Inside 70: Surprisingly Pleasant

[Morty]

[Slums - Cabaret]

Michalson could indeed stride right in, but in the interest of diplomacy he'll knock first. He is here more or less on the goodwill of the occupants, so he can't go around entering rooms uninvited.

[Rebonack]

[RIOT!]

Smack!

The ganger responds to Athena's argument by spitting a wad of blood and saliva on the hero's boots.

Which is rude.

And gross.

"I know your sort," Shotput sneers. "Goody-two-shoes. Nothing you can do to me is as bad as what the boss would do if I snitch."

Well!

Sounds like she isn't going to cooperate.

What next, hero?

[bc56]

"Oh really?" Jade ignores the bloody spit on her boots. It'll wash right off anyway. "Maybe I should demonstrate on your friend over there." She stands over Telefrag and focuses, unleashing her magical powers. If he finds her attractive, he should transform, his body becoming that of a beautiful woman.

[Deathkeeper]

"Maybe they were trying to poison that spider-lady? Clearly a noble would be a prime target for intrigue and subterfuge. I'm shocked that you weren't rewarded for your virtuous deed of thwarting an assassin's plot." As he clearly wouldn't be house-hunting if he had been, right? Of course, this was all simply jest as could be told from the melodramatic tones in which Alva spoke. Then again, maybe the reward was being used to pay for said fancy hotel." "But you mentioned this Lucy person.. Is this the same person you were talking about the first time?" she asked, finally broaching that subject. She had wanted to bring it up during dinner but with that statement, continuing to 'ignore' that matter would just get awkward.

[Arkham Street and Beyond]

"What, my roommate? Yeah, that's her. She's funding our place for now. Haven't seen her for a few days...but she does that sometimes. Nothing to worry about. Why, did you worry she might be my girlfriend? No that's...I'm not with the girl I was seeing when we met." It sounds like he probably doesn't want to elaborate too much on that one. He's facing ahead again.

[Earl of Purple]

Dark Alleyway

There's a slight 'ding' as one of the walls ripples and disappears. Appearing in its place is a pair of brass doors, with a little light at the top. The doors slide open, folding away. Inside, it's a rather small room, with red velvet padding on the walls and a slab of black marble for the floor. It's lit by a pair of candles, one on the left and one on the right. The candles are slightly unnerving, with pale white wax and screaming faces appear in the flames.

[Zefir]

[Grey Zone - Museum Street Backalley]

Billie furrows her brow at this.

Had the attack on the collector occurred at his museum?

That certainly would imply that this attacker was capable of using these strange objects aggressively, rather than passively as a trap. This meant that the individual in question would be far more dangerous than previously expected. "I'll need the case reports for both previous victims as soon as possible."

With a sigh, she nods in confirmation to the officer's previous question. "That'd be best. Forward any relevant information, if you would."

This was turning out to be a strange case, indeed.

[Grey Zone - Museum Street Backalley]

Yes the man was attacked in the museum. Which is part of the mans home. The lady also got attackted at home in her garden while taking a walk. Should I mention futher details or when she finally get's the files?

"I will arrange that a copy of each case will be on your desk befor you return." Not sure if Billie got a desk in the police office, if not it's on the policemens desk which he will then give to her.

Then he nods and folds his papers. "That's all i got for you." he will then go to leave . He sure has stuff to do. As allways if he says 'someone do something' it is him who has to do it.

Billie can now look over the scene or a bit later she migth decide who to meet. The adventurer are in Trogs, one of the eire companys will arrange a meeting at their company and the owner of the banrupt one will come to the police office. There aren't much informations about the dragon kids so the question remains if they even exist.

[Terumitsu]

[Arkham Street and Beyond]

Unfortunately for Sam, this was exactly the kind of thing that got Alva's interest. Not to say she wasn't sympathetic and she reached out to gently pat a shoulder in consolation but she loved hearing all the sordid details, good and bad, when it came to relationships. "Oh dear, what happened there? It must have been hard for you if you're saying something like that since you seem like a pretty up-beat guy." Sam did come off as quite gregarious to her, after all. She considered perhaps a bit more followup prodding but decided against it. Prying too hard was a sure way to have a very hard subject change and that would be fairly unsatisfying. So she left it in Sam's hands on if he felt maybe he could at least expound a bit or try to come up with something new. Like talking about Lucy or something?

[Deathkeeper]

[Arkham Street]

"Oh, I got dumped. Simple as that." Sam gives a double-shrug.
"Not a terribly complex affair. Of course, that makes me a very eligible cook-merc-hero-person. So let me know if you know anyone whose type is 'big n' blue.'" he tells Alva, his grin returning to his face as he gives a single particularly springy step for effect. His twin tails curl behind him.

[5a Violista]

[Nightclub]

"Oh, yeah?"
Tiffany dances in closer, practically eliminating any personal space that they had left.
"Accidentally starting a band is an acceptable risk."

[Terumitsu]

[Arkham Street]

Oh come on, there had to be more to the story than that! Nobody just out and does something like that without a reason! But, well, if Sam wasn't sharing then Alva wouldn't press too much more. "I could definitely keep an ear out for you there." she said, already committing to some future mischief to try and hook Sam up with someone she found nice. "So what about this Lucy person? How did you meet?" she asked, keeping the conversation ongoing as she kept up with Sam's larger stride.

As they kept going, the barking of a dog through the gaps of a fence would end up with Alva nearly jumping in surprise and not so subtly moving to where Sam was between her and the hound. It took only a few moments more for her to regain her composure but it might be fun on Sam's part to tease a bit on her reaction.

[Deathkeeper]

[Arkham Street]

"Oh, we met when I had to fend off some muggers that were going after her. Most folk like that don't hold ground when a huge guy with a giant sword shows up." He thinks he might have been using a nodachi for effect. It was big; he remembers that.
"Then she didn't have a place to stay so she's been crashing on my couch for a while." And other things but that's not his place to explain.
Sam can't help but chuckle as she jumps. He puts a reassuring hand to her shoulder.
"Now don't worry, Miss. No young lady is going to get mauled on my watch." he teases her.
Though he's serious.
He'd fight that dog for her.

[Terumitsu]

[Arkham Street]

"Oh! You're quite the hero then." Alva said with a grin. Though, she didn't seem to be making mention on if it was in response to how he handled an attempted mugging or his jest. Or maybe she was just going to let him guess which it was when she was really saying it for both.

"Alright, so if that's how you met then what's she like? I mean, she seems at least fairly nice if she's fronting for your current dwelling." she said. She was going to get at least something that could be construed as gossip if you squinted at it hard enough today if it was the last thing she did. Well, maybe not the last thing but she did hope to be able to needle Sam into being maybe just a bit less succinct. Stories were supposed to have a little staying power in them, right?

[Deathkeeper]

[Arkham Street]

"Lucy is sweet. Likes throwing what money she has around sometimes. But she has a bad stammer, and can get shy when regards to personal things. If she's there when we get there don't pry too much for her. She gets defensive when new people do that." Sam explains, two of his hands going into his pockets as he starts to relax a bit.
"Oh and uh, you're better than cats than you are with dogs, right?" Because that would be problematic.
Though he's not sure how anyone could be scared of Pippin.

[Arkhosia]

Spoiler

Show

[Kraken Open A Book]

"Okay that's great and all, I'm sure you're really important somewhere, but in libraries you're supposed to stay quiet. Especially this one. I don't want to upset the Librarian since he already doesn't like me," Zee says, providing a bit of additional information on the situation.

What was that?

Was that shambling?

Zee is pretty sure she heard shambling from somewhere nearby.

Or maybe at least trundling.

Either way, not a good sign on the noise front.

"Look, if he shows up mad then you two are on your own. I don't want to get hit with a rake," Zee says, glancing around nervously.

[Kraken Open a Book]

Ah. Of course. This peasant lady is being disrespectful to Suzie because she fears what she wrongly believes to be a more powerful entity. An all-too-common mistake people make now that Suzie is stuck in this feeble form. But make no mistake, she is still great and terrible and all should fear her!

...

But what manner of evil creature is this librarian? And this rake-servant of his, too...

No, this is no time to doubt herself!

"Hah! Foolish person, I fear no Librarian or Rake, no matter what manner of foul guardians of this temple of knowledge they may be! None compare to me!" She declares, boastfully. And loudly.

"Minion! Gather up these tomes of forbidden knowledge at once!" She says, pointing a tentacle at roughly fifty or so books that she seems to have set aside (surely Marina can carry a mere fifty books, right? "We shall claim our prize and leave and none shall stop us!"

Kraken Open a Book

Marina gives Zee a quizzical look. "This librarian struck you with a rakehell? There are many things Marina would consider to be a valid choice of arms - moreso than others perhaps, considering her resorting to utilizing a lowly broom as a polearm - but other humanoids seemed unwise. Any weapon that has a will of its own really, but especially one that can move and interact bodily with its environment.

"At once Mistress!" The fish-tailed woman moves to gather up as many of the dusty and ancient volumes as she can, probably not treating the age-worn materials with quite as much care as they deserve and require but showing at least enough caution not to tear covers off the bindings in blind grabs or anything. Unfortunately Marina's arms lack the capacity to carry the entire haul - but the orderly stack that she's balancing in her arms with a fair bit of difficulty is still a respectable amount of it.

[Terumitsu]

[Arkham Street]

"Alright, I'll let her warm up to me first before I start asking the hard-hitting investigative questions then." Alva said in a tone mocking exasperation. "And cats are fine. They don't tend to be as large or loud or prone to chasing people up trees." she said, playfully tossing a small tidbit out to see Sam's reaction. "Wait... Unless the reason cats get stuck in trees is due to chasing things up them. That makes a weird sense now that I think about it. Here I was assuming it was because they were all just naturally lazy when it came to getting back down and didn't account for squirrels I guess." she said. If not for her current masquerade, her ears would be twitching at the moment as she idly looked up and down the street. This area did have a reason why it was a bit creepy in general but it did look quite nice in autumn.

[Purple Eagle]

[Nightclub]

"Oh, yeah?"
Tiffany dances in closer, practically eliminating any personal space that they had left.
"Accidentally starting a band is an acceptable risk."

[Nightclub]

"Yeah?" Ted seems to relent, once she gets real close. "Okay, then. Let's do it. We might even get to play here, get us some fans. That would be cool..." He almost starts wishing the band would play a slower song next. "I didn't bring one with me, though. It's back home."

[5a Violista]

[Nightclub]

Unfortunately, they don't switch to a slow song next.
Instead, their next song really ramps up about fifteen seconds in to it, being extremely loud and fast and energetic.
It's because it's their last song for the night, before they pack up and the next band comes in.

The benefit is that it's now too loud to have a proper conversation AND have personal space. And so, Tiffany has to move even closer with her head practically by his ear, to be heard.

"Oh! I see!" she shouts. "How far do you live from here?"

[Deathkeeper]

[Arkham Street]

"I don't think so. Not mine, at least. Pip's an indoor cat." Sam turns left off of Arkham Street and after a few blocks arrives at a tall, lavish-looking hotel.
"Yeah, that's it alright. Can't miss it from a kilometer away. We're on the third floor." Sam goes to lead her into the place. Sadly he ignores the lobby and goes straight to a side entrance with a simple set of stairs behind a door locked with a keycard scanner.
Hopefully Alva doesn't mind a little stair-climbing. Sam's just too used to it.

[Hattish Thing]

[Grey Zone - Museum Street Backalley]

There would be time to visit the adventurers.

For now, it'd be best if she had a look around the scene of the crime.

First, she'll simply stride down the alley, careful to take photographs of anything of particular interest as she carefully investigates the area. If anything stands out, she'll immediately call another officer over. She firmly believed in the value of a second opinion.

She's quiet while she works.

---

[Slums - Cabaret]

As Michalson knocks at the office, he'll hear a man cough.

It's an unpleasant sound, wet and harsh - the sound of a sick man without medication.

"What the hell," barks the voice from within, "did I tell you morons about bothering me today?" There's a crash from somewhere in the office, and glass shatters.

"Dammit! This better be good!" He's quite upset.

---

[Cormorant House]

Billie just leans back against the car and feels the breeze.

It was a welcome relief, just enough of a break to fill her with the will she'd need to resume exploring the manor.

She doesn't touch the food, she doesn't have much of an appetite. Instead she'll just smoke while Magdalene eats, and jot down some information in her notebook. The teenager was really going at the thing, but then again, isn't that how all teenagers ate? Billie wouldn't know.

"You ready?" she asks after a while.

---

[The Grand Canal]

As the building's finished touches are spun into creation, Nahira grins.

This was everything she had been hoping for! "Goodness! Well, what do we do now?"

[Morty]

[Slums - Cabaret]

Is Michalson going to meet anyone today who isn't wallowing in abject misery? Well, the basher he passed by on the way here seemed to be doing okay, but maybe he's just hiding things.

"I'm from the Intersection, sir. I need to ask some questions," he simply says.

[Deathkeeper]

[The Grand Canal]

Edgar grins.
”Why, my Lady. Now we go bear witness to the fruits of your labors. And maybe figure out what they are in the meantime.” he dramatically offers his hand to lead her inside.
He might not be stoked to be stuck with her, but he would admit it wouldn’t be as bad to be stuck with her in a huge place like that.

[Reinholdt]

[Lost and Found]

After some searching, Butler finds large twelve story building he was looking for. Hopefully this was the Charnockian Society of Friends because he's got their box and needs to return it. Best way to find out is to head inside and ask, so he does that!

[Terumitsu]

[Arkham Street]

"I don't think so. Not mine, at least. Pip's an indoor cat." Sam turns left off of Arkham Street and after a few blocks arrives at a tall, lavish-looking hotel.
"Yeah, that's it alright. Can't miss it from a kilometer away. We're on the third floor." Sam goes to lead her into the place. Sadly he ignores the lobby and goes straight to a side entrance with a simple set of stairs behind a door locked with a keycard scanner.
Hopefully Alva doesn't mind a little stair-climbing. Sam's just too used to it.

There would be no complaints from her! Walking was something she was quite used to, after all. "So, any rules for the house? Shoes off at the door? Keep voices low to avoid bothering the neighbors? Tap the doorknob three times unless you want to end up in some completely other place? she asked. That last one was really only from a story she once heard but there was a sort of sense to the idea of having several 'rooms' in the same 'space' like that to avoid cluttering the skyline... Or just be able to save on physical space, really.

[Deathkeeper]

[Sam and Lucy's Hotel Room]

Sam chuckles.
"It would be a little weird of me to have rules about shoes." He waves a trotter in Alva's direction in case she hasn't noticed that he has those.
"Just don't scream loud enough to bother the neighbors and try not to make a mess of the place. With any luck Lucy 'n I will be out of here soon."
Sam opens the door. Inside is what you'd expect from a very lived-in luxury hotel room. A large, spacious room leading into another where the bed-and-bath section probably is. There's a couch and a small but functioning kitchen.
Almost immediately there's a blur and a large green cat appears meowing at the door at Sam. The cat is green with the occasional purple marking, exceptionally fluffy, and has a tiny nub of a horn on his forehead.
"Aw, hello Pippin. Yes, I know. I was gone forever." Sam begins rubbing the cat's cheeks, despite the fact that his bulk is blocking Alva's way through the doorframe.

[Rebonack]

[What's Up, Buttercup?]

"Oh WOWEE!" comes a gasp of equal parts excitement and wonder from the figure who just pranced out of a little grove of trees in one of Inside's many parks. She looks innocuous enough, but as anyone who's familiar with Inside's parks could tell you, anything that lurks in the brush is potentially dangerous. The body of a reddish brown deer with little white spots. The body of young, vivacious woman, hair the color of her fur and with bright, forest green eyes. Her only possession appears to be a dull purplish-red vest that was probably dyed with blackberry juice. Like a cervine centaur, graceful and leggy, she bounds through the open meadow just beyond the trees.

"Everything's SO BIG! Eeew, and so iron. But so neat! Wowee zowee what a place!" the wild fae muses, looking off toward the bustling street full of people wearing drab colors. People all moving together. People all stopping at the roads while the big iron things go whizzing past. People who don't look like they're not having any fun at all!

WELL!

That's just terrible! Simply unacceptable. Thankfully Buttercup knows the best way to help people to have fun!

There! A man sitting on a bench looking glum. We'll start there and he'll feel better in no time! The fae bounds right over to him with a gleeful, "Hi Buttercup! Hello! Good day! You look so sad, what's wrong?"

The man looks up at her, a frown on his face. Are his cheeks wet? Oh no he's been crying! This is the worst possible thing!

"Oh, ah... it's nothing, I'm fine," he mutters.

Buttercup isn't going to have any of that! She knows when someone doesn't look fine! So she trots right over to his scary iron bench and sits her butt down in the grass next to it. "You don't SOUND fine, Buttercup. Do you want to talk to me about it?"

The man looks at her quizzically, then shrugs. "It's my boyfriend. I thought we were going steady but I think he's seeing another guy behind my back."

"Oh noo! Well, I think you can probably work it out, Buttercup! You shouldn't give up on people, especially if you don't know for sure if they're doing something mean." Buttercup says resolutely, pounding one fist into her palm.

"Yeah, you're probably right. I'm probably over-thinking this and assuming the worst. Thanks... uh... deer person?" the man says, scratching as his increasingly deer-like ears. He feels weird all of a sudden. Like a coiled spring. All bubbly and excited.

"Haha! Call me Buttercup! It's a great name. SUPER fun. It must be YOUR name too, since you kept answering to it! Haha!" Buttercup laughs. "But who are you? What's YOUR name?"

"I'm Buttercup," the woman says, tugging at her shirt that doesn't quite fit right anymore. Then a look of shock crosses her face. "Wait, that isn't... that isn't right, is it? My name isn't Buttercup, it's Buttercup! Why can't I say Buttercup?"

Buttercup giggles, hopping up and doing a little prancing dance around the bench as the woman stumbles off it, her hindquarters swelling as her feet are replaced with hooves. "Sounds like you're confused, Buttercup! But don't worry, it'll all make sense pretty quick! You'll have SO MUCH FUN being Buttercup, it'll be great!"

"I... what... what did you do to me?" Buttercup gasps as she sprouts a second pair of legs. "I feel... oh wow! I feel pretty great! Wowee zowee you're right! I don't feel sad anymore at all!" Then she begins prancing along with the other Buttercup through the field. "Haha let's do some frolicking and then go find more friends, Buttercup!"

"That's a great idea, Buttercup! Let's go!" Buttercup agrees as two cervine faeries go prancing off through the flowers, leaping and skipping and kicking up their hooves and giggling all the while. The pair are identical, save for one wearing a home made vest and the other wearing a shirt and jacket. They'll dance around in the tall grass and autumn sun for a time before going their separate ways to fine more friends named Buttercup.

This might...

Uh.

This might be a problem.


[Kraken Open a Book]

"May I ask what you are doing?" comes an austere voice as the books are gathered up. The source of the voice is a small, elderly man in tweed vest and a button up shirt. A deeply wrinkled face, wispy white hair, thick glasses. It would be hard to imagine a more librarian-like person if you tried.

He's holding a rake menacingly.

"Eep, gotta go!" Zee says before abruptly shrinking out of existence. She's outta here!


[Cormorant House]

Magdalene finishes up her pizza, licks her fingers, and then nods.

"Yeah. Let's go beat up whatever (flower) of a god is lurking around in there. No mercy," she says as she heads for the front door again.

What will they find inside THIS time? More sand, probably?


[RIOT!]

...it doesn't work.

Telefrag is only into plus-sized girls.

Thwarted by non-traditional body image!

Morning Glory raises an eyebrow at the display. She isn't sure whether or not Jade actually did anything.

Shotput just kind of hangs there for a second before going, "Okay, and?"

[Deathkeeper]

[What's up, Buttercup?]

Today has been long and hectic, but finally things are looking up.
Hector made some friends, his shadow is a cute fox that isn't threatening to maybe eat him some day, and they still have enough daylight to maybe find themselves a book store before they have to catch a train back to Riverside.
So they're taking the long way back to the Riftline, in the hopes of being able to FINALLY relax a little. The black-haired young man and his pokemon walk cheerily on the outskirts of the park. They can hear people talking but nothing too clear. With a mental shrug they keep going through the outer edge of trees, whistling some tune. Badly.

[Rebonack]

[What's up, Buttercup?]

Oh no that fool.

He doesn't know how dangerous parks are.

Hector doesn't make it far before he's spotting by a figure who was previously rolling around in the grass and just having a grand old time. She suddenly sits up, an idiot grin on her face and a stray grass pod sticking out of her auburn hair. She quickly scrambles to her hooves and goes bounding after her new perspective friend!

"Heeeeeey!" the cervine faerie calls, waving one arm as she pronks toward Hector. "Hey friend! Oh wowie, Buttercup, your fox is so cute can I pet him?"

She doesn't even wait for a reply she's already trying to pet the fox.

Aside from the deer ears and the white spots in her hair she could easily be mistaken for a human. Something as simple as a hat could disguise those features. Though she isn't wearing one. Just a t-shirt that reads 'POGchamp' and a stylish brown leather jacket. Her lower body, though, is as if someone had stuck her torso onto a deer where its neck should be.

Hector will likely get a pretty distinctive fae vibe from her.

[Deathkeeper]

[What's up, Buttercup?]

Hector raises an eyebrow as he's so aggressively 'introduced' to this newcomer. What is with today? Just a whole bunch of strange girls jumping into his path. And this one is...well he certainly wouldn't have dressed like that. But some people like to show off, he admits.
"Uh, you'd have to ask him. You give nicknames to everyone you meet?" he asks, confused. Maybe a fae sort of person? He's not giving out his name around this person, that's for sure.
Hector, meanwhile, backs up. He certainly looks unamused. "Yeah, you ask me?" he growls. The nerve of this maybe-faerie thinking she can just pet any amazingly handsome fox she comes across!

[Rebonack]

[What's up, Buttercup?]

Watching, is he? Yeah, Buttercup's shirt is having a bad day. It's maybe a size or two too small. She doesn't seem to mind, though! Apparently Hector doesn't mind, either.

The deertaur gasps in delight, hands on her cheeks and stars in her eyes at the little fox' reaction. She doesn't seem the least bit put off by the fact that she isn't petting the fox yet but hopefully that grave injustice can be righted soon. "WOWIE ZOWIE! HE CAN TALK!?" she practically squeals with glee.

"Can I pet you?" she inquires of the fox, a tremor of scarcely constrained anticipation in her voice. She quickly glances up at Hector. "Oh, yeah! Nicknames for everyone! Faeries steal names, y'know! It's really mean! So I just give everyone a nickname and we're great! It's fun AND it solves a meanness-problem."

And you know what Buttercup isn't?

Mean.

She's basically the least mean person ever in the opinion of Buttercup.

"So, Buttercup, where did you get a talking fox? Or, haha! Where did Buttercup get you, talking fox?" she asks, first of Hector then of... other... Hector.

Hey, she's trying at least!

[bc56]

RIOT

Dang. That didn't work. "Hm. Looks like he's immune. Lucky for him. I guess I'll have to try it on you." So Jade does. If Shotput turns out to be attracted to the heroine, she'll become an attractive man, otherwise, Jade will look pretty silly trying.

Cormorant House

The front door is opened. The foyer is mostly the same. Still an ominous sinkhole in the center, furniture pushed to the sides. Although now, the walls are made from weathered sandstone bricks and the heat is like a furnace. Strange. The house still looked wooden from the outside. The furniture is lacquered wood, dusted with a thin layer of sand.