Los Angeles: The Door Is Locked

[Dhavaer]

"There's a new dancer I met last night, I think she's a half-dragon or something like that. She had a pair of horns, so I asked her what she did to keep them shiny, and apparently kiwi juice works well." She looks up at the fruit. "So I'm seeing if it'll work for me."

[Toxic Avenger]

Tony cuts each half of the kiwi fruit once again, and peels the resulting quarters. "Ah, so I take it that you're not planning on eating that one?" he asks, as he nods toward the kiwi fruit impaled on Tala's horns. He looks at both Tala and Rocío, as he gestures toward his plate. "Do you all want some?" He takes one of the peeled quarters of kiwi fruit, and pops it into his mouth. "Mmm..."

[Dhavaer]

Rocío grimaces. "No, you can keep them. I'll go watch for this bear story." She heads back into the living room.
"Sure" Tala takes a piece and bites some off.

[Toxic Avenger]

Not a kiwi fan, Rocío? Oh well, more for us then." Tony says with a smirk. Now that it's just himself and Tala in the kitchen, he moves in a little closer to her. "So...a half-dragon dancer, you say? Have you ever seen one before? A half-dragon, that is." Tony starts eating one of the orange slices.

[Dhavaer]

"Only pictures, I think. I'm surprised they don't break the Veil every time they go outside, she's not really all that human looking. Even less than Brad."

[Toxic Avenger]

"Mm hmm, that sounds about right. It seems that most of New Greyhawk's SWAT team members are half-dragon, I saw a few of them the last time I met up with Lisa. They're quite a colorful bunch - literally." Tony starts on another slice of orange.

[Dhavaer]

"I suppose they'd be okay there. If a mundy doesn't see through the Veil in New Greyhawk, they'll never do it at all."

[Toxic Avenger]

"Ain't that the truth." Tony looks toward the bathroom, and listens for a moment, to make sure that the shower is still running. "Heh. Speaking of Brad, and 'mundies seeing through the Veil'...when Animal Control showed up to tranq the bears, one of them tried to tranq him as well. He sure doesn't get the respect that he deserves, sometimes."

[Dhavaer]

"What? Poor Brad. It's not as if he even looks like a bear."

[Toxic Avenger]

"Yeah, but he is big, and he is a bit hairy. That, and when they first showed up, they couldn't see the fourth bear; I'm guessing that the lady saw something big and hairy, and then jumped to conclusions. The funny thing is, the tranq darts dropped all of the bears, but all it did to Brad was piss him off royally." Tony grins, and then he grabs another orange wedge.

[Dhavaer]

Tala considers this for a moment.
"I'm very glad Brad's on our side."

[Toxic Avenger]

"Mm hmm... You and me both, chérie." Tony says, as he picks up another piece of kiwi fruit. With a grin, he adds, "But why wouldn't he be on our side? We're so likeable..." He moves in a bit closer to Tala, and with a seductive smile, he brings the kiwi fruit up to her mouth.

[Dhavaer]

Tala moves forward, pressing her lips against the fruit and extending her tongue to scoop it into her mouth.
"Mmm..." She chews and swallows. "We are nice, yes. If nosy, and dangerous be around."

[Toxic Avenger]

Tony grins, and his golden eyes widen in delight as Tala's tongue scoops up the kiwi fruit. He keeps his eyes locked on hers, while his hand searches for a piece of orange. "Mm hmm... Yeah, we're nosy alright. It's not always a bad thing, though..." His hand finds what it's looking for, and Tony takes the peel off the orange wedge as he continues. "And dangerous to be around... Well, for me, that danger usually adds to the fun..." He leans even closer to Tala. "And along those lines, I'd like to say that this last year has been very fun." He smiles lovingly, as he brings the piece of orange to her mouth.

[Dhavaer]

Tala smiles and extends her tongue a little further this time, almost looping it around the fruit before drawing it in.
"Mmm... if it's danger you like, then you should have a look at today's Seer." She says, referring to the magazine distributed by the Displaced.

[Toxic Avenger]

Apparently, Tony is rather turned on by hand feeding fruit to Tala, as his smile has widened, and his eyes have lit up even more than before. "Hmm, I think I'll do that. It'll have to wait a while, though, I'm having too much fun here." He takes the last piece of kiwi fruit and holds it up in front of Tala's mouth.

[Dhavaer]

Tala presses her mouth against the fruit and allows her lips to glide over it, before leaning back again and starting to chew.

[Toxic Avenger]

While he reaches for more fruit, Tony takes a quick glance at the plate. Hmm… Only two left. He locks his eyes on Tala’s once more while he takes the peel off of the last two pieces of orange, and then he leans in even closer. "Hmm... We should do this more often." Still smiling seductively, and with his face now only inches from hers, Tony brings yet another piece of fruit to Tala's mouth.

[Dhavaer]

Tala engulfs the fruit, sucking briefly on Tony's fingertips before pulling away to chew.

[Toxic Avenger]

Hmm...last one... Still keeping his eyes fixed on Tala's, Tony slowly brings the last piece of orange to his own mouth, and holds it between his front teeth. With half of the fruit jutting out from his mouth, Tony leans in toward Tala until his forehead touches her horns, placing the fruit within reach of her tongue.

Spoiler

Show

Readied action : When Tala's tongue comes out to grab the fruit, Tony 'attacks' her tongue with his own.

[Dhavaer]

As Tony and Tala tongue-grapple, Rocío enters the kitchen. She makes a face when she sees them and pours her apple juice quickly before leaving them to it.

[Toxic Avenger]

After hearing Rocío pass through the kitchen, Tony takes a very short break for a breath of air, and he whispers in Tala's ear. "Hmm...Shall we take this to the next room?" Then he starts leading her toward their room, while continuing with the tongue-grappling.

[Dhavaer]

When Tony and Tala come back downstairs, Rocío turns to them.
"Taped the news. Wanna see yourself on TV, Tony?"
Brad and Rocío are already on the couch, watching the story start. Lily is on the screen, providing a brief run down of the accident and the bear escape. The shot cuts to Tony and Brad. The interview has been only slightly editted, and Brad is surprisingly photogenic. Next, a police officer gives a brief statement, confirming that the truck driver was the only one hurt and the bears have been safely transported to Los Angeles Zoo. The story finishes with Lily again, saying that Hermes Transport had no record of the bears. The truck was supposed to be delivering research supplies to the De Hertogh Institute.
"That was... pretty cool." Brad comments, as the tape keeps playing, showing a plain woman in a white coat snipping a ribbon over a door; the tagline reads 'Des Moines bioplastics plant opening'.

[Toxic Avenger]

Tony comes back downstairs with Tala, his face showing a smile of utter satisfaction. Replying to Rocío, he says, "Sure. I always like seeing myself on camera." He heads over to the couch and sits down. Noticing that there is no way to make enough room on the couch for Tala, he smiles, and offers her his lap. After getting comfortable, Tony watches the video with interest.

After Brad comments on the story, Tony says, "Mmhmm. That was very cool indeed. Is that your first time on TV, Brad?"

[Dhavaer]

"I was in the back ground of a health and safety video once, but I don't think that counts."

[Toxic Avenger]

"Um, yeah, I guess not. But hey, now most of the city's going to see you, so..." Tony grins. "Are you ready to be famous, Brad?"

[Dhavaer]

"Oh no. Oh hell no." Brad covers his face with his hands, and Tala pats him on the back.

[Toxic Avenger]

"Heh. Scary thought, eh, Brad? Ah, you'll be alright. Who knows, maybe you'll come to like the attention." Tony gives Brad a pat on the back as well, and then he reaches for the latest issue of Seer.

[Dhavaer]

Tala tells him the page number of the article she mentioned before. It's titled 'Dead Running', and it's about groups of Shadows who have been competing with each other in races through New Greyhawk's Dead Zone. The Dead Zone is completely infested with monsters and creatures mutated by Shadow, but apparently the 'dead runners' have found occasional treasure troves in the ruined buildings. A typical run will cross through the Dead Zone at a certain angle, with scoring being based on either speed, monsters defeated or loot found.
The article also includes a few interviews with runners and critics. Most of the critisim deals with the inherent danger of the sport; vehicles don't function far into the Zone, so a quick escape is close to impossible.

[Toxic Avenger]

After finishing with the article, Tony grins at Tala and says, "Hmm. That sounds like it could be fun...dangerous fun. What do you all think?" Tony holds the magazine open, and shows it to Brad and Rocío.