Reinholdt's Repository

[FireFox]

[Spice and Fox]

Tovia? Reina? He keeps talking and she keeps not understanding. Did she miss something? Okay, she probably had. The context is easy enough to figure out, however, and Kynegetis' uncertain confusion gives way to certain fury. He knocked up another woman behind her back? Two more after Caelynn? Three?
The wolf howls again, much closer this time, and is answered by a bloodthirsty chorus from the rest of the pack in the opposite direction.

But Reinholdt isn't acting defensive. He doesn't sound ashamed. Embarrassed maybe, but when he sounds so calm and pleased it's hard for the Goddess to build up a properly righteous rage. Part of her--the part that looked inward when she Hung from the tree--feels like she can't get surprised he kept this a secret from her. After all, the last time she found out Rein had a child she destroyed a kitchen and ripped her beating heart out of her chest. And how exactly is she planning on topping that reaction this time?

"I don't... I don't know anything about you at all, do I?" Kyne's voice bleeds with pain and loathing like he just stabbed her and she despises herself for letting it happen.

[Reinholdt]

[Spice and Wolf]

Rein's affable smile falls as he hears the suffering in her voice. He knew she was... sensitive to the idea of him with other women, no matter how reasonable. She had a very peculiar notion on how romance was supposed to work and it never lined up with Reinholdt's own peculiar notions. That's probably why it never worked out between them, despite the obvious attraction they had for each other.

And who the heck let wolves into the base? Rein's going to have to reprimand someone and get Fel to clean out the wet dog smell.

"I think it's more accurate to say we don't know anything about each other," Reinholdt says softly, a quiet sadness in his voice. He backs up and sits down on the edge of the bed, patting beside him as an ask that she sit down next to him. "Not talking to each other a long time will do that. But we can talk now, if you'd like. I'll answer any question you have, honestly."

[FireFox]

[Spice and Wolf]

"Who are Carlie, Tovia, and Reina? Really, who are they and what are they to you? What are you even doing here?" The Huntress looses a contemptuous arrow of a glare at his gesture for her to join him on the bed. She paces from one side of the room to the other and back again, a tigress already planning which part of the next person to open the cage she'll eat first. What's pissing her off so much are his kind lies. How dare Rein attempt to place her on an equal footing with himself? She told him everything about her past. He knows about Boudica and her family. He went to her Divine Realm and saw the architecture of her soul. He pulled the Maiden from the noose! Kynegetis doesn't see how he could know anything else about her. And how much has she asked him in turn? She won't let him bring himself down to her level so easily.
The wolves are at the door.

[Reinholdt]

[Spice and Wolf]

It's probably a good thing that the doors still require opposable thumbs or voice recognition to get in. There's nothing he can do about the probably illusory and/or metaphorical wolves out there from his position, so he doesn't concern himself with them short of eying the door from time to time.

"Carlie is a bunnygirl who's been my girlfriend for... nearly half a year now? Has it already been that long?" It's been a good half-year. "Yeah, guess it has. Reina is a genderbent clone of myself that happened at GLoG. Tobias got jealous that I have all the good plot lines and temporarily genderbent himself too to make Tovia. He liked being Tovia so much he gave himself a stroke to give Tovia a separate body. So GLoG Rein lives with Tovia and their three children in Riverside and Reina lives with Toby and their four children. That was... seven years ago." Reinholdt has to take a moment to remember the dates. "It's been long enough and I've been removed enough from the Toby/Tovia thing my clones are enjoying that I don't think going out with Carlie counts as cheating on them. I... I really do need to ask Carlie her opinion on different mes." Reinholdt frowns a little.

Kyne's last question also gives Rein pause. "You're going to have to be more specific. Like Nexus? My room? With you? I'm guessing you mean HALO personally. I'm helping Felandria rebuild it. She's the new leader. I think it still has a lot of potential to really help people and if I can contribute to some small part of that, I'd like to. Need to, maybe even." Rein looks up for a moment, contemplating the toxicity that is his own past, but Kyne's pacing draws his attention once more and keeps him grounded in the now.

[FireFox]

[Spice and Wolf]

Reinholdt has clones who have their own girlfriends, their own children and families. Reinholdt has a female clone. Kynegetis' father has a secret family with that clone. Kynegetis' father has a female clone who has her own secret family with a Reinholdt clone. Each admission hits her like a sniper's bullet; every realization breaks something inside her. "All of you with your clones and babies are worse than Boudica," she spits at him inaccurately. "You left the Nexus, came back, f***ed my family, and then kept it a secret from me! How could you!?"

How could she? At the Beginning, she Hung Herself and Watched the World. She thought she understood the way things were. She assumed she had seen enough. But now, at last, she is forced to realize there was an entire universe living behind her back. If only the Goddess had turned around or looked over her shoulder at any point in those past years. Her relationship with Rein would have self-destructed much sooner with massive casualties and collateral damage, but she wouldn't have missed out on anything.

"I deserve this," Kyne admits and the last shot hits. She feels the impact but doesn't hear the bang: the sniper must be very distant instead of a few yards away on the bed.
"I deserve this," Kyne realizes and her mind breaks. She stops pacing, then hides her face behind her hands.

[Reinholdt]

[Spice and Woof]

"How?" Reinholdt repeats, fighting to remain calm in the face of her distress and accusations. It was far from intentional. I wanted to tell you Kyne. To share myself with you, all of it. But every time I reached out, you turned away, put your back to me. None of this was a secret Kyne. This is just the painting on the wall behind you."

Rein stands, but slowly, knowing she'd overreact if he moved towards her at anything but a sluggish pace. Still, move towards her he does, invariably trying to pull her into a platonic hug. "Stop it. You deserve to be happy too. But I'm not the one who can give that to you. No one can. You have to find it, and fight for it, yourself. You're a beautiful, unstoppable goddess and there's more wonderful things out there for you than a broken, useless cat. You only have to turn around and face them."

[FireFox]

[Spice and Woof]

That's right, it was all her fault. Why would he tell her about the other families after the destruction she caused when she found out about Caelynn and Blanche? Maybe he was intending to tell her that day, on their picnic date, but he first confessed he had brought Boudica back, somehow, and that... didn't turn out well either. Maybe it's time to accept that she can't do anything other than end things.

Terrifyingly, Kynegetis doesn't resist or even react to being embraced. She just hides her wet face and shakes with silent sobs in the way she learned as a little girl when she was punished for crying.

[Reinholdt]

[Spice and Woof]

Rein did it again. He broke someone else he got close to. It was the only thing he was good at really. It was all his fault. Why did he call out to her in the first place? Did he want to patronize and torture her that badly so he could feel good about his life being marginally better? Like Magtok always warned anyone who would listen, he really was just the worst.

"Shhh... Kyne. It's alright," Rein says, holding her head to his shoulder and trying to soothe her by petting her hair. "Just let it all out. It'll be ok."

[Meowmai]

Spoiler

Show

[Fey and Falcon Escapades]

Well poking the vegetation does seem to accelerate the process considerably as the vines raise higher in the air. Near the pillar something like a green mouth appears as the plant seems to stand up. There's a brief inhale at about the same time Reinholdt shouts "Look out!" and tackle shoves Kes out of the way. The next moment a horrid cloud of gas emits from the plant where Kes just stood, catching Rein full in the face. At least the cloud is fast moving and dissipates quickly. And despite what Rein thought was about to happen, the plant hasn't eaten anyone yet. That's good. Rein doesn't instantly fall over dead either. That's also good. But he has a strange look on his face...

[Fey and Falcon Escapades]

Tilting her head, Kestrel watched the vines move with some fascination, her attention far to focused on this one particular phenomenon to notice the mouth revealing itself. She heard the inhale though, far too late to react herself, but at that very moment Reinholdt collided into her with a yell and she was thrown aside. The birdgirl looked up to see the spray of gas from the mouth she previously had missed, her eyes widening in surprise and worry for her companion. Oh heck.Scrambling to her feet, she grabbed her bow and drew an arrow as quickly as she could, firing wildly towards that now apparently hostile mouth. The projectile embedded itself in the side of the plant, but Kestrel hadn't been waiting to see if her shot had met it's mark. Instead she was running over to where Rein stood, grabbing his shoulder, blurting out a panicked "Oh geeze, uhh, are you okay!?"

[FireFox]

[Spice and Awoo]

Kyne adjusts her footing a barely perceptible amount so she can slightly lean against Rein's body. At least he knows he didn't turn her completely catatonic. The petting also helps her stop shaking, although her hands remain sealed to her face like she's trying to plug a leak in a ship. Maybe a minute or two go by before she thinks she can speak in a level tone.

"I'm sorry."

[Reinholdt]

[Fey and Falcon Escapades]

The plant shudders and steps backwards! Pain! It hadn't felt pain in a very long time! How exceptionally rude.

Reinholdt looks at Kes. A large smile slowly forms on his face. "KESSSS. Ssss. S. Oh! Did I tell you have the most beautiful butt feathers? Hahah. I've never even seen butt feathers." Rein ducks and tries to playfully bat at the end of Kes' feathers.

Well... if there were any ancient predator of winged cats, it would be plants that evolved to spew catnip gas. This plant, possibly the last of its kind, is a Catnip Ochu. The good news is that Kes is immune to its bad breath. The bad news is Rein is really high right now.

[Spice Six Seven Oh Nine]

Reinholdt waits as long as Kyne needs and then some.

"Never apologize for having feelings." Rein will never accept those kind of apologies! "It is all my fault anyways. I was too blunt and should have taken your feelings into account more." Whoever said honesty was the best policy was lying. It's some kind of scam.

[FireFox]

[Spice Six Seven Oh Nine]

The Goddess lowers her hands, letting the ship finally sink, and sniffles stickily into the fae's chest. His bare chest. He's only wearing boxers. She attempts to casually throw herself backwards a few feet in guilty embarrassment, but Rein could keep hold of her.

"I-I should let you... get back to..." Don't stare at the leopard, don't look anywhere other than up. The ceiling looks great in this room, very non-provocative.

[Reinholdt]

[Spice Six Seven Oh Nine]

Reinholdt let's her go, but slowly and reluctantly. No sudden pushes to escape.

He makes no effort to cover up either, though does pull out a kerchief to clean up his chest before offering it to Kyne for her face. "Sleep? Oh I doubt I'm getting any of that tonight." He might get ambushed again!

"But I won't hold you here either. Are you going to be ok?" That's the most important thing. She doesn't have to be ok right now. But eventually.

[Meowmai]

[Fey and Falcon Escapades

Watching Reinholdt start to smile, relief starts to wash over Kestrel. Someone smiling couldn't not be okay, right? Those feelings of relief quickly turned to that of a bewildered self-consciousness as the fey started to compliment her tail feathers- and even worse, start to bat at the tips of them! "I-I, um t-thanks but... you sure you're okay? You'r- HEY! Don't touch those, t-they kinda tickle!" The archer leapt back from Rein, her cheeks now red in embarrassment. Okay, clearly that gas had done something to Rein. She spared a quick, anxious glance over at the plant in case it was going for another attack of some kind, and then turned back to the fey. What was she supposed to do in this situation???

[Reinholdt]

[Fey and Falcon Escapades]

"OH. MY. GOSH!!" Reinholdt exclaims slowly and with emphasis on every word. "You're ticklish aren't you? That's amazing! Tickle tickles!" With the demented grin of someone who's discovered a grave weak point, Rein holds up his hands, each finger wiggling threateningly. A threat he intends to deliver on as he steps towards her! Tickle Time!

It would probably be a bad time to start standing around giggling though. As Kes foresaw, the Catnip Ochu was winding up another assault, this time bringing a large, thick vine back and swinging towards the pair from Kes' back at about chest height. The plant's movements are slow, relying on ambush and poisons mostly, but it would probably still really hurt if that thing connected. Diving forward into Rein would certainly result in tickle torture though!

[Meowmai]

Fey and Falcon Escapades

Kestrel's eyes widened in horror at Reinholdt's approach, realising her mistake far too late. Never admit that you are ticklish! To her dismay though, she couldn't really back away, what with the plant rearing up for another attack. "Uh, Reinholdt, this really isn't the time..." She was caught between a rock and a hard place! It wasn't a hard decision to make though. She thought that Reinholdt had saved her before (the birdgirl had no clue the gas was catnip), and as terrible as being tickled may be, it was better than being smacked by an oversized vine. "Get down!" she yelled, diving towards him, knocking him over and narrowly avoiding the vine's swing.

[Reinholdt]

[Fey and Falcon Escapades]

"Oof!" Down they go to the ground with Kes atop Rein as there's a whoosh above them from the air getting parted by a tentacle.

Surprisingly, no tickles actually happen.

It was a little disconcerting to get tackled after all! Instead, Rein just looks at Kes with half-lidded eyes, a sultry grin on his face as his entire head rotates a little when he says "Nyan, Rawwwwr." That was a rather husky tone.

"I didn't know you were so interested, but we should get inside first at least," Rein suggests. It's not the worst suggestion he's ever had. The size of the Ochu would prevent it from following if they escaped into the temple's half-collapsed entrance. Preferably soon, since it seems to have latched onto one of the remaining pillars still standing and is in the process of pulling the crumbling structure free from the ground.

I don't think it has good intentions for the block of stone in relation to the two adventurers.

[Meowmai]

Fey and Falcon Escapades

Bracing herself for a near-deadly onslaught of tickles as they toppled over, Kestrel let out a small gasp of her own as the two toppled over to the ground- though the impact for the birdgirl was somewhat lessened by the fact that she landed atop Reinholdt. But no tickles came, and Kestrel rather just hoped that the fey had been too surprised by the tackle to take advantage of her now being in prime tickle range. Or even better, perhaps the blow of the fall had knocked him to his senses! Those hopes were immediately dashed when he turned to her and spoke in that low, throaty tone though.

Upon realizing how Reinholdt had interpreted her actions, a blush leapt to the archer's face, and she scrambled up and off the fey in a hasty fluster. "W-what, no, I'm not interested in... in, in that!" A stutter and a squeak had made it into her voice with her embarrassment. Still though, while his intentions were clearly for entirely different reasons, Reinholdt did have a point. Getting inside the ruins seemed like quite a good idea. In any other circumstances she would have much more stubbornly stood her ground to try and fight the monster, but the archer really did not want to try and do that while dealing with... whatever had come over her companion. So, sparing yet another quick glance towards the Ochu- now ominously starting to lift parts of the ruins, after only a moment's hesitation she reached back down to try pull the fey to his feat, crimson still searing her face. "C'mon, l-let's just get inside. Quickly!"

[Reinholdt]

[Fey and Falcon Escapades]

"You squawked!" Reinholdt laughs at the way Kes' voice suddenly squeaks, but takes her hand all the same. "Ooh, boy you're in a hurry, huh? Shouldn't we have dinner fi-whoa!" Suddenly they were running! Rein's giggling at the sudden movement, but a sound from behind causes him to look backwards.

"Haha! Big rock go WHOOOSH!" That would be the sound of the pillar being chucked straight at them. Well, arced at them really. Not particularly straight.

It's fortunate that even a drugged Rein is light on his feet and doesn't slow Kes down as they hurl themselves into the doorway because the pillar impacts a half-second later, causing the whole to shake and shudder, dust and tiny pebbles flowing down upon their heads. That exit's definitely sealed off.

And for that matter, so is the left hallway as a torrent of larger rocks comes crashing down in the direction due to the disturbance, making quite a ruckus, but at least far enough away as to not crush them both. Which leaves only a very dark antechamber and a right hallway equally dark and one bird and one cat sprawled together. For once Rein's being quiet though as he coughs the dust outta his lungs.

[Meowmai]

"Hey, I did not squawk!" Kestrel protested indignantly while running, dragging Reinholdt along with her. The easily-flustered adventurer tried her best to ignore the fey's flirty comments . Fortunately for her, a distraction would come soon, although it was hardly reassuring. Big columns being flung towards you never really were. She practically dove through the ruins entrance, pulling Rein with her, getting knocked off her feet as the massive crash rang out. Scrambling away from the entrance, still on the ground, she watched as the doorway collapsed amidst the rubble- one hand raised to try protect her face from the smaller debris that tumbled from above, coughing as she inhaled the dust. Soon the last of the rocks fell into place, blocking most of the light and leaving them in relative darkness. Oh fudge.

The birdgirl was the first to speak, managing to splutter out, "Whew, t-that, that was a close one!"

[Reinholdt]

[Fey and Falcon Escapades]

Reinholdt coughs his way back to coherence but it's a terrible journey. "Ye-yeah..." Rein says, placing his hand about blindly for some leverage as he stands up. "I almost let you seduce me! Naughty naughty bird!"

Rein giggles again as his eyes start to adjust to the room. "We need a light..." Reinholdt flicks out a lighter and clicks it on after a few tries, putting it close to some kind of wick, leading to three red cylinders tightly bound together. It lights and makes a fsssssssss sound.

"There we go." Honestly, the fuse only puts out as much light as the lighter did. Could have just used the lighter.

[Meowmai]

[Fey and Falcon Escapades]

Brow furrowing in confusion, Kestrel turned to face Reinholdt- or rather, where she thought Rein was based on his voice. It was too dark to really see anything, after all. "You were the one who was trying to seduce me!" Trapped in the dark ruins with the fey acting like this was going to be one hell of a pain.

She was at least grateful for one thing though; as she hadn't brought any ignition sources with her, even the dim light Rein's lighter provided was very reassuring. Although the candle he brandished was very odd. "What's the point of having three candles with only one wick?" It didn't even have as big of a flame as she knew candles should have. More of just some sparks, really.

[Reinholdt]

[Fey and Falcon Escapades]

"Th-three candles?" Rein says, sounding very disappointed. "Uhh... I dunno. You're right, it's pretty awful." He just drops it to the floor and let its poor light suffice for this area, clearly dejected by the three candles.

Besides, he's moving in on Kes very closely now. "That's not true," Rein insists as she probably ends up with her back to the wall. "If I were trying to seduce you, I would get in very close," Like this, where they can practically feel each other's body heat. His mouth hovers near her ear. "I would whisper about how incredibly beautiful you are and how cute it is when you squeak." Since she doesn't squawk.

"I would caress you gently," He reaches up in an attempt to rub the back of her neck, something he's heard drives birds wild. "And give you a soft, passionate kiss." The heat of his words have traveled away from her ear, along her cheek, and to the front of her lips and she's in danger of mouth to mouth contact.

[Meowmai]

Huh, maybe he hadn't realised the candles had only one wick, because he seems quite disappointed by them- or so Kestrel thought. Or maybe it's just part of... whatever weird stuff was causing him to act this way. It had to have been that gas, right?

Her train of thought would become quite suddenly derailed though as Reinholdt advanced on her, and indeed the birdgirl found he back soon pressed up against the wall. That crimson blush that had seared her face earlier returned quite rapidly, but she did her best to look calm and collected. Despite these attempts, her confidence was rapidly draining away, replaced with a clear and obvious shy embarrassment. It really didn't help with the way that he leaned in so close that she could feel his breath brushing against her skin while her complimented her appearance... hey, wait, HEY! "I-I do n-not squeak!!!" She squeaked. Probably not that convincing.

The touch on the back of her neck didn't exactly drive her wild but well, it did feel nice. And all she could do in response to the mention of a kiss was stammer and mumble. Really! She tried to speak and at first all that came out of her lips was quite incomprehensible. Lots of "u-ums" and "ahs" and something that if Rein was listening closely to he could probably vaguely make out as along the lines of "I'm n-not that sort of girl..." Still though, she didn't quite feel like she actually wanted to push him away, so instead she just froze up awkwardly on the spot.

[Reinholdt]

"Shame is for someone who has done something wrong." Rein vaguely mumbles back. And this clearly isn't wrong. So she didn't need to feel ashamed as his lips meet hers, pressing into a deep kiss. It lingers - so long as it encounters no resistance - growing in intensity, but never becoming rough.

Reinholdt does break the kiss of his own accord eventually if Kes hasn't by now, pulling back with a grin on his face.
"See. I haven't tried to seduce you at all yet."

"That way!" Rein cries out suddenly turning towards the one hallway further into the temple that isn't collapsed in on itself and heading towards it.

[Meowmai]

[Fey and Falcon Escapades]

Indeed, Rein's advances met no resistance- quite the opposite in fact. Despite everything that Kestrel had just said, she leaned into the kiss, closing her eyes and enjoying the feeling of their lips meeting for as long as the kiss lasted. It was in fact, the fey who broke the kiss first. And then... then he ran off!

Hey, h-hang on, wait! Y-you can't just suddenly... o-oh, okay..." She trailed off, confused, bewildered, and too her shame also disappointed. So she started to rather awkwardly follow him down the corridor. Now she didn't know what to say or think or do!

[Reinholdt]

[Fey and Falcon Escapades]

Reinholdt seems perfectly capable of suddenly doing anything! He's a very inconsistent guy. If she's lucky, he'll start doing the things she wants him to.

They soon both reach a square room. Aside from where they just came from there only appears to be one exit, through a closed stone door on the other side. In the center of the room are four pedestals lined up in a row. And on top of these pedestals are four vases.

The far left one is blue and has the picture of an eagle on it.
The second one is green and has the picture of a horse on it.
The third one is red and has the picture of a tiger on it.
The fourth one is black and has the picture of a snake on it.

Aside from that, the only other thing of note is up above on the ceiling. There is a patch where part of it has crumbled away revealing a rope strung across like it was part of a pulley system.

As the two enter, they feel a tingle at the back of their head and a whisper.
When the four are put in their proper place, the way will open.
Rein responds by trying to swat the back of his head and just hitting himself to absolutely no effect. OW!

[Charlie Alpha Delta]

Reinholdt, Dorota, and Holly approach the rendezvous point. A small detail Rein neglected to mention is that he doesn't actually know how to drive. There have been a number of scientific tests done on what this lever does or how hard this petal should be pushed. If no one suffers from motion sickness, they might be forced to reconsider.

Thankfully there wasn't any traffic so far. Though the number of near misses with large rocks and tall trees exceed single digits. But it's fine! No one's died yet.

[Milton Island Assault]

Ilpholin arrives at Inside's docks at the appointed time to meet up with her angelic ally. She contacted who she could about joining her, but it was pretty short notice and the only one she got for certain was Damon. Given this was an opportunity to recover the core of the demon staff, the core of all demons, it was too good a chance to wait and do things properly. Still, a sling satchel crossing her shoulder suggests she's come prepared as best she can.

Now let's see how many of those devoted soldiers Cerabella promised showed up.

[Morty]

[Charlie Alpha Delta]

Dorota is clutching her travel bag tightly, as if it might save her in case of a crash (it wouldn't). She hasn't said anything in a while, instead just staring off into space anxiously.

[5a Violista]

[Charlie Alpha Delta]

Holly, a half-elf(?), is holding on to one of those handles on the ceiling above the window.
And looking out the window.

The whole time, she was torn between offering to be the one to drive, and...just keeping quiet, figuring it might be a little humiliating to have someone else take over partway through. She should have brought it up earlier, but just figured that he didn't know how to drive stick. Or whatever. Took her a bit too long to figure out that that wasn't the problem. Besides, she was almost this bad the first time she drove, too. Well, maybe not that bad. But she did press the gas and the break a bit too hard the first time. Luckily she was driving by herself, though, so there wasn't any problem.

Anyway, she commits to finding an excuse for her to drive on the way back. She has the whole time they're here to come up with an excuse, too, so that's good.

"S-so, how much farther is it? We almost there?"

[FireFox]

[Charlie Alpha Delta - Rock and Roll]

As the traveling investigators from HALO cruise along a winding paved road, up and down gentle hills with the midday sun shining overhead, the only thing of any importance they'll see on their journey is a billboard.

HILLSIDEVIEW REST-ESTATE

WEDDINGS - CLASS REUNIONS - EXECUTIVE CONFERENCES - SPIRITUAL RETREATS - FUNDRAISERS
COLLOQUIUMS - PROMS - FAMILY HOLIDAYS - ROMANTIC GETAWAYS - MORE - LESS

Shortly afterwards, they turn off the main highway onto another road. The coordinates then lead them up a long gravel drive to a beautiful looking château at the top of a hill. Four vehicles are parked in a lot near the front door: two different armored trucks with PROMETHEUS DEFENCE stenciled on the side and two identical plum colored vans. The machine gun turret on one of the armored vehicles traverses around and tracks the buggy as it approaches.

A man with white hair and black tactical gear steps out from behind a Prometheus truck and waves for Reinholdt to park. Meanwhile, the front door opens and two more guys hurry down the steps towards the gravel lot. The taller of the two is carrying a camera on his shoulder, pointed at the HALO team, and recording everything.