[Nexus] Inside 43

[Shadowcaller]

[Silent Sleep]

"But what if I get my dress all wrinkly?" D= Cynthia likes this dress. She can't get it wrinkly! She follows Astrana right into the room and leans against the bed after the tiefling has lied down, looking at her expectantly for a response.

Silent Sleep

The good news is, the fleas and bedbugs are on the sixth floor to the tenth floor. This is halfway between the best and the worst, so no insects yet.

Floor ten's rooms have no beds; just piles of straw. And instead of a camp toilet, there's a corner of the room which acts as a compost heap. And there's no candles. And all the keys fit every lock. And the doors are made of cardboard.

[Silent Sleep]

"It will get wrinkly eventually anyway, we will just stay here for one night and then we get back to Riverside where we can wash all our clothes alright?" Astrana replies before pausing a moment. "But if you really want just place your clothes on the table or something, everything is going into the wash anyway." She felt safer with her clothes on however, this place didn't feel particularly safe after all.

[Morty]

MP3 immediately stops screaming, gingerly feeling at the headset.
"Huh."
He sits up.
"Pawn shop. Red Zone. That idiot Concrete shot the cashier's head off when the chunk of stone here scared him."

There seems to be some runes carved into Cragg's back. They're a bit charred but still perfectly carved. As for the grub it's two halves wiggle in eachother's general direction as if wanting to be together. The moment anyone touches one of the halves Cragg yells in pain. As for the arm there are four impressions that look like a fist mark just above the break.

A nearby soldier takes MP3's statement down.
We will investigate. Now that you're awake, tell us about what happened from beginning to end. The person who brougth you here was not very clear.
The medics appear perplexed at the situation. They try to hold the removed arm to the stump so that the two halves of the grub are brought together.

[The Bandicoot]

Cragg sighs happily when the grub attaches to itself, disappearing into his body. Ugh, it felt my very being my.......soul was ripped in half. his stump smooths over, losing its raggedness and becoming as smooth as the rest of Cragg.So, what do you want to know? he asks, sitting up and looking at his stump. Well that's not good...

[happyturtle]

Riftline Station - Morningside

On the eastern fringes of Inside is a neighbourhood with small, neatly kept houses. There are churches and schools and shops, and it seems to be carved out of America in the early 60s. If one word could be applied to this place, it would be 'ordinary'. It seems to be inhabited by various Nexus species of middle class affluence, living in nuclear family groupings. Near the station, a group of kids play baseball, with a lizardfolk girl pitching, a human at bat, a goblin at shortstop, and so on. There's even a sentient zombie in left field.

The Riftline train stops, and Magtok and Missy exit. The kid at bat should have been tagged out at first, but the first baseman misses the throw due to distraction.

"Is that him?"

"No way!"

The game seems to have developed an unofficial timeout as the kids gather along the chain link fence to stare at the Nexus Celebrity who is walking down the street.

"Er, sorry about that. Not a lot happens in Morningside. Even the apocalypses seem to stay away," Missy mutters to Magtok.

[Slii Arhem]

A Park of Tears and Woe

No, she's just saying that. She's taking pity on you here. How could anyone care about you after you tried to change them like that behind their back like some sort of sneak.

Face it, you're worthless. You've screwed everything up one way or another, and now the most important thing ever was screwed up for you by some crazy voice you heard in your head.

You don't deserve friends.

"I should- I should go. You probably don't want to see me anymore. That's f-f-fine." If you can't fool Kate, how are you ever going to fool yourself? Just go back to the other pixies where you belong.

[Lost_Deep]

A Park of Tears and Woe

Words... how do they work?

A complex system of sounds and pauses, of tones and pitch. Simple sound vibrations combined into lengthy series specifically designed to communicate thoughts, actions and feelings.

Kate is not a poet. She is a programmer. She hasn't the foggiest idea what to say. Even if she was gifted with words, she doesn't have the knowledge of what Mintbalm has gone through... there is just insufficient data to properly ease the situation. What kind of thing could properly communicate what was necessary to get mintbalm to open up and share the necessary information?

"Mintbalm..."

Kate reaches over to touch Mintbalm's arm.

"Hey, stand up for a second? Can you stand up with me, Mintbalm?"

If Mintbalm stands with Kate, Kate will wrap her arms around Mintbalm in a hug. Not an awkward hug, but a worried hug from one friend to another.

Please let this work properly...

[Slii Arhem]

A Park of Tears and Woe

Mintbalm sniffles a bit, stands up... and then suddenly tries to fall into Kate's arms so that they're facing one another. The oversized, yet still tiny compared to Kate, pixie leans in for a desperate kiss.

And unlike the comforting hug, this is most definitely an awkward kiss.

"Mm'sorry..."

[Lost_Deep]

A Park of Tears and Woe

Kate pulls back from the kiss. That would only complicate matters. "Mintbalm, I want you to feel free to talk to me. Tell me as much or as little as you want. Tell me your life's story... or tell me to buzz off. Just, feel free to gush all over me. Cry into my shoulder as much as you like."

Kate isn't going to offer romance in any way, shape, or form. But she is willing to be as good a friend as she can be.

(Fyi, Kate's not even thinking that the kiss might be magical. A kiss at all would only complicate matters!)

[Lord Magtok]

Riftline Station - Morningside

The oblivious buffoon blinks, having missed everything Missy just said.

"Hrm? Oh, sorry, I was distracted for a moment. What'd you say?"

Ugh. What a stupid, daydreaming nincompoop.

On a completely unrelated note, somehow a whole bunch of autographed purple baseball mitts end up on the other side of that fence, one of the gnomes has a big ol' 'M' stamped on his forehead, and a goblin is now twenty bucks richer and on her way to tell her parents that Magtok says to tell everyone they knows that he is not in any way, shape, or form, related to their species, and never will be.

[happyturtle]

Morningside

The children cheer in delight at their new baseball mitts, and at having seen someone famous, and then get down to the important business of putting the mitts on and punching their fists into the leather and throwing to each other to start to break them in. Looks like the actual game has been forgotten.

Right.

This sort of thing happens when you travel with Magtok, Missy reminds herself.

"My parents are about three streets over. I doubt they've moved." Missy says. "It looks like nothing here has changed at all, in ten years."

[Slii Arhem]

A Park of Tears and Woe

Kate pulls back from the kiss. That would only complicate matters. "Mintbalm, I want you to feel free to talk to me. Tell me as much or as little as you want. Tell me your life's story... or tell me to buzz off. Just, feel free to gush all over me. Cry into my shoulder as much as you like."

Kate isn't going to offer romance in any way, shape, or form. But she is willing to be as good a friend as she can be.

(Fyi, Kate's not even thinking that the kiss might be magical. A kiss at all would only complicate matters!)

A Park of Tears and Woe

Mintbalm stands back, leaning against a tree and brushing the hair out of her eyes, trying to calm herself.

And then she talks. She talks about her "childhood" and coming to terms with being a nature spirit, not remembering her life before that or if she even had one. How her intelligence and focus set her apart from the other pixies in the worst possible way. To humans, every pixie was just another annoying, dangerous spec buzzing around their head of course. Pixies though, could see the minute differences in each other and would lash out in times of boredom, looking for signs of weakness in anyone nearby.

The casual, mindless cruelty was her bane for a while, even though she devised tricks to make her too dangerous a target to hit without planning.

And then, on a normal raid in the Nexus, she met someone who actually talked a cloud of fey into attacking each other and ignoring her without even meaning to. It was brilliant, and Mintbalm wanted to see more. So, she latched on to this kind, intelligent, and even moderately pretty person at every opportunity, scouting out parks for any hint of her presence when Minty could spare the time.

She even got her to sleep over, and had some fun despite the complete disaster Mother Forest and the other fey made of things. It was perfect, as long as Mintbalm could convince herself that, if she stuck around just a little while longer, Kate would change her mind and take the first step. She wasn't stupid of course, just self-deluded.

Which brings her to now, leaving Kate absolutely no illusions about how she feels. She would do anything to undo this moment, and go back to having oblivious, kind, cute, perfect Kate to pine over hopelessly. Now it was ruined. It was all just... ruiined.

[Lord Magtok]

Morningside

Magtok nods, gradually getting more and more anxious as they make their approach. Would it be weird if he hid behind some bushes or something and let Missy do all the talking? Somehow the idea of facing these strange strangers, and awkwardly standing around, pretending to be somewhere else just seems like the very worst thing in the world. There's going to be loads of questions, he's going to be asked to provide at least a third of the answers, and they're probably going to bury him in a sea of assumptions about things, too.

"So they got custody, then?"

Seems a reasonable enough assumption to make. I mean, she was seventeen at the time. Things are almost never quite that simple, though. Not in the Nexus, especially not if life would be simpler and/or more convenient that way.

[Lost_Deep]

A Park of Tears and Woe

Kate listens patiently. Huh. She had always rather figured that Pixies gave birth...

And as Mintbalm's story continued on, Kate begins to wonder if maybe this is hyperbole. Just a little, you know? Did mintbalm really think of her as... perfect, somehow? Kate hadn't meant for the pixies to start a pixie dust fight. And...

Oh, boy. What to even say? What do you even say?

"Mintbalm..."

Okay, fine first word there. And now that you've said something, you can't just not say anything.

"...I didn't know..."

Yes. That much is obvious.

"...but, I'll tell you the truth."

Wait, is she just going to-

"I am going to be straightforward. It's better off that I found out. Because, in the end, I don't-and can't-find girls romantically attractive. Your crush from afar... was too close to be a crush from afar. What if I had stayed in the dark? What would you have done? Would you someday come forward with it? Would you hope that sometime I would change? The truth of the matter is, the longer it went the more it would have hurt when it broke down. That's the way these things seem to work."

deep breath think hard

"I...I admit I'm... a little flattered by your infatuation... but it was unhealthy for you. Sooner or later, it was going to break down. Now that it's gone... it's gone. What can you do? You continue on."

blargh is that actually helpful?

"I..."

"You..."

language processor failing!

"I haven't the foggiest thing to say to you to make you feel better but I want you to know that I want to be your friend and I'm willing to help in whatever way I can!"

Don't panic... do not panic... panic would be the worst thing to do in this situation.

[happyturtle]

Morningside

"No. There was an adoption. I think... I hope... my mother knows who the adoptive parents are." Missy says.

She leads them through the little neighbourhood, to a small blue house with white shutters. Daffodils bloom in a wide border along the sidewalk and around the front of the house. Missy squares her shoulders as she heads up the walk and climbs the three steps to the front porch and knocks on the door.

After a moment, the door is opened by a woman who looks like an older version of Missy, but with darker skin and no sign of elf heritage. Blessed-are-the-Meek Halifax makes a soft cry, and then throws her arms around her daughter. "Submission! Welcome home. Oh baby, welcome home!"

Magtok is ignored for now, as Missy hesitates, then hugs her mother back. "Clem! Submission is home!" she calls out, and then a tall fair skinned man with some elf heritage comes out. He doesn't join in the hugging - only putting a hand on his wife's shoulder and squeezing it.

"Lord Magtok. What brings you here?" he asks. As if his daughter wasn't standing right there on the same porch.

[Slii Arhem]

A Park of Tears and Woe

"... What if it's not gone? I know, I know that everything you're saying is true. It's just knowing and feeling aren't really the same thing.

And so long as I feel like I still have a chance... I don't really think I should hang around you anymore Kate. Maybe that'll change some time, but until then I don't want to make you feel awkward just by being here."

Mintbalm pushes off from the tree she was leaning against, and turns towards the nearest faerie circle, but pauses before she leaves.

"I-if you ever needed me though, you'd come find me right? I'm always willing to help a friend." Mintbalm puts on her best smile.

[Lost_Deep]

A Park of Tears and Woe

Kate nods. "You feel free to come and find me, too."

Poor girl. Kate will wave good-bye as Mintbalm leaves. She hopes that she'll recover soon.

[Slii Arhem]

A Park of Dried Eyes

"I will! Goodbye Kate." Mintbalm turns back towards the circle and, willing herself to not look back, steps inside, vanishing from sight.

[Gullara]

[Silent Sleep]

"It will get wrinkly eventually anyway, we will just stay here for one night and then we get back to Riverside where we can wash all our clothes alright?" Astrana replies before pausing a moment. "But if you really want just place your clothes on the table or something, everything is going into the wash anyway." She felt safer with her clothes on however, this place didn't feel particularly safe after all.

This seems to satisfy Cynthia. She was just planning on changing into her shirt instead. It's okay if that gets wrinkly. It's not a pretty dress. "Okay. Nighty night, Astrana." The demon goes off to her own room.

[happyturtle]

Streets Outside Trog's

Cole flees into the bright daylight outside, running down the street in a complete panic, his giant dog running by his side.

[Earl of Purple]

Silent Sleep

There's no table, but there might be something to hang clothes up with in the wardrobe, of which there is one in each room.

There appears to be nothing suspicious occurring at the moment.

[Devixer]

[Streets Outside Trog's]

Hildur has followed Cole outside the tavern, and is trying to keep up, though her heavy clothing is slowing her down. "Hey! Would you wait a moment?"

[Lord Magtok]

Morningside

"Submission does." Magtok replies, shuffling awkwardly, trying to remember where his hands are supposed to be right now, instead of hanging limply and uncomfortably at his sides.

Can he say Missy without being given a weird stare by her folks, who might or might not be familiar with that nickname? Would Missy want him calling her by that odd full name thingy? Should he say any more than that, or does Missy want to do all of that herself? Does this guy know what he's said about elves before? Is he going to give Maggy all sorts of horrible glarey glares of hate?

"And I umm, I don't really do the whole Lord thing these days, so..."

Oh gods, stay calm. Stay calm, he's just an elfy elf guy, he can't hurt you, he swore non-violence oaths and stuff and you don't even have a reason to want him to like you anyways, right? There's nothing to gain or lose if Missy's estranged elfy father hates your guts, so stop worrying about it! He's an elf-thing, he doesn't matter!

[Shadowcaller]

Silent Sleep

Astrana peers at the door and suddenly gets up and get's a small gargoyle-shaped idol from her bag. Once she locked the door she places the idol in front of it before heading to bed again. "Good night Cynthia..." The tiefling states before turning off the light.

She had actually missed being able to lay on her back like she could back in the fourth tower with the bed especially shaped for her tail. Oh well, it was soft...

And that is the final thought before she drifts off into sleep.

[happyturtle]

Morningside

"I see," Clemency says.

Missy pulls herself partially out of the hug, deciding she should make introductions. "Magtok, these are my parents, Blessed and Clemency Halifax." Fortunately she gestures to go with the names, so he doesn't have to figure out which name goes with which gender. "Mother, father, this is my friend Magtok."

"It's so good to meet you," Blessed says, and Magtok may get the feeling that she is about to hug him as well, and is only prevented by it by the fact that she'd have to let go of Submission. "Come in, come in."

Clemency does not look at all pleased with the invitation, but doesn't try to prevent it. He steps out of the way, to let everyone go in, and then closes the door and follows silently glowering.

The living room is small and clean, with faded and somewhat shabby furniture. Blessed pulls Missy down next to her on the sofa. There's another spot there, on the other side of Missy, two stuffed arm chairs, a wooden rocker. "Please, sit down, Mr Magtok. It's so good to meet you."

Blessed seems so absolutely overjoyed that it's hard to believe she didn't make some effort to contact her daughter in ten years. She was right there, in the same city. It couldn't have been that difficult to locate her, especially since Missy said she'd left a note saying where she went.

Clemency though, looks as if he simply wants her to go away again.

---

1

Streets Outside Trog's

Cole keeps running, as if he didn't hear the voice calling after him, but after he runs a few blocks, he comes to a stop. There's a vacant lot, overgrown with weeds, thistles, and a few saplings, and Cole flings himself down into it, burying his fingers and does into the dirt, and not even noticing that he's cut his arm on some broken glass.

Mori follows and sits down next to him, unsure what her boy is doing, but determined to stay with him.

Hildur can easily catch up with him now if she chooses.

[Devixer]

[Streets Outside Trog's]

Hildur does catch up to Cole. She kneels down next to him, opposite from Mori. Hesitant to touch him or his cut, she just says, "Hey, what's wrong? Do you need any help?"

[Lord Magtok]

Morningside

Hrm. Sitting right next to Missy might imply a measure of closeness that just isn't there, which might confuse the parents. However, those armchairs might be special, reserved specifically for Bless and Clem's rears alone. The rocking chair, is, of course, right out, because rocking chairs are fancy, and thus always reserved for someone who lives there and definitely not at all meant for visitors.

Okay, so Magtok's going to guess that the rocking chair either belongs to Clem, or to a family elder, a grandfather or grandma who either lives here or just visits every now and then. So that means that if some old geezer owns the rocking chair, Magtok has a fifty-fifty chance of accidentally stealing Clem's favorite seat and ruining everything. If the rocking chair is Clem's, then that means the armchairs are basically up for grabs. He hasn't seen or heard of any old geezer, either during the ride here or in the two seconds he's spent inside this house, so there's probably not a grandparent to worry about, but-

Oh Jegus this is absolutely ridiculous, Magtok! Just sit down next to Missy already! It's not that goddamned hard, just sit down and say 'we're just friends' when prompted! It's the only sane choice, the only one which will get your butt in a chair before the next apocalypse comes rolling in. Sit! And try not to think about what is either obvious hypocrisy on the part of Mrs. Halifax, or evidence that Mr. Halifax took that note and burned it before anyone else would ever see it.

[Gullara]

[Silent Sleep]

Cynthia goes to her bed, changes out of her dress and into her shirt, and craws under the covers. The condition of the room seems to matter little to her, she'll be out like a light in a matter of moments.

[Earl of Purple]

Silent Sleep

Both of the rooms have large mirrors; I mentioned them in the description. They both swing open silently; they're well-oiled. In Astrana's room, three humans climb out with the barest whisper and one will take a chalk and start drawing strange runes on the floor, muttering slightly as he does.

In Cynthia's room, a single figure in heavy robes climbs out and produces a bottle from one of its sleeves. The bottle is slowly opened and a drop is allowed to fall out; the figure is trying to drip it onto Cynthia's face- her mouth if possible.

[happyturtle]

Morningside

Clemency doesn't take a seat at all. He crosses his arms and stands in the doorway. *glower glower*

Blessed takes both of Missy's hands in hers and she realizes what's about to happen just in time to ping an electronic warning to Magtok.

Oh hell, she's about to pray... Did I just say 'hell' and 'pray' in the same sentence? I am so not ready for - She cuts off abruptly as Blessed bows her head, and Missy bows hers as well.

"Prophet, we thank you and rejoice for hearing our prayers and returning our lost daughter to us. Please forgive her sins as we forgive her. Thank you for opening her eyes to the road she was on, and letting her see that the path of violence leads only to damnation. Thank you for softening her heart - "

Missy starts to protest, then covers it up with a fake coughing fit. Blessed quickly finishes her prayer. " - thy will be done."
She gives Missy a quick hug. "Poor dear, I'll get you some water. Mr Magtok, can I get you anything to drink?"

---

1

Vacant Lot

"Wh-wh-why does it feel so wrong here?" Cole sobs, tears running down his face and into the packed dirt. "How do people live like this?"

[Devixer]

[Streets Outside Trog's]

"I don't know," Hildur says. After a moment's hesitation, she tries to lightly touch her hand on Cole's back. "Hey, you're bleeding. Do you mind if I try and treat it?"