GLoG 93: Something something something babies

[Reinholdt]

[Looking for Trouble]

Well Reina can't say it's the best cabin to live in, being extremely partial. But it's a decent one.
Eyes glancing around, she heads to the Hawthorn cabin and knocks on the door.

[bc56]

Looking for Trouble

The door is opened a few moments later by a young woman. She has red skin, long black hair, and pitch black eyes. Six horns crown her head, a barbed tail extends from her rear, and batlike wings spread out from her back. A little ball of flame floats between her two largest horns. She's wearing a simple halterneck top and a long grey skirt. She looks a little surprised to have a visitor. "Uh, hello?"

[Purple Eagle]

[Ironoak Cabin - Zara]

The twins giggle some more and squirm in Zara's arms.

"Down!" Maltrika demands.

"Why are you talking about yourself like you're some other person?" Tuskfang asks suddenly. "You're Zara."

[Ironoak Cabin - Zara]

"Okay!" Zara responds, and puts the twins down... on the couch and flat on their backs, that is. That way, she can tickle each one with her hands. Coochie coochie coo!

"Yes, this one's name is Zara. This is how Zara talks!" She declares with that wide smile of hers. "So Zara hopes Tusky gets used to it, and that he bears with Zara."

[Reinholdt]

[Looking for Trouble]

Oh man, a demon! Been a while since Reina's seen one of them. She's a bit on the wary side, but since they're here they're probably looking for redemption or something.

Plus, she cannot deny that the floating fire looks like it would be extremely useful in keeping warm during the winter.

"Hello. I'm looking for Sekhmet," Reina states simply, not knowing how many people live in Hawthorne cabin.

[bc56]

Looking for Trouble

"Uh, that's me. Please come in." Sekhmet steps back out of the doorway and motions for Reina to enter.
The first room is a common area for the cabin's inhabitants. A few bookshelves are pushed against one wall, there are some comfy chairs and a couch, and a fire is blazing warmly in the hearth. "How can I, uh, help you?"

[Morty]

[Ironoak Cabin - Zara]

The twins squirm and grab onto Zara's hands with their paws. Their hands are a point of similarity with Tuskfang, it seems. They look similar, where they're quite different otherwise.

"That's weird. But if that's how you talk, that's okay. Mom always tells me not to make fun of how anyone talks." The creature in his arms makes a small croak. "Oooh, right. This is Hornclaw. He's my pet."

[Gullara]

[Ironoak Cabin - Scavenger Hunt]

"If she's a dryadeer, that means she's both!" Tuskfang grins. "Fawns are really cute. They have really thin legs." As they search around the cabin, it becomes clear that the clue isn't there. "Maybe it's inside. We gotta go in. I wonder if mom and dad know anything about it. Maybe Brinika and Cheasadh snuck in. But it's hard to sneak by dad. He's got a good nose."

[Ironoak Cabin - Scavenger Hunt]

"Uh huh, I guess Tus'fang is right. I'm neither. I'm a dryadeer!" She will follow Tuskfang into the cabin, looking around with birdlike swiftness.

"I know what you mean. My dad has a really good nose too. I've tried hiding... stuff on his office chair an' under the couch cushions and behind the washing machine an' he always finds everything. And he always seems to find right where we are when we're outside. Hide and seek with him is impossible when he tries. He has to let us win. He says he's always trying, but I can tell when he's not." Lucy is grinning while she babbles all this. "He stinks at hiding though. He's too big."

[Ironoak Cabin - Scavenger Hunt]

All this dad talk isn't too interesting to Jillian. She doesn't even have one of those, let alone one with a good nose. So instead she focuses on taking in the inside of the cabin once they get inside. Unlike Lucy, she's never been here before, or seen the inside of any of the regular Glog cabins.

[Reinholdt]

[Looking for Trouble]

"My name's Reina Terenti. You've probably seen my picture in the Main Cabin under GLoG's greatest success stories," Reina says as she comes in. Seeing the look on Sekhmet's face because there very much is no such board of success stories, the catgirl clears her throat. "A-Anyways, I'm with MERC now and I was hoping to ask you a few questions if you had the time. I understand you've run into some fey recently? Is that correct?"

[bc56]

Looking for Trouble

Sekhmet looks a little confused. This isn't about demon things? "I, uh, have a fey friend, but, uh, I haven't recently run into any, no." Where is Rose anyway? She seems like she's been just gone for a while. "I don't know very much about fey, but I can try to, uh, answer your questions."

[Reinholdt]

[Looking for Trouble]

Reina frowns at herself. Was the information wrong? Or perhaps misinterpreted. "Oh. Umm... what about not recently?" Maybe recent was just the wrong word for it! "Or... oh well, maybe you could tell me about your friend? What kind of fey are they?"

[bc56]

Looking for Trouble

"She's a nymph," Sekhmet begins. "I met her when she came looking for me. She said she'd met my father." Sekhmet still finds it hard to believe. "I cured one of her other friends of, uh, demonic corruption and she gave me some information I, uh, needed."

[Purple Eagle]

[Ironoak Cabin - Zara]

The twins squirm and grab onto Zara's hands with their paws. Their hands are a point of similarity with Tuskfang, it seems. They look similar, where they're quite different otherwise.

"That's weird. But if that's how you talk, that's okay. Mom always tells me not to make fun of how anyone talks." The creature in his arms makes a small croak. "Oooh, right. This is Hornclaw. He's my pet."

[Ironoak Cabin - Zara]

"Tusky is a good boy, to listen to his mom so. People speak in different ways, and no one has the right to make fun of them for how they speak. It's a free world, what's not to like?" Zara says as she speaks with Tuskfang, while bending down to motorboat the twins' stomach in turn.

She looks up and spots Hornclaw, whom she'd seen but is just now appearing to take a closer look at. "Zara had figured he was Tusky's pet... Hello, Hornclaw!" She grins at the creature.

"How is Tusky doing in school?" She asks.

[Reinholdt]

[Looking For Trouble]

Reina raises an eyebrow. Now that was interesting.

"Really? You have the ability to cure demonic corruption?" If so, that's quite a useful talent!

[bc56]

Looking for Trouble

"Sort of. In a, uh, roundabout way." Sekhmet struggles for a good explanation. "I can't make it go away, but, uh, I can prevent it from getting in someone's soul." It's an awkward way of describing a complicated metaphysical process, but it'll do.

[Reinholdt]

[Looking For Trouble]

"Well that's still pretty neat I think," Reina says. The soul was probably the important part anyways!

"Is... that what happened to you? Or were you born a demon?"

[Morty]

[Ironoak Cabin - Zara]

Hornclaw makes a croak back at Zara. It could be a greeting too, but it could be a regular Crundle noise.

"I dunno. I have trouble reading and listening. I get distracted. Mom say it's normal," Tuskfang says uncertainly. His siblings seem sufficiently occupied by Zara for now.

[Ironoak Cabin - Scavenger Hunt]

The treasure-hunting trio will find themselves in a short corridor containing coats and boots, which then leads to the cabin's living room. It's a pretty humble living space, but one the family have made their own. One major feature seems to be differently-sized furniture, given the range of sizes found in the inhabitants. Reelshka can be seen sitting in one of the smaller armchairs and looks up when the three kids barge in.

"Moom! Did Brinika and Chesadh hide something here?" Tuskfang asks without much of an introduction.

"I haven't seen them. But you know they can be sneaky." Reelshka is lying; she knows her nieces went through the cabin to hide something. But she's very good at lying to children.

[bc56]

Looking for Trouble

Sekhmet looks a little uncomfortable to talk about this, but she answers. "No, uh, I was born this way. Mostly, uh, anyway." But demons aren't normally born, are they? "Why, uh, why did you come looking for me? I, uh, try not to be noticed."

[Reinholdt]

[Looking for Trouble]

"I see." Sure they are. That's the whole point of the succubus/incubus combo. To create new demons.

"You sure about that?" Reina asks with a head tilt. "My sources say your name keeps coming up with a lot of major events recently that you've become embroiled and/or entangled in. But then, they also say those events appear to have included fey at some point. But I'm not sure if just helping your fey friend counts, so perhaps they were wrong. It's fine to be wrong sometimes. You tell me. Do you feel like you've stumbled into and encountered a lot of unusual incidents lately?"

[bc56]

Looking for Trouble

Oh, right. That. Between visiting VIGIL on multiple occasions, going to all those parties, and all the nonsense with the Hive and her mother, Sekhmet should've expected to be noticed more. "Oh, uh..." How does she explain that she can't help it? That she's literally chosen by fate? "Uh, it's hard to explain, but, uh, I don't have a choice. Things just, uh, happen around me. Sometimes dangerous things."

[Reinholdt]

[Looking for Trouble]

Oh, well then they're on the right track after all. "Yeah? That sounds pretty rough. Can you think of why that's the case?" Sekhmet sounded like she had an idea of why these things were happening to her but didn't think Reina would believe her.

"And if these things don't involve fey, would they happen to involve demons?" The catgirl inquired.

[bc56]

Looking for Trouble

"Uh... Fate." It sounds silly to Sekhmet's ears, but she knows it's true. "Yes, uh, it's about demons. It always is." It's probably unsurprising that a demon would be tangled up in demon problems. Now that demons are the focus of the conversation though, Sekhmet looks a lot more wary.

[Murkus]

[Ironoak Cabin - Scavenger Hunt]

"Hi missus Reelshka!" says Lucy with a wag of her hand, forgetting Mrs. Trollfinger's last name again. Geez, she's so small. Even smaller than Lucy's mom. She checks the paper they got again to see if she missed any details about what might be here.

[Reinholdt]

[Looking for Trouble]

"Fate." Reina nearly spat the word back, a scowl forming on her face. "Fate's the worst."

It seems Reina believes Sekhmet at least.

Though it's a little strange to blame fate on demon things when Sekhmet is a demon. "So... what exactly is your fate then? Are we talking demon politics or demonic prophecies?" There is a difference! Which one is Sekhmet wrapped up in is the question.

[bc56]

Looking for Trouble

"Both. The, uh, politics, I, uh, want no part in. Even if it was safe for me, I'd, uh, rather stay in exile. The prophecy... It doesn't help. But, uh, at least I know things will, uh, get better because of it." Technically, the prophecy is a divine one, but that's not a huge difference for Sekhmet right now. "I, uh, really just want to live in peace."

[Reinholdt]

[Looking for Trouble]

Reina frowns sympathetically at Sekhmet. The demon clearly hasn't acknowledged that a peaceful life does not await her, at least until the prophecy is complete. It's not something Reina expects she'd be able to explain either, despite her experience with the matter. Those who run from their fate usually bury their heads in the sand.

"What exactly does this prophecy say?"

[bc56]

Looking for Trouble

Sekhmet looks very awkward. "Uh, I'd rather not say. It's, uh, very personal." the fiendling shifts her weight uncomfortably. Apparently, she doesn't want to think about it herself. But maybe that would be good for her.
Will Reina press the issue, or let Sekhmet keep her secrets?

[Purple Eagle]

[Ironoak Cabin - Zara]

Hornclaw makes a croak back at Zara. It could be a greeting too, but it could be a regular Crundle noise.

"I dunno. I have trouble reading and listening. I get distracted. Mom say it's normal," Tuskfang says uncertainly. His siblings seem sufficiently occupied by Zara for now.

[Ironoak Cabin - Zara]

"Tusky seems unsure." Zara notes, bending down to occupy the twins some more and letting them play with her stretchy hands and fingers. "Zara could help if Tusky wants... we'll make it like a game!" She says, turning back to him. "Or, Tusky could ask Zabb."

[Morty]

[Ironoak Cabin - Zara]

Tuskfang's ears perk up in curiosity. Hornclaw decides that he hasn't been pet in too long and rubs against his hand with his head, croaking.

"How do you make it a game?"

The twins grab and pull at Zara's fingers. Sooner or later they'll try to bite them. Their teeth are definitely more developed than those of human babies the same age.

[Reinholdt]

[Looking for Trouble]

"You sure?" Reina asks calmly. "Cause it sounds like the way things are, it is actively affecting you anyways. You certainly won't be able to live in peace this way. There are people who are experts in dealing with this type of thing, or even just might have a different perspective that could aid you. That's why companies always insist on group collaboration. It has factually proven to be more effective at creative problem solving. If you choose to keep it to yourself, you may be missing an opportunity."

[bc56]

Looking for Trouble

"Well, uh..." She's probably right. Sekhmet should tell someone. And she seems like she's genuinely trying to help. "It's about, uh, my mother. I'm going to take her throne." That doesn't sound bad at all. Why is Sekhmet running from that fate? She did say she didn't want to deal with demon politics.