Home 18 - Where Everybody Knows Your Name

[Ionbound]

[Certain's Home]

The demon chuckles. Now, don't sound so bothered. We all want the same thing here Certain. Power. I have given you nothing but that haven't I? And I won't stop now. See, you're the very first of our kind here, well besides me of course. This opens a great opportunity as my lord sees it, for both you and him. As we understand it there are a great deal of demons on this plane causing random acts of destruction. My master believes that this is terribly inefficient as many of us share an common cause, together we would be an formidable force to recon with. But I'm getting a bit ahead of myself. While that's the end goal we first need some... publicity. So Certain I want you to ask you to become the leader of our little cell here in the nexus by recruiting promising recruits into our cause.

Certain grins and says, "Well...That is certainly doable. What do you have in mind, exactly? Who should I go find?"

[Murkus]

((I never screw up location tags. Never!))

[The Frescot Home]

By the time Sakura answers, a bit of sweat's begun to form on Jon's forehead, just below the little turned-aside flourish he's combed his hair into the shape of. Judging from the smile he gives her, his patience was far from wearing thin. As for Cern's wailing, Adir's mentor is well acclimated to extended treatments of loud noise. Whether it was the kids or the bombshells or the engine of his bird. This was nothing. He'd have to teach Sakura a thing or two, by how forced that smile looked.

"Hello, Sakura," Jon says, very placidly, just loud enough to be heard over Cernunnos. He smiles without showing any teeth, a habit stemming from having to avoid showing your pearlies around certain types of alien. They could take offense.

"Is this a bad time?" Jon asks in a kindly old grandad's tone of voice. He's pretty far from being a grandad, or at least if he is, he can't have been one for very long.

In relation to her state of dress, Jon's eyes are about as far from Sakura's legs as they can get. He was pretty good about that sort of thing by now. Or so he'd like to think. Beyond Jon, down where the path to their house turns into a broader dirt road, Sakura might note a big yellow vehicle hovering above the grass, and two other people idling by it.

[The Frescot House]

Adir turns his head sideways at the sound of the door opening, ears perked up all alert-like. "It's dangerous out here," Adir says, no joke. You can tell the humidity's getting to his brain when he doesn't follow up with a stupid quip involving Sakura and the word 'hot'. Heck, under normal circumstances his wife would look awful hot, all that swaying and quivering she's doing as she closes the gap. But right now... right now she just looks an awful lot like another twenty minutes (at minimum) of sweaty, gasping work. And that was if the woman only had enough in her for one round!

The stag's not used to feeling this way, as if that wasn't readily apparent. It's been bugging him a little lately. And... really. They didn't do a whole lot of things together besides eat, sleep, garden, parent, and...

Adir was tired. There, he'd just... tell her that much. Tired, and hot, and pretty well miserable, and for once in his life the deed wasn't gonna cheer him up.

Wow. That still sounds stupid, even in his head, and he's been mulling it over a few days. Imagine how it'll sound trying to explain?

"I dunno, hon, I think I slacked off on this one long enough," The stag says with a grin. Aw, now she's right up against him n' everything. At least his usually disagreeable body isn't fighting him on this one. It says no, woman. The doctor is out. Please try again later.

[Gullara]

[The Frescot Home]

"That depends on if you like being able to hear yourself think. Me? I'm used to going without." A joke! Well she isn't completely defeated at least. Just worn around the edges. "He started fussing the second Adir left today, and he hasn't stopped since. I was just going to try feeding him again. Come right in if you don't mind." She might notice the truck out of the corner of her eye, but the other people are missed. She's a bit too distracted to notice them.

[The Frescot House]

"Oh no, you work way too hard. You deserve a break." The dryad gives that butt she likes so much a squeeze and starts to kiss his neck. Already so full of need. Her own desires distract her from the signals Adir is sending her. "Why don't you take off your shirt~"

[Shadowcaller]

Certain grins and says, "Well...That is certainly doable. What do you have in mind, exactly? Who should I go find?"

[Certain's Home]

My master wants to give us some publicity so famous persons would be good targets. Keep in mind however that they're not likely easy prey. You could always simply try to mass covert people in some town before retreating back when they attempt to stop you. A good idea would be to get an ally first however, try to operate in small cells that are separate from one another. Remember, the big organizations have set up bases and therein lie their weakness. A base can be attacked, bombed and destroyed, but what can enemy do against a base that do not exist? Against members that don't even know they're in an organization, against an enemy they can't find. The demons replies.

[Ionbound]

[Certain's Home]

My master wants to give us some publicity so famous persons would be good targets. Keep in mind however that they're not likely easy prey. You could always simply try to mass covert people in some town before retreating back when they attempt to stop you. A good idea would be to get an ally first however, try to operate in small cells that are separate from one another. Remember, the big organizations have set up bases and therein lie their weakness. A base can be attacked, bombed and destroyed, but what can enemy do against a base that do not exist? Against members that don't even know they're in an organization, against an enemy they can't find. The demons replies.

Certain nods, and her hair wriggles as she thinks before saying, "Ah...I have an idea. A theater is just about to open. Perhaps I should make sure the owner's working for us. And a steady stream of actors trickling through to recruit as well...Perfect." With that, she snaps her fingers and pops off to Inside.

[UncleWolf]

Pepper Oni's

Veronica gets a proud smile and reaches out with a wing, snapping her fingers awkwardly to summon the Oni waiter. "You remember that promise I made your daughter? I think it's time." She says with a grin. Jace and Zebes will hear a mental chuckle as the Oni vanishes in a puff of smoke to be replaced by a 3ft tall blue-skinned little girl with black horns and a completely blank white mask that doesn't even have any features. Her hair is black and braided down to the ground and she wears a cute pink and black dress with lots of ribbons. Heather's eyes go wide at the dress in awe, but the Oni shifts up onto Veronica's lap in another puff of smoke and appears to be whispering in her ear excitedly. The older Harpy nods and makes little noises of acknowledgement before smiling. "Yes. Any song you want." She says after a bit before nodding again with a grin. "I like that one too. My siblings will have to help out, but if you can handle the scenery and attire, we'll go with it. Just be sure to give Heather a dress like your's." The little Oni girl claps excitedly and vanishes in another puff of smoke, this time with the Harpy family in tow.

The lights go out and deep thump noises can be heard as spotlights turn on, showing Veronica on a stage in the middle of the air. She's dressed in what she was before except her gym shorts have turned into pants and she has a bright blue fedora on her head. Her siblings, all dressed in their previous clothes with matching hats (except for Heather, now wearing a cute red dress like the little girl's), drift behind her as music begins to play and they match the backup vocals. Veronica's foot taps a couple times and a smile grows on her face before she opens her eyes. "I had a dream so big and loud..." She starts before leaping, her feet landing on a small cloud before she gives a small spin. Her wings spread out as she sings and she kicks her feet up a bit as she dances. Stars and a moon drift behind her as she puts her hands up, clearly enjoying herself as she dances with the Oni girl for a moment.

After a bit she appears to nod off, eyes rolled back and tongue lolling out to the side of her mouth before she jumps back into life. As she sings on, she keeps skipping around on the stage that never seems to have an end, to the point where she even goes behind Jace and crosses her arms to set on his head while she rocks her own back and forth during "li-i-i-i-fe...".

When the moon reappears above her, her siblings appear beside her as well, howling at the moon until a miniature sun tumbles through them all like a bowling ball, spinning Veronica around like a cartwheel before landing on her back beneath it and a miniature cloud that forms a question mark. Not once does she break rhythm or song, so it's quite obvious she's being kept safe magically, but she at least appears to be having quite a bit of fun.

A moment later she's lifted back to her feet and she skips off, shaking her head and waving a wing dismissively towards Jace, never wanting to look back(No-o-o), but eventually she trips and lands in a messy bed, appearing to nod off for just a moment before leaping back up when her siblings appear next to her with their backups. When she leaps back up she's in messy pajamas and sings as she rips them off, revealing her normal clothing beneath. She lifts up a window and climbs through the pane, launching herself off of it to soar around in the middle of the sun, moon, and stars that glow softly all through the restaurant. Finally when she's done the lights all go out and when they return she's back in her seat, grinning at Jace and Zebes with her chin resting on her wings. The rest of the restaurant seems quiet, unsure of what's really happened, but Veronica's siblings are all grinning and Heather can't seem to stop her case of the giggles.

[Deathkeeper]

Pepper Oni's

Jace and Zebes happily take in the scene. They are a very good audience, they'd have you know, beaming and clapping where is appropriate (the latter is appropriate at the end, of course. You shouldn't clap during a song, no matter how many times people do it ). They're clearly enjoying themselves.
But all good things must come to an end, and suddenly Veronica is back at the table. Jace and Zebes look at her for a long moment.
"We have two things to say. One, are you sure you said you're lousy at showbiz? "
"And two, are you going to make us follow that up?" they say with raised eyebrows.

[Murkus]

[The Frescot Home]

"That depends on if you like being able to hear yourself think. Me? I'm used to going without." A joke! Well she isn't completely defeated at least. Just worn around the edges. "He started fussing the second Adir left today, and he hasn't stopped since. I was just going to try feeding him again. Come right in if you don't mind." She might notice the truck out of the corner of her eye, but the other people are missed. She's a bit too distracted to notice them.

"Much obliged," says Jon, stepping past the lady of the house and giving fitful baby a little smile. "And I'm guessing from what your husband said over the phone, this little fella is Cernunnos."

[The Frescot House]

"Oh no, you work way too hard. You deserve a break." The dryad gives that butt she likes so much a squeeze and starts to kiss his neck. Already so full of need. Her own desires distract her from the signals Adir is sending her. "Why don't you take off your shirt~"

"Not hard eno-oh!-ough," Adir gives a little start when she grabs his bum mid-sentence. The stag doesn't quite assent to the next little suggestion that drifts up from under his chin. "I'm... feeling a little self-conscious today. Hon." The stag says, pulling his head back and grinning stupidly down at her. His hands are on Sakura's shoulders, and in a rather chaste fashion too. No rubbing or clutching or any of the usual nonsense.

[Gullara]

[The Frescot Home]

"That's right. It's too bad you couldn't meet when he's a little happier." Sakura leads the way into the living room and sits down in a rocking chair. "Do you want some water or anything? I'd get some for you, but well... You can just grab a glass out of the cupboard under the sink."

[The Frescot House]

Sakura looks up at him and frowns. "Is something wrong, Adir?" Most other days she'd already be on her back with most of her clothes off. What's gotten into him today? Something has to be wrong.

[UncleWolf]

Pepper Oni's

"I'm good at the show half. I'm terrible with the business side of it." Veronica admits with a sigh. "Tried to get into it, but apparently my self-imposed restrictions on what I would and would not do kept me from breaking through. I'm sure as hell not going to do any topless or fanservice scenes when I have siblings this young." She points out with a frown before shrugging. "If you want to follow up, go ahead. I just wanted to do something fun." She says with a smile.

[Deathkeeper]

Pepper Oni's

Jace furrows an eyebrow."Now that's just not fair. There's plenty of famous actors and such that do nothing but classy shows and musicals. Maybe something will change." he says with a shrug, his smile returning.
"And I think Zebes and I have something cooked up. I think we'll wait for when we've got a more formal stage though. Not too experienced with this place's one as you are." he says with a bit of a chuckle.

[Murkus]

[The Frescot Home]

"That's right. It's too bad you couldn't meet when he's a little happier." Sakura leads the way into the living room and sits down in a rocking chair. "Do you want some water or anything? I'd get some for you, but well... You can just grab a glass out of the cupboard under the sink."

[The Frescot House]

Sakura looks up at him and frowns. "Is something wrong, Adir?" Most other days she'd already be on her back with most of her clothes off. What's gotten into him today? Something has to be wrong.

[The Frescot Home]

"Oooh, I had a boy just like him. I'm used to it," Jon says, waving it off with a gesture that says not to worry about how upset little Cern's become. "And another one on the way. I think I'd better be asking you that instead, Missus Frescot. Can I get you anything?" The big, weathered soldier will remain standing until told otherwise. Ever a creature of habit and courtesy. Besides, he doesn't really need to go getting himself comfortable.

[The Frescot House]

Adir's grin collapses under it's own weight. Shoddily constructed. Well, at least she stopped groping him long enough for them to talk. "I dunno, babe, I just..." Adir frowns too, at last. "I haven't really been feeling it, the last few days."

[Gullara]

[The Frescot Home]

Sakura smiles and shakes her head. "No no, I'm fine right now. Unless you can give me a nap, but I'll be doing that later." Hopefully. She can never really be sure. "Do you mind if I try to feed him again?" She better ask before she just whips out her boob right in front of him.

[The Frescot House]

Sakura takes a step back, her uncertainty clear on her face. "The last few days?" It'd be fine if he just really wasn't in the mood right now, but that long? "Why? What's wrong? Did I do something wrong?"

[Murkus]

[The Frescot Home]

"Not at all," Jon assures her, giving a little shake of his head. Jon makes a point of looking elsewhere, at least till Cern's all latched on. He doesn't make a habit of eyeing his friend's wives, and he certainly won't start when the woman feeds her baby. Missus Frescot seems to him like someone who might get uncomfortable if he goes straight to business, so the shrewd mercenary keeps up the small talk. At least for a minute or two more. Maybe he can lead into the matter he's really come to discuss.

"Have you two come up with a name yet?"

[The Frescot House]

"No! No no no. No," Adir says, holding his ground for now. He wags his hands in a placating gesture. "You're fine. You're perfect. I'm just tired, sweetie. I feel like I'm running on empty, here. I don't know where you get all this... stuff." Well, that's not quite the whole truth. No need to break it all to her in one go. Give her a shot at processing.

[Gullara]

[The Frescot Home]

Finally the crying stops as Cern latches on and starts to drink greedily. "Now you want to eat." Why couldn't that have worked the first time she tried? Despite her complaint, the dryad's relief is visible. She gives Jon a smile. "We have a few ideas, but nothing for sure yet. Of course, we don't know if we're having a boy or girl yet. We're calling them Pumpkin until we come up with an actual name. I like having something to call the baby before they're born."

[The Frescot House]

"Okay... Okay, you're tired. I get it, but how long are you gonna be tired? Maybe you'll feel better when we have a bit less yard work to do?" Sakura suggests. Here she thought that the pixies being around would have things better, but now Adir is tired enough that he doesn't want sex? It doesn't make sense to her.

[UncleWolf]

Pepper Oni's

Jace furrows an eyebrow."Now that's just not fair. There's plenty of famous actors and such that do nothing but classy shows and musicals. Maybe something will change." he says with a shrug, his smile returning.
"And I think Zebes and I have something cooked up. I think we'll wait for when we've got a more formal stage though. Not too experienced with this place's one as you are." he says with a bit of a chuckle.

Pepper Oni's

"Perhaps, but breaking into the market is a lot harder and mostly full of roles no one in their right mind would want. Such as Bikini-Clad Flying Monkey." She says with a visible shudder. "A friend of mine got that role. Saw the movie too. Terrible. Jersey Shore Monkey Attack. Couldn't even finish it." She admits before taking a sip of her water.

"What do you have in mind?" She asks with a curious eyebrow. "And you can always ask for a stage of your own making here. I'm sure they won't mind."

[Deathkeeper]

Pepper Oni's

Jace shakes his head with a smile. "No no, that's a secret that we'll keep until we find a good time for it. You can't show your whole hand so early, as they say.
I'm sorry to hear that though. I'm afraid I haven't got any experience at all in the business. And my friends don't really either. The closest I know is that one of my tenants is an amateur DJ."

[UncleWolf]

Pepper Oni's

Veronica tilts her head in thought for a moment before she bursts into roaring laughter. To keep Jace from getting the wrong idea she waves a wing dismissively. "Sorry, I just imagined myself as a punk rock singer with my feathers all dyed to heaven and back and tattoos across my stomach." She admits, looking down at her bared midriff. "Though maybe I could pull it off? I dunno. What do you think? Oh! Maybe if you make the tattoo it'll glow and shift around. That actually sounds pretty neat."

[Deathkeeper]

Pepper Oni's

Jace smiles at the image. Zebes chuckles. "I don't know if you seem like the punk rock kind of girl to me. And I'm pretty lousy at body-magic. I wouldn't risk something like that if I wasn't confidant in it." he says, shaking his head a little.

[UncleWolf]

Pepper Oni's

Veronica smiles a bit before a slip of paper appears in her hand, the bill for lunch. She frowns when she looks at it before shrugging and sticking it into her pocket. "A song and dance routine can apparently get you a free lunch as long as it's good enough to make the other patrons tip well." She explains before reaching out to give her siblings a tight hug. "You three head on home. I'll be there shortly with a surprise but I need to talk to Jace alone for a minute."

"Is this about the egg thi-" Samuel starts, only to be cut off by a glare. "Right. See you."

With that, the three squirm out of their seats to fly off, Heather happily humming and leading the way in her new dress.

[Deathkeeper]

Pepper Oni's

Jace turns to watch them go.
"Is it safe for the kids to go home alone? I can send Zebes with them if you'd prefer it." he says, before turning back to her with a raised eyebrow and an inquisitive look.
"Wait, 'egg thing?' What?" either this is going to be awkward, or Sam's brain goes to weird places.

[UncleWolf]

Pepper Oni's

"I doubt even the Irregular Air Force could catch the three, but I would appreciate it if Zebes just made sure they were okay." She admits before letting out a heavy sigh. "Right. Egg thing. Um. Hrm." The Harpy lets out another deep breath and runs her fingers through her hair and feathers. "You're a professional so I guess I don't mind speaking about it. A couple times a year female harpies lay eggs, fertilized or not. It's...well, quite frankly, painful." She admits with a wince. "It helps to have a friend help with the process, and well...I honestly don't have many. Could you...well. Yeah." She not quite asks, looking down at the table.

[Deathkeeper]

Pepper Oni's

Jace nods and tilts his head a bit, and Zebes takes off after the kids.
As Veronica explains her situation, Jace can't help but blush just a tiny bit.
"You...want me to act as your nurse? I suppose if it's just to make you feel better I could do that, but if it's really a problem wouldn't it be better for someone actually experienced in such things to help? I mean, that's what clinics and such are for, right? I haven't had any experience in things like that outside of using bandages."
Jace resists asking the question in his mind of "what do you DO with them?" and sticks to just asking if he's qualified to be handling this. Because he doubts he's any more qualified that any of her siblings. Maybe less, since they probably at least would know what's going on after years with her.

[UncleWolf]

Pepper Oni's

Veronica shakes her head. "I don't need help with that part." She clarifies before standing, putting her fingers around her belly button. "What I need someone to do is massage my stomach. It takes hours off the process and my number of fingers is terribly limited. Besides, I'll be grabbing something to keep from screaming in pain while you do it." The harpy explains. "I'll just wear a skirt while you do it. Nothing indecent, I promise."

[Deathkeeper]

Pepper Oni's

Jace seems a bit hesitant, as the image in his head is not the prettiest one, but lucky for our young harpy here Jace has Naturally Heroic Tendencies, and so he cannot turn his back on a friend in need!

Meanwhile, in the air above Inside

"Bwahaahahahahahahahe'stotallygonnadoit this is going to be GOLD!"
Shut up Zebes!

Back in the Restaurant

"All right Veronica, I'll do this for you. Erm, when exactly does this happen?" he says, seemingly conquering his hesitation.
"I'm sure Zebes would love to watch your siblings while you're out of commission for a few hours."
Shut up, Boss!

[Murkus]

[The Frescot Home]

Finally the crying stops as Cern latches on and starts to drink greedily. "Now you want to eat." Why couldn't that have worked the first time she tried? Despite her complaint, the dryad's relief is visible. She gives Jon a smile. "We have a few ideas, but nothing for sure yet. Of course, we don't know if we're having a boy or girl yet. We're calling them Pumpkin until we come up with an actual name. I like having something to call the baby before they're born."

Despite Jon's patience, it does feel nice for the house to be at peace again. Nothing's right while the baby's unhappy. He stuffs his hands in his pockets again and shakes his head, a big ol' grin on his face. The old trooper gives a rich laugh. "You two have got to be the cutest couple I've ever seen. You're just the perfect fit for that boy, Sakura. Though the thought of him having kids - 'specially callin' one Pumpkin - sure as hell never occurred to me," Jon wags his eyebrows at that, turning on his heel and stepping toward the living room window as he does so. There's a little pause, and he asks, "How do you find time for such a nice garden?"

[The Frescot House]

"Okay... Okay, you're tired. I get it, but how long are you gonna be tired? Maybe you'll feel better when we have a bit less yard work to do?" Sakura suggests. Here she thought that the pixies being around would have things better, but now Adir is tired enough that he doesn't want sex? It doesn't make sense to her.

"Um," Adir's eyebrows take separate elevators - one arched up, the other hooded down. A questioning face if ever there was. "...Sakura, don't you ever, like, get tired too?" He gives her a look, face glistening as a bit of sweat still lingers on his face. He scratches behind one of his ears, and it twitches. "Y'know what I mean?"

[Gullara]

[The Frescot Home]

Sakura grins happily at Jon's words. "I don't sometimes." The dryad laughs. "I'm not all alone taking care of the kids all the time, and when I need a break one of my favourite things to do is go out to the garden and do a few things. It's relaxing. And Adir helps too when I need it, and sometimes when I don't."

[The Frescot House]

"Well yeah. I mean, if I'm up all night with one of the babies I'm sure not going to feel like doing anything until I get some rest." Sakura gets being tired! She's been tired lots. "But, you know, never for so long at once. If I get a good sleep or have a nap or I can just sit peacefully for a while I'm not gonna be out of commission for days at a time."

[Terumitsu]

[Summit Springs - Mimi's Abode]

Swaying back and forth slightly to the beat of music playing in her mind, her tail swishing through the air in large arcs, Riss silently thanked the fact that her pixie was a deep sleeper. She suspected Mimi would say otherwise but the muse had spent long enough with her to know otherwise by now. Certainly it made cooking up surprises in the most literal of ways easier given that the tree-house was the only place that had a pixie-sized kitchen but more often than not it also made it hard to hide when she was trying to mix something up in secret given her pixie's keen nose... Of course, this at least was a nice compromise as she wouldn't exactly be hiding breakfast for any longer than the time it took Mimi to wake up. Maybe I should do this more often and mask the scent of sweets by making them concurrently..

Covering various pans and turning the heat down so as to keep the food warm, the muse quietly crept from room to room until she was just outside the room where her lover slept. A smile tugged at her lips as she slipped inside, skirting the edges of the bed and kneeling at it's side. For just a moment, she closed her eyes and focused on the gentle sound of her Whisp's slow breathing, letting out a quiet sigh herself. Reaching out to gently try and wake her, Riss halted as her smile slowly became decidedly less innocent. Quickly fiddling with a few buttons, she was soon in what happened to be her fey's preferred state of dress as she stealthily slid under the covers. Rather than just lightly waking her pixie, the muse thought that she had in mind a way that would be a bit more.. Fun. It wouldn't be too much of a bother to the muse if Mimi wasn't amicable but held the curtain at the ready just to be prepared. Of course, it wouldn't do to leave breakfast on the warmer for too long, at any rate..

[Gullara]

[Summit Springs - Mimi's Abode]

Mimi groans as she wakes with a mild look of confusion on her face. "Oooh~" The pixie doesn't take long to register what's so nice about this wake up. "Good morning, you." She rolls over on top of Riss, smothering her in kisses and reaching for the curtain.

[Terumitsu]

[Summit Springs - Mimi's Abode]

It was a bit later when Riss was stealing one last kiss as she held Mimi's head in her hands; her tail having wound itself around the pixie and gently squeezing her in it's embrace. "Good morning." she said, wearing a playful smile that spoke of just how proud of herself she was. "I hope you slept well but you must be famished now." she said in an almost sing-song voice. "I suppose that means the question now is if you'd prefer to get up or if you'd like breakfast in bed." Either way, the muse would need to get up to serve the meal.

Whether it turned out to be back to the bedroom or to a table, the meal itself was definitely made with Mimi's preferences in mind. Which is to say, omelets made with peppers and steak with sausage on the side; the remainder of the plate being filled in with seasoned potato wedges with a bowl holding pomegranate clusters off to the side in yet another of the muse's attempts to give the pixie at least a bit more balance in her diet. Of course, the peach smoothie was probably going to have more success assuming that Mimi wouldn't just ignore them both and simply have water instead.