Silly Plots 4: It's not particularly silly, is it?

[bc56]

Jade's Lair

Jade stirs gently at Tristan's touch. Her ears twitch, and the tips of two of her tails brush against his side. Slowly she awakens. How did she get back here? She remembers kissing Tristan on the moon, laughing and crying together at her recovered memories. Which she also still has. "What a wonderful dream..." She apparently still hasn't gotten it into her head that Tristan is in bed with her. Not for another moment yet. "Huh? Tristan?" What happened last night? Whatever the reason, Jade finds she doesn't mind much. "Good morning." She leans up to give him a peck on the cheek. "I had a dream about you."

[Rebonack]

[Jade's Lair]

*smeck*

Just a little kiss.

Tristan still finds it electrifying.

"Good morning," he says back, still trying to organize his thoughts.

Did that really happen? Like, REALLY happen? Did we make out with Jade on the moon?
I... um... I think so? The Dreamheart is r-really strange. Reality breaks down there.
Yeah but was it REAL or not?
Eh, who cares? It was nice.

"I did, too," Tristan replies, his tone a little vacant. "I mean, I had a dream about you. But I guess I was in it, too. We were on the moon together and there was... music?"

Why where they on the moon together, again?

The reason is quickly slipping away, though he recalls in sharp detail how he felt. Together. A spreading warmth in his chest.

[bc56]

Jade's Lair

"In my dream, we were on an island, and we were kissing, and everything smelled like cheese." Jade clambers out of bed, and Tristan will clearly see her nine fluffy tails waving behind her. Clearly something happened last night, because she only had one when they spent yesterday together. Did she have nine in the dream? It's hard to remember.
Honestly Jade is just relieved she and Tristan could reciprocate their feelings for each other finally. She doesn't have to keep that pent up inside anymore.

[Rebonack]

[Jade's Lair]

"Yeah that..." Tristan mutters as he sits up in bed. Where are his clothes? Discarded on the floor. What had they done yesterday? He had come to see Jade. Then they set off to order his costume. Then they found those weird magical things happening and put an end to that. Then they went to a library and he chatted with Sphinx. Then they took a walk in the park together.

Then they...

Did...

Something?

They had a night on the town and then came back to Jade's place and went to bed together.

"That sounds right," Tristan mutters. That's got to be what happened, right? Otherwise he wouldn't be here in Jade's bed with his clothes on the floor admiring Jade getting dressed.

Oh well. Like Leona underscored it doesn't matter that much. And it was nice.

Tristan slips out of bed and begins gathering up his clothes to put them on.

[bc56]

Jade's Lair

Jade slips into some clothes while Tristan watches. Just a skirt and a t-shirt for now, nothing fancy. She rubs her forehead gingerly. "Ugh, I definitely had a little too much to drink last night." That's what happened, right? No wonder her memories of that time are all a happy blur. "You feeling all right?" She opens the door to downstairs. "I'm going to go make some coffee. Come down as soon as you're dressed." She does share this hideout with her brother after all. She's not sure how much of their... Activities... last night he heard. Speaking of which, what time is it? She would check her watch, but she's not wearing it right now.

[Rebonack]

[Jade's Lair]

"Yeah, I'm okay," Tristan says as he puts his underclothes on. "Just glad we decided to finally take the plunge together. It felt a little surreal after everything we've been through. Nice, though. It was nice."

Why can't he remember, though?

A club.

They must have gone to a club together.

That was it. Which one? Or maybe more than one...

Goodness, last night was a complete blur.

"I think I'm going to need a ton of water," Tristan laughs as he dons his pants.

A few minutes later he'll descend in shirt and pants but barefoot.

[bc56]

Jade's Lair

On the way out, Tristan might notice a very showy red dress piled atop Jade's boots from yesterday. Right. That's what she was wearing.
Meanwhile, Jade stops on the stairs to rub her sore ankles. She was wearing those heels all night, wasn't she? And dancing, they must've been dancing for hours!
As a result, Tristan manages to catch up with her and the two of them arrive in the main area of the lair at about the same time.
Jason is already there. He's got a holographic screen pulled up where he's running some sort of physics simulation. He pauses it. "I see you two lovebirds finally decided to get up," he teases, "You better be taking good care of my sister, Tristan," he warns with a tone that suggests he knows full well that Tristan will do fine.

[Rebonack]

[Jade's Lair]

It was a really cute dress. And there's that slick sports jacket he had worn draped on the chair over there. At least he had remembered not to just toss it on the floor when they got home. It would have gotten really wrinkled. A night of dancing and chatting and a few pretty great drinks. Just enough to leave the night as pleasant blur of happy feelings, gyrating motion, and neon lights.

A really great night.

Tristan just wishes he could remember it better.

He'll have to remember to dial back the mixed drinks a little more next time.

As for Jason?

He'll get a laugh as Tristan raises his hands defensively.

"Hey now, Jade takes care of herself. I mostly just cheer-lead from the sidelines."

[bc56]

Jade's Lair

Jason shakes his head and continues in a mock scolding tone, "I think I have a right to be concerned when she leaves with one tail and comes back with nine." So that happened sometime last night, but Jade can't remember when or how. "Oh, just get along you two," Jade giggles. She walks through the door into the kitchen area, humming to herself as she begins pouring a kettle of water for coffee. While she's not paying attention, Jason nudges Tristan. Now he looks serious. "You're a lucky guy. She's smart, pretty, and a self-made multimillionaire. But she's also my sister. You're a great guy, and I trust you, but if you hurt her..." He leaves the rest unsaid.

[Recaiden]

[Blind Date]

Shade!
That's exactly where June immediately decides to sit.
And Mei is correct in not sitting too close, because sitting too close is one of the more common ways to weird out someone you recently met. (Unless they happen to have a really small personal space bubble.)

"I've never even seen a multi-headed lizard," June comments to the totally-not-fake person, but then adds in a nonserious complaining tone, "but seriously, you'd think they could come up with a better name. Hydra basically is just another name for water, right? It'd make more sense for a multi-headed frog or maybe even a snake than a lizard."

"Exactly. That's why hydra is for a fish." Mei agrees in that same non-serious tone.

"So what is it that you enjoy about the mountains?"
"For me, it's that you can picture so much happening here, up and down and in-between and around the peaks and hills."
"And of course they're a good size to climb, that helps."

[Seally Plot]

Unfortunately, cyber-ghosts will probably have to be reserved for another of my characters, later or something.

Oh. So, that's slightly different from what is made from.
Eh...not that it really matters, much, what people are made from.

The magic seal is gone, and with it gone, magic flows more normally from Zophiel's body. It feels like a dichotomy of warm, cold, fast, slow, light, dark.
Unfortunately, the being isn't really sure what that lifted-hand-motion is supposed to mean. So she doesn't know that she's supposed to do something different now, if she is.

"Unknown," is the response: "Not sure where the other half went." But it was split with a pair of swords that are nearby! So that's a neat coincidence. Statistically speaking, pretty low chances of that coincidence happening.

"This is my body," it claims. "This is me. The bandages are just coming off."

It absolutely matters if you need to do anything with them!
Anchor turns and asks Cleo for "-all three backup vials." and shortly is provided with three vials of cold dark blood, which are quickly surrounded by moving shadows and disappear. Somewhere nearby but also not quite here, godly machinery powers up, racing and turning upon itself.

Turning back to Zophiel, she says "Huh. We know another Zophiel. And you feel like, well, like two halves. Alternating, mixing."
She frowns slightly. It's not pleasant, that dichotomous magic, light and cold constantly rising and falling. But it does at least feel healthier.

"So, how do you feel about your body? I mean, have you thought about it before?"

[Rebonack]

[Jade's Lair]

"You know it's kind of rude to comment on a lady's tail-count," Tristan points out, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow. His tone makes it pretty clear this is all in jest.

And then?

Jade trundles off to get after the coffee.

When Jason speaks up Tristan's expression quickly shifts between uncertainty, light-hardheartedness, and resolution. How to approach this one.

"I know how lucky I am. And I've already gone through literal hell with Jade to help her do what's right. That's why you're even here. Believe me, the last thing I would want to do is hurt her. I'm there for her, one hundred percent."

He doesn't even bother acknowledging the veiled threat.

He gets it, though.

When they aren't sharing the same head-space it's easier for Leona to be fiercely protective of her siblings. That protective ferocity of those he loves is an aspect of Jason that Tristan understands.

[bc56]

Jade's Lair

Jason raises his hands in a "I didn't mean to come off that hostile" gesture. "Just wanted to be sure you knew. You two have fun."
Really, Jason's just a little lonely inside. His sister has a great boyfriend now... He needs to get himself a girlfriend.
Jade comes back into the room with a pot of coffee and some mugs. "I got coffee!" She looks at them. "What's with you two?"

[Rebonack]

[Jade's Lair]

But what sort of girlfriend would Jason be in search of?

Maybe a completely normal one to offset how weird Tristan and Jade are.

"Just coming to a mutual understanding of how great you are," Tristan replies to Jade with a dorky smile. Leona is in the background somewhere rolling her eyes and muttering 'dweebs' under her breath. "We're both just concerned about you since no one can really recall exactly how you got the tails back. Must have found something on our walk..."

That was before the club though, right?

Ugh.

He's going to be really upset if some jerk spiked his drink and that's why half of yesterday is such a blur.

Oh well. It probably doesn't matter THAT much. The important part is that Jade has got her memories back and she's feeling much better.

"One cup of coffee and gobs of water for me. Do you have any of that hazelnut creamer left?"

[bc56]

Jade's Lair

"Yeah, it's strange. I can't remember anything clearly." She looks at Jason. "We stopped by briefly to get my dress, right? How many tails did I have then?" Jason, as the only one who wasn't drunk out of his wits last night, should know. "You had nine, but I didn't press the issue. You guys clearly had other things on your minds." Jade nods. That makes sense. "I think we still have some creamer in the cupboard. I'll check." She leaves for a few moments of Tristan has anything else to say to Jason.

[Murkus]

Spoiler

Show

[Frescot Residence]

Laurana takes a step towards Adir, but then stops and looks back toward... her sister? She looks confused an conflicted.

Cassie, on the other hand, the Cassie Adir is referring to, is filled with despair. "N-no." She protests weakly. "I'm Cassie." She insists more strongly. What is daddy saying? She can't understand it.

Sakura pulls a small ways away from the other Cassie, still holding her though, and looks up at the first. "Come here, sweetie." Cassie looks at her mom then Adir again, tears welling in her eyes. Then she runs full on to Sakura, who pulls her into the group hug. "Don't worry, you're my little girl." Sakura reassures and kisses the top of her head.

Finding some reassurance, Laurana slowly walks over to stand next to Adir. She's still very confused...

[Frescot Residence]

Adir takes Laurana close and hugs her too, but there's a tenseness to him. He glances over at the cluster of children around Sakura. He tries to catch Sakura's eyes. There's a definite 'we really, really need to talk' signal in his gaze. Maybe in a few minutes, once they've comforted the kids enough to step away from them for a second.

"Your grampa helped," he says, mostly to the kids in general. "Helped save Cassie. We might not have made it without him. He should be back soon..."

[Rebonack]

[Jade's Lair]

"Okay it must have been the walk over at Plum Mountain Park," Tristan concludes. "Since we were going there to get your memories back. The extra tails must have come along with them."

That...

Makes sense.

Right?

Then Jade is off again.

The missing time should be more concerning but missing time is kind of par for course when it comes to dealing with the fae.

Tristan gives a sigh, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I'm not upset at you or anything like that, Jason. I just wanted to be clear that Jade means the world to me. I understand wanting to protect her."

[bc56]

Jade's Lair

Jason extends a hand to shake. "Good. Keep it that way."
Jade's back again a moment later. "Sorry. No hazelnut creamer left. Just plain." She tosses a container to Tristan and takes a seat. "Maybe we should look into it more closely? It's weird that we can't remember how I got the memories back. That seems like something I'd... Remember."

[5a Violista]

[Blind Date]

"Well," June answers, "I grew up around mountains. So I've always associated them with fun things. Hiking, climbing, just spending time with people, camping, running, exploring...all sorts of things."

Plus, the views are good, too.
Speaking of,
June leans back and enjoys the breeze while looking over the view here.


[Seally Plot]

"Same as anyone else, I suppose," is the response. "Sometimes I like it, sometimes I don't care."

The breaking and changing reaches the shoulders.
The shoulders shrug.
"Why? Do you want it, or something?" That was a bit of teasing, actually. It's hard to tell when you're talking to something located in a metaphorical location.

[Gullara]

[Frescot Residence]

Adir takes Laurana close and hugs her too, but there's a tenseness to him. He glances over at the cluster of children around Sakura. He tries to catch Sakura's eyes. There's a definite 'we really, really need to talk' signal in his gaze. Maybe in a few minutes, once they've comforted the kids enough to step away from them for a second.

"Your grampa helped," he says, mostly to the kids in general. "Helped save Cassie. We might not have made it without him. He should be back soon..."

[Frescot Residence]

Sakura meets Adir's eye for a moment, but then looks away to focus on the two Cassie's. They're both crying at this point, and Sakura keeps murmuring soft words to them and hugging them close. Others stay around them, but the cluster is starting to fragment a bit.

"I hope grampa's back soon." Laurana says quietly. It's hard to feel good when not the whole family is back together yet.

"Don't worry, Lucy. Grampa Sarget is big and strong and super smart. He'll be okay." Laela gives her little sister a hug to accompany the reassuring words.

[Murkus]

[Frescot Residence]

"I don't think there's anything in the world that could stop him." Adir starts to stand up with little Kissa still cradled in his arm, reaching to take Laurana's hand. He looks around at the somewhat chaotic group. "Are you kids hungry? I think we should make something to eat... and then I think it's gonna be best if we still go stay at the Keep with your auntie for a couple of days. Just while Sarget and I make sure things are safe here again."

He wants to ask their auntie about what happened, too. He only faintly understands how feyish creatures work. He'd like to try and make sure that nothing can... enter his house like that again.

[Rebonack]

[Jade's Lair]

"I feel betrayed now," Tristan laments as he catches the creamer.

He definitely puts way too much of that stuff in his coffee.

"We could look into it some more," Tristan reasons. "But I'm not sure how we would do that. Retrace our steps to Plum Mountain Park, maybe? It must have happened between then and coming back for your dress. Unfortunately missing time isn't an unusual hazard when it comes to faeries."

Speaking of.

Does Jade count as a faerie anymore?

She got back her tails.

And her memory.

And her magic, maybe?

What exactly is she now?

[bc56]

Jade's Lair

What is Jade?
That's a hard question to answer. Perhaps those revelations will come in time?

"We can start there, and if we don't find anything, we can trace our steps backwards, right?" But that seems like the likely place. "I can help, but I don't like the idea of getting mixed up in faerie things. I saw what it did to you two." Jason seems reluctant. But an extra mind could be useful.

[Recaiden]

[Blind Date]

"Well," June answers, "I grew up around mountains. So I've always associated them with fun things. Hiking, climbing, just spending time with people, camping, running, exploring...all sorts of things."

Plus, the views are good, too.
Speaking of,
June leans back and enjoys the breeze while looking over the view here.

Sadly there's not much breeze here. It's part of the weather not having been started up yet. Only tiny disturbances of the air, which is otherwise just lying around.
"You had a happy enough time growing up then? Got any stories?"
Of course, this is going to lead to questions about Mei's sad childhood, but sometimes that's the way things go.
She's looking out at the view from up high, rather than looking at June. For one, that might be too forward at the moment. For another, June isn't the same interesting sort of view as a mountain range, if you ask Mei.
"'Just' spending time with people isn't so easy, without the running and exploring and activity. Don't you think so?"

[Seally Plot]

"Same as anyone else, I suppose," is the response. "Sometimes I like it, sometimes I don't care."

The breaking and changing reaches the shoulders.
The shoulders shrug.
"Why? Do you want it, or something?" That was a bit of teasing, actually. It's hard to tell when you're talking to something located in a metaphorical location.

"That's not how everyone else feels. I mean, if only it were that easy!"
Anchor smiles, to cover up the bit of anger that she feels. This Zophiel isn't taking things seriously.

"As a matter of fact, I do."
"May I? What do you want?" Other than revenge, which she's already too late for.

"Leaving you alone behind those seals, it wouldn't be right. But everything else, well, we'll have to decide on."

[Rebonack]

[Jade's Lair]

What is a Jade?

A miserable pile of fluffy tails.

But enough talk, have at you!

"We could retrace our steps, but you're right yeah. Dealing with fae is always dangerous. I trimmed back Plum Mountain Park as much as I could before I bailed. Drove off a bunch of the nastier things, too. But any of the parks around the city have always got hazards to be careful around," Tristan says. "Mind the three prohibitions, wear iron, keep your wits about you. Do those things and you'll be fine."

Probably.

Though first?

Drink coffee. Drink water. Get some breakfast. Probably put on shoes?

[bc56]

Jade's Lair

Come on now.
Jade isn't miserable! She's having fun!

"Right. And you guys know all that better than me, so I'll let you take the lead."

Drink coffee?
You bet.
Eat breakfast?
Nothing fancy, but sure. Just a quick meal.
Get shoes?
No, Jade and Jason are suiting up. They know how dangerous this might be. This takes Jason significantly longer than Jade; his suit doesn't have the fancy metamorphic materials yet.

But once that's ready, our three heroes can head back to the park.

[Rebonack]

[Plum Mountain Park]

Tristan does not suit up.

Mostly because he does not have a suit.

YET!

But that will be fixed eventually.

So!

Off to the park.

The walk up that winding path is just as pleasant as it was the day before. And just like the day before our heroes will soon reach a simple log bridge passing over a rushing stream running down the side of the hill. In the middle of the stream is a large blue boulder. And on top of the boulder?

Is a cross fox.

The kumiho watches the trio approach curiously.

"Ah, hello again," the kumiho says to our heroes, her tail wagging behind her. "I see you found what you had lost. I'm happy for you. Missing so many of your tails must have been terrible."

[bc56]

Plum Mountain Park
"Sorry, do I know you?" Jade isn't quite as hostile to the kumiho this time. Not that she remembers the last time. But she does remember being a kumiho. She's pretty sure she isn't one now, but she remembers.
Jason says nothing. If he doesn't say anything to faeries except "I'm not Buttercup," they can't get him, right?

[Rebonack]

[Plum Mountain Park]

The fox on the rocks laughs.

"After a fashion, I suppose. We've met before, but I was wearing the mask of myself. Or, I suppose, my old self. The original one. Or at least the one that I'm mostly sure was mine. I think you might be able to relate to that little identity problem," the kumiho replies. "Like you, I try to be a good fox. But, I think, you may have managed to extinguish your hunger. I'll admit that I'm a touch envious."

Tristan knits his brow a bit.

Didn't they...

Hadn't they met a fox on their way up the hill yesterday.

It's all pretty hazy.

"Hey, did we come by here yesterday?" Tristan asks.

"You did. Are you having trouble remembering?" the kumiho replies.

[bc56]

Plum Mountain Park
"Do you want help with your hunger? We know where to find more icons. We could get you one," Jade offers. "No, we can't remember. We're trying to find out."

[Rebonack]

[Plum Mountain Park]

The fox looks puzzled. "More Icons? Those repulsive devil things?"

"Or whatever they are," Tristan confirms. "I used to be a trio of gaiads, but we dug up one of those Icons and I was able to use it to restore my human body. Look at me now, the amazing Man-Man."

There are several seconds of silence as the kumiho just...

Stares.

When Jade confirms the lack of remembering the fox doesn't reply to the comment.

No, mostly she's crying.

Ever seen a crying fox before?

You have now.

"You... you're telling the truth, aren't you? I can be human again?"