Vigil VII: Strife Amidst the Clouds

[Ironsmith]

[Bed Quest]

Eun shoots her one last venomous glare before turning her attention back to the bed. Back to square one. That was just lovely.

Not that that was the biggest thing on her mind right now.

No, the most pressing thought in her brain now was Oh god I f***ed up.

Anika hadn't really done anything all that wrong. Eun really hadn't told her she started fixing the bed, and even if she did... well, accidents happen. In any case, screaming her head off like a madwoman was not an appropriate or measured response, and Eun knew it.

And Lapis? That poor girl was just standing there. She hadn't really done anything to deserve having an explosion like that go off next to her.

So when Eun kneels next to the bed and produces a jack from her Hotbox so as to finish the job herself, she's really just trying to get this done so she can be as far from this mortifying experience as possible, as quickly as possible.

[Rebonack]

[Bed Quest]

Lapis shifts uncomfortably, glancing between Miss Eun and Anika. Miss Eun seemed really angry and scared but she doesn't seem that way now. She looks more....

Lapis isn't sure she has the word for it.

That word where you feel kind of embarrassed but it's an extra bad sort of embarrassed?

Anika doesn't look very happy, either. Oh no her face is changing colors!

Everyone is feeling kind of bad what should Lapis do?

She watches Miss Eun make a holdy-thing from her box and decides that she can still help, too. Lapis has got plenty of materials in her inventory already (since she found out that she can uncover relic fragments just by digging!) so she can help hold the bed up, too! The girl kneels down on the other side of the bed, places her hands against the floor, and crafts a little pillar of porous silvery metal reminiscent of bone marrow filled with softly glowing golden light. She extends it from the floor up to the bottom of the bed frame it won't fall down again.

"I don't think Anika meant to do a bad thing," Lapis says quietly.

[Shadowcaller]

[Bed Quest]

Anika moves away from Eun and Lapis choosing to stay at the door, not saying a thing. For once, she had no idea what to do. It felt like she was as much of a child as Lapis right now. Remembering all too well several similar incidents that had happened during her childhood. Yet she had never learned...

[Ironsmith]

[Bed Quest]

Eun's shoulders sag as Lapis says her piece, however short it was. She sighs and retrieves her tool, warbling it against the wood again; if either Lapis or Anika cared to look, they'd see the crack separating the two halves of the bed slowly disappearing, like Eun was erasing a stray line on a drawing.

"...I know." Eun says quietly, the words sticking in her throat and just barely finding their way out. "I'm... I'm not mad. Really, I'm not." She starts rambling, now that Lapis has gotten her talking. "I'm sorry, I really am, I overreacted, that wasn't fair of me, I've just been tired and stressed and this is such a little thing but it seemed big and... and..." Please don't hate me for this.

She can never stand this part. Admitting to a mistake was difficult enough, but that ungodly silence afterwards always stretched her nerves as far as they could go. Waiting for what feels like hours to hear if the person she'd wronged found it in them to forgive her or not. The only comfort she has in the middle of it is that she at least has work to do in the meantime; maybe fixing Anika's bed wouldn't be much of a distraction, but it was better than nothing.

[Shadowcaller]

[Bed Quest]

Anika is quiet for a moment, not really sure what to say. "Umm...okay, I probably... I mean, I'm sorry too. For letting go of the bed and all. Especially when you offered to repair it and all." She looks beyond Eun at the bed behind her. "No one else did."

[Rebonack]

[Great Balls of Fire]

Felicity successfully walks back through the portal into the air lock. The outer door slides shut behind her and after a few moments of air conditioning later the inner doors open up into Geneva's lab.

Geneva is, of course, waiting inside.

"Well, what did you think of the fire universe?" she asks excitedly.

Thankfully it didn't seem to be THAT dangerous aside from the natural environmental hazards.


[Bed Quest]

Lapis, once more, glances between the women in the room and asks.

"Does that mean everyone is still friends?"

That's the most important part.

[Ironsmith]

[Bed Quest]

Eun switches off her tool as she finishes repairs, inhaling sharply. She'd almost forgotten to breathe over the past few seconds, and even now that she noticed it, she was having a hard time remaining calm enough to do so. Lapis had yet again said exactly the right thing, in her opinion; left to her own devices, she'd ruminate on this encounter for the next several weeks, at a minimum. Getting this all cleared up quickly was going to cut that down to a few days, at most.

"I... well, I..." Eun manages, before seizing up again. Fortunately, while speech seemed to be getting the better of her for the moment, nodding is universally understood. She tries again to get the words out, but when that fails, she just bobs her head, slowly at first, and when that looks like it might be a little too subtle, a little more vigorously, borderline frantically. Yeah, they were friends still.

...She hoped.

[Shadowcaller]

[Bed Quest]

Anika turns to the girl in lack of a clear answer from Eun. "Uh, yeah, Lapis. I think everyone's still friends." She answers with a nod. "We just had a little accident. That's all."

[Rebonack]

[Bed Quest]

"I'm sorry I accidentally killed you a little bit with the fireball earlier, Miss Eun," Lapis finally says after a few moments of contemplation. She figured it was a good time to apologize since that's what everyone is doing right ow and she doesn't want to feel left out. "I didn't know that it would poison anyone and I'm really sorry."

How could she expect that a fireball would POISON people?

No doubt Anika would agree that's really weird.

Usually fireballs inflict burn not poison just from standing near them.

Surely Lapis couldn't be held accountable for such a surprising result!

"Maybe we all just need to be a little more careful?"

Being extra careful never hurts.

[Ironsmith]

[Bed Quest]

Anika turns to the girl in lack of a clear answer from Eun. "Uh, yeah, Lapis. I think everyone's still friends." She answers with a nod. "We just had a little accident. That's all."

[Bed Quest]

"I'm sorry I accidentally killed you a little bit with the fireball earlier, Miss Eun," Lapis finally says after a few moments of contemplation. She figured it was a good time to apologize since that's what everyone is doing right ow and she doesn't want to feel left out. "I didn't know that it would poison anyone and I'm really sorry."

How could she expect that a fireball would POISON people?

No doubt Anika would agree that's really weird.

Usually fireballs inflict burn not poison just from standing near them.

Surely Lapis couldn't be held accountable for such a surprising result!

"Maybe we all just need to be a little more careful?"

Being extra careful never hurts.

[Bed Quest]

Oh. Right.

That.

Eun gives Lapis a shaky smile. "I, ah... it's okay. I meant to tell you earlier, but you didn't... exactly... manage to kill me. Even a little." She clears her throat awkardly. "See, when... when you surprise someone enough, it can cause a rapid shift in their heart rate, and therefore blood pressure. For some of us, that results in minor oxygen deprivation to the brain, causing a temporary blackout effect. That... would be what happened there."

She fainted, in other words.

Eun kneels next to Lapis and gives the girl a little hug. "I'll be okay. I can sleep off the radiation poisoning. But... you're right. We could all stand to be a little more careful."

[Shadowcaller]

[Bed Quest]

"Well, whatever happened you're fine now right? Unless you need some healing? Since I could totally heal you, Eun." Anika raises her hand and a glowing green orb is conjured in the middle of her palm.

[Rebonack]

[Bed Quest]

Lapis is successfully hugged!

She stands there for a moment, processing what was just said.

"So I didn't kill you?" she asks, sounding deeply relieved by that. "That's good! I'm glad I didn't kill you even a little bit Miss Eun I felt really bad about that. What surprised you though?"

That's an important question, too.

What could have possibly happened back in that lab to surprise Eun so much?

Lapis really can't think of anything.

Not a single thing.

Nope.

[Ironsmith]

[Bed Quest]

"Well, whatever happened you're fine now right? Unless you need some healing? Since I could totally heal you, Eun." Anika raises her hand and a glowing green orb is conjured in the middle of her palm.

[Bed Quest]

Lapis is successfully hugged!

She stands there for a moment, processing what was just said.

"So I didn't kill you?" she asks, sounding deeply relieved by that. "That's good! I'm glad I didn't kill you even a little bit Miss Eun I felt really bad about that. What surprised you though?"

That's an important question, too.

What could have possibly happened back in that lab to surprise Eun so much?

Lapis really can't think of anything.

Not a single thing.

Nope.

[Bed Quest]

"I'm fine." Eun replies with a little smile. "Again, it's nothing a good night's sleep won't fix."

Assuming, of course, she could get a good night's sleep after this.

Eun stands and straightens out her lab coat. "Ah, well, Lapis... most kids your apparent age aren't in the habit of making stars, so-"

Bup-BWOOP

Eun sighs and reaches into her labcoat pocket, producing her phone from it. New message, it says. Hm.

<ARC-Delta1> We've got a problem. Mechanical monster called Magtok Prime broke into Trog's today. Temporarily neutralized. Will provide details as situation develops.

"...Either of you hear of something called 'Magtok Prime'?" Eun asks, after she's finished reading.

[Earl of Purple]

Back in Geneva's Lab

"It's great. I could feel it was hot, but I didn't feel hot. I've tested skin samples with pretty extreme temperatures, but it's another thing to go out there and actually experience it. I didn't burn, either. Those boots were handy, all of the clothing really. I need to get at least a pair of those gloves." Flicking lighters and igniting matches are the most common sources of fire getting close enough to ignite her natural skin-oils. Well, supernatural skin-oils, but they're derived from natural skin-oils. Felicity probably smells a bit like petrol, actually.

She'll head to get changed back into her normal clothes.

[Shadowcaller]

[Bed Quest]

"I've met a guy called Magtok. He's a half-golem so the prime part probably means, uh, that he's in a good mood. Not that's some monster, that's just mean!"

A beat.

"Wait, why are you getting messages from trog's?" She raises one of her long eyebrows.

[Zefir]

[The Battered Shield]

"Sort of sounds like a no-win situation." Angela replies, propping herself up by the chin on her arm. "Which kinda explains that 'show at the borders' thing, now that I say that out loud. Neither side wants to win, but it'd be worse to lose."

Emet gives an affirmative beep and nods sagely. Yeah, that really did sound like a bad situation to be in.

"So... how's that translate outside your world? Ever run into any problems with the wildlife out here?"

[The Battered Shield]

"Correct." Mia replies "This is also the reason that things are kinda stable. Without any need to win over the other none pushes or makes mistakes."

She then looks up for a moment, properbly looking for the order, if it is placed already. Then she turns back to the pair.

"Actually... it doesn't. I have some friends here who are nymphs or other nature bound creatures. Neither of them would follow my god, but also they don't try to destroy him. Any other wildlife problems were not related to that. I mean an animal hunting doesn't care for what you belive in."

"What about your world? Anything else other then the problems with your relationship? Have you met people from it?"

[Rebonack]

[Bed Quest]

"I don't know any Magtok's," Lapis admits.

She has mostly hung around VIGIL all the time and Magtok wasn't really relevant to her mission so that isn't a tidbit of information that Zee felt she needed to be born with.

It turns out the extent of her knowledge is-

"I think he used to be someone at VIGIL but he left?"

She had heard rumors.

But that's it.

Also?

She refrains from making any more stars for the time being.


[Geneva's Lab]

Nothing horrible leaps out of the lockers are Felicity while she's getting undressed.

This is because Geneva takes laboratory safety very seriously.

"Based on your file I was pretty certain you would be fine. I slowly raised the temperature in the airlock up to the ambient temp in the fire pocket universe and you didn't react to it at all," Geneva reports. "And I'm glad you found the experience enlightening! Your unique set of skills was very use-OH MY GOODNESS!"

Sounds like she just got surprised by something in the other room.

[Ironsmith]

[Bed Quest]

"I've met a guy called Magtok. He's a half-golem so the prime part probably means, uh, that he's in a good mood. Not that's some monster, that's just mean!"

A beat.

"Wait, why are you getting messages from trog's?" She raises one of her long eyebrows.

[Bed Quest]

"I don't know any Magtok's," Lapis admits.

She has mostly hung around VIGIL all the time and Magtok wasn't really relevant to her mission so that isn't a tidbit of information that Zee felt she needed to be born with.

It turns out the extent of her knowledge is-

"I think he used to be someone at VIGIL but he left?"

She had heard rumors.

But that's it.

Also?

She refrains from making any more stars for the time being.

[Bed Quest - Completed?]

"Yeah, that would be about as much as I know, too." Eun admits. "But, if he used to be with VIGIL, he's got to have a file here, right? I'll have a look here in a little while." She puts her phone away, looking a little surprised by Anika's skepticism.

"...Because she's in Trog's?" Eun replies, not seeming to understand what was so bizarre about that.

[The Battered Shield]

"Correct." Mia replies "This is also the reason that things are kinda stable. Without any need to win over the other none pushes or makes mistakes."

She then looks up for a moment, properbly looking for the order, if it is placed already. Then she turns back to the pair.

"Actually... it doesn't. I have some friends here who are nymphs or other nature bound creatures. Neither of them would follow my god, but also they don't try to destroy him. Any other wildlife problems were not related to that. I mean an animal hunting doesn't care for what you belive in."

"What about your world? Anything else other then the problems with your relationship? Have you met people from it?"

[The Battered Shield]

"Oh, lots of things." Angela smiles. "But most of it's behind me. I'm not going to go into detail about the war or anything."

Emet shakes his head. Yeah, he'd rather not talk about it, either.

"As for meeting other people from it... not as such, no." Angela shrugs. "I've heard rumors going around about people who might be from there, but nothing concrete. So far, it's just been me and Emet." She smiles. "Thankfully, he's all the company I really need."

[Shadowcaller]

[Bed Quest]

Anika scratches her head, she had just missed something again, hadn't she?
"Whose in trog's?" A beat. "...do you have some kind of VIGIL survellience lady in trog's?" One could only assume.

[Rebonack]

[Bed Quest - Completed?]

Lapis appears to have lost most interest in the talk about things in Trog's since she knows that Mother is there and Mother can beat anyone.

No big deal, right?

She'll begin curiously poking around Anika's room to see if she can find anything interesting to look at and/or touch.

Because that's how children are.

Gotta find random things to mess with.

Hopefully she doesn't find any Blanche underclothes discarded and forgotten in some corner.

That would be embarrassing!

Probably for Blanche, mostly, who isn't here.

[Ironsmith]

[Bed Quest]

Anika scratches her head, she had just missed something again, hadn't she?
"Whose in trog's?" A beat. "...do you have some kind of VIGIL survellience lady in trog's?" One could only assume.

[Bed Quest - Completed?]

Lapis appears to have lost most interest in the talk about things in Trog's since she knows that Mother is there and Mother can beat anyone.

No big deal, right?

She'll begin curiously poking around Anika's room to see if she can find anything interesting to look at and/or touch.

Because that's how children are.

Gotta find random things to mess with.

Hopefully she doesn't find any Blanche underclothes discarded and forgotten in some corner.

That would be embarrassing!

Probably for Blanche, mostly, who isn't here.

[Bed Quest - Complete]

"What? No." Eun frowns. "No, she's just a... ah, old friend of mine. We try to keep in touch, especially if something major happens." Her gaze shifts idly as she talks, finally settling on someone's... something, under the bed.

Oh, right. She'd just been touching that bed.

Anika's bed.

The one that she and Blanche apparently stress-tested extensively in the past.

She touched it.

Ew.

Ewewewewew.

"I... should get going." Eun smiles apologetically, mustering up all her self-control to not scratch off her hands here and now. "It was nice talking with you and sorry again about earlier okay bye!"

[Shadowcaller]

[Bed Quest]

Tsk, most beds were used for that Eun! Her VIGIL bed might also have had some point. They had probably just changed all the sheets and stuff.

"Oh... um, before you go, if your friend does that could you tell me too on the VIGIL communication-thingy." Anika shakes her wrist as to display the VIGIL communicator there.

Meanwhile, Lapis might find some underclothes such as discarded bras and panties underneath the bed. They're not from the same set either so either it's from different people or someone have forgotten their bra here twice.

[Rebonack]

[Bed Quest]

Lapis has found some hidden items!

She's trying to figure out what they might be for.

Clothing, probably?

"Anika how come you keep clothes under your bed?" she asks.

She had seen those earlier when she was hiding down there but she really wasn't thinking about it then. Getting clothes that are under your bed seems like it would be hard since you have to climb down there and grab them.

"Oh, buy Miss Eun!" Lapis calls out, oblivious to any discomfort going on at the moment.

As is typically the case Lapis is guileless and a bit clueless.

What a pure child.

[Ironsmith]

[Bed Quest]

In Eun's defense, she had minimal experience with both beds and romantic encounters, so she wasn't normally thinking about their association. Which is just as well, because she never would have agreed to come in here without a hazmat suit if she did.

Eun flashes Anika a thumbs-up, confirming that she'd heard what she said, as she bolts out the door, which slams shut behind her. She was going to wash her hands at least twelve times when she got back to her room.

[Earl of Purple]

Geneva's Lab

Felicity puts her slightly scorched dress back on and slips on some shoes before leaving the changing area. "What is it? What have you seen?" Earl needs to decide if Felicity can actually feel temperature properly; obviously she doesn't find such high temperatures uncomfortable, and she knows they're higher than a normal person could handle, but does she actually feel hot? Does she feel cold at room temperature if she's not on fire? If she reached the highest point she could withstand, would that hurt or would she not notice until she started to literally melt? And on the other side, does she feel cold when she's in cold temperatures? Does she get frostbite and such easier if she doesn't set herself on fire? The volatile hydrocarbons in her blood, do they serve as a supernatural antifreeze protecting her from cold weather as a side-effect? Earl knows that if she gets actually worried about freezing to death she can light herself up and that will warm her up so she doesn't need to worry about it.

[Shadowcaller]

[Bed Quest]

Wow, Eun sure was in a hurry. Must be some cool experiment she had to get back to.
Anika returns the thumbs up and then turns to Lapis and her question.

She peers down at the clothes she's holding. "Oh hey!" Anika declares as she crouches down before Lapis. "It's Blanche and Ilpholin's clothes. They must have forgotten them here. We should probably go and return them." She sniffs, the odour apparent even meters away. "...though maybe I should wash them first, ew."

[Zefir]

[The Battered Shield]

"Oh, lots of things." Angela smiles. "But most of it's behind me. I'm not going to go into detail about the war or anything."

Emet shakes his head. Yeah, he'd rather not talk about it, either.

"As for meeting other people from it... not as such, no." Angela shrugs. "I've heard rumors going around about people who might be from there, but nothing concrete. So far, it's just been me and Emet." She smiles. "Thankfully, he's all the company I really need."

[The Battered Shield]

Mia just nods confirming.

"That is good. I heared people had to deal with problems from their world since the Nexus has no real gouverment to controll laws or even call them."

For now Mia has no more topic. they clearly don't want to speak of their past and she told them about her world.

[Rebonack]

[Bed Quest]

"I can clean them that's easy!" Lapis replies brightly. "I clean my uniform all the time when it gets dirty from working on the grounds."

And then?

Lapis invokes her PHENOMENAL COSMIC POWER to scour from the clothing all non-clothing matter!

A wave of incandescent light sweeps over the articles of clothing, leaving them smelling like-!

Well.

Like clothing. Since it isn't scented soap or anything like that. But not musty or gross smelling clothing anymore.

There!

Problem solved.

"Ilpholin is my big half-sister Mother wanted to make sure I knew to be nice to her especially since she had a baby and taking care of babies is hard especially when babies are the children of mysterious faerie lords," Lapis informs Anika.

[Ironsmith]

[The Battered Shield]

Mia just nods confirming.

"That is good. I heared people had to deal with problems from their world since the Nexus has no real gouverment to controll laws or even call them."

For now Mia has no more topic. they clearly don't want to speak of their past and she told them about her world.

[The Battered Shield]

Fortunately, Angela had a reasonably-sized elephant in the room to call on for situations like this. "You know, I'm honestly surprised nobody really brought up my visor. It's actually pretty cool."

Emet nods and lets out a low whistle.

[Shadowcaller]

[Bed Quest]

"Ilpholin is your half-sister?!" Anika exclaims, this fact completely drawing the attention away from Lapis amazing cleaning abilities. "Wow, that's so cool! But- what do you mean by fey-babies?" She knew about Ilpholin's baby but she hadn't heard anything about fey lords.