Skyside 7: The Big Pizza in the Sky

[Reinholdt]

[Black Abyss Body Shop]

Brent is tossed aside ignominiously! The customer service here is atrocious! Oh wait, he's the customer service. Well, he's still alive... undead... whatever. Just over there not being a factor.

With such remarkable coordination that one could easily swear the whole thing was choreographed, the mecha-zombies duck as a group, bringing the palanquin low to the ground and letting Sai's electrical blast fly overhead harmlessly. Raven smirks at Mina a little. "Fool me once..." She shakes her head. There's a subtle implication that Raven has far more dexterous control over the mecha-zombies than Mina and Sai have seen thus far, likely because they made a very wise decision and momentarily incapacitated her, keeping her from puppeteering the samurai and ninja.

Then the group leaps up! Jumping from the ground to atop the van. Guess they weren't going to just get in. That's a sturdy roof, that's for sure. Must have been purposefully reinforced. "You got lucky this time, but I'll be back!" Raven swears as the van starts to roll away and pick up speed. "Back to finish off you and your thousand year old pet silf! Just you wait! Nyaaaaaahahahaha!!" Raven holds the back of her hand up to her mouth to laugh most maniacally. Mercifully as she gets more distant, so too does her piercing laugh.

[Ironsmith]

Black Abyss Body Shop

Mina lets out a strained groan as the zombie gives her a hug right on the spot that's currently bleeding. Ooooww.
Mina swings her arms up to break the hold and perform another of her basic throws on the zombie to get him out of her hair. Should it be "out of her mane" now since her hair is technically almost everywhere?
She levels Sai to fire on the palanquin again. And fire she does! Though something occurs to her.
"Sai? Um. What am I supposed to do with a villain in a lawless city?" Because frankly with a bleeding bullet wound she isn't going to be able to chase down an escape van. And she's not going to if there isn't even anyone to arrest Raven! It's not like Mina's going to kill her.

[Black Abyss Body Shop]

Brent is tossed aside ignominiously! The customer service here is atrocious! Oh wait, he's the customer service. Well, he's still alive... undead... whatever. Just over there not being a factor.

With such remarkable coordination that one could easily swear the whole thing was choreographed, the mecha-zombies duck as a group, bringing the palanquin low to the ground and letting Sai's electrical blast fly overhead harmlessly. Raven smirks at Mina a little. "Fool me once..." She shakes her head. There's a subtle implication that Raven has far more dexterous control over the mecha-zombies than Mina and Sai have seen thus far, likely because they made a very wise decision and momentarily incapacitated her, keeping her from puppeteering the samurai and ninja.

Then the group leaps up! Jumping from the ground to atop the van. Guess they weren't going to just get in. That's a sturdy roof, that's for sure. Must have been purposefully reinforced. "You got lucky this time, but I'll be back!" Raven swears as the van starts to roll away and pick up speed. "Back to finish off you and your thousand year old pet silf! Just you wait! Nyaaaaaahahahaha!!" Raven holds the back of her hand up to her mouth to laugh most maniacally. Mercifully as she gets more distant, so too does her piercing laugh.

[Black Abyss Body Shop]

"In this case? Just catch up to her." Sai replies. "At some point, we're going to need to find a more permanent solution, for when you catch villains like this. But for now, the fact that you don't have one is no excuse to not train up. All the baddies are going to run at some point; you're at a disadvantage if you can't run after them." Sai punctuates the statement with a strong tailwind, aiming to help Mina catch up if she takes his advice.

[5a Violista]

[Aimless Drifting]

Cutting open the frog would probably be the most helpful thing Tetra could do, but Sirena feels awkward about asking for that.
Especially because recently a witch turned her into one.

Besides, as far as Sirena knows, the only thing keeping the two of them on near-even footing is the fact that Tetra doesn't know what Sirena's capable of. Asking too much might tip her hand. As it is, she's already revealed more than...what, exactly? She really just needs to decide already, if she's going to treat Tetra as a bystander or ally or enemy.

She gets closer to look at the backlit organs. "Oh. Thanks. Um, just..." She strains her eyes, trying to find any organs she doesn't recognize, because those would be the ones she hasn't fixed in herself yet. "Maybe just if you know anything about the frog oviduct, or something, but that's it. If not, that's fine, you've done plenty."

[Deathkeeper]

Black Abyss Body Shop

Mina takes off at a run despite her misgivings.
Misgivings that prove entirely correct because who knew that a large, bulky person built for strength over speed with bleeding leg injuries and a bullet wound isn't great for running as fast as a motorized vehicle.
She does however pick up a nearby garbage can and throw it at the van. It has no chance in causing serious damage but it very well could cause a dent and scratch the nice paint job Raven's minions worked so hard on.
"Hey Sai? I think I really ought to go get these bandaged." Mina sighs as she slumps to the ground. The blood soaking Sai's cloth is starting to look pretty bad.

[Reinholdt]

[Black Abyss Body Shop]

The trash can hits the back of the retreating van, making a considerable mess. Hey! Raven Ebondark is a busy goddess-empress! This is highly unneccessary extra work Mina's giving her, especially considering Raven's abandoning the body shop and the tools necessary to fix the damage. Doesn't Mina understand the hero-villain dynamic here? Mina thwarts Raven's latest highly complicated scheme, Raven gets away through some fancy transportation technique, rinse and repeat! Don't tell her that Mina's one of those edgy new heroes that likes putting the villain down for good in one way or another. That wouldn't do at all.

"No one likes a sore winnnner...!" Raven shouts back at the slumping minotaur before the van turns a corner and is lost out of sight.

[Shadowcaller]

[Searching for Truth]

Ilpholin should have spent more time researching whether the Tusumi line had a jealous sister or petty brother she could turn against Tellysandra. Something to do later she supposes.

Somewhere in another part of the mansion, Butler B. Butler's ears twitch.

Bellana smiles, closing the door and locking it if she can. "Of course." She turns back towards the mercenaries and steps to the center of the room. Then, she begins to dance.

If these mercenaries who live on a flying sky island have never been to the Underdark, they'll find the dance particularly exotic. Bellana has chosen to use her cultural roots to perform a dance that she's betting they haven't seen. But this isn't just some drow pop culture reference or a traditional drow two-step backstab. This particular dance is one used by Lolth priestesses in a sacred mating ritual for the creation of a draegloth. Only a newly ordained high priestess was supposed to know and perform this dance, though that didn't stop a young Ilpholin convincing Nadas to help her steal an unholy text to read and study and practice the dance all on her own. Back when she had those kind of childish dreams.

Of course, she puts her own spin on it here and there in order to bounce between the individual mercs and even the big cat. Which probably doesn't make it any less blasphemous, but she's also incredibly rusty on the steps, having not practiced it in at least a decade. Perhaps her form's undulations and curves keep attention from her questionable technique, as well as the pheromones that are starting to build within the enclosed room. The lingering touches, the suggestive glances. A dance designed to seduce those within. It would be easy for things to escalate as she wrapped them all around her form, her figure, her finger.

[Searching for Truth]

One can't help but wonder how similar this dance is to the one Dena learned to appease fey. Ilpholin and her were unlikely to trade notes so the world may never know.

It is effective however. Though Ilpholin might get the feeling that just standing there wiggling her butt would almost be equally effective when it came to these mercenaries. Especially considering that she was employing pheromones against them. How were they supposed to be able to resist that?

Of course, they might start getting handsy with her during the performance as it seems to start to work a bit too well. So assuming she doesn't want the giant cat to tear them apart she might have to handle it differently.

[Earl of Purple]

The Trust-Worthy Hotel

The iron lung is knocked over, and the occupant screams hoarsely as it topples. He doesn't fall out, though; the device is entered by lying on a bed which is then pushed down the tube, so the head sticks out. He can't do anything as it falls, or even easily get out. As she does, however, the pregnant woman hurries as fast as she can, limping to the door and opening it before running out and heading for the staircase out. The valets will hurry in-pushing past Sandals, if he tries to go in first- and work on undoing latches and releasing the man from the iron lung.

The brazier smashes against the wall, spilling ash, charcoal and water from the copper bowl that rested atop it. Nobody responds to Hazel's screams; and none of those present can even see her.

SSGTV

The orc gasps as Hana jumps atop him, gaze steeling itself as he continues to fight. He's going to try biting Hana's arm as it goes across his neck, strong jaws and sharp tusks would easily wreck her limb. He's also going to continue trying to stand up, preventing Hana from getting any weight through his neck.

[Ironsmith]

Black Abyss Body Shop

Mina takes off at a run despite her misgivings.
Misgivings that prove entirely correct because who knew that a large, bulky person built for strength over speed with bleeding leg injuries and a bullet wound isn't great for running as fast as a motorized vehicle.
She does however pick up a nearby garbage can and throw it at the van. It has no chance in causing serious damage but it very well could cause a dent and scratch the nice paint job Raven's minions worked so hard on.
"Hey Sai? I think I really ought to go get these bandaged." Mina sighs as she slumps to the ground. The blood soaking Sai's cloth is starting to look pretty bad.

[Black Abyss Body Shop]

The trash can hits the back of the retreating van, making a considerable mess. Hey! Raven Ebondark is a busy goddess-empress! This is highly unneccessary extra work Mina's giving her, especially considering Raven's abandoning the body shop and the tools necessary to fix the damage. Doesn't Mina understand the hero-villain dynamic here? Mina thwarts Raven's latest highly complicated scheme, Raven gets away through some fancy transportation technique, rinse and repeat! Don't tell her that Mina's one of those edgy new heroes that likes putting the villain down for good in one way or another. That wouldn't do at all.

"No one likes a sore winnnner...!" Raven shouts back at the slumping minotaur before the van turns a corner and is lost out of sight.

[Black Abyss Body Shop]

The tailwind steadily dies out as Sai reluctantly agrees to abandon the chase. "...You're right. Next time." Sai concedes, running another round of cleansing water over his charge's hide. "Let's get you home. I've stocked up all the medical supplies we'll need there."

SSGTV

The orc gasps as Hana jumps atop him, gaze steeling itself as he continues to fight. He's going to try biting Hana's arm as it goes across his neck, strong jaws and sharp tusks would easily wreck her limb. He's also going to continue trying to stand up, preventing Hana from getting any weight through his neck.

[SSGTV]

Hana lets out a cry of pain and alarm as the orc bites down on her arm, his tusks piercing nearly all the way through, locking the limb in place. Even so, she's put her full weight on top of him, and since she can't get free without loss of limb, she's pushing down against him as hard as she can, her free hand over his windpipe, a litany of curses pouring out of her mouth as she tries to focus through the absurd amount of pain she's in.

[Deathkeeper]

Black Abyss Body Shop

Someone trudging around Skyside is sadly not anything new so even Mina's ritzy neighborhood isn't phased by her limping all the way there. It's thankfully not that far away. But Sai's little rope-bridge is much less cool and much more annoying when injured.
Hopefully with Sai in her hand Mina won't get rained on to add insult to injury.
Mina practically collapses once she's through the front door.
"Okay where am I going buddy." she moans. Her injuries feel like they're practically on fire.

[Earl of Purple]

SSGTV

He keeps biting even as he slows down and stops struggling as Hana manages to choke him out. He won't tap out, either too proud to do it or thinking a surrender would hurt him more than an outright loss- and it would probably hurt Hana more, since this is a much better thing to watch- the Guild thinks- than if he had tapped out and surrendered.

He'll stop struggling and go slack, the doors opening and some keyholders- both men and women- rushing forward. They'll gently open the orc's mouth and quickly and carelessly bandage Hana's arm before leading her out. The orc is loaded onto a stretcher with his hammer and led away. Waiting for Hana is a robed figure in black and another person, one Hana might recognise- it's the Obligator with tattooed eyes from the wagon that took her into captivity. The Obligator is naked, but unconcerned.

[Reinholdt]

[Searching for Truth]

Truly culture is lost upon some. But Bellana doesn't mind if they start getting handsy. She wants them to start getting handsy.

Because they're much more likely to be agreeable when they're getting something in exchange, with the hint of something more just hiding under her cloth. For instance, answering helpful questions, like, "Is it true Lady Tellysandra has a ritual room here where she summons demons?" and "Can you show it to me?" asked in the tone of someone who has a hobby in the supernatural. Like astrology or collecting crystal energy.

Of course, if they need something more in exchange, Bellana will pay upfront. Hopefully the cat will understand.

[Ironsmith]

Black Abyss Body Shop

Someone trudging around Skyside is sadly not anything new so even Mina's ritzy neighborhood isn't phased by her limping all the way there. It's thankfully not that far away. But Sai's little rope-bridge is much less cool and much more annoying when injured.
Hopefully with Sai in her hand Mina won't get rained on to add insult to injury.
Mina practically collapses once she's through the front door.
"Okay where am I going buddy." she moans. Her injuries feel like they're practically on fire.

[Black Abyss Body Shop => Mina's Manor]

With Sai accompanying her, the sky over her house doesn't even cloud up. It's meant as a deterrent to intruders, which it should be clear by now Mina is not. The pizza delivery guy might want to pack a poncho, though.

Once inside, Sai goes strangely quiet. Not just in that he's not talking; the sai that carries his essence seems less vibrant, less alive than it had been a minute ago. In contrast, the foyer lights up in Mina's presence, the lights flickering on and bathing the room in a soft, warm glow.

You'll want the master bathroom. It's the one you went to the first night you came here. Sai's voice echoes in her head.

Meanwhile, a stray breeze blows the front door shut; gently, tending to a trivial matter Mina had either forgotten or was too tired to handle.

SSGTV

He keeps biting even as he slows down and stops struggling as Hana manages to choke him out. He won't tap out, either too proud to do it or thinking a surrender would hurt him more than an outright loss- and it would probably hurt Hana more, since this is a much better thing to watch- the Guild thinks- than if he had tapped out and surrendered.

He'll stop struggling and go slack, the doors opening and some keyholders- both men and women- rushing forward. They'll gently open the orc's mouth and quickly and carelessly bandage Hana's arm before leading her out. The orc is loaded onto a stretcher with his hammer and led away. Waiting for Hana is a robed figure in black and another person, one Hana might recognise- it's the Obligator with tattooed eyes from the wagon that took her into captivity. The Obligator is naked, but unconcerned.

[SSGTV]

Hana groans inwardly at the shoddy medical treatment. That's it? Bandages? No disinfectant, no hemostatic agents to make sure she doesn't bleed out, nothing? Ugh. If she doesn't pass out from shock and blood loss, she's going to be having words with these people.

Oh, hey, look, the people.

"Well? I won." Hana points out. "Can't you guys afford a better medic?"

[Deathkeeper]

Mina’s Manor

Mina snorts even though doing so hurts her ribs.
”Went and got yourself telepathy, Sai?” she asks in a strained voice as she starts to haul herself up the stairs. It’s a lot of energy but she does manage it.
”Gosh I hate stairs. Good thing you build them for the way my legs bend. What am I looking for, a box?” Mina asks, looking around for Sai’s medical stash.

[Earl of Purple]

SSGTV

The robed person smiles at that, pressing bloodless lips together. "For you? No. For her? Yes." The individual nods at the Obligator with the second one, and takes the Obligator's hand with one of their own withered claws. They'll try to take Hana's hand with their other, and channel their magic. Hana's bite- and any other injuries she's not noticed- flare in pain before receding, the injuries appearing on the Obligator's body. She winces slightly as large cuts open on her forearm, corresponding to the orc's tusks. The keyholder will try to unwrap the bandages from Hana's own arm now, and underneath the skin is smooth and healed perfectly- maybe better than healed perfectly. It looks as though Hana was never bitten with such force. The scars she probably has from the last time she met a sanguitheurge, when the wounds on her wrists from the shredder were transferred to the corpse, are untouched however. Apparently the magic works better when both subjects are alive. The orc, having lost, is also getting healed... but he gets a corpse, and hence potential scars. The keyholder will wrap fresh bandages around the Obligator's arm, and hurry her off somewhere else. Presumably to see a proper doctor and get actual healing.

[Ironsmith]

Mina’s Manor

Mina snorts even though doing so hurts her ribs.
”Went and got yourself telepathy, Sai?” she asks in a strained voice as she starts to haul herself up the stairs. It’s a lot of energy but she does manage it.
”Gosh I hate stairs. Good thing you build them for the way my legs bend. What am I looking for, a box?” Mina asks, looking around for Sai’s medical stash.

[Mina's Manor]

What are you talking about? I could do that from day one. The new part is having a second vessel, so I could go back and forth between the two. Sai points out. Anyway, yes, you'll be looking for the first aid kit. Don't worry; I'll make it very difficult to miss.

When Mina manages to get into the bathroom, she'll see he's definitely not kidding. The first-aid kit in question is about up to Mina's knee, a large plastic case that unfolds into multiple tiers of antibiotics, gauze bandages, rapid-activation ice packs, and a number of other medical trimmings. If Mina needs it to treat her injuries, she'll find it in the box somewhere.

SSGTV

The robed person smiles at that, pressing bloodless lips together. "For you? No. For her? Yes." The individual nods at the Obligator with the second one, and takes the Obligator's hand with one of their own withered claws. They'll try to take Hana's hand with their other, and channel their magic. Hana's bite- and any other injuries she's not noticed- flare in pain before receding, the injuries appearing on the Obligator's body. She winces slightly as large cuts open on her forearm, corresponding to the orc's tusks. The keyholder will try to unwrap the bandages from Hana's own arm now, and underneath the skin is smooth and healed perfectly- maybe better than healed perfectly. It looks as though Hana was never bitten with such force. The scars she probably has from the last time she met a sanguitheurge, when the wounds on her wrists from the shredder were transferred to the corpse, are untouched however. Apparently the magic works better when both subjects are alive. The orc, having lost, is also getting healed... but he gets a corpse, and hence potential scars. The keyholder will wrap fresh bandages around the Obligator's arm, and hurry her off somewhere else. Presumably to see a proper doctor and get actual healing.

[SSGTV]

Oh, right. They've got that freaky-deeky magic.

Hana eyes the orc sadly, shaking her head slowly. Aside from the fact that he nearly bit her arm off, he seemed like someone she might have been able to get along with. At least there aren't many ways she could have scarred him with this encounter; breakages in his arm, maybe, but that's about it.

Hana gingerly touches her arm as she turns her attention back to the remaining figure. "So what happens now? How much do I get paid for this one?"

[Deathkeeper]

Mina's Manor

"Yeah but you tend to chat out loud since the day I got you." Mina grumbles.
Sai can give Mina another surprise if he chooses to disperse her costume but she'll have to remove it regardless. Luckily the bullet didn't get lodged in her so really she just needs to disinfect and bandage the tooth marks and bullet hole. Under Sai's careful instructions Mina can handle that even if it's slow going.
At last Mina has a moment to breathe and wash the from her hands. Later she'll have to shower to get the rest of it out of her coat. With a sigh she looks up at the mirror and stops.
"Holy crud I'm huge."

[Ironsmith]

[Mina's Manor]

I'm aware. I would have said something sooner, but I didn't quite know how to phrase it, and I didn't want to risk the garbage bag treatment again.

Huh. At this point, that was over a hundred years ago for him. Clearly the incident stuck with him.

So, would you say this was an educational experience? Sai asks, abruptly changing the subject. I would hate to have brought you home hurt this badly and not have any new insights to show for it.

[Deathkeeper]

Mina's Manor

"...why would I have put you in a garbage bag for pointing out that I look like I could wrestle a truck?" Mina seems honestly confused as she takes a moment to flex in the mirror. It hurts but she wants to pull satisfaction where she can.
"And um. Yeah, I'd say so. Though I wish I'd gotten some prior warning first." she admits. Standing in a bathroom half undressed for first aid, hooves clicking on specially-made tiles and discussing tactics with a talking weapon also inhabiting her giant mansion is not where she thought her life would go a month ago.

[Vahnavoi]

[Trust-Worthy Hotel]

The bandaged man part pushes and partly is pushed into the room by the rushing valets. He moves to the side to get some breathing room and to get a look of what's going on. He sees Hazel is still throwing a tantrum - he isn't sure if the poor bastard in the iron lung didn't hear her screaming, or if they're just unable to answer. The bandaged man figures Hazel may have already injured that person, possibly fatally - someone confined to such a device is in poor condition to begin with and certainly not made better by getting tossed around by a fledgling evil spirit.

Oh right, he should do something about that.

The bandaged man notices the toppled brazier. A real fire hazard, how convenient! He makes a dive for it and grabs one of the coals. Holding it on his palm, he turns to face Hazel's ghost. "Path of Binding: Crimson Flame Prison", he says and breathes into the coal. It turns into a glowing ember first, then burst into a flame. The flame grows into a stream of red fire which begins to spiral and wrap around Hazel. While she can't burn, exactly, she will find the flames can restrict her movement if she touches them.

The valets can be burned and probably don't appreciate this huge source of heat appearing in the middle of the room. As a side-effect, if Hazel is captured by the flames, they will make her rough shape visible to all.

[Shadowcaller]

[Searching for Truth]

Truly culture is lost upon some. But Bellana doesn't mind if they start getting handsy. She wants them to start getting handsy.

Because they're much more likely to be agreeable when they're getting something in exchange, with the hint of something more just hiding under her cloth. For instance, answering helpful questions, like, "Is it true Lady Tellysandra has a ritual room here where she summons demons?" and "Can you show it to me?" asked in the tone of someone who has a hobby in the supernatural. Like astrology or collecting crystal energy.

Of course, if they need something more in exchange, Bellana will pay upfront. Hopefully the cat will understand.

[Searching for Truth]

"Plenty, babe."
"Six at least!"
"Let me get some of that ass and I'll give you the grand tour- mufhh!"
The human mercenary that spoke up earlier does so again as she covers the goblins mouth with her hand. "He's talking ****. I know one of the warlocks though! Can get you in anywhere!"
"I also know them! ****, everyone knows Lumine by know." Another human mercenary, who appears to have had some cyborg implants, claims. Apparently knowing exactly who she's talking about. "We can do a threesome!"
"Foursome!" The first human insists with a loud giggle.

The other non-human mercenaries seems to struggle to counter this offer. Whoever Lumine is she seems to only be interested in more human-like people.

[Ironsmith]

Mina's Manor

"...why would I have put you in a garbage bag for pointing out that I look like I could wrestle a truck?" Mina seems honestly confused as she takes a moment to flex in the mirror. It hurts but she wants to pull satisfaction where she can.
"And um. Yeah, I'd say so. Though I wish I'd gotten some prior warning first." she admits. Standing in a bathroom half undressed for first aid, hooves clicking on specially-made tiles and discussing tactics with a talking weapon also inhabiting her giant mansion is not where she thought her life would go a month ago.

[Mina's Manor]

That's what I was asking myself the first time around. Not that exactly, but still; why get so upset over observances about your appearance? It was easily remedied.

...I don't expect you to answer that, of course, but clearly you and I have very different thoughts on the matter, and I didn't want to cause you any offense.

Despite this, the mirror seems to be going out of its way to flatter her, subtly adjusting its angle and contour to show off whatever muscle Mina has her eye on at the time.

To be completely fair, chronologically speaking, we've been preparing this encounter for weeks. Last night, you were as prepared as anyone could be. That lady's magic must have thrown you for a loop. Given time, I'm sure it will all come back to you.

The Trust-Worthy Hotel

The iron lung is knocked over, and the occupant screams hoarsely as it topples. He doesn't fall out, though; the device is entered by lying on a bed which is then pushed down the tube, so the head sticks out. He can't do anything as it falls, or even easily get out. As she does, however, the pregnant woman hurries as fast as she can, limping to the door and opening it before running out and heading for the staircase out. The valets will hurry in-pushing past Sandals, if he tries to go in first- and work on undoing latches and releasing the man from the iron lung.

The brazier smashes against the wall, spilling ash, charcoal and water from the copper bowl that rested atop it. Nobody responds to Hazel's screams; and none of those present can even see her.

[Trust-Worthy Hotel]

The bandaged man part pushes and partly is pushed into the room by the rushing valets. He moves to the side to get some breathing room and to get a look of what's going on. He sees Hazel is still throwing a tantrum - he isn't sure if the poor bastard in the iron lung didn't hear her screaming, or if they're just unable to answer. The bandaged man figures Hazel may have already injured that person, possibly fatally - someone confined to such a device is in poor condition to begin with and certainly not made better by getting tossed around by a fledgling evil spirit.

Oh right, he should do something about that.

The bandaged man notices the toppled brazier. A real fire hazard, how convenient! He makes a dive for it and grabs one of the coals. Holding it on his palm, he turns to face Hazel's ghost. "Path of Binding: Crimson Flame Prison", he says and breathes into the coal. It turns into a glowing ember first, then burst into a flame. The flame grows into a stream of red fire which begins to spiral and wrap around Hazel. While she can't burn, exactly, she will find the flames can restrict her movement if she touches them.

The valets can be burned and probably don't appreciate this huge source of heat appearing in the middle of the room. As a side-effect, if Hazel is captured by the flames, they will make her rough shape visible to all.

[Trust-Worthy Hotel]

Hazel advances on the fat man, thrusting her hand toward the iron lung; if she can reach it, she's going to try to turn it up to dangerous levels, such that the man will be choked out by his own machine at a minimum or violently crushed at worst. Her hand stops when it hits the trail of flame and she finds herself unable to push past it.

Hazel's gaze snaps over at Sandels as she draws a helium gun (still ectoplasmic, of course) from under her jacket. "What do ya think youhe doing?!" She demands furiously. "GET OUT OF MY WAY! I'VE GOT RED MIST TA MAKE!"

[Deathkeeper]

Mina’s Manor

Mina blinks. Right, it has been ages.
”Sai, the trash bag incident happened because you said I, and I quote, ‘looked like a harlot in that outfit.’ In front of Gwas. I’m not going to pummel you just for basic observations.”
Perhaps Sai’s fleshy younger self forgot that detail when recalling the incident. Mina wonders if Sai lost his perfect memory because of his time mortal. Or if he ever had one.
”But um. Well. I can promise I won’t be mad what you say. Um. How do I look, really?” She never got a good grasp on what Minotaurs are into. As it happens she would drive at least one culture of them nuts though that doesn’t necessarily hold true for where Sai is from.

It’s not that she’s fixated on this specifically. Sai’s words on their preparation mull in her head. As they talk she tries to see if she can piece together the fragments of memory diluted in the magic of what got her here.

[Ironsmith]

[Mina's Manor]

Sai goes silent for a moment. Despite Mina's assurances, he doesn't know quite how honest to be. He could try to just flatter her, but... that seems wrong. If he oversells how attractive she is, at some point, she'll be in for a rude awakening when they meet another minotaur (who somehow isn't taken in by the goddess Sai claimed she appeared to be). And that's assuming she doesn't pick up on the falseness of the comment in the first place. On the other hand, if he gave an answer that indicated she was any less attractive than she wanted to be, that would offend her more immediately, and she might take it more harshly than he means it. It certainly didn't help that, while he knows the beauty standards of the minotaurs of his homelead, he himself is not especially bound to them; what they found hideous and unsightly, and what they found to be uncontestably gorgeous, were both likely as not to leave him unmoved.

Finally, he settles on a description.

By our culture's standards, you look... normal. Normal-ish. Your hide is a rare color among out kind, and that tends to be valued for the novelty. But what we tend to find lovely is the sort of appearance that relies on courtly living; gently rounded figure, well-chordeographed movement, unflappably pleasant composure, that sort of thing. You... seem more like you would be a farmer's daughter. Which is what most minotauresses would be, realistically speaking. On the whole, I think you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who would not say you're attractive, but you would not be the most beautiful in town by a long shot.

There. He hopes that answers her question adequately.

Of course, [Last Time They Talked About This], Sai might have been giving her a contradictory impression.

The elderly minotaur stares wide-eyed at the empty rice bowl in front of Mina, slowly shuffling to his feet as he goes to refill it... again. "Well, someone's gained quite the appetite lately." Sai half-chortles, slightly worried about this turn of events. A change in appetite this radical implied that Mina's body was going through some serious changes... which could complicate training her, for a number of reasons. "You'd better be able to keep all of this down. I don't want to be cleaning salmon chunks out of our training mats again."

[Deathkeeper]

Mina’s Manor

Mina nods, surprisingly. She’s spent her whole life with the bare minimum scraping by. She has no problems being told she looks like a cute peasant.
”Huh, so they’re into that opulent belly sort of look? Wouldn’t have thought. Farms are fine, though. It’s not like Tarr was a princess. You would have told me otherwise.” She steps out of the room and settles into a chair. Next to the chair is a picture of the two of them Mina demanded they take, just in case. Only oddly, she’s already as big as she is right now.

And the last time they talked about it would have been derailed for a moment as Mina sputters.
”Wait, that was salmon? Salmon is meat I thought you said I was an herbivore?” was she seven or eight feet tall at the time. The details aren’t coming together properly. Like something trying to force them into place.

[Ironsmith]

[Last Time They Talked About This]

"It's a simple protein. You seemed distressed when you learned we were mostly vegetarian. I wanted to see if there was room for compromise."

Apparently, living alone for a century or so has not been good for Sai's communication skills.

"In any case, you've been burning through our larder rather quickly lately." Sai spoons her out another portion of rice. "All since that Libra woman stopped by to 'fix things', come to think of it. I suppose it's some form of side effect of... whatever she did. How have you been feeling recently?"

[Deathkeeper]

The Last Time they Talked About This

”You didn’t say ‘mostly’ last time. You said entirely.” she grumbles.
“And I feel fine. I mean I’ve been eating plenty since you met. After all I weigh how many hundred pounds? Is this not what I’m supposed to be eating?”
That’s fair, they were separated on her third day with him, after all.

[Ironsmith]

[Last Time They Talked About This]

"Well, as long as you're using all of it, it should be fine." Sai groans as he sits back down at the table. "Not to disturb your meal. I'm old, I worry about things." He chortles and gives her hand a little pat.

"He's not breathing!"
"...set it to 130 joules..."
"Stand back, miss!"
"Clear!"

"As soon as you're done, we'll be moving into your usual training regimen tonight. Your transition between forms three and seven is still a little sloppy."

[Deathkeeper]

Last Time they Talked About This

”You worry about everything except what you ought to, old man.” Mina mutters softly between bites.

”Fudge, the vessel! Don’t worry Sai I’ll have it just hang on!”


”I never asked, these new things? Or is this what you taught Tarr?” she asks him.

[Earl of Purple]

SSGTV

Don't worry, Hana. You'll get used to it.

"Five for winning, one for no permanent injuries, and two for ending a three-day winning streak. And you'll get a replacement weapon, since it broke in battle." The keyholder who speaks offers Hana a new weapon; it's another baseball bat, wrapped with razorwire; this one, however, is aluminium, not wood, and the wire has been welded on. "Hopefully it will serve you better." Hana doesn't get the tokens for being unharmed, since whilst she's unharmed now she was injured. He'll head over to the machine and produce the tokens that he'll then offer to Hana, before leading her back to the barracks chambers.

Trust-Worthy Hotel

The valets wince at the increased heat, but keep working and slide the man out of the archaic medical device. He'll stand; he's completely naked, morbidly obese, and looks like he's not been outside in years. He stands, cracks his knuckles, and smiles at Hazel. "My dear, I have never raised my hand against a woman. You are completely and utterly wrong." He snaps his fingers. "Help me out of here. There's a pair of sticks in the wardrobe. You, stay here and contain it. If you can put it in a jar or bottle I can keep on a shelf and look at, you'll be rewarded." One of the valets stays with the fat man, wincing at the weight as Master Trust throws an arm over his shoulders, whilst the other opens a hidden door in the wall and retrieves two aluminium walking-sticks, adjusted for Master Trust's height and hands them over. He points at Sandals at 'you', addressing the man he's assuming to be an ally in this.

[Ironsmith]

Last Time they Talked About This

”You worry about everything except what you ought to, old man.” Mina mutters softly between bites.

”Fudge, the vessel! Don’t worry Sai I’ll have it just hang on!”


”I never asked, these new things? Or is this what you taught Tarr?” she asks him.

[Last Time They Talked About This]

"A little of both. The martial arts have developed quite a bit since Tarr's time. Some of the techniques have demanded updating accordingly. In particular, parrying techniques have improved considerably. I strongly recommend you study them." There's a sort of heft to Sai's voice as he says this, implying that the gravity of his words goes beyond simply being good advice.

The moment the words are out of his mouth, Sai breaks into a loud coughing fit, pounding his fist against his chest in an attempt to restore normal breathing... which he does, after an uncomfortably long time.

SSGTV

Don't worry, Hana. You'll get used to it.

"Five for winning, one for no permanent injuries, and two for ending a three-day winning streak. And you'll get a replacement weapon, since it broke in battle." The keyholder who speaks offers Hana a new weapon; it's another baseball bat, wrapped with razorwire; this one, however, is aluminium, not wood, and the wire has been welded on. "Hopefully it will serve you better." Hana doesn't get the tokens for being unharmed, since whilst she's unharmed now she was injured. He'll head over to the machine and produce the tokens that he'll then offer to Hana, before leading her back to the barracks chambers.

[SSGTV]

Well. Eight tokens again. That's easy to track, at least.

As soon as they're back at the barracks, Hana turns to the keyholder. "I'll want another fight as soon as you can arrange it." She says quietly. "I don't care who it's with, except that it's not her." She nods toward Abbi.

If she's stuck earning her way out eight tokens at a time, she at least wants her fights to be as frequent as possible. She's going to fight mostly as she has been... the question now is how that plays out in the long term.