Trog's Tavern CLIV

[bc56]

Jade and Chidi

Jade leaves a few minutes later. She needs to get everything ready for tonight, and Chidi's given her a lot to think about.

[Arkhosia]

Studybun

"I wouldn't really know much about magic, or any of that stuff," Aimi says. "To tell you the truth, I used to hate magic, and basically everything about the Nexus. It took me a lot of examination to get over that," she said. "But it also means I didn't have much time to study it. It's kind of admirable to be able to just see all of this crazy puzzle and want to piece it together." She smiles back at Kyoko, and then other words wipe that smile off.

She nervously chuckles a little. "That's alright, It's not like you'd invite me over anyway! Besides, I make good coffee, sure, but it's nice to taste what other people make too."

"I get that, this place is pretty heckin' weird," Kyoko comments with a chuckle. "I mean, I was born here, but I can't imagine getting, like, randomly yanked in here from somewhere way more familiar doesn't inspire a bit of resentment." She blinks in surprise as Aimi suddenly seems rather uncomfortable, failing to grasp how flirty her previous comment might have come off as. "Why not? I mean, you seem like pretty nice, and not everybody can just work up the courage to chat up a random stranger at another table," Kyoko compliments with a reassuring smile.

[Rebonack]

[Injured Adventurers]

Zee will back off a bit about now, most of the work is being done by the priest at this point, things she can't easily do.

Wow.

It feels like it's been quite a while and nothing horribly disruptive has happens! Hopefully that keeps up for a while so these poor people can be mended in peace.

[Dragon Butt Kicking]

It's probably worth mentioning that Zee is looking quite unassuming again. Watching her kind of fold in on herself to appear human is weird as heck.

As weird as Libra, though?

That's questionable.

"Djinni is the plural of djinn," Zee points out. "They're different forms of the same word. And people probably don't want anything to do with your wishes because they MASSIVELY mess things up. Poor Jason is still trying to find a way to reverse that gender-bender plague you started."

She doesn't seem terribly amused about that.

[FireFox]

The front door flies open and an icy gale blows two people and a foot of snow inside the tavern. One of them appears to be a human female in her 20s, with short black hair and pale violet eyes. She's wearing a grey greatcoat and thick winter boots while carrying a large rucksack on her back and a flintlock firearm slung over her shoulder. Despite the cold weather outside, she lacks gloves or a hat; her fingers, ear, and nose are varying shades of blue. The second person could pass as a normal woman too, but only if you don't look too closely at her bathypelagic facial features or at the wavering way she steps and moves. She's wearing a traveling cloak and a sable fur hat both of expensive make too fancy for the elements, yet doesn't seem as affected by the cold as her companion.

The first woman makes her way to the fireplace and holds her hands out to the heat. Once her mind has had a chance to warm up too, she looks around the tavern and starts sizing up the other patrons. The other one locates an empty table and sits with her back to the wall. She heaves a suffering sigh--Gods, even her breathing sounds wrong, like she learned to breathe from a book and nobody has told her she keeps mispronouncing her respirations--and mutters balefully to herself.

[5a Violista]

Marin, a catgirl known for her purple hair and turtleneck shirt that doesn't seem to match the rest of her outfit, returns to the tavern because apparently she''s a glutton for embarrassment.

She walks in, sits on one of those spinny barstools, and swishes back and forth on it.

Being in the tavern is a great way to get her mind off of normal daily things, which is pretty helpful.

[Earl of Purple]

Jack, a young human-looking individual with short black hair and grey eyes, looking to be about eighteen to twenty or so, sits nearby. A pair of large wings, with eyes in the central joint, emerges from her back. She's wearing a red chequered shirt and a pair of black cargo trousers, with large pockets, and black steel toed work boots. She's got an androgynous build and appearance, and smiles at Marin as she spins. "That's quite fun, huh? I'm Jack."

[5a Violista]

Talking about age, Marin should be in her early 30s.

Realizing that somebody was watching her, the catgirl blushes a little and does her best to sit still, and not swish back and forth with the stool.
...However, her tail still swishes back and forth.

"U-um. Yes," she says, "It is."

Then, she introduces herself too: "Marin. So, um, you come here often?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Dragon Butt Kicking]

It's probably worth mentioning that Zee is looking quite unassuming again. Watching her kind of fold in on herself to appear human is weird as heck.

As weird as Libra, though?

That's questionable.

"Djinni is the plural of djinn," Zee points out. "They're different forms of the same word. And people probably don't want anything to do with your wishes because they MASSIVELY mess things up. Poor Jason is still trying to find a way to reverse that gender-bender plague you started."

She doesn't seem terribly amused about that.

[Dragon Butt Kicking]

Libra frowns. "H-hey! People still keep making them and I just deliver! Sometimes I just... mess things up, yeah. It was just a bit bigger this time." She tries to indicate this by making a small gap between her thumb and index finger. "But it's not like anyone got hurt, right? At least I'm pretty sure..." She suddenly interrupts herself as if simply not liking where that train of thought was going. "Anyway! I have stayed away from the public for this very reason you know. Now I'm more into rewards than wishes." A beat as Libra's brain catches up with her mouth. "Uh, switch that around. Wishes as rewards, that's the one. Yep, these days I try to limit myself to heroes and stuff. My old gig wasn't really working anymore. People are just not that crazy about crazy stuff happening to them." Libra puts her hands behind her back and leans back floating in the air as she is.

[Rebonack]

Jack is briefly given a look by Zee. Not an angry sort of look or really a curious sort of look. More of a general acknowledgement that her kin are still busy being terrible.

The newcomers are also waved at! Is that a fish person? That's totally a fish person. There have been lots of fish people of late. Should she be concerned?

"Hey if you gals need anything just let me know, okay?" the completely normal barmaid calls out.

[Dragon Butt Kicking]

Meanwhile!

Other nonsense.

"Uh huh," comes Zee's less than convinced sounding reply.

Is she expecting Libra to ever act in a remotely responsible way? Not really. It isn't even Libra's fault, really. She's just written that way.

"Libra, I'm going to try to say this as gently as I can. You really shouldn't be granting wishes at all. I know you want to help, but your ability to grasp the consequences of your actions is tentative at best. If you keep doing stuff like this someone is bound to get hurt eventually. I know that isn't what you are trying to do, but it can still happen."

[Earl of Purple]

"Don't stop because I said anything, I'm not judging." To prove it, Jack spins round on her own bar stool. "I haven't been here for a while, but yeah. I come here quite often. It's great for meeting interesting people." Jack smiles as she says the last.

She waves at Zee when she notices the look, but doesn't realise what it means. "Can I get you a drink?"

[5a Violista]

Unfortunately, embarrassing yourself isn't something that can go away so easily. Marin still blushes. "I see," she says. Regardless, the catgirl stops controlling her movement and lets herself swish on the seat a little.

"It is a good place to meet people," she says, even though it's also a good place to make a fool of yourself.

"Yeah, sure, I'll accept.".

[Earl of Purple]

"Sure, lemme know what you want and I'll order and pay." Jack smiles, pulling out a rather large bag of coins from her satchel.

"I don't drink much alcohol, or I'd pick for you. Getting drunk with wings is... A bad idea. I like your hair, by the way. Is it natural?" Purple is a pretty unusual hair colour, though maybe it isn't for catgirls. Jack hasn't met many, so she doesn't know.

[5a Violista]

Wow, that's a large bag of money. Marin's jealous.

"I've always wanted to try Feline's Fancy," she says, for obvious reasons, but it's a wine and has never fit into her budget. But somebody who just flaunts their money like this probably wouldn't care about the assumed price that goes along with good wines. Besides, she figured, if she liked it then it would be awful to get into the habit of buying it herself because then she would probably get too much.

"Um, thanks," she says to the compliment. She touched her hair and twirls part of it around her finger. "I wasn't born with it," she says, "but it is natural."

Feeling that might need an explanation, she adds, "It changed colors when I was twelve, and has been that way ever since."
Besides, have you ever tried dying your ears or your tail? A bit harder than dying your hair, and they're all the same shade of purple.

[Earl of Purple]

Jack orders a Feline Fancy and another pineapple juice. "Oh, well it's really pretty. What colour was it before? Does hair usually change colour? My feathers have been black since I first grew them." She reaches up and runs a hand through her hair, hopefully clarifying what she's talking about. Although she does have feathery feathers, too, covering her wings.

[5a Violista]

Marin initially thinks she''s talking about the wings, so she looks at there first. But, luckily, Jack drew attention to the feather-hair. "Oh, I see," she says. "It looks nice, too."

"It was blonde," she says. "Like, a dirty brownish blonde? The kind that's lighter the more time you spend in the sun. Usually, it's not that extreme of a change, but, um, something significant happened right then. That's when I got my ears and tail too. But, it all just turned purple overnight."

Once their drinks arrive, Marin takes a sip of her Feline Fancy. It's so good that shivers run down her spine.

[bc56]

Something, or someone, stumbles into the bar. 12 feet tall, with rough green skin, and four-armed, the upper pair of which end in serrated bone blades, the figure is a terrifying sight to behold. Fortunately, he also comes here a lot. Tethrik seats himself and calls to a waiter, "A glass of blood! And keep them coming!"

Wait...

Is he injured?

There are definitely several small stab wounds in Tethrik's side, bleeding viscous, yellow ichor. He doesn't seem to be paying them much mind.

[FireFox]

Jack is briefly given a look by Zee. Not an angry sort of look or really a curious sort of look. More of a general acknowledgement that her kin are still busy being terrible.

The newcomers are also waved at! Is that a fish person? That's totally a fish person. There have been lots of fish people of late. Should she be concerned?

"Hey if you gals need anything just let me know, okay?" the completely normal barmaid calls out.

Not a fish person so much as a formless spirit wearing a protective flesh-and-bone suit that happens to have a fishlike head, for some reason. Zee can probably sense the daimon and her discomfort at being in meatspace pretty easily.

The human at the fireplace reluctantly leaves the heat to approach the bar. "Two mugs of kvass and directions would be nice. Our coach was held up by highwaymen and the stupid horses died in the crossfire. Where are we?" It looks like the two travelers have been brought to the Nexus without realizing it.

[Earl of Purple]

"I think I know what colour that is. Yellowy, right?" Jack doesn't often talk about hair colour, so she's guessing. "Oh, you like the drink? I should try that, when I'm not planning on flying home." She pauses, and has a drink of her pineapple juice. "Can I ask about that, or would you prefer not to talk about it?"

[5a Violista]

Marin nods: "Yes, yellow-ish." She turns and looks for a tavern patron who's blonde. "Like that." She points.

She thinks about the question. Asking about that? "There's not really much to say about it, I think," she says. She looks over at Jack, trying to decide on a scale of one to ten how much she likes and trusts Jack. Maybe...a five or six? A five. Yeah, five. Jack's a little cute, so she's got that going for her, at least. That's why she rated her so highly.

But, in order to feel in the mood to answering things about it and talking about it, she drinks half of her drink at once. It gives a really nice feeling. "It's just basically when I became a catgirl. Nothing really all that interesting. But...go ahead, ask whatever you want."

[Earl of Purple]

"What was it like, growing a tail? I'll tell you about how I got the wings, after." She stretches one of the wings out as she speaks, the eye in the middle of it turning to look at Marin. Those eyes can see a lot of different things- through illusions, various magical effects, and so on, but Jack doesn't know how to interpret a lot of that information properly.

[5a Violista]

Marin looks at the wings.
They look...a little unsettling. Eyes on wings? That's a little weird.

"Um, it's like, all of a sudden there's new muscles and no idea how they work,' she says. "Really itchy."

After thinking a bit more, she adds, "But also the worst part is when you shut doors behind you like you've always done, but then all of a sudden it hurts. I had to be really careful around doors until I got used to it. Also, clothes. Had to altar all my clothes. But! The worst part is that people tried grabbing onto it all the time. That was awful."

[Earl of Purple]

"Ah, that's not something I had to worry about with these. It took a while getting used to, all the different things those eyes see, magic and stuff. And doors, too." But it probably hurts a lot. "I can help with that, the clothes and stuff. There's a special shop I know, does tailored clothing for different anatomies. They're willing to enchant it, too, but that makes it more expensive." Though Jack has to get all her clothes enchanted, which is a little unfortunate.

[5a Violista]

Marin laughs: "Specialty shops are a little out of my price range," she says. And that's before the enchanting.
She drinks a little more of the wine.

However, she doesn't say that she's already good on clothes. She only has very few outfits. "It's fine, though: thrift shops are pretty well-stocked. Maybe I"ll have to check it out in the future."

[Earl of Purple]

"The enchantments aren't cheap, but the basic clothes are. Maybe not second-hand store cheap, but still cheap. And they'll adjust clothes to fit if something happens and you grow another tail or something. I only go for enchantments because I'm a shapeshifter and clothes don't transform with me otherwise." Quite cheap clothes, if Marin ever fancies something new- or wants something adjusted so it fits better.

[5a Violista]

"I'm...I'm not planning on growing another tail," Marin says.
But, then again, many people who grow more tails weren't planning on it happening. Marin definitely wasn't expecting it the first time.

The catgirl thinks for a few moments.
Maybe a well-made tailored outfit would be good? Even if it's only one. "What is the place, anyway?" she asks, since its name hasn't really been mentioned.

[Earl of Purple]

"It's Cleo's Clothing Conundrum, located on the corner of Treacle Mine Road and Sweetstreet. Not a very big place, at least on the outside." It looks like a small shop, but it's bigger on the inside- as many shops in Inside are wont to be. The city's nature as a flowing and ever-changing landscape where space and directions are nearly pointless makes it quite easy to manipulate in this way.

[Shadowcaller]

[Dragon Butt Kicking]
[Dragon Butt Kicking]

Meanwhile!

Other nonsense.

"Uh huh," comes Zee's less than convinced sounding reply.

Is she expecting Libra to ever act in a remotely responsible way? Not really. It isn't even Libra's fault, really. She's just written that way.

"Libra, I'm going to try to say this as gently as I can. You really shouldn't be granting wishes at all. I know you want to help, but your ability to grasp the consequences of your actions is tentative at best. If you keep doing stuff like this someone is bound to get hurt eventually. I know that isn't what you are trying to do, but it can still happen."

[Dragon Butt Kicking]

Libra raises an eyebrow and says something in for her an unusually low voice. "Written that way?"

Then her expression quickly changes into a frown. "Written that way?!" She points an accusatory finger at Zee. ""Oh, you're in dangerous territory now! In fact, I'm gonna show you something!" Then in a puff of dark smoke both she and Zee will disappear elsewhere, leaving poor Ambrosia alone in her seat.

...

She still had questions for Zee!
Oh, there's probably a Zee or two left in the tavern though, but would they be the same? She'd hate explaining all the context and that discussion with Libra had interrupted her train of thought. Perhaps it was just best to gather what she had and come back to Zee at a later date with new information regarding her research...

[Rebonack]

Whoop! Zee just vanished from the booth. Thankfully that scene started quite some time ago and would have been concluded well before other conversations started.

Zee doesn't miss a beat despite not being here anymore.

Sort of.

Not really?

"Here you go Tethrik," Zee says brightly as she hands over a rather large mug of ichor liquor. "You look pretty beat up. How's the other guy doing?"

She's found that the space-demon is typically pretty happy to talk about whatever violence and chaos he's been up to recently.

Also!

Spirits, huh?

Good to know.

There are probably worse sorts of heads for an Stygian monstrosity to have, all things considered.

"Bandits? That's rough. Sorry about your horse," Zee says apologetically. "This is Trog's Tavern, the restaurant as the center of the cosmos. I'm guessing you probably weren't planning on visiting?"

[bc56]

"Dead," Tethrik replies. "Most of 'em anyway." He slams his drink. "Caught a bunch of robots taking over a firm that rents out armored vans. I smashed them up and burned the place to the ground. Say, you wouldn't happen to have a pair of needle-nose pliers, would you?"

[Rebonack]

"Those robots are a real pain in the butt," Zee admits. "I caught them trying to take over Riftline a while back. Thankfully the devils that run it weren't too keen on allowing a hostile takeover."

The negotiations were pretty intense but in the end the devils declined the offer.

"Probably?"

Then Zee removes her hat, sticks her arm inside, and begins rummaging around.

A few moments later she pulls out-!

A pair of flat-nose pliers.

She frowns at them, dumps them back into the hat, and continues searching.

"I met one robot that I guess got removed from their collective somehow. It told me about the problem. Got really messed up by the other robots. I guess they aren't too keen on individuality. So I rebuilt her as one of my seraph offspring. She seems pretty enthusiastic about existing as a unique person," Zee recounts. "Ah HAH!"

Needle nose pliers!

"Here you go," Zee says as she offers the tool.