Home 25: Still making mortgage payments

[Deathkeeper]

[Jace’s Place]

”No, I told you that you probably wouldn’t be able to get a familiar as awesome as me, and then I told you that the Nexus would probably wave the requirements to get a dragon.” Zebes assures her. He would have pulled up a playback of what he said if he had Forte’s meta powers.
He turns to the little dragon.
”Being her familiar means you have to help her with her magic and keep her from doing things that are dumb. In exchange she feeds you and gives you a bed and unlimited hugs and is your best friend forever.” Zebes tells the fairy dragon gently. At least most of the time. Jace and Zebes are closer than most magic user and familiar duos.
Jace for his part, still looks some mix of beaming with pride and trying not to laugh.
Commissar just looks nauseous.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Spako’s Tower]

Spako’s ear’s fold back and out, and he scratches the bottom of Sylvess’s jaw with a smirk. Maybe he’s being a little patronizing but he can’t really return the gesture in his current form.
”Well, you’re going to have to spit it out, or we’ll be standing here like this all day.” he teases.

[Ithuriel's Demiplane]

There is a countersign to Ithuriel, from little Zane, but no other acknowledgement is made.
As things should be.
Justified paranoia so young.

Eliza will keep everyone drilled into the more unfortunate and depressing topic at hand.
Of course Ambriel is here to help move them along, but at least everyone is acting like there's a point and possibility to a good outcome to this.
Because of 'the death goddess thing'.
"Given the situation...is it even possible for us to be safe somewhere? I've only got the family stories to go on here, Zane has even less, but we've seen what happens when we're just...out there. There are a lot of dead people-"
Don't think about mother and father
"-and the only other person who is maybe familiar we haven't heard from in weeks. Aunt Delilah probably isn't alive anymore either."

Ithuriel's Demiplane

Oh, that's right. Other people don't consider phrases like 'death goddess' as harmless and innocuous as the MagClones do, huh? We probably should be more careful about that sort of thing, I guess. To other people, death means a lot more than just 'that thing that happens when you lose a clone' or 'another one of Magtok's catgirlfriends.'

"Do you have any way to get in touch with Aunt Delilah, in case she isn't? I have a lot of brothers with nothing better to do than get on each other's nerves; they could probably find her and let her know you're both okay here. One of them's even a wizard, so he's usually got all kinds of answers for problems like this." Needs aside, it'd be a much more productive use of Faction's time than what they're doing now. All that plotting for some Skyside invasion is them just pretending they've still got some big ambitious goal to chase after; I don't think the attack's ever going to even happen.

[Spako's Tower]

Gosh, this is somehow made harder by Spako being all not-dragon-sized. Sylvess is at his most stuttery right now! There is a lengthy pause from meaningful conversation as words half-form but refuse to come out just right.

It takes a while, but eventually he sighs, gulps, and spits the words out. "I was wondering if we could maybe talk about having kids."

*****

[Ithuriel's Demiplane]

"Yeah, I guess I've been putting off talking about it in any meaningful detail. I just wanted to make sure you guys were safe here, and that things had died off a little bit out there before talking about this." She pauses and glances at Ambriel, "This isn't the only reason I wanted to bring you here, just so you know, but yes I would be very grateful for your help."

Ithuriel's halfway towards putting a wing round Ambriel when she remembers their company and awkwardly transitions into a good ol' wing-stretch and yawn instead.

"Aaaanyway, I feel like I've put it off as long as I can before you two get mind-numbingly bored of being stuck here. For the moment I'd suggest we steer clear of Inside - still a bit risky there, I think. I think that's a good first step though, Ambriel. Delilah, anyone else, people we can try and reach out to. If you can give us some idea of where you last knew they were, we'll do some looking and see if we can find out."

[Rebonack]

[Jace’s Place]

"So I just need to help the goblin with her sparkles and I get peanut butter?" the dragon asks.

"I'm not a goblin!" Khannie objects.

"Stopping you from doing dumb stuff might be hard," the dragon muses. "Big folk can be pretty dumb. You didn't even know I was your family-whatsit."

"I'm not dumb, either!" Khannie fumes. "And you didn't know that you were my familiar, either!"

The dragon lifts her nose toward the ceiling in a haughty gesture. "Well a'course not! I don't know anything about THAT sort'a sparkles! Why would I?"

"Well, what kind of magic DO you know about, then?" Khannie presses.

"I can doooooo~! SPARKLES!" the little dragon replies, wiggling her claws in the air and causing little bits of ruby-colored glitter to being raining from above her.

The sparkles are merely an illusion. But they look pretty. Khannie waves her hand through them and then grins!

"Oh! I know that one too! DADDY! Do you think maybe she became my familiar 'cuz we're good at the same sort of magic?"

[Deathkeeper]

[Jace's Place]

Jace nods. "That's possible, Khannie. The mechanics on how familiars are called is not the most understood of magics."
He kneels down, wrapping Khannie in a hug and planting a kiss on her forehead. "Congratulations, sweetie. I'm so proud of you."

"Okay but seriously, what's your name, though?" Zebes asks the fairy dragon bluntly.

[Rebonack]

[Jace's Place]

Khannie grins a huge grin!

"So I did a good job?"

She sure thinks so. But getting that extra affirmation is still nice.

Meanwhile, up on the shelf!

There is no elf.

Alas.

But there ARE some dragonettes!

"What's a name?" the fairy dragon replies quizzically.

[Deathkeeper]

[Jace's Place]

Jace grins at her.
"Of course, Khannie. But maybe next time you cast a spell just look for the effects that are right in front of you before you give up on it." he teases her.

Meanwhile, near the ceiling,
"A name is a series of sounds that people call each other so that they don't have to say 'hey you' every time they want to get someone's attention or say something about them." explains the shiny one of the two dragons. The one who is not a dragonette, because he does not lay eggs.

[Spako's Tower]

Spako's hand drops and he stares up at Sylvess.
"Hrm. You want to do that now? You know we'd have to live together, right? What do the humans say, the whole nine yards? I looked into things since you asked me last time, but it's a big deal, you know. Can't go skipping out on me once you've made everything official." Not that Sylvess would ever leave Spako out to dry like that. Spako is more teasing, and maybe making a bit of a jab at Sylvess' history.

[Rebonack]

[Jace's Place]

The girl nods at that, trying her hardest not to look embarrassed.

"I... think I'm ready to do the birthday party. The one I wanted to have at GLoG? Even if maybe I can't cast Alter Self yet. And... and if anyone there decides they don't want to be my friend because I'm a pokemon then they probably weren't really my friend to begin with," Khannie reasons.

Meanwhile!

The dragon peers at Zebes like he's crazy for a few moments.

But then? A look of realization flashes across her face like a spilled bottle of glitter!

"Oh! Those things fae steal from people! Nah, fairy dragons don't have those. Since if you don't have one of 'em then the fae can't steal 'em!" she replies, tapping her head with one claw. See? That's how to be clever. "Didja know we can mind-talk at each other? No need for naaeemes when you can just swat someone's mind to get their attention. Or if you need to tell 'em about somedrake spacifically you just think a picture at 'em! Easy!"

[Deathkeeper]

[Jace’s Place]

Jace smiles at her.
”All right, Khannie. I’ll make a few calls for you.”

Meanwhile!

”Yeah but see, we can do that. But they can’t. Can get annoying sometimes.” Zebes is unusually telepathically strong enough for people to respond to him instead of the connection being one way. Even then, it only works smoothly with Jace.
”Besides, avoiding fairies taking your name isn’t so hard. That’s when you get to use cool code-names.” he assures the fairy dragon.

[Rebonack]

[Jace’s Place]

"Oh yeah, I know! I met some elves one time and the only way they could talk was by making sounds or drawing stuff on the inside of bark! Those poor, hideous elves..." the fairy dragon laments.

It must be really rough, not being a dragon.

Truly the gods are cruel to trap so many people in gross, mammal-y forms.

"I guess there aren't as many fae 'round here, right? Since this isn't an enchanted forest or anything," the dragon reasons. "So I guess if you wanted to give me some word sounds I could try to remember it."

A beat.

"No promises, though."

Khannie, meanwhile, is looking excited.

"Zebes said that it was easier for you to cast magic after you got a familiar, daddy. Is that true?"

[Deathkeeper]

[Jace’s Place]

”Well! Then I shall dub thee... he pauses, as if listening to someone above speaking to him. Then he pokes the fairy dragon on the nose with a talon.
Maridia. It has been decreed.” he says with resolution.
”You should figure out what you want from Khannie. She’s probably going to fawn over you for weeks so if you want anything fancy to eat or sleep on now’s the time to ask her for it.”
Meanwhile,
”My magic became easier to control with a familiar, yes. I was able to shape it into what I wanted more easily.” Which is somewhat different from simply saying it was easier to cast.

[Rebonack]

[Jace’s Place]

Boop.

The dragon goes a little cross-eyed when she gets poked on the nose.

"So that's my wordsound now? Maridia? If someone says that word then they're talking about me?" Maridia asks.

She wants to make sure she understands all of this stuff.

"Whatever I want? Ooh, that sounds sparkly. Like more peanut butter?"

Apparently she really likes peanut butter.

"I figured out the illusion for making it move with me so I can LOOK human," Khannie says. "But there's another spell that makes it so you can FEEL the illusion, too! It's way harder but I was thinking maybe once I have a familiar I can figure it out better?"

[Deathkeeper]

[Jace’s Place]

”Yes, like that. Or a bed. I got my own one of those. Whatever you think of.” Zebes is a magical dragon and thus does not need a basking light. But maybe he could have gotten one anyway...
Jace scratches his head.
”Maybe. It’s not really my area of expertise. The only illusions I ever really figured out were some minor lights and sounds. And throwing rainbows at people.” Hallucination causing throwable rainbows! Bane of level 1 encounters everywhere.

[Rebonack]

[Jace’s Place]

"Maybe I need to start with something easier..." Khannie reasons. "Like a box someone can touch without the illusion going all-"

She wobbles her hand through the air and blows a raspberry.

"The box spell was easy. Making an illusion that moves with me was way harder, but I figured that out. Watch!"

Then Khannie mutters some very arcane sounding words and POOF! She looks just like a little human girl! A bit taller on account of her evolution, but then again kids usually start having growth spurts around ten and eleven anyway. Nothing too unusual there!

"Cool, huh?" she beams. "But if anyone touches me they'll know it isn't real."

Meanwhile!

Maridia contemplates Zebes' words.

She contemplates them SO HARD.

"I heard rumors out in the forest," she begins. "Of dis thing so tasty, a fairy dragon would swear off pranks for a whole WEEK to get one. Something called... An applepie."

[Deathkeeper]

[Jace's Place]

Jaces smiles, and makes a movement as if patting her illusory head.
"Yeah, I don't know about your friends, but we can be a bit of a touchy family." Touchy in the literal sense.
"I'm sure you'll get it."

"Uh, yeah, we got those. They're in season, too, actually. So now's the time to get one." Zebes says. He's not exactly surprised something with fairy heritage likes sweets. That's a bit of their thing.

[Rebonack]

[Jace's Place]

"Yeah..."

"YEEEESSSSSSS."

And so the evening will roll on.

Khannie will head off to bed eventually, as will Maridia-

-after eating way too much pie.

The fairy dragon will build herself a little nest out of towels and blankets in the empty top shelf of Khannie's bookcase. That's close enough to a hollow tree for the fairy dragon's liking. Then?

Time for sleep.

Khannie wriggles around more than a little, too excited to close her eyes. She'll tell her friends at her birthday. And they'll still want to be her friend, she's sure.

Eleven years old! Pretty soon she'll be a teen!

[Chaotic Bob]

Ithuriel's Demiplane

Oh, that's right. Other people don't consider phrases like 'death goddess' as harmless and innocuous as the MagClones do, huh? We probably should be more careful about that sort of thing, I guess. To other people, death means a lot more than just 'that thing that happens when you lose a clone' or 'another one of Magtok's catgirlfriends.'

"Do you have any way to get in touch with Aunt Delilah, in case she isn't? I have a lot of brothers with nothing better to do than get on each other's nerves; they could probably find her and let her know you're both okay here. One of them's even a wizard, so he's usually got all kinds of answers for problems like this." Needs aside, it'd be a much more productive use of Faction's time than what they're doing now. All that plotting for some Skyside invasion is them just pretending they've still got some big ambitious goal to chase after; I don't think the attack's ever going to even happen.

[Ithuriel's Demiplane]

"Yeah, I guess I've been putting off talking about it in any meaningful detail. I just wanted to make sure you guys were safe here, and that things had died off a little bit out there before talking about this." She pauses and glances at Ambriel, "This isn't the only reason I wanted to bring you here, just so you know, but yes I would be very grateful for your help."

Ithuriel's halfway towards putting a wing round Ambriel when she remembers their company and awkwardly transitions into a good ol' wing-stretch and yawn instead.

"Aaaanyway, I feel like I've put it off as long as I can before you two get mind-numbingly bored of being stuck here. For the moment I'd suggest we steer clear of Inside - still a bit risky there, I think. I think that's a good first step though, Ambriel. Delilah, anyone else, people we can try and reach out to. If you can give us some idea of where you last knew they were, we'll do some looking and see if we can find out."

Unfortunately for Ithuriel, Eliza remains not-ignorant of certain aspects of life and would be rolling her eyes here if she wasn't otherwise stressed.
She still thinks about it though.

So, time to continue talking about Aunt Delilah, instead of whatever this awkward display in front of her is supposed to be.
"We haven't seen her since before the...last incident."
Eliza falters a bit there and glances down at Zane, but he's resumed staring off into the distance somewhere instead of paying attention to the conversation. He's been doing that a lot lately.
It worries her.
"Um. She said she knew what was happening and was trying to fix it, but never left us with any way of getting in contact with her. The lizard guy with her rushed them off. Before everything else, she just showed up at Zane's parents' place every soft often. Adult talk that we never got much of, so I don't think there's a lot of helpful information there."

[Morty]

Feelings with Fayyaad

About an hour or so after Fayyaad arrives back at Trog's, there's a knock at his door. Electra stands on the other side, blushing a bit, a nervous expression on her face.

"Got a few? I'm...I could maybe use a little perspective," she says, once he opens the door.

Fayyaad opens the door of his apartment wearing a sleeveless shirt and loose trousers. Something one might put on while unwinding after a job that proved to be more eventful than he had expected. He steps aside to let Electra in and the woman will see that the apartment is small but cozy, with walls in an earthen brown color. A corridor with a soft orange-and-black rug is leading to a kitchen, with three doors along the way, one on one side and two on the other.

"Of course. Come in. Would you like something to drink?"

Electra is uncharacteristically flustered, he thinks. Did something happen?

[Nova_Eclipse]

Feelings with Fayyaad

"A beer would be nice, if you've got them," Electra says, looking around as she steps inside. The blush subsides for a moment as she takes it in. "I like your place!"

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Spako's Tower]

Spako's hand drops and he stares up at Sylvess.
"Hrm. You want to do that now? You know we'd have to live together, right? What do the humans say, the whole nine yards? I looked into things since you asked me last time, but it's a big deal, you know. Can't go skipping out on me once you've made everything official." Not that Sylvess would ever leave Spako out to dry like that. Spako is more teasing, and maybe making a bit of a jab at Sylvess' history.

[Spako's Tower]

"Y- wh- uh-" Okay, let's give Sylvess a moment to figure out what words are again.

Well, he might need a few moments on this one.

"L-Lucy still- I mean, I don't know if she'll ever fully- b-but she understands a-and she would never let anything get in the way of-" Deep breath, Sylvess. Deep breath. "Of us."

[Morty]

[Feelings with Fayyaad]

"I should have something." Fayyaad leads his friend to the kitchen, which turns out to be on the small side, but seems well-equipped. He takes two bottles of beer from the refrigerator. "And thank you. I managed to put aside enough money from my jobs for MERC to rent it. It's not big, but it's certainly better than a room somewhere."

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Feelings with Fayyaad]

"It's cozy," Electra says with a smile. "I'm glad it's a little more permanent than just a room at Trog's." There's a bit of wistfulness in her smile, but the nervousness returns soon, as Fayyaad comes up with the beers. "Cass and I had a long talk last night."

[Morty]

[Feelings with Fayyaad]

Fayyaad quirk an eyebrow. That must have been some talk, given how nervous Electra is.

"A talk? What about?" he asks, opening Electra's bottle and handing it to her.

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Feelings with Fayyaad]

Electra doesn't reply right away. Instead she takes a long pull from the bottle, then smiles gently and blushes a bit.

"Oh, a few things. Mostly about how we feel about each other," she says, casting her eyes down for a moment to examine her bottle. She smiles, though. "It's...early, but...we're both of the same feelings about each other, and wanting to see where that goes. I'm just...really nervous I'm going to screw it up."

[Lord Magtok]

Ithuriel's Demiplane

Ambriel pulls a phone out of his pocket, and starts tapping away at the screen with determination. He gets about a third of the way through one incredibly long text before he remembers that, oh yeah, he's in a magical demiplane detached from the cell networks, communications satellites, and internet tubes needed for this message to actually go anywhere.

"Lizard guy, Delilah, trying to fix things," Ambriel nods, making a few notes for later. If Delilah is talking to some lizard guy, she might secretly be working for the side of evil, seeing as Feia herself is some sort of dragon or whatever. Something to watch out for, if they get more involved in this doomsday business than Ambriel is comfortable with. Right here on the periphery is fine; the big battlefields and political intrigue and whatever else Magtok is involved with? Not how Wings intends to spends his free time. "We've done more with less, and I wouldn't be surprised if Magtok knows all about her already," he smiles, confident that, for better or worse, he will get results.

"In the meantime, do you have any games or toys here, Eliza? Ith mentioned it being boring here. I could set up a generator and a tv to keep you both entertained when you get tired of sledding and snowmen," Ambriel offers. He knows he might not be the best with kids, that his own family has never been known for being especially kind or nurturing, but when it comes to finding problems and identifying possible solutions to those problems, who better than a MagClone?

[Morty]

[Feelings with Fayyaad]

Fayyaad can't help being surprised. He certainly hoped Cassandra and Electra would get along, but this seems a step or two past that. Now is not the time to be glib or joke about it, though. Electra does need a sympathetic ear.

"What are you worried could go wrong, exactly?"

It's probably best to establish that first. Is she concerned about some specific mistakes?

[Deathkeeper]

[Spako's Tower]

"Y- wh- uh-" Okay, let's give Sylvess a moment to figure out what words are again.

Well, he might need a few moments on this one.

"L-Lucy still- I mean, I don't know if she'll ever fully- b-but she understands a-and she would never let anything get in the way of-" Deep breath, Sylvess. Deep breath. "Of us."

[Spako's Tower]

Spako looks appraisingly at Sylvess. And Lucy, wherever she is down in that shattered psyche of his.
Staaaaares.
Then he is suddenly a dragon and is reaching up on his shelf for a small leather-bound notebook on one of the top shelves.
"I've been looking into it, for the record. It's...well it's going to have some risk involved, regardless.

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Feelings with Fayyaad]

Electra takes another swig from her beer before answering.

"I'm just...not well-practiced with these sorts of things," she says, hesitantly. "In my original dimension, I didn't have many chances for this sort of thing. Always busy, and the constant threat of war meant that even when I had the chance, it was...always very risky. I'm worried I'll wind up doing or saying something that hurts Cass when I don't mean for it to."

[Morty]

[Feelings with Fayyaad]

Fayyaad listens, then considers Electra's words. This is more or less what he expected, really.

"I won't lie and say there's nothing to worry about," he says finally. "A relationship is always a risk. But if you and Cassandra care about each other, it's a risk worth taking. As long as you're earnest and considerate of her, mistakes can be dealt with."

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Feelings with Fayyaad]

"I'm not saying it's not! I'm just...being paranoid I guess," Electra says with a laugh. "I don't want to sabotage myself, either, but I know I'm not the most practiced at this, and I think that's where the paranoia's coming from." She takes another pull from her beer, and considers for a moment. "Well, that, and my damage, but I was upfront with her about that..." The damage she HASN'T done more than allude to Fayyaad about. She wasn't thinking she was going to talk about it with him, either, but now she's let the cat out of the bag. It takes her a moment to realize this, before she blushes, and pauses, unsure of herself, and waiting to see Fayyaad's reaction.

[Morty]

[Feelings with Fayyaad]

Fayyaad pauses for a long moment. Damage? It doesn't sound like Electra meant to tell him that, so what should he say? He really doesn't want to pry...

"I understand, believe me. But I really think you'll do fine. Cassandra doesn't seem to have a lot of experience with relationships either, but you're both smart, capable, drop-dead gorgeous and lucky to have each other," he says, smiling, in an attempt to cheer Electra up. Then he adds: "I... won't pry into the 'damage' you mentioned, unless you want to talk about it. If you're being upfront about it with Cassandra, that's what counts."