MERC XIX: Toss a Coin to your Goblin

[Lord Magtok]

An Indirect Denial

Magtok raises an eyebrow, and opens his mouth to loudly deny anything to do with the cat, but decides to just shut up and walk with Reina to the training room instead. The more aggressively he denies the allegations, the more guilty he'll look, after all.

"At least we know she's not a mind-reader," he remarks, before carefully setting his arms at his sides, turning so his less shiny side is closer to her and waiting for the cat's punch to his jaw. That's why she insisted on taking him aside, isn't it? To call him out on acting out of line and become the second person to punch him for abusing the Prime recording. Well fine, it's what he deserves, and he did go a little too far this time, even if he never actually intended to peek at anything when she dropped to the floor. Also wow, his head feels a lot better now that he's stepped away from Pania. That probably won't last long, but it's incredible how quickly that headache just drops right off.

[Reinholdt]

[An Indirect Verification]

"I-" Ahh, Magtok's leaving in a hurry! Reina glances back and forth between him and Pania before rushing after him with a scarlet blush on her cheeks. She didn't even get a chance to clear the air. Did... was Magtok afraid of that? Did he want the misconception to linger? Why? Lingering feelings? A desire for it to be true? Those days were long passed. That flame forgotten. Life happened and the adults moved on.

Right?

"I don't know about that," Reina comments, catching up and pulling ahead to lead the way. "She knew exactly what to say to get under your skin." Oh hey, her head doesn't hurt. Who knew she just had to release all the excess water from her head via the steam vents in her ears?

The training room is easy enough to get to and Magtok gets led inside. The one thing of note appears to be the wall of ropes, which is cordoned off as non-functional right now and looks less like a wall and more like a stump. "Here we are!" Reina says, twirling as if presenting the place in an excessively dramatic way, or using the excuse to draw his eye to her body again. Probably the former. Every Rein has always been excessively dramatic over the least important things as an obfuscating tactic.

[Astrana's Office]

"I'm familiar with spectrums," Reina assures Astrana, but it still wasn't very comforting. Though... did being possessed actually make any tangible difference compared to normal oracular activities? Whether a spirit was involved or not, there was still that whole moment of crazy old person spouting nonsense they themselves didn't understand. Oh goddesses, this was how she died, wasn't it? Twigs in her grey hair, living at the edge of a swamp, waiting for some chosen one to show up so she can scare them with words they wouldn't understand for another thirty years.

Reina shudders.

"I wouldn't be able to say. It might as well have control of my body if I'm not even mentally in the same time period with which to keep using it." The catgirl shakes her head. It was too early for her to be able to tell. "As far as I know I haven't ran around clawing people if that's what you mean." So far. What if the spirit grows stronger? Decides it wants to do more things? What if it likes cake?! Reina's been doing really well keeping sweets out of her diet. She's going to be pissed if some oracular spirit decides it has a sweet tooth.

At least she knows where she stands with Tobias. Kinda. "Friend. Right..." Reina bites her lip and nibbles on it. That would be... just Dena? And Dena was also her boss, which made things a little weird. Reina's played at housewife for too long and lacks the connections she used to have. The Nexus changes quick when you aren't looking.

"Thanks. I'll figure it out. Do you want me to send Krayger to you just to check? Haven't really talked to him since the mission so I don't know how he's doing."

[Ironsmith]

Shooting Range

"You're planning on assassinating anyone who looks like they might try to open a tomb?" Krayger asks incredulously.
"That sounds both kinda screwed up and an eternal, thankless task."

[Shooting Range]

"Only because you picked the most trite way to put it." Gwas replies with a frown. "I'm planning on keeping my ear to the ground for any major threats to the tomb. At this point, anyone who wants to break in is going to make some real noise to do so. They'd need to bring a small army, or enlist the services of a powerful being. I'm out here to catch out any offensive for which our current setup may be inadequate. And, yes, if I can prevent an attack with a well-placed arrow, I intend to do so."

[Deathkeeper]

Shooting Range

"Whatever, kid. It's your life." Sounds awfully boring to him. Spending your whole life scouting for someone who wants to raid a bag of bones?
"What else did you want to know about?" he asks simply.

[Zefir]

[A new Customer]

A lous stomping noise can be heared from outside right befor the dors to the main hall open. A big figure, nearly as wide as tall, passes through the open gate. It's movement are kinda strange. His steps seem to be very stif and from time to time you can hear a strange noise. Something else that is strange is the mans proportions. as mentioned he is nearly as wide as tall with big feets and arms thicker then the waist of top-models, but his head appears a bit lower then you might expect. If you assume he is human you would say he has his head coming out the front of his chest or he is walking bowing forward all time. He turns to a clerk or anyone who looks like they work here.

"Hoi. I need some hands to clear an area. Where can I set things up here."

[Ironsmith]

Shooting Range

"Whatever, kid. It's your life." Sounds awfully boring to him. Spending your whole life scouting for someone who wants to raid a bag of bones?
"What else did you want to know about?" he asks simply.

[Shooting Range]

Gwas frowns, trying to think of something and coming up short. There were still a lot of questions he had about the Nexus, but not the words to express them. "I suppose that's it for n-" He stops as another thought occurs to him. "...Actually, no. There is one other thing yet. I have this friend, see. She's been a real help in getting me integrated, and frankly, she's the reason I can even leave the tomb in the first place. She, ah, recently underwent a massive bodily change, though. As in, she's one of us and it's kind of messed her up. I was wondering if you had any practical advice I could pass on to her. Or maybe a gift of some kind. It seems like a good opportunity to pay her back."

[Deathkeeper]

Shooting Range

Krayger does find the comradery pleasant. Gwas considers them the same despite very clearly having different traits and Krayger notably not being a blood-sucker.
"I'm gonna take a wild guess and assume you don't mean she just hit puberty."
He shakes his head.
"Well, teenagers aren't really my area of expertise, but being supportive is the obvious place to start. Have you told her that you like how she is now? Up-front and not just implying it? If you want to get her something you could try something nice that fits who she is as much as what she is. You looked at horn decorations?" He does stop to consider this. "Of course if you get her jewelry she might think you're asking her on a date, which..." Which apparently is off the table for him.

[Lord Magtok]

A Clandestine Catgirl Chat

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[An Indirect Verification]

"I-" Ahh, Magtok's leaving in a hurry! Reina glances back and forth between him and Pania before rushing after him with a scarlet blush on her cheeks. She didn't even get a chance to clear the air. Did... was Magtok afraid of that? Did he want the misconception to linger? Why? Lingering feelings? A desire for it to be true? Those days were long passed. That flame forgotten. Life happened and the adults moved on.

Right?

"I don't know about that," Reina comments, catching up and pulling ahead to lead the way. "She knew exactly what to say to get under your skin." Oh hey, her head doesn't hurt. Who knew she just had to release all the excess water from her head via the steam vents in her ears?

The training room is easy enough to get to and Magtok gets led inside. The one thing of note appears to be the wall of ropes, which is cordoned off as non-functional right now and looks less like a wall and more like a stump. "Here we are!" Reina says, twirling as if presenting the place in an excessively dramatic way, or using the excuse to draw his eye to her body again. Probably the former. Every Rein has always been excessively dramatic over the least important things as an obfuscating tactic.

"Speaking of getting under each other's skin, now that we have the room to ourselves for a few minutes, could we hurry this up? I was on a power trip with that recording and acted like an ass at your expense, so if you could just punch me in the jaw, get it out of your system, we can move on," Magtok shifts the subject, trying to push things back to the predetermined path he'd set himself up for, even though Reina had shown no outward sign of wanting to punch him once they got here. It seems to me it'd be a lot easier for Magtok just say 'sorry,' especially since he's already admitted fault, but apparently he disagrees. Easier for our prideful cyborg to take a hit to his head than to his hubris, somehow.

[Reinholdt]

A Nerve-wracking Neko Negotiation

Reina looks at Magtok with a frown and crosses her arms. "Whatever. It's not like you haven't seen my panties before. I haven't forgotten that one costume change we were forced to do together in a janitor's closet."

The catgirl looks away, clearly torn between giving the cyborg what she wants and maintaining professionalism. "Besides. I don't really do a lot of criminal punching these days. And I definitely don't punch clients. Well, I guess unless that's what they're paying me to do." Then she'll punch them all day. But punching a client for free? Well that's only for the most special of occasions!

...

She holds out her hand expectantly, palm side up.

[Ironsmith]

Shooting Range

Krayger does find the comradery pleasant. Gwas considers them the same despite very clearly having different traits and Krayger notably not being a blood-sucker.
"I'm gonna take a wild guess and assume you don't mean she just hit puberty."
He shakes his head.
"Well, teenagers aren't really my area of expertise, but being supportive is the obvious place to start. Have you told her that you like how she is now? Up-front and not just implying it? If you want to get her something you could try something nice that fits who she is as much as what she is. You looked at horn decorations?" He does stop to consider this. "Of course if you get her jewelry she might think you're asking her on a date, which..." Which apparently is off the table for him.

[Shooting Range]

"Nothing that can't be cleared up in a couple of words." Gwas waves his hand dismissively. "...Horn decorations." He mumbles to himself. "I suppose I could look into those. I'm, ah, not exactly up on the finer points of horn-based fashion, though. Don't want to accidentally gift her a funeral piece or something." He lets the implicit question hang in the air for a moment.

[Deathkeeper]

Shooting Range

"If it can be cleared up in a few words, that means it hasn't been yet." Krayger observes. The nice thing about being a minotaur is that for some reason people just expect you to be blunt. And sometimes that really is the best approach.
"The thing is, if she doesn't know the fineries either then it's no problem. You're looking for something she'd like, not what's culturally significant to me. Try rings, they're non-permanent and slide on easy."

[Lord Magtok]

A Perfectly Professional Pair

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A Nerve-wracking Neko Negotiation

Reina looks at Magtok with a frown and crosses her arms. "Whatever. It's not like you haven't seen my panties before. I haven't forgotten that one costume change we were forced to do together in a janitor's closet."

The catgirl looks away, clearly torn between giving the cyborg what she wants and maintaining professionalism. "Besides. I don't really do a lot of criminal punching these days. And I definitely don't punch clients. Well, I guess unless that's what they're paying me to do." Then she'll punch them all day. But punching a client for free? Well that's only for the most special of occasions!

...

She holds out her hand expectantly, palm side up.

"Reina, please, if I was the kind of weirdo to get a thrill out of paying cute girls to punch me in the face, wouldn't you know by now?" Magtok scoffs. She didn't really think he was going to pay her to punch him, did she? He only brought it up because he thought that was where this was going, that a smack to the head was inevitable since he's incapable of apologizing and she asked to be alone with him. He doesn't actually want to be punched. Also, jeez, what the hell does she think she's doing, mentioning the janitor's closet out loud like that? Why would she deliberately invoke a memory of them crammed together between cleaning supplies, with blue spandex and black lace and that minute and a half of pure terror where they held their breath and waited for footsteps to fade into the distance? What is her intent, and if she's not about to punch us in the face, then-

...wait, what was that thing we said about cute girls? Mag blinks, a look of shock passing over him as he replays the last two seconds in his head. Oh ****, did we actually say it like that? Out loud and everything? Are you sure it was 'cute' and not 'cat?' Is it too late to take it back and insist we meant catgirls? Wait, wouldn't that make it even worse? Oh crap, we were doing such a good job at maintaining these emotional walls up until now, too! We didn't even ask once about how the kids were doing, or how she's been doing, or how it must border on illegal for a retired superheroine to look that good in that office outfit or acknowledge any of the other rude, intrusive, traitorous thoughts buried in the back of our mind.

"...****. Okay, screw it, we have...eight minutes, twenty-two seconds left before we have to be professional again, so I guess we're speed-running this. Is Lillybelle doing okay? Is she still calling herself Raven Ebondoom?" It's Ebondark, Magtok. "I'm sure Jedrek's alright on his own, so how about you? Is there anything I can help with when this Prime nonsense settles down?" the tin man asks, throwing all of his questions at Reina at once, and reaching out with his human hand to flip over and squeeze the cat's money-seeking one.

[Ironsmith]

Shooting Range

"If it can be cleared up in a few words, that means it hasn't been yet." Krayger observes. The nice thing about being a minotaur is that for some reason people just expect you to be blunt. And sometimes that really is the best approach.
"The thing is, if she doesn't know the fineries either then it's no problem. You're looking for something she'd like, not what's culturally significant to me. Try rings, they're non-permanent and slide on easy."

[Shooting Range]

"...I could be mistaken," Gwas begins, "but I'm reasonably certain a man gifting a woman a ring is seen as something a bit more dramatic than an invitation to date." He shuffles nervously. "I'll... consider what you've said. And hopefully find an appropriate gift. Thank you for your help, master Krayger." He reaches into his coinpurse and produces a couple more glowing golden coins, which he offers to the minotaur. Technically, he'd already paid the man, but it would feel a little more real to both of them if money actually changed hands. Plus, this would be for him and him alone; presumably, MERC didn't get a share of his tips.

[Deathkeeper]

Shooting Range

"Horn rings." Krayger clarifies, pointing at his horns.
"Among my people, a proposal is done with an item the lady crafts herself. But I hope your date goes well regardless." He's not sure how that works with a vow of celibacy but clearly the lad has this worked out. With a nod Krayger accepts the gold.

[Reinholdt]

[A Confused Cat's Client]

Reina withdraws her demand for payment, mouth curling up into a catlike smirk. That insufferably smug look only Reina can pull off after Magtok's slipped up. Full of confidence, brimming with allure, and screaming about danger.

"Cute... huh?"

Well, well. Flattery will get Magtok everywhere. If she was mad at him, she certainly seems much happier now. And like anything that Magtok makes happy, he has to open his mouth and continue to talk. That leads to something else.

Mostly bafflement.

Magtok's final maneuver proves incredibly distracting as a deep blush rises from her core. She pulls her hand away and uses it to brush hair over her ears. "I, wow, I don't even know what to say. I mean... I suspected you felt... that there was something... more... with us. But that was a long time ago Magtok..."
She hasn't completely dismissed a rekindling. Knowing she should. At least until the thing with Toby is settled completely. But... what if she just didn't bring that up? Magtok's words were strange, but they were full of care and concern. Something she's been missing pretty deeply.

"I'm... I'm not all that fine. Still working out the results of a doctor's exam recently actually. It's pretty detailed though if... if you wanted to go through it with me after the Prime thing. It'd... be good to have someone to talk to about it." Reina tosses Magtok a rather nervous smile. "But I have to admit I don't remember Jedrek or Ebondoom. Which superheroes were those? Did we team up with them or was it more of a one time crossover episode?"

[Ironsmith]

Shooting Range

"Horn rings." Krayger clarifies, pointing at his horns.
"Among my people, a proposal is done with an item the lady crafts herself. But I hope your date goes well regardless." He's not sure how that works with a vow of celibacy but clearly the lad has this worked out. With a nod Krayger accepts the gold.

[Shooting Range]

It doesn't break the vow as long as they don't go off and get married, right?

Well, or do married couple things that would be totally unacceptable otherwise.

Regardless, Gwas gives Krayger a confident smile as he leaves, heading off to Mallside to find a gift for Mina, and then back to her home in Inside afterwards, if nobody stops to talk with him.

[Shadowcaller]

[Hope for Babies]

Trick considers it for a long moment. Truth be told, this might not even be a bad thing, with the right animal spirit chosen - taking on aspects of a large, muscular creature might be a good way to ensure the kid is large and healthy throughout their life. And Trick has a lot of experience with animals - real ones, not spirits - and there's certainly a tendency towards honest expression. What few are capable of trickery and falsehood are still transparent in their wants and desires if you know what you're looking at, and are more concerned with what's in front of them than what they could risk down the line.

Trick nods, "I think this works, for me at least. I'd definitely like some scans of the journal if you don't mind. But I've gotta ask; what are you asking for as payment for this?" Trick expects this won't be anything too heinous - maybe some potions or a ritual in exchange, or maybe a favor down the line. If it's just money, that'll be laughably easy for the warlock.

[Hope for Babies]

Sophie takes a deep breath. This is a lot to take in, but Astrana's confidence in discussing it reassures her. She clearly knows a lot about it and can anticipate their concerns.

"If the side-effects are benign, it's something to be considered. I'm likely to safely withstand anything that happens. It's the child that concerns me. I'm... well, this is probably relevant. I'm not exactly mortal. More like a demigoddess."

[Demands of Snakes]

The serpent tilts its head, appearing confused "By whose authority? I'm afraid I don't recognize either of you so I would need a name."

Which was the thing they weren't supposed to give.

"Ssakha Elyri." Dena replies without hesitation. "But I suppose you will need more than that since we don't know one another."
She sounds tired, yet another hoop to jump through wasn't it?

Astrana seems fine with the two taking the charge here. As she had said earlier, fey were not her expertise.

"I'm afraid that my instructions doesn't include helping people unknown to the court, no. However, you are a gorgon and therefore allowed your case to be tried. Though keep in mind that this will involve the court looking into your personal history." The serpent turns to Kirk. "I assume you are the intended father to the dragon, sir? Since we might need your details as well, which would include your name."

[Hope for Babies]

Astrana was aware of Sophie's 'demigoddess' status but didn't know what that exactly meant yet. However, she priorities Trick's question now.
"I work for MERC, unless otherwise specified we will just charge money." She explains, smiling. "In fact, I'm pretty sure I'd be reprimanded if I charged you anything else."

She clears her voice. "Now, do you have any ideas about what kind of spirit you would like to use for this? Animal spirits to be exact so I think you have some ideas of your options here. I can provide suggestions of course but I'd like to know what you generally want first. As little change as possible? Strength? Any specific physical attributes? I know this might sound like I'm offering to customize your children but you're going to spend your lives with these people. Once when I was hired to perform this ritual there was a couple that requested that I should do the spirit selection blindly as to avoid this choice but in the end I'm not sure they were satisfied with that."

[Astrana's Office]

"Yeah, I'd be grateful if you'd send him my way, Reina. Just... if you notices any changes like say blackouts or memory loss please tell me. We're going to do a follow-up of this as soon as I've talked to Krayger and been able to look more into this." Astrana promises.

[Deathkeeper]

Dipsnig's Office

After waking up this morning with a crackling reminder that his dream was real, Krayger washes up and dresses himself before going over to knock on the boss' door.

[Morty]

[Hope for Babies]

Sophie purses her lips in thought. Not an easy decision, to be sure...

"My first instinct is to choose something that will minimize physical changes, but I don't know if it's the right choice." She looks to Trick for her opinion. "Otherwise maybe just something that will make the child more healthy and strong?"

[Dipsnig's Office]

"Come in." Once Krayger does so, he will see Dipsnig behind his desk, deep in paperwork, with Rigu snoozing nearby. "You wanted to see me?"

[Halae]

[Hope for Babies]

"Healthy and strong makes sense to me," Trick comments, "A predator or omnivore, preferably. Bear, maybe?"

[Deathkeeper]

Dipsnig's Office

Krayger dips his head to fit through the doorway. It's automatic at this point.
"I wanted to amend the report I sent you about my last job. I got some info on the spook that hired us. Um, mostly because there was a fragment of power lodged in my back, apparently. Is Reina doing okay?" he asks. Hopefully nothing terrible happened to her during the day or two Krayger has been handling his own fey problems.

[Morty]

[Dipsnig's Office]

Previously rather preoccupied and not entirely attentive towards Krayger, Dipsnig now suddenly focuses on him intently.

"Reina has also been dealing with problems resulting from that job. What can you tell me about our client? And how did you learn about it?"

[Lord Magtok]

Contemplative Clone Chatter

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[A Confused Cat's Client]

Reina withdraws her demand for payment, mouth curling up into a catlike smirk. That insufferably smug look only Reina can pull off after Magtok's slipped up. Full of confidence, brimming with allure, and screaming about danger.

"Cute... huh?"

Well, well. Flattery will get Magtok everywhere. If she was mad at him, she certainly seems much happier now. And like anything that Magtok makes happy, he has to open his mouth and continue to talk. That leads to something else.

Mostly bafflement.

Magtok's final maneuver proves incredibly distracting as a deep blush rises from her core. She pulls her hand away and uses it to brush hair over her ears. "I, wow, I don't even know what to say. I mean... I suspected you felt... that there was something... more... with us. But that was a long time ago Magtok..."
She hasn't completely dismissed a rekindling. Knowing she should. At least until the thing with Toby is settled completely. But... what if she just didn't bring that up? Magtok's words were strange, but they were full of care and concern. Something she's been missing pretty deeply.

"I'm... I'm not all that fine. Still working out the results of a doctor's exam recently actually. It's pretty detailed though if... if you wanted to go through it with me after the Prime thing. It'd... be good to have someone to talk to about it." Reina tosses Magtok a rather nervous smile. "But I have to admit I don't remember Jedrek or Ebondoom. Which superheroes were those? Did we team up with them or was it more of a one time crossover episode?"

The gears turn in our cyborg's head and he presses a hand to his chin as he processes Reina's response, which is nothing at all like what he might've expected. She doesn't recognize the names of her own children. That's...no, wait, of course she doesn't. That all happened a world apart from anything going on in the Nexus, didn't it? It must've been a different Invincibelle, a different Reina. That's why her only frame of reference is the superheroics conducted in Skyside. Still, shouldn't the cats tell each other these things? I mean...okay, maybe not, since we don't report to anyone, either. Hell, we wouldn't even dare speak to Reina if we had reason to believe the Hegemony floating around in space was monitoring our actions. The cats wouldn't have the same history of paranoia, distrust, and self-sabotage that MagClones do, so they might not even care if one ran off to go play housewife on another world.

"They're...well, if you don't remember, then they're a conversation for when we have more than eight minutes. It'd take at least twice that long to unpack everything, but it's nothing dire or urgent, so it can wait until after the doctor exam business," he explains, hoping Lillybelle doesn't invade a city with an army of undead just to prove him wrong and make him look stupid. That's exactly the sort of nonsense his bad luck loves to pull on him. On the other hand, if she was building up towards something like that we would've heard something by now, right? Yeah, I'm sure an explanation can wait a day or two without the entire world collapsing around us.

Speaking of things collapsing around us, what about Caelynn? Are we ready to toss aside any notion of exclusivity? Going to clone another Magtok so it doesn't count as cheating, or bring the Hegemony back to the Nexus once Prime is dealt with? Who gets to be with which Magtok, and are we still differentiating between them or not? Will it even matter, when Caelynn is only ever onscreen around on holidays? Are we even thinking about getting together with Reina at all, or is this all an elaborate ploy and a scheme to trick her into babysitting Raven so we don't have to deal with her sinister ambitions ourselves? Or maybe we're just doing this to find out more about this mysterious medical condition Reina just mentioned? There's a lot of potential angles here, Mag, which route are we taking?

"How do you run into medical issues with clones, though?" She can just have one of the other cats upload her brain into another cat clone, right? I mean, assuming the cats have the memory transfer tech to do something like that. Or is the problem deeper than that, genetic or psychological or magical? A genetic problem would be a big issue.

[Reinholdt]

[Astrana's Office]

"Alright. I will." Reina adjusts her clothes a little to ensure she's presentable when she heads back out. Hardly necessary, but there was some running around a training gym.

"And what was the name of your contact in HALO I should speak to?" Reina asks as her last question.

[Pair's Prolonged Pondering]

"Hmm... if you say so." Reina doesn't know if this is one of Magtok's weird moments or if this is related to her memory issues from the whole prophesizing thing. It hasn't exactly been pleasant to figure out and she's not going to dig in if he doesn't want to share. Cause if she really didn't remember who they were that'd be whole new symptom to write down on the growing list.

"It's new. Supernatural in cause? Possibly. That's still being worked out," Reina explains with a somewhat awkward shrug. "Plus we don't just off someone for having a condition and replace them. Even besides that gruesome idea, I think you're mistaking the connection I have with the Reinholdts. We'll share information and resources time and again, but there aren't any Reina clones so..." Pretty hard to bypass any medical issues by just making a healthy body if cloning is off the table.

Reina's tail flicks to one side. "Speaking of, did you ever get your Cave running and habitable again? N-not that I want to drop by for a visit or anything! Just a question. Curiosity. Between friends. You know..." Reina looks towards the door. Boy is Pania taking her sweet time.

[Deathkeeper]

Dipsnig's Office

"Our client goes by the moniker King in Rags. It sounded familiar so maybe he said it at some point while everything was happening. He's an old thing that's supposed to be locked up with the rest of the fey lords from whatever realm they're from. Multiple fey and fey-adjacent folks noticed the fragment of the beast we killed lodged in me. Um, metaphysically. Anyway, one of the minions of these lords fed me the info before wandering off. Reina is probably going to want to get it handled herself. It doesn't sound like being connected to that thing is anything desirable." Krayger reports. He's glad that he's not connected to the thing that he saw. Just thinking about it makes him shudder.

[Morty]

[Dipsnig's Office]

Krayger will see a shudder pass through Dipsnig at the sound of the name "King in Rags". The goblin tries to hide it, but can't. It seems an involuntary, bone-deep reaction.

"I'm... familiar with the King in Rags. His name has come through my desk several times by now. Enough to concern me. Especially since I also remember him from my grandfather's stories when I was a child. He's been acting more and more openly in the Nexus. Building up to something."

[Deathkeeper]

Dipsnig's Office

Well, it seems the two of them are in agreement to the appropriate reaction to the name.
"That's kind of what the Serpent said. He's not supposed to be active at all. But we're on our own when it comes to putting him back in whatever metaphysical ground he's supposed to be sleeping under. It did give me a weapon to replace the King's power that was stuck in me. In theory it ties me to his master instead, but his master is still bound forever like he's supposed to. It might be kicking the problem down the line but it sounds like he won't be a problem while I'm still alive."
Though Krayger forgets that thanks to Felix he'll easily live another hundred years minimum.

[Lord Magtok]

Civil Communications Between Cat and Client

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[Pair's Prolonged Pondering]

"Hmm... if you say so." Reina doesn't know if this is one of Magtok's weird moments or if this is related to her memory issues from the whole prophesizing thing. It hasn't exactly been pleasant to figure out and she's not going to dig in if he doesn't want to share. Cause if she really didn't remember who they were that'd be whole new symptom to write down on the growing list.

"It's new. Supernatural in cause? Possibly. That's still being worked out," Reina explains with a somewhat awkward shrug. "Plus we don't just off someone for having a condition and replace them. Even besides that gruesome idea, I think you're mistaking the connection I have with the Reinholdts. We'll share information and resources time and again, but there aren't any Reina clones so..." Pretty hard to bypass any medical issues by just making a healthy body if cloning is off the table.

Reina's tail flicks to one side. "Speaking of, did you ever get your Cave running and habitable again? N-not that I want to drop by for a visit or anything! Just a question. Curiosity. Between friends. You know..." Reina looks towards the door. Boy is Pania taking her sweet time.

Mag takes note of the stammer and tail movement. Was Reina always this cute and also incredibly obvious about her feelings? She must've been, right? I mean, why else would we have freaked out and recruited a third wheel for the superhero team to keep an eye on us and keep our hand out of the cookie jar of temptation? Obviously we knew back then how easy it'd be to charm and be charmed by Invincibelle, how effortlessly we could slide her into our bed and recklessly cause a whole ocean of drama for ourselves and the people around us. Funny how little all of that drama matters as soon as we run into even the slightest bit of trouble with the other clones and their rules, how one little infraction is all it takes to not care about any of their regulations. Huh, is that draconian approach to self-governance the reason why Faction exploded into such an embarrassing mess for everyone involved? Something to think about later, maybe...

"It all depends on how you define 'running and habitable.' If you mean 'able to function as a safe, normal home for a reasonably-sized handful of individuals,' then sure. If you mean 'not plagued by two to three fake emergencies every month as part of an ongoing scheme to make it seem like it's in worse condition than it actually is,' then no. The other Magtoks are going to come back home as soon as they get the signal everything's tidy and safe and operational, and I have several complicated and personal reasons to not want that, because of course I do," he explains with a weary sigh at the end. Yes, even Magtok himself is exasperated with his own self-destructive tendencies and inability to go five minutes without stirring drama within his own ranks of identical clones. Just talking to Reina could have him put on trial, though she'd only be the second catgirl to merit controversy, since general consensus in the MagFleet is that Caelynn is no good for us either. Neither is the dormant Affidavit that might still be lurking in the back of our mind, or his decision to not immediately exterminate Rattok with extreme prejudice. Honestly this Magtok has made a lot of questionable decisions, all for reasons that sounded good in his head at the time. He's rather fortunate that the vast majority of them just deadtimed instead of haunting him further.

"Funny you should mention it, I think Astrana said she was going to bring a plus-one with her when she ghost-proofs the place. It didn't sound like she'd decided on who yet, or maybe she wanted to keep it a surprise for some reason," he shrugs, too new to working with Astrana to have any idea how she operates and whether that actually means there's an open position or not. The tiefling/demon/succubus/whatever-she-is seems a little eccentric, but not any of the flavors of eccentric Magtok has any experience managing or plotting against, which makes her terrifyingly unpredictable and supremely dangerous, even if she is ostensibly on our side. "Sounds like a pretty cushy job, really. Earn your paycheck just by standing around and looking pretty."

[FireFox]

A human male of about 18 years--hair and eyes dark brown, broad and strong in physique, nervous in demeanor--walks into the main office. He takes a prewritten contract form out of a binder and submits it at the front desk. He will stick around if there are any questions or problems with his job request, but otherwise he will leave as expeditiously as decent. The form includes a specific sublocation in the Underside Silly Plots thread, probably, a meeting time a few days in the future, and a cell number for members who might want more details.

Job Description: When I asked my magic teacher, Tobias Vulpan, for his permission to marry his daughter Jamie he told me to prove myself by crafting the engagement ring using a mythical diamond taken from the abandoned home of an Earth Deity. I have located an entrance to this subterranean dwelling in Underside, but I believe it to be protected by any number of traps, creatures, and magical defenses. I would like to hire a team of MERC members experienced in dungeoneering to escort me inside, circumvent the security, and assist me in a magical ritual to select the best diamond for my girlfriend.
Contract Type: MERC Member Contract
Hired by: Kevin Sciano (FireFox)
Target: The Diamond Domicile. Long ago, a God of a mountain range fell in love with a Goddess of a moon. He sculpted the landscape to tempt her down and then wooed her with the biggest and brightest precious gems underground. They were wed in the eyes of their fellow Deities and lived for a time in a chthonic house he built. Their combined powers created many wondrous artifacts and their love nourished crystals and minerals. It is said that diamonds the size of boulders protrude from the walls and more jewels continue to grow long after the God of Earth and Goddess of Beauty have left.
Payment: Each contributing member can choose one of the following:

• A custom steel melee weapon
• A bespoke piece of steel armor
• An item of jewelry with a specified minor magic effect

that I will craft for them to the best of my ability upon completion of the contract. Additionally, each contributing member can help themselves to whatever treasure or loot may be found within the target location.
Notes: It is likely that Dr. Vulpan will attempt to personally interfere with this quest. Members should come prepared to fight a powerful druid.

[Meowmai]

[A Long-Due Dorm Departure]

Pania's godawful headache was taking far longer to dissipate than she was used to, even with the rather advanced painkillers she had been given. Perhaps the power of Prime's psionics had caused it to linger more than usual. Or perhaps the person writing her happened to have some major assignments due and then collapsed for two days once they were finished but who knows. Either way, it meant she had plenty of time to look around at the mess she had created in her room. Hmm. She might want to look into getting some of that furniture nailed down. And maybe keep a lot of her loose stuff tied down or in containers as well. Because cleaning up chaos of this degree every time she had a bad day was not going to be an enjoyable experience.

Cursing in her native tongue, she pushed herself to her feet, and headed to the training room. She pushed her way through the doors, seeing Magtok and Reina in coversation and approaching. "Sorry I'm late. This damn headache was being a [beach]. I'm ready now."