Riverside 21: Older than Arkh

[Ironsmith]

[St. Leonard's Hospital]

"Well, that's even more horrible!" Malady exclaims. If the bomb had killed someone, they couldn't have stopped it... but they certainly could have affected how panicked the crowd was after the fact. Even laying bleeding on the ground, they probably could have saved that poor soul, damn it!

Of course, the conversation gets cut off abruptly when the nurses cart in another patient. Malady quickly composes herself, wiping a tissue all over her face in an attempt to obscure the fact that she's been crying for a stranger; her bandmates might be used to that kind of thing, and they're paying Frigate enough that he might overlook it, but it had to look just weird to anyone else, right? If nothing else, she's not sure she really wants to air that out to the general public.

Ecstacy looks up at Carmen as she gets carted in and cracks a little smile. "Hey, wait a minute... you were at our show, weren't you?" She sits up a little, wincing in pain despite being doped up on her maximum allowance of painkillers. "That's right, I remember you. Weren't you the lady that asked us to sign your-"

"It's not likely." Euphoria interrupts. "We have had many fans display that level of zeal. I doubt she's one you remember specifically."

"Right. Well, either way... Hi." She gives the half-succubus a dopey grin. "You probably already know us by our stage names, but... I think we're going to be sharing a room for a while. Might as well get cozy." She points to herself. "Name's Anastasia. You can just call me Stacy if you prefer. You can't call me Anne, Annie or anything like that. That's an old lady name and I don't like it." She points over at Malady. "That's Melody. Kind of fortuitous that she ended up being a singer, huh?" She giggles, before pointing to the tallest of the three succubi. "And she... is still Euphoria. Seriously, girl, what is your mortal name?"

"Five hundred years out of date." Euphoria replies stoically.

"Ha!" Stacy winces and lays back in the bed, holding her side. "So, yeah. Welcome to the cool kids room." She lays back down and flashes Carmen a friendly smile. "Sorry we had to meet like this. I guess someone in the crowd decided they'd heard Too Hot For Heaven one time too many."

"Oh my god, Stacy..." Melody mutters, hands over her mouth and nose to mask that ungodly snorting sound that comes from laughing abruptly with a runny nose.

"Speaking of... I didn't hear, did you guys have any luck catching that lady?" Stacy asks, looking up at Frigate.

[Reinholdt]

[Stabbing at Wild Mike's]

There's a moment where it looks like Sandy's about to leap at Jaahlyn with an attack of her own, but her decision is made for her as Jaahlyn shifts away. Mixer seems to have fallen apart as well, for however long that lasts. And just like that all the demons were no longer in the room.

Sandy shifts over while Fade's attacking Mixer so that she's standing between him and the closed door that exits the room. "Fade, was it? Sorry about your job and all. Once my allies reach the hospital you won't have to worry about Deathkiss ever again." Sandy flicks the switchblade from one hand to the other and back again. "Which I guess means I should keep you here as long as possible."

Sandy doesn't seem interested in hurting Fade, but instead seems interested in keeping him from getting to the hospital and saving the other demons that yet live. Best way to do that is probably to draw out a fight. Which is likely why every step she makes is carefully avoiding the shadows. She's seen Fade's in action enough by now to know better than to be where his shadow goes. Though if he goes for some weird shadow escape trick instead, she's uncertain as to how she would even stop him.

[Zefir]

[Stabbing at Wild Mike's]

Thats a surpise for now. Mixer was much easier to wliminate then he expected. Still those demonkind have the trend to come back another time, but if his best skill is summoning the pit it won't be a trouble at all. That means the number of enemies went down to Zero for a moment until Jaahlyn clears up Sandys position. He turns to her to hear her speech. It was kinda strange she tried to stick close and the succubus seem to be blinded by the cheering. It's so hard to get people out of danger when they force themself in the middle of attention.

Fade looks at Sandy with a bit of a confused expression. Followed by a more normal expression. He might even grin if not for the fact the scarf covers his face.
"Your allies?" he says then. "That means there are others who can be questioned. That oppens up an oppotunity."

Fade switches his blade from the right hand to his left. He does look over his shoulder to confirm the bear lady is still in the healing process.
While he does that his shadow seems to getting smaler and instead of filling half a wall it no looks like a normal human woman. The shadow slides to Sandys right side (Fade's left) and when it can come close enougth it extends a hand out. At the palm appears a red orb that turns into small firebolts aimed at Sandy. They aren't aimed to kill her, more to let her jump away. If that works Fade will swing his right hand at where she heads, releasing a black cloud. Touching the black cloud will all power from her body, making it feel like she can't move a muscle. This might kill her depending on her constitution. If she can't dodge it.

[Ironsmith]

[Stabbing at Wild Mike's]

What happens to Anika next depends on the nature of her magic. If she's just treating the injuries themselves, with no regard for the underlying magical affliction (some would even say "curse") that came with them, she's going to find the treatment alarmingly ineffective. The new skin, muscle, blood vessels, and other parts that grow in are going to abruptly liquify, leaving her no better off than before. Worse, she's going to find that her natural recovery mechanisms are equally ineffective; her blood won't clot properly, meaning she'll be bleeding as freely an hour from now as she was when she was first cut open, assuming she's still alive at that point. Which would be bad enough if Mixer had cut her once, but she's looking at eight such wounds, four on each side of her body.

On the other hand, if she can address the melting-curse, she's going to find it laughably easy to counteract. Apparently Mixer's superiors still wanted him to not be much of a threat to themselves and therefore gave him some weaksauce magic.


If Jaahlyn intends to physically transport herself to Mania's soul's location, she's going to find that riding to the Lethean Abyss is not exactly a smooth journey. The room darkens a second time as the ground beneath Jaahlyn collapses, pulling her into an endless void of darkness. At which point she'll just... fall.

It goes on for hours like this. Nothing between Jaahlyn and the little pinprick of light above her that'll show where she came in, which seems to be receding faster all the time. There's no ground below or around her, either, nor anything else in the void. Just inky blackness for as far as the eye can see...

At least, until Jaahlyn opens hers.

At which point she'll find herself laying on the polished marble floors of [The Pecatorium], unmarred by any sign of the long fall's sudden stop. It must have been her imagination.

[Shadowcaller]

[Stabbing at Wild Mike's]

Anika is soon going to see the curse(d) problem and use her rarely if ever used before dispel (minor) curse spell!

It would feel like she pulled this one right out of her ass but its right there in her druid spell list.

Hooray for easy, uninteresting, solutions!

Of course, this means she isn't going to interfere in the brewing conflict between Sandy and Fade for now. Just too busy removing curses and healing herself. The druid was pretty sure Sandy had killed that succubus though but what that meant she wasn't sure of yet. She had seemed awfully devoted to her only to turn around to slay her which was kinda weird.

---

Jaahlyn hadn't expected to suddenly start falling but the notion wasn't completely new to her either. She was even pretty sure at least one of her former bodies had expired from landing considering that she briefly experienced a flashback of it now.

Had been a near instant one at least and she could remember having far worse things breaking her bodies than that.

Then darkness starts swallowing her up and she could tell that it was the darkness of the underworld as it was the only thing as black as her own eyes.

So I like to imagine a cinematic transition effect where the darkness zooms in on her until only her eyes (which are the same shade of inky-black) are visible-

[Shadowcaller]

[The Toy Tinker]

"Miss Anika, those cards have magnetic strips on them. They communicate information electronically to a small device in the card reader, and then input a numerical code that matches the card. No one scans any... bears," says Sticks.

"You should really look into a bank. It's not safe to carry this much money around with you. That's why people use the magnetic cards," Sticks illuminates, scooping aside about twenty five of those gold pieces for himself.

[The Toy Tinker]

"Oh, goblin magic." Yeah, that made sense. Those goblins were always tricksy about money so of course they had invented magical cards for it.
"But I already use a bank actually. Though why would I want to keep my money there if I need it to pay for stuff? I just have them hold all the crap I don't want to carry around. Like old quest items and stuff. Oh and reagents. Hate carrying that stuff around. Besides, I can protect myself from any would be thieves."

[Reinholdt]

[Stabbing at Wild Mike's]

Ah, the classic leading attack into the more dangerous attack. Simple, yet effective.

Unfortunately for Fade, Sandy is quite well versed on those kinds of team tactics. Instead of jumping to the left or towards him in an attack where he might effectively catch her in his follow up, she heads towards the firebolts, out of the cloud's reach. She weaves through them with remarkable grace, proving to be a well trained and rather dexterous foe. At the end she flips over the shadow, stabbing down at it with her silver switchblade. It's a shallow stab, where she can snatch her hand back and forgo the blade if it gets grabby.

Is it crazy to stab a shadow? Quite possibly. But then, she's willing to bet a lot of people have thought as much and have never even tried to stab the shadow before. You won't know until you try.

She smirks a little on the other side. "Every moment I keep you here is a win for me, so by all means. Ask your questions. I'll answer all of them."

[5a Violista]

[St Leonard's Hospital]

Carmen shifts to get a better look at everyone else in the room. "Yeah, I was about halfway back. You'd probably remember the people in the front better." Since they would be closer and do more interactions with them.

She listens to the banter. Giving everyone's names, and everything.
She laughs.
Then, because she was laughing, she coughs.
And then stops because coughing hurts.

"Carymalvienne," she says, introducing herself (since that's probably what one of the doctors called her and she's not really sure if they overheard or not), "But I prefer Carmen." She pauses, then informs Stacy, "If you call me 'Caramel' then I reserve the right to call you Anne." Because 'Carymalvienne' sounds closer to 'Caramel' than 'Carmen'.

She leans back down and looks up at the ceiling. "Music and energy was pretty good," for most of the show until the obvious happened. "Never been to anything like that before but definitely would go to another one."

[Zefir]

[Stabbing at Wild Mike's]

The stabing only works when she actiually hits the extended hand so the other stabs go at the wood floor. The shadow hand extends back into the ground.

Fade looks at his hand, the wound her stabbing cause is there and clearly visible as his blood evaporate imediatly after it leaves his body. His attention seems focused on his hand, which might be a perfect oppotunity for Sandy to strike if she wants. In fact he doesn't do that to trap her. He rethinks what has happened. It's kinda stange how lazy he got these days.
A moment later two rags of his clothing rip themself of, one going for the wound at his hand the other for the one at his feet.

"What do you call yourself? How many are you? What do you think to achive with those actions." he says as he focus her again. With her move she is no longer between him and the door. Not that she is to far away, but it would be enougth if he had a skill to move in a straight line in an instant. Which he has not.

Befor she can answer Fade wields another black cloud. This time it has a much larger radius and appears a bit differnt. he aims it at the door and covers near 2 meters around it. The effect, if his would be a fast rotting effect. Ugly to look at but quiet effectiv. Fade will immediatly follow up after the cloud, but his goal is the door, whcich will rot immediatly when hit and only leave the door handle and hinges. Let's see how Sandy will deal with that.

The shadow in that time won't make a move. It is between him andSandy which is the perfect position for his plan.

[Earl of Purple]

St. Leonard's Hospital

"Aye, I believe Jaahlyn handled it. She were makin' a bigger bomb, floodin' yer piano-board wi' pink." Frigate doesn't really know how to explain what happened next, so he doesn't go into it. Especially now they have another visitor.

Frigate's head turns all the way around to look at Carmen, followed- somewhat slower- by his body as he shifts his position. "Ahoy! I be Frigate. These fine ladies do be me employers for th' nonce, I be wi' MERC as sailor, bodyguard an' temp'ry wall." Though MERC doesn't have much use for a sailor very often.

[Ironsmith]

[St. Leonard's Hospital]

Stacy gives Carmen a little laugh. "Heh. All right, deal. Although 'Caramel' wouldn't make a half-bad stage name..."

"Um... I guess not." Melody weighs in. "I mean, I guess it depends on what she'd be on stage for. It sounds more like a stripper name, honestly."

"She said to Ecstacy, while their friend Euphoria looked on." Stacy snarks.

"...That's a point, yeah..."

And then attention turns back to Frigate.

"Yeah, we... we might need to talk about that, actually." Melody begins. "I mean, your job was to keep things safe for the concert..."

"Solid work on that, by the way." Stacy mumbles.

"...which means that, as of now, your job's technically done." Melody finishes, glossing over Stacy's comment.

"But obviously, we are unsatisfied." Euphoria adds, picking up where this is going. "We request that you, along with the other mercenaries we hired, remain at the band's side until they've recovered and made their way safely out of Riverside."

"...We can pay more, if you need us t-" Melody begins, only to be cut off by a sharp glare from Euphoria. "...I mean, yeah, that's... we're going to need that."

[Reinholdt]

[Stabbing at Wild Mike's]

Well that was a learning experience. Fade is the shadow. But he also has to will it to manifest physically when it does things and when it's not doing things it's safe from conventional weapons. Fascinating.

Sandy looks about to leap towards Fade as he summons another cloud to rot the door away and narrows her eyes. The shadow was between her and him so she couldn't move carelessly. And she only knows a fraction of what he's actually capable of. She'd hate to run into a cloud that rots her away and he doesn't seem to have any trouble conjuring those. This was an opponent you kept at a distance if at all possible. Her forward lean backs away and she considers her options. Throwing her only weapon at him was possible but she'd have to get a clean kill in one shot and he was too cognizant of her at the moment. Better to keep the weapon at hand, flicking it up a bit in a spin and catching it as if she was idly playing around and not plotting.

Well if she can't force him to stay, she'll have to draw out the conversation unnecessarily. Might be her best option as she slowly shifts away from the shadow one calculated step at a time. "Have you ever heard of SAINT? Well let's jus- hey! Get back here!" Fade was following the cloud and going right for the door! This wasn't ideal at all.

[Shadowcaller]

[Stabbing at Wild Mike's]

While Anika had been focused on not bleeding out due to the curse and to at some point actually spot bleeding it was hard not to at least occasionally glance at the fight taking place in the same room.

She was honestly amazed at what Sandy had been doing and quickly filed her down as a 'rogue' in her mind. That or a warrior. Either way, she was putting up an impressive fight against all this shadow stuff the dude was throwing at her.

It was clear that stabbing the succubus and then dodging the goat-demons scythe hadn't just been flukes or cases of taking them by surprise. No, Sandy was holding her own here which hadn't at all been Anika's first impression of her as some dumb demon-lover.

Which raised the question why she had pretended to be one in the first place.

But while she felt she could probably get up again she wanted to see what Sandy did next. Just as a judgement of her character. Was she going to run after Zefir? Attempt to help her out? Or perhaps straight out attack her?

[5a Violista]

[St. Leonard's Hospital]

Carmen says 'hi' to Frigate, too. "Didn't know MERC hired angels out as bodyguards and sailors," she tells him, clearly somehow mistaking Frigate as an angelic being, or maybe just flirting but that would be weird, "but given the circumstances, it's nice to meet you."

Since the subject of conversation was herself, Carmen volunteers information about herself: "I'm too much of a wayfarer to be a stripper, but if I ever settle down I suppose I'll keep that in mind." Gotta have a decent stage name planned out or you might end up with something weird.


When the conversation turns to the protection details and MERC and finances...
Well, that kind of conversation ought to not be any of Carmen's business, so she acts like she's not here and turns away.

[Earl of Purple]

St. Leonard's Hospital

"I be not an angel miss. I be a warforged, crafted t' sail th' endless seas an' defend me creator. Couldn't defend him from drownin', though." He'll turn back towards Euphoria and the other members of DEATHKISS. "If'n I have me way, I'll be not chargin' more f'r this. We failed at keepin' th' concert safe, so me current job o' stayin' 'ere wi' ye t' keep ye shipshape be a result o' that failure. But I be a new member, this be but me second contract. Me word, unlike me body, has little weight." His body has a lot of weight; he could be used as an anchor, if a crew trusted him to stay put and not wander ashore to buy gunpowder.

[Ironsmith]

[St. Leonard's Hospital]

Carmen says 'hi' to Frigate, too. "Didn't know MERC hired angels out as bodyguards and sailors," she tells him, clearly somehow mistaking Frigate as an angelic being, or maybe just flirting but that would be weird, "but given the circumstances, it's nice to meet you."

Since the subject of conversation was herself, Carmen volunteers information about herself: "I'm too much of a wayfarer to be a stripper, but if I ever settle down I suppose I'll keep that in mind." Gotta have a decent stage name planned out or you might end up with something weird.


When the conversation turns to the protection details and MERC and finances...
Well, that kind of conversation ought to not be any of Carmen's business, so she acts like she's not here and turns away.

St. Leonard's Hospital

"I be not an angel miss. I be a warforged, crafted t' sail th' endless seas an' defend me creator. Couldn't defend him from drownin', though." He'll turn back towards Euphoria and the other members of DEATHKISS. "If'n I have me way, I'll be not chargin' more f'r this. We failed at keepin' th' concert safe, so me current job o' stayin' 'ere wi' ye t' keep ye shipshape be a result o' that failure. But I be a new member, this be but me second contract. Me word, unlike me body, has little weight." His body has a lot of weight; he could be used as an anchor, if a crew trusted him to stay put and not wander ashore to buy gunpowder.

[St. Leonard's Hospital]

"I presume your superiors will allow you to commit your own efforts, at least?" Euphoria gives Frigate an appreciative little nod. "If so, thank you for staying."

"Oh, yeah, absolutely." Stacy chips in.
"Thank you very much, sir." Melody adds.

And then an awkward pause.

Followed by a little smirk from Stacy. "You know, Carmen... you could do both. We've been reasonably successful on tour. There's definitely a market for attractive itinerant singers, if you've got a good voice." She grins. "I wanna love you but I better not touch~" She prompts.

"I wanna hold you but my senses tell me to stop~" Melody chips in, with a little smile of her own.

"I wanna kiss you but I want it too much~"

"I wanna taste you but your lips are venomous poison~" The two of them sync up on that last word, breaking into the chorus of a song Carmen might have heard before; not one of theirs, obviously, but clearly they're fans of this other artist. Stacy smiles and gives a little gesture encouraging Carmen to join in; they'll stop if she declines or doesn't recognize the song, but if she does, they'll be willing to sing it as far as she does. They're trying to be encouraging, not pushy.

"You people are just goofy." Euphoria mutters to herself.

[Zefir]

Spoiler

Show

[Stabbing at Wild Mike's]

Well that was a learning experience. Fade is the shadow. But he also has to will it to manifest physically when it does things and when it's not doing things it's safe from conventional weapons. Fascinating.

Sandy looks about to leap towards Fade as he summons another cloud to rot the door away and narrows her eyes. The shadow was between her and him so she couldn't move carelessly. And she only knows a fraction of what he's actually capable of. She'd hate to run into a cloud that rots her away and he doesn't seem to have any trouble conjuring those. This was an opponent you kept at a distance if at all possible. Her forward lean backs away and she considers her options. Throwing her only weapon at him was possible but she'd have to get a clean kill in one shot and he was too cognizant of her at the moment. Better to keep the weapon at hand, flicking it up a bit in a spin and catching it as if she was idly playing around and not plotting.

Well if she can't force him to stay, she'll have to draw out the conversation unnecessarily. Might be her best option as she slowly shifts away from the shadow one calculated step at a time. "Have you ever heard of SAINT? Well let's jus- hey! Get back here!" Fade was following the cloud and going right for the door! This wasn't ideal at all.

[Stabbing at Wild Mike's]

Fun thing is that he uses MTG magic and the current situation around here makes it easier to gather black mana. Thats the reason he can cast thos spells while making it appear simple.

Either way Fade doesn't show any reactions to her replay. He has heared of SAINT befor, but right now he's trying to do exactly what Sandy doesn't want him to. Go for the hospital. On top he has nothing to stay here either. Sure Sandy is there and would be valuable to catch, but her goal is not to win the fight. It's clear that she just wants to buy time. Doesn't need to be a gineus to get that. Fade just runs for the backdoor exit Anika went in, should be the closest way out. One hand slides down to his bellt revealing a rather high tech tool, nothign thatseems to do anything now, but who knows.

The shadow seems to stay for a moment to watch the Assassin. It's hard to say if the shadow is lurking or maybe just out of order.

[Reinholdt]

[Stabbing at Wild Mike's]

Sandy frowns. She thought that enticing name drop might keep him around and she doubts she could catch up with Fade. Not without getting careless. And she'd rather not get careless. No choice but to let him go and hope it's enough.

The assassin continues to slowly skirt away and around the shadow, keeping one eye on it as Sandy calls over to Anika. "You okay over there Bear? That demon looked like he got you pretty good. Do you want me to call the paramedics in here for you?" She asks as she edges over towards the door.

Sandy will consider silence as a yes to the second question in a medical situation like the one Anika might be in.

[Shadowcaller]

[Stabbing at Wild Mike's]

"Nah, I'm fine. Thanks for asking though." Anika claims as she suddenly stands up. Her clothes are still stained with her own blood but it all those glowing lines that swirled around her were good for more than just glowing as her wounds seem to have truly healed. "So... why did you kill that demon anyway? I thought you were a big fan or something." She asks in a casual tone.

[5a Violista]

[St. Leonard's Hospital]

If Frigate weren't an angel, why would he look like one? is probably what Carmen's thinking. "Oh. Yeah, drowning's pretty hard to defend against. Don't think I could defend against it."


Carmen sits back up so she can listen to them better again. "I..." she says, not quite loud enough, before the sudden musical number starts like they're in a musical or something.

Carmen doesn't recognize the song, so she just assumes it's one of theirs that they didn't have time to get to in the concert. After all, they didn't exactly have radio where she was locked up.

So...yeah. Definitely doesn't know the song. Trying to get her to join in, Carmen shakes her head and mouths 'don't know it'.
And, besides, she's pretty sure if she tries to sing, she'll start coughing.

Once they stop, Carmen actually seriously considers what they were suggesting. "Haven't really sung in a long time. A little too busy, with jail and trying to find a long-lost-friend, and all."

She leans back again. "But...I suppose you have a point; it'll pay better than being a rent-a-girlfriend, or memory alteration," Carmen says, and then as a lighthearted aside, adds, "You wouldn't believe just how many people promise to pay after their memories are changed." You have to pay first.

With that aside taken care of, Carmen adds, "But if I do become a singer, I imagine that it might be easier to find her. . ."
Hmmm.
Definitely something to think about.
And!
Luckily, since absolutely nothing can possibly interrupt her time in the hospital, she definitely has time to think about that.

[Earl of Purple]

St. Leonard's Hospital

Frigate doesn't think he looks like an angel. He also doesn't know the song, so he won't join in. Probably for the best; he's got two volumes, talking to people and foghorn.

"I be hopin' so, miss. What's th' worst they c'n do? Cut me pay? I don't really need it. Keelhaul me? Don't need t' breathe, an' MERC don't have no ship neither. Nor likely a strong enough rope." They actually might have a strong enough rope or chain to keelhaul Frigate, but they don't have a ship and even if they did, he would probably deal more damage to the hull than vice versa.

He turns back to look at the door, since the conversation's moving outside his ability to understand the ongoing discussion.

[Ironsmith]

[St. Leonard's Hospital]

If Frigate weren't an angel, why would he look like one? is probably what Carmen's thinking. "Oh. Yeah, drowning's pretty hard to defend against. Don't think I could defend against it."


Carmen sits back up so she can listen to them better again. "I..." she says, not quite loud enough, before the sudden musical number starts like they're in a musical or something.

Carmen doesn't recognize the song, so she just assumes it's one of theirs that they didn't have time to get to in the concert. After all, they didn't exactly have radio where she was locked up.

So...yeah. Definitely doesn't know the song. Trying to get her to join in, Carmen shakes her head and mouths 'don't know it'.
And, besides, she's pretty sure if she tries to sing, she'll start coughing.

Once they stop, Carmen actually seriously considers what they were suggesting. "Haven't really sung in a long time. A little too busy, with jail and trying to find a long-lost-friend, and all."

She leans back again. "But...I suppose you have a point; it'll pay better than being a rent-a-girlfriend, or memory alteration," Carmen says, and then as a lighthearted aside, adds, "You wouldn't believe just how many people promise to pay after their memories are changed." You have to pay first.

With that aside taken care of, Carmen adds, "But if I do become a singer, I imagine that it might be easier to find her. . ."
Hmmm.
Definitely something to think about.
And!
Luckily, since absolutely nothing can possibly interrupt her time in the hospital, she definitely has time to think about that.

St. Leonard's Hospital

Frigate doesn't think he looks like an angel. He also doesn't know the song, so he won't join in. Probably for the best; he's got two volumes, talking to people and foghorn.

"I be hopin' so, miss. What's th' worst they c'n do? Cut me pay? I don't really need it. Keelhaul me? Don't need t' breathe, an' MERC don't have no ship neither. Nor likely a strong enough rope." They actually might have a strong enough rope or chain to keelhaul Frigate, but they don't have a ship and even if they did, he would probably deal more damage to the hull than vice versa.

He turns back to look at the door, since the conversation's moving outside his ability to understand the ongoing discussion.

[St. Leonard's Hospital]

Fortunately, Frigate will have something to deal with in a moment. Shortly after affirning his service, a nurse will poke her head in and give him a little tap on the shoulder. "Excuse me, sir? Standard visiting hours are nearly over. We can draw up an exemption for you, but we'll need to fill in some extra paperwork to make that happen. If you would just follow me down to the office?"

Meanwhile, Stacy and Melody continue their conversation with Carmen, fascinated by what she's told them in such a short time.

"You do work as a rent-a-girlfriend?" Stacy asks. "That's got to be rough. The, um... people who summoned us tended to not be very good at being nice. I'm guessing the same holds true here, yeah?" Probably not quite the same, but the parallel seems reasonable.

"Honestly, with all of that, it sounds like we've got a lot in common." Melody points out. "Everyone in this room has done time in a prison, apparently."

[Murkus]

[The Toy Tinker]

"Oh, goblin magic." Yeah, that made sense. Those goblins were always tricksy about money so of course they had invented magical cards for it.
"But I already use a bank actually. Though why would I want to keep my money there if I need it to pay for stuff? I just have them hold all the crap I don't want to carry around. Like old quest items and stuff. Oh and reagents. Hate carrying that stuff around. Besides, I can protect myself from any would be thieves."

[The Toy Tinker]

"As you say, lady. Now..." Sticks glances around. "I may have to request that you step into the rear of the shoppe for this. There's no telling what I'll find out when I peer at this item, given its somewhat... nebulous nature, so I would want to avoid any undue embarrassment." Sticks will gesture to one side of the counter and go to open the door for Anika. As is only becoming of a gentleman.

[5a Violista]

[St. Leonard's Hospital]

Carmen shakes her head: "I make sure to always set strict boundaries beforehand:" she says, which is one advantage she has over them when they got summoned. She lists out the strict boundaries on her hand. "Hours are decided upfront, no handholding, and kissing costs extra." Very strict boundaries. "Fortunately, most people who are willing to rent a girlfriend aren't really my type, so there's no need to worry about conflicts-of-interest." Because falling in love with a client is the worst thing that can happen, probably.

"I would ask you guys what put you in prison and swap stories of prison life," Carmen says, "but I've forgotten nearly all of it anyway and, besides, it wasn't nearly as exciting as you'd think. Most exciting part was how I got out, and even that was a little anticlimatic."

[Earl of Purple]

St. Leonard's Hospital

Frigate bends to talk to the nurse that just leant up, possibly on tiptoes or with a stepladder, to tap his shoulder. "I be not a guest, I be a... get well present. Aye? Like a bucket o' flowers but less pretty an' not as smellful. Do that be helpin'?" Frigate doesn't want to have to leave the band; there's already been one attempt on their life that he knows about, and just because it's a hospital doesn't mean he trusts the doctors and nurses.

[Ironsmith]

[St. Leonard's Hospital]

[St. Leonard's Hospital]

Carmen shakes her head: "I make sure to always set strict boundaries beforehand:" she says, which is one advantage she has over them when they got summoned. She lists out the strict boundaries on her hand. "Hours are decided upfront, no handholding, and kissing costs extra." Very strict boundaries. "Fortunately, most people who are willing to rent a girlfriend aren't really my type, so there's no need to worry about conflicts-of-interest." Because falling in love with a client is the worst thing that can happen, probably.

"I would ask you guys what put you in prison and swap stories of prison life," Carmen says, "but I've forgotten nearly all of it anyway and, besides, it wasn't nearly as exciting as you'd think. Most exciting part was how I got out, and even that was a little anticlimatic."

"...Ah." Stacy nods.

"Well, that's..." Melody stumbles.

"Those are bizarre boundaries." Euphoria breaks in. "For demons of our variety, charging extra for a kiss is like ordering a coffee and having cyanide added to it."

"Almost literally like that." Stacy adds. "And what's with the hand-holding thing? Are you afraid of germs or something?" She couldn't say she'd blame Carmen if she did; how many of her clients had less-than-thorough hand-washing habits?

"Geez, girls, maybe lay off the poor lady a bit..." Melody mumbles. At least the prison thing was actually kind of cool. She's still curious to hear what Carmen got up to while in jail... but her bandmates have spoken and she's not about to overrule them.

St. Leonard's Hospital

Frigate bends to talk to the nurse that just leant up, possibly on tiptoes or with a stepladder, to tap his shoulder. "I be not a guest, I be a... get well present. Aye? Like a bucket o' flowers but less pretty an' not as smellful. Do that be helpin'?" Frigate doesn't want to have to leave the band; there's already been one attempt on their life that he knows about, and just because it's a hospital doesn't mean he trusts the doctors and nurses.

"Sir, if you were inanimate enough to be considered a present, you wouldn't be arguing with me just now." The nurse replies irritably. "Come on, then, you. The sooner we start on this paperwork, the sooner we can be done with it." She makes an attempt at dragging Frigate out of the room by his arm, but rather predictably, can't exert a lot of physical influence over him on her own.

[Zefir]

[Stabbing at Wild Mike's]

Sandy frowns. She thought that enticing name drop might keep him around and she doubts she could catch up with Fade. Not without getting careless. And she'd rather not get careless. No choice but to let him go and hope it's enough.

The assassin continues to slowly skirt away and around the shadow, keeping one eye on it as Sandy calls over to Anika. "You okay over there Bear? That demon looked like he got you pretty good. Do you want me to call the paramedics in here for you?" She asks as she edges over towards the door.

Sandy will consider silence as a yes to the second question in a medical situation like the one Anika might be in.

[Stabbing at Wild Mike's]

It really depends on how fast she is. Sure if she just give it all she catches him and he won't be out of sight first. Right befor she reaches the door the shadow suddendly moves. It moves much faster then Fade run, but it seems to loos its details. Someone may assume it can't just animate at that speed.

Fade will wait at the door as he thought this might be an opening for him to catch Sandy. Since that opening didn't happen he takes a stp forward where his shadow suddendly stops and the man drops into the shadow realm. A moment later the shadow slides with fast speed for the hospital. He should be there really soon because nothing will slow him down, no trafic, no passangers not even the streetlights. He can rush the shortest way possible. He can't get through builings as he has to slide over their surface so he has to take the roads and walkways. he should be there as fast as a paramedic would need.

[Reinholdt]

[Stabbing at Wild Mike's]

Sandy takes a sudden step back as the shadow moves, but it doesn't seem to have been going for her. Zipping out the door instead. A delayed response? Intentional? Maybe some sort of range? Impossible to say. She just hesitates for a moment after it's gone before peeking her head out the door and looking around. Nope, actually gone.

Sandy pulls back into the room for just a moment, looking to Anika. "I'm not." Honestly Sandy slipped up big time earlier pretending to be a big fan when she got snipy about missing Deathkiss' biggest hit Too Hot for Heaven. She got extremely lucky no one noticed her botching the name. Anika wasn't there for that though so the bear only had what she had seen to go off of.

The assassin looks about to say something else, to clarify more, but doesn't in the end. Anika wasn't trying to get to the hospital and protect the other girls like Fade was so there was no reason to spill information to try and hold her there. "If you can heal, you should go help out the injured. See ya Bear," Sandy says before skipping through the rotted remains of the dressing room door and making a beeline for the exit.

[5a Violista]

[St. Leonard's Hospital]

"When I kiss someone, I steal some of their lust and determination from them," she explains. "Makes the rest of the date really boring, and people are more likely to listen when it affects their money, too. And I deserve extra compensation for having to babysit someone who's too unmotivated to even take care of themselves." Which can happen if the kissing goes on for too long and/or if she's particularly hungry.

And, more importantly.
Carmen can feel her cheeks starting to blush, so she folds up the hospital pillow to hide her face. Especially because she saw how much hand-holding these gals did up on stage and now Carmen's imagining herself doing it and - "And, no, it's not germs. It's just that...some things I'd rather just not do before marriage." Specifically, handholding. And playing footsie, but she might be okay with footsie before marriage so long as it's a serious relationship.

[Shadowcaller]

[Stabbing at Wild Mike's]

Botching a name doesn't seem to be enough to suspect someone being an assassin!

But regardless, Anika felt like she should probably stop Sandy. Sure, she had only killed a demon but it hadn't been one of those obviously evil demons that Anika just charged. Like that funny-hat one.

No, it had been more complicated than that and just straight up killing them first seemed wrong.

"Hey! Wait!" She calls out while attempting to run after Sandy. She didn't really want to shapeshift yet as she didn't want to jump on Sandy. Just follow her as she still had questions.

[The Toy Tinker]

"Where's the rear?" Anika is so eager to ask that Sticks haven't opened up the counter yet. But when he does it makes the answer rather obvious. "Oh, there it is." She remarks as she steps inside. "Though... yeah, I once though Jezebel was a succubus of some kind so I can totally see something embarrassing being in that thing." The druid glances at Sticks. "...you wouldn't happen to know anything about succubi right? Since I'm still not sure what she is."

[Ilpholinside]

Over yonder comes Tauron wandering towards Ilpholin's not-so-humble abode. To his credit he's at least attempting to be subtle. Or at least in his own mind he is. Wearing a long white robe with a hood which conceals his metal body and all four of his surgical arms.

Of course, there's also these small drone-like creatures that are skittering around him as he comes walking up to the front entrance.

As Tauron is almost right at it one of these creatures move right up to the door and either knocks on it or attempts to leap up to ring the door bell or any similar device.