[Nexus] Home 16 - Home is Where the Phylactery is

[Recaiden]

[Seiner's]
She tries to remember that, but focuses on cuddling her girlfriend.
You wanna do anything, or just keep cuddling and stuff, hon?

"I would like to, but I need to go finish recovering." It's quite sad, to be apart from a Seiner. "Find you after?"

[Beans]

"I would like to, but I need to go finish recovering." It's quite sad, to be apart from a Seiner. "Find you after?"

[Seiner's]
Frowning, she nestles closer. O-Okay, yeah... sure. She kisses her softly. I'll miss you, dear, even if it's not long.

[Murkus]

[Harald's Hideaway]

"Not in mine, and I've been here for almost two centuries. I've managed to hang onto my rules pretty well, given that they still work."

A diamond teleports into his hand and out again after a couple of seconds.

"I couldn't do that without an understanding of how the rules work here."

"Not bad. Well, you might know this place better than I do," Tina says, before draining the last of her wine. The neon girl raises her brows. "I had no idea you'd been in the Nexus so long, though."

[Recaiden]

[Seiner's]
Frowning, she nestles closer. O-Okay, yeah... sure. She kisses her softly. I'll miss you, dear, even if it's not long.

Seiner would be kissed back. "I'll miss you too. But I'll be quick as I can." 99 gets up, smiling back and the Fangire, and reluctantly turns to go, favoring the one hurt leg as she walks.

[Beans]

[Seiner's]
She gets up after her, slipping in to help 99.
Sure you don't want me to walk you home? I'm definitely going with you til at least the sidewalk.

[Recaiden]

"Thank you! Just out of the neighborhood." A normal person would be afraid here, but constant company had become a norm for 99. It doesn't even cross her mind to be bothered.

[Beans]

[Seiner's]
Seiner is quite happy to walk with her girlfriend, opening the front door with her and stepping out, arm around her.
Nice that you live close-ish.

[Recaiden]

[Leaving Seiner's]

99 gives a nod to Seiner's politeness as she steps through the door, then turns around and explains the mistake. She lives quite far away, many miles distant in a metal tower on a farmstead from which you can see no other signs of civilization. But she would appreciate Seiner's walking with her for a few blocks, and was trying to ask for that. "It would be nice to live closeish. I will think on relocating the tower."

[Beans]

[Leaving Seiner's]
She frowns as she hears her own mistake, but brightens at the idea of 99 living more close to her! She walks out with her girlfriend, arm around her.

[Recaiden]

"Aw, it's okay. You'll still see plenty of me." 99 clings close to Seiner as they walk along.

[Beans]

"Aw, it's okay. You'll still see plenty of me." 99 clings close to Seiner as they walk along.

She nods, kissing her cheek. I know, sweets, I know... you're just very missable.

[Recaiden]

Blushing, 99 turns around to give Seiner one last hug. "Glad to know you care enough to miss me. I'll see you soon."

[Beans]

[Seiner's Street]
She hugs right back, kissing her cheek.
Be safe, cutie!

[Recaiden]

[Seiner's Street]

Be...safe? No, that can't be right. What would it matter if she were unsafe? But Seiner wants it done.
99 nods. "I will." Reluctantly, she starts to walk away.

[Beans]

[Seiner's Street]
She waves and will wait til her girlfriend is out of sight entirely before heading home to stoke the fireplace and let herself enjoy the warmth of the day she had with 99 rather than sulking about her absence.

[GrandDM]

[Harald's Hideaway]
"Not bad. Well, you might know this place better than I do," Tina says, before draining the last of her wine. The neon girl raises her brows. "I had no idea you'd been in the Nexus so long, though."

"I've kept to my hidden labs for most of it. Moving into the populated areas has been a recent development."

[Slii Arhem]

Sophie's Apartment

"Just... thinking about what you talked about last time you were here. About how I might change. It's just... weird to think about. I can't really know what to expect. I'm still getting used to this, and... blah. Is this what Kate's life was like?"

"Nope," Copi quips, "She never had forewarning, so she just lived her life and dealt with it when it came up. You have the down side of having time to dread it before it hits you."

Sophie sighs at that, not sure what to make of... this all at all.

Copi lets the pizza cool. She has to do so naturally, but is a master of patience.

Sophie's Apartment

"But she also didn't have time to prepare for the worst, since it always came out of nowhere. Besides, growing up isn't as bad as you'd think, it's like a second puberty and then it's all over with, and you get a new way of looking at things and some more influence over how things go." Leaving aside the parts she told Copi about earlier on the hillside, that make her sometimes doubt whether she's the same person or not.

She'll work up the courage to tell Sophie about all that eventually.

Maybe.

[Lost_Deep]

Sophie's Apartment

"I am grown up. I'm grown up enough to have a job, mature friends, an apartment, all that good stuff. Growing up again would just be redundant at this point."

"She's more mature than I am," Copi quips as she takes some pizza. She immediately goes about enjoying the cheesy goodness. After a moment, Sophie enjoys her.

First taste of pizza, and it's good stuff and stuffed crust. She enjoys it immensely.

[Murkus]

[Harald's Hideaway]

"I've kept to my hidden labs for most of it. Moving into the populated areas has been a recent development."

"What, don't you get out much usually?" Tina asks, smiling mildly at the scientist. She really couldn't have guessed. She couldn't have guessed a lot of things about Harald.

[GrandDM]

[Harald's Hideaway]
"What, don't you get out much usually?" Tina asks, smiling mildly at the scientist. She really couldn't have guessed. She couldn't have guessed a lot of things about Harald.

"No. I established a presence in the main frequented areas not long ago. Before that, I hadn't got out for... about a hundred and fifty years, besides coming here."

He indicates the surrounding hills.

[Murkus]

[Harald's Hideaway]

"That's crazy. I'd go crazy. I really would," Tina says again, Harald still failing not to shock her with his revelations. "Didn't you ever get... I dunno, lonely before?"

[GrandDM]

[Harald's Hideaway]

"That's crazy. I'd go crazy. I really would," Tina says again, Harald still failing not to shock her with his revelations. "Didn't you ever get... I dunno, lonely before?"

"I have Mastermind, and my science. I never really felt the need for anything else, up until recently. Although I have to admit, that may have been more of a product of my psychological trauma than natural introversion. It's only recently I let my emotions have free rein. Before that, I kept them under tight lock and key. It was the only way for me to survive at first, and then it just became habit. It was too hard to remember, to feel."

[Murkus]

[Harald's Hideaway]

"That cannot be healthy. You've got to... I don't know. Let it out every once and a while. Like tonight," Tina leans over and try to kiss Harald on the cheek. "We can change all we want, but we're still people."

[The Frescot House]

Here, around midday, works one Adir Frescot. He's been busy since dawn, doing most of the preliminary stuff to fix up his abandoned home. He sets debris and trash aside, sweeps the stoop, starts repairing loose shutters. There's a whole stack of paint cans set aside for later.

The stag looks good. Happy. He's dressed in faded jeans, boots, and a brown flannel jacket with a rather dirty work-shirt underneath.

[Gullara]

[The Frescot House]

Not much later than this, Sakura comes along. She's got all three kids in tow. The twins are in their double stroller and Laela is in the baby carrier on Sakura's back. She looks around curiously at what Adir has already got done as she approaches the house. Laela in particular seems excited. The babies don't care at all about the change in scenery.

[Slii Arhem]

Sophie's Apartment

"I am grown up. I'm grown up enough to have a job, mature friends, an apartment, all that good stuff. Growing up again would just be redundant at this point."

"She's more mature than I am," Copi quips as she takes some pizza. She immediately goes about enjoying the cheesy goodness. After a moment, Sophie enjoys her.

First taste of pizza, and it's good stuff and stuffed crust. She enjoys it immensely.

Sophie's Apartment

"Well, you grew up as a spider, then you turned into a grig, now you might grow up as a grig into something more than a grig. Or maybe not. Just having me around in the apartment might keep you from evolving like I did, since both Vriveka and I had to be mostly alone apart from other fey for weeks and weeks before it happened." Maybe the presence of a single powerful fey would do for Sophie what hanging around in the Land Between with a bunch of pixies does for most minor fey?

*ding DONG*

Hey look! Someone else at the door!

[GrandDM]

[Harald's Hideaway]

"That cannot be healthy. You've got to... I don't know. Let it out every once and a while. Like tonight," Tina leans over and try to kiss Harald on the cheek. "We can change all we want, but we're still people."

He closes his eyes for a moment as she does so.

"Up to a certain point. Sometimes you find those who have crossed the line, who are animals in human form. And sometimes it's the other way around - something everyone sees as a monster turns out to be more of a person than its hunters."

[Murkus]

[The Frescot House]

Not much later than this, Sakura comes along. She's got all three kids in tow. The twins are in their double stroller and Laela is in the baby carrier on Sakura's back. She looks around curiously at what Adir has already got done as she approaches the house. Laela in particular seems excited. The babies don't care at all about the change in scenery.

It seems he's really been putting in some work. Already the weeds and wall-crawling plants that had been taking over their home have been trimmed back. The windows are shiny, the shutters hung up proper again.

Adir walks round from one side of the hill to see his family, and immediately pads down the grassy slope to meet them. "Sakura! Gods, they look like a handful!" He hurries up beside the dryad to grin at Laela, provided the little girl can face him. "Hey Laela!"

[Harald's Hideaway]

He closes his eyes for a moment as she does so.

"Up to a certain point. Sometimes you find those who have crossed the line, who are animals in human form. And sometimes it's the other way around - something everyone sees as a monster turns out to be more of a person than its hunters."

"Oh, but we're talking about you, Harald. All these augments and all this power don't make you immune to emotions. Like lust, for instance," Tina slides up against Harald, wrapping her arms around his body. "I mean sure, you could probably suppress those things too... but why would you want to?"

[Gullara]

[The Frescot House]

"Any more of them and I won't be able to carry them all at once." Sakura says with a small laugh. Just these three are tricky enough for the dryad alone.

"Hi Daddy." Laela greets. The little girl is sitting facing Sakrua, only not being smothered by her mom's hair back Sakura has it all bound together in a big bunch and shunted tot he side. "Mommy says we have a picnic." She says with a grin.

[Murkus]

[The Frescot House]

Adir can't help but use his baby voice with Laela. "That's right, sweetie! I've got all kinds of good stuff. And a little surprise for you," He reaches out to brush the tot's hair with his fingers. He glances toward the boys, then Sakura. "Um, here, lemme push em for you. Top of the hill is where I put our things."

[Lost_Deep]

Sophie's Apartment

"You know, I hope so, becau-"

Then the doorbell rings. Copi immediately jumps up and saunters over to the door, casually using her psychic sense to count the number of minds waiting there. She will open the door with a smile, of course, but she's not going to get caught off-guard if it's three people instead of just one.