[Nexus] Trog's Tavern CCXXXVI

[FireFox]

I am thinking... Ally pronounces slowly, with all the ponderous seriousness of the thoroughly inebriated. I am thinking that I need more alcohol. She finishes her glass and orders another scotch, then giggles tipsily.

[Devixer]

Ashley smiles. "More alcohol is always good," she replies as she downs the rest of her beer.

[FireFox]

Ally quickly downs this last scotch, then, despite her previous proclamation, refrains from ordering another. Oh hell... The nightmares are going to suck tonight...

[Devixer]

Ashley suddenly looks concerned. "You have nightmares? About what?" She thinks she already knows the answer, though.

[FireFox]

Well, no, I usually don't. But what with the near death experience and the nameless, shapeless horrors yesterday, I think it's a safe bet for tonight. She giggles again.

[Devixer]

"...Oh. Should I stay with you tonight?" Ashley asks, then hastily adds, "Just in case you have those nightmares."

[FireFox]

The redhead blushes and gives that proposal some serious thought. Mm... No, I think I'm buzzed enough to sleep well. The most important thing for these injuries is rest anyways...

[Devixer]

Ashley also blushes, and manages to look slightly disappointed. "Okay. Let me know if you change your mind."

[FireFox]

Oh, I will. Ally leans over to try and kiss Ashley's cheek before she drunkenly swaggers off to bed.

[happyturtle]

Spoiler

Show

One of the regulars slipped in quietly - a soldier whose been coming here forever. She was in the city guard before Vyrn took over, then went to work for the Empire. Participated in the coup. Continued to serve under Noir. And now she works for Remnant. She figured the name will change again a few times before she retires. The important thing is to protect the city, by whatever means necessary.

She moved past the crowd of chimeras to take a seat in a booth where she had a view of the bar. Specifically, the empty place behind the bar. It had been a few days now, and she hadn't been able to keep a meal down since. She could kill and she did kill and she would kill again, but it never got easier. Faster, more brutal, more efficient. But never easier.

Submission-In-Adversity-Brings-Peace Halifax, member of the Praetorian Guard, does nothing for now except ignore the glass of wine she ordered and remember the woman she helped to kill.

A little half drow girl tries to sneak along the back pof the bar toward the woman (who's name I've already forgotten >.>). A black bandit mask covers her face and she wears loose fitting, black clothing that covers all but her hands and face. Her white hair is cut in a neat bob. A little smile colours her face as she tries to sneak up on the woman. She's surprisingly sneaky, despite the fact that she's essentially in plain sight do to the woman's positioning.

Sneaking along the bar will not get the half-drow girl any closer to Missy, since she's sitting in a booth on the opposite wall. But assuming she leaves the bar and actually moves towards the woman in her sneakiness, she can successfully sneak up on her. Or she can believe she has. It isn't really obvious whether or not Missy knows she's there.

[Devixer]

Ashley giggles again when her cheek is kissed, realizing all that alcohol has probably gotten to her at this point. It isn't long before she also gets her own room upstairs.

[Rebonack]

Plum and Divaonar have assumed humanoid form. Probably because they're smaller like that. Which makes it easier to get into things they aren't supposed to. Which is, in turn, one of the primary functions of small children.

Getting into things goes hand in hand with making noise and messes after all.

Raven remains in her chimera shape, still perched in the rafters. Mother isn't here to protect the tavern, so she'll keep a vigilant eye on it in the mean time.

Plum relies to the drunken summoner guy in that quiet, reserved tone of hers. "Mother is... umm... sleeping..."

A pause.

"I think mortals call it 'dead'"

Divaonar scoots over toward Missy. Somewhat hesitantly, but... The praetorian may feel a subtle aura of encouragement around the kid. By this time he's figured out how to crank it down from a full on aura of heroism. But not how to actually shut it off.

He glances at Plum before waving her over. At first the little girl isn't sure what she's needed here for until-!

She gives a little gasp!

"Oh no! You're so sad. What's wrong?"

[happyturtle]

"A lot of people died this time." Missy says simply. She doesn't suspect who the children are, and doesn't see the point in sugar coating death for them. They live in the Nexus, after all.

[Rebonack]

The two children both exchange worried glances.

This is probably why K'rax gave them orders to protect one person or one place in particular. When you have just one person to keep safe it's much easier to succeed. When you have to keep the whole City safe...

Then you're bound to fail.

This is the Nexus after all.

Plum decides to give Missy a hug.

Hugs help to make things better.

Mother told them so.

Divaonar just kind of... fiddles with his feet under the table. "Mother died too... But... I think she'll be okay. She'll wake up again, I'm sure."

[happyturtle]

Missy accepts the hug. She isn't naturally a hugging person, but she isn't allergic to them either.


"Do you have anyone to take care of you?" Missy asks, her voice a little softer, now that she knows the children are orphans. She won't comment on waking up again. She doesn't know if it's denial, or if the family has some ability to have the mother resurrected. Death is not final in the Nexus, after all.

[Rebonack]

After hugging a little longer Plum steps back and offers Missy a somewhat sad little girl smile. Normally she's a bit shy... But she'll be more outgoing for sad people.

"Father can take care of us," Divaonar replies, pointing back at Raril. Of course... That wouldn't prove that they're Zee's kids. Wouldn't be the first time other Raril-offspring have shown up in the Nexus.

He crinkles his brow a little bit.

"Did... Did anyone important to you die?"

Divaonar sounds honestly concerned.

Should the answer be 'yes' then there's a pretty decent chance that another hug will be forthcoming.

[happyturtle]

Missy... doesn't recognize Raril. She probably would if she heard the name, but there are a lot of drow in the city. To the question, she shakes her head. "No.... well, yes. Everyone in the city is important. It's part of my job to keep everyone safe. I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect your mother."

[Rebonack]

All those drow look the same, eh?

"Mother died trying to help," Plum practically whispers. "She loved everyone so much..."

Sounds like the little girl is on the edge of tears... Could probably use some comforting.

Divaonar smiles as encouragingly as possible. "I guess that kind of makes you the same as Mother then? You both did everything you could to help everyone. But... sometimes you can't save everyone. 'I can't save everyone, but I can save someone,' That's what Mother said. It always made her so sad when someone died."

Raven, the chimera still perched up in the rafters, rubs at her eyes. As much as she tries to be serious and mysterious and aloof she's still just a child. A child just like her siblings.

[Halae]

Eric looks incredulously at Raril, "Then tell her to stop reaching up my shirt!"

But he looks positively shocked at the news that Zee is dead, "Is that even possible? I thought she was like Cthulhu - you can never really kill the thing. It just goes back to sleep."

[happyturtle]

Hey, that could be any flooffily dressed drow over there! It's not like she ever met Raril personally.

"That's good. You remember her that way," Missy says. She can tell the girl is distressed, but she doesn't feel equipped to handle it. Her own child had been taken away from her, after all. She feels a fierce stab of grief and shame at the memory of being declared unfit, and wonders, as she often does, if the child is even still alive now, ten years later.

So instead of giving the needed consolation, she'll send Plum to get help somewhere else. "You should probably go give your dad a hug. I bet he wants one right now."

[Rebonack]

Plum nods and scampers off, aiming to adhere herself to Raril's leg. She needs a name, too! In fact, several of the chimeras in here need one. Poor little nameless critters...

Hopefully that'll all be rectified soon.

"I'm Divaonar," the little boy pipes up after a few moments of consideration. Remembering Mother is easy enough. He'll miss her while she's gone, but he's sure she'll be back. He's quite proud of the name his father gave him. And he'll wear it proudly!

Being the first of the chimeras to be named by their parents certainly makes him feel special!

Hopefully he won't let it go to his head.

"What's your name?"

[happyturtle]

"Submission Halifax. But you can call me Missy if you like, Divaonar." she says.

[Rebonack]

"Okay Missy!" Divaonar replies cheerfully. "Oh! Here, let me show you something neat! I'll have to get out of the chair 'cuz I get bigger though."

And with that he hops onto the floor and transforms into his chimera shape. The process is rather akin to your typical Transformers sequence with things unfolding and expanding to result in a critter that couldn't possibly fit inside the little boy.

What stands there now is a half jackal half impala half vulture half crocodile. The universe cringes at all those halves but there's precious little it can do about them.

The beast looks like some median between volcanic glass and flesh, decorated with angular electric blue lines that occasionally pulse with internal light. There had been reports of starspawn that could take the form of children...

And the resemblance to K'rax is unmistakable.

"See? Isn't it neat?" he flares out his four wings, displaying a rather impressive wingspan. Unlike Zee's they look like actual physical objects rather than holes in space. "I look more like Father in the other shape, but more like Mother in this one! Oh! And I can do neat tricks when I'm flying! Want to watch me?"

He still sounds just like a young child, craving attention and validation as any other.

[happyturtle]

Missy looks at Divaonar, feeling as if she's been punched in the gut. She manages to compose herself long enough to say "That's... neat. Yeah..." Then she gets to her feet, a hand over her mouth as she tries to get to the bathroom.

She doesn't make it, and ends up bent over, her hand on the wall for support. But since she hasn't been able to keep anything down since they killed K'rax, there isn't much of a mess. Just dry heaves, with a bit of acid and excess saliva.

That... probably wasn't the reaction the chimera was going for.

[Rebonack]

That was so not the reaction he was going for.

"Oh no! Are you alright Missy?" Divaonar cries out as he bounds over to the woman's side, offering himself as support. Unafraid of any potential gross stuff that might get on him!

Two lines of thought are going through his mind right now. 'Is she sick?' and 'Am I really that ugly?'

He tries not to be ugly!

He tries to be cute!

But sadly his particular mix of animals really doesn't lend itself well to being adorable. Probably mostly thanks to vulture and crocodile. They... really aren't all that cute. At all. But that's what he gets for being vaguely Egyptian themed.

[happyturtle]

It's a few minutes before she's done. But there isn't much of a mess. Nothing that can't be handled with a damp cloth.

"I'll be okay in a few days," Missy mumbles. "It happens every apocalypse."

Some people get headaches when they're stressed. Some get depression. Missy gets nausea and vomiting. It's just the way her body expresses it.

But through her head is going, "Zee has children. Zee has children. Dear gods, I killed a mother..."

[Earl of Purple]

Resting on one table is a lego minifigure. It's male, and appears to be a knight, wearing platemail, a helmet with a bar visor and carrying a large shield and a halberd. The shield's blank at the moment. Technically, it's a halberdier rather than a knight; knights charged in on horses with lances and swords; a halberd, with its hook to pull horsemen out of the saddle and a large axe blade to kill the horseman whilst they're down. Often there's a large spike as well so the halberd can be used as a spear with limited effectiveness.

[Rebonack]

Which Cosmo will be cleaning up.

Of course.

It isn't a job that he relishes, but it's his job none the less...

Poor grumpy gnome.

Divaonar will remain beside Missy the whole time, offering his support and encouragement. It probably doesn't ever dawn on him that his presence is what's causing this issue in the first place. How could he? No one knows who killed K'rax.

"Oh... I'm sorry to hear that... Well! We're still here to help keep the Nexus and everyone in it safe! Just like Mother wanted. I promise I'll do everything I can to help stop any more apocalypses from happening so you won't have to feel all sick again!"

And he means it, too! He can accomplish anything he puts his mind to! Because he's a hero!

Meanwhile!

A little girl approaches the mini-figure. She looks to be about 8 years old in human terms, though she's half-drow. Bluish skin and light cream colored hair, just the faintest hint of brown. Red eyes. And dressed in modern attire. Sneakers, black sweat pants and hoodie with swirly white designs. On her back is a little plushy back-pack that looks like a snowy owl head.

She cautiously reaches out to poke the lego mini-figure.

[happyturtle]

"I'm sure you'll do great, just like your mom wanted," Missy says. "I'm going to go clean up a bit. You don't have to worry about me."

And unless stopped, she'll head into the ladies room to wash her face and hands.

[Earl of Purple]

The lego mini-figure doesn't really respond. If poked hard enough, he falls over, and generally acts like lego mini-figures do when poked.