we regret, but... I can't actually think of anything." And her forwardness was a little intimidating, yesterday. "I'm worried you'll get pregnant, but I won't be able to stop Benedict from... I don't know, exactly. Eat it, maybe. He seems the type. And... That wouldn't be fair. I couldn't even protect myself from him, when I first arrived in the Nexus." Although Benedict bought Arron, rather than enslaved him directly.