Riverside 19

[Zefir]

[DMSide]

Tall doors! Alice likes this place better already.
"Interesting. I know one such person - who helped make my machine parts. I figured this of all places would have full robots." Perhaps they would find DMside too reverent, patronizing.

[DMSide]

Well, the robots must fit, too. They are all inside. And at a time MDM had to follow Mia where she goes.
"I'm not really sure why this is so." Mia admits. "Maybe it's becuase in my world all Robots are linked to Deus Mechanicus and so they would worship themself. I also haven't met any Android in the Nexus that belives in anything else then their Programm."

[DMside - Wenomir]

Wenomir nods.

"I never thought I'd say something like that, but... I need a god's help. You see, the Faction came to negotiate with us recently. They're Magtok's rogue clones. When we refused to ally with them, they destroyed their vehicle, killing one of their own. He willingly went to his death to ruin our reputation. I asked Kalya to call his ghost. He's willing to admit that we didn't do it, if I secure him a better afterlife. Would your god be willing to take him in?"

[DMside - Wenomir]

"Hmm." Mia replies. "The Faction? I heared that they made trouble here in Southside, too. I think they got in an Argument with those Empire invaders." ((I'm not sure they ever got a name.))
"I think that this is possible. I will need to aks him. but befor i do, what would he get from it?" Mia asks. "He's a neutral god and sure wants a payment. The kind of payment got a very wide range, as long as it serves him or his followers."

[Morty]

[DMside - Wenomir]

"I can offer Vigil's aid, and my own, in anything he might need it for," Wenomir says. "Does he have anything he might require mortal help with?"

[Recaiden]

[Demon Tour]

A ripple runs through the warhammer and for an instant Ilpholin's vision is flooded white. Steam can be seen rising out of Ilpholin's whole body. There is no scream and no pause in her movements. She can't afford to pause. Darcy could use the pain as fuel for her fight. Darcy was always stronger than her. Ilpholin would have to ignore it. Compartmentalize the agony and return to it later. A demon stood in front of her. A demon stole her brother. A demon stole Darcy. It wasn't her fault Darcy was dead. It was the demon's. Kill the demon.

The problem was that the demon was a spellcaster. Hiding behind a shield lets the spellcaster cast spells. That was no longer an option. She would have to keep it so off balance it couldn't cast spells.

Ilpholin skips forward, both arms changing into double bladed axes. Her hope is that the demon will be paying too much attention to her weapon arms to notice the sweeping trip she attempts with her feet. A winged person might not be the best thing to trip, but that only really matters when they're hovering or in flight. The immediate follow-up vertical swing from both her axes, the left traveling slower than the right, has a greater chance of hurting more. The demon's arms are priority targets and the primary aim. Hands are bonus points.

Her weapons no longer excrete any amount of silver poison. That is a luxury Ilpholin can't afford right now. Staying together is more important.

The problem is that when you trip a winged person (like Ilpholin just did here - the Nademon was expecting it to take longer for her to reform her weapons after that and was properly distracted) and they no longer have legs to support themselves, they can beat their wings to maintain balance and even take to the air mostly upright. Like Nadas is doing right now. Sure, your axe-hand caught him in the left leg and it's now oozing ichor profusely, but he doesn't need that leg to fly away!

Which, for all the talk of ending things quickly, is what the Nademon is about. Put plenty of vertical air between him and Ilpholin, out of her reach where he can rely on his magic. Or, at this moment, words, which it seems he has endless hope for. If he can make it a little ways up, he hovers and speaks.
"You are...not weak, demon-slayer. I offer a deal: allow me to depart safely, and I will leave your brother's body behind, free of me at last." That axe-wound is actually tremendously painful, you can hear his inhuman voice warped further by the strain. Maybe that's why it's offering more of its deceptive truths instead of diving back down to tear her throat out. "It is an excellent thing to have a mortal guise, protesting in horror as you take command of its flesh - but better to scurry diminished back to the abyss than to risk perishing completely. Can you do that?- spare a monster to save your kin?" Although in the long run, without silver poison in the wound, his leg will probably be fine.

[DMSide]

Well, the robots must fit, too. They are all inside. And at a time MDM had to follow Mia where she goes.
"I'm not really sure why this is so." Mia admits. "Maybe it's because in my world all Robots are linked to Deus Mechanicus and so they would worship themselves. I also haven't met any Android in the Nexus that believes in anything else then their Program."

"Hmm. I have, but, do you think that in their own way, living people like you and I are just following the programs we were born with?" Alice's own opinion is 'no, absolutely not' but perhaps Mia has other thoughts on the matter.

[DMside - Wenomir]

"Hmm." Mia replies. "The Faction? I heard that they made trouble here in Southside, too. I think they got in an Argument with those Empire invaders." ((I'm not sure they ever got a name.))
"I think that this is possible. I will need to aks him. but befor i do, what would he get from it?" Mia asks. "He's a neutral god and sure wants a payment. The kind of payment got a very wide range, as long as it serves him or his followers."

((They're just 'Southside' now.))

[Shadowcaller]

[Fourth Tower Compound]

Nazaan doesn't hesitate when he sees that Sticks isn't going to accept his offer and gestures towards the wizard, sending a stream of flames against him.

But then he has a bird to worry about. The wisps that dances around warn him of the impending monster quickly approaching and he attempts to slip inside the compound's front entrance before the bird can reach him. Hopefully it wouldn't go straight into the building.

[Morty]

[MERC Office]

Iknika jumps back when Koshal's wallet is pulled out. What the heck? Are there actually ghosts here? She tries to grab at the air behind Koshal with both arms.

[Shadowcaller]

[MERC Office]

Koshal's quick reaction saves him his wallet as the presence retreats before he has a chance to lock it in a grip, if that is even possible.
Similarly, Iknika will find herself grabbing nothing, but she could swear that she felt a slight motion in the air, as if something quickly retreat away from her. She won't be able to save Koshal's cellphone that simply seems to disappear into thin air.

In addition to Koshal's misfortunes, the painting he is rather holding with one hand is rather large and heavy, so he might drop it if he's not quick enough to save it.

[Zefir]

[DMside - Wenomir]

"I can offer Vigil's aid, and my own, in anything he might need it for," Wenomir says. "Does he have anything he might require mortal help with?"

[DMside - Wenomir]

"Well, we got a Problem with the big group in Southside." Mia admits. "We did have some Problems with them and I fear they will take every chance to get us out. You might have noticed the walls we builded and the neutral zone."

[DMSide]

"Hmm. I have, but, do you think that in their own way, living people like you and I are just following the programs we were born with?" Alice's own opinion is 'no, absolutely not' but perhaps Mia has other thoughts on the matter.

[DMside - Wenomir]

((They're just 'Southside' now.))

[DMSide]

"I'm not sure." she says. "I can't even say if people out of flesh and bone have a programm at all. If there is any, we aren't aware of it." Mia says but smiles. "I doubt Deus Mechanicus would miss that or don't tell us that."

[Reinholdt]

The problem is that when you trip a winged person (like Ilpholin just did here - the Nademon was expecting it to take longer for her to reform her weapons after that and was properly distracted) and they no longer have legs to support themselves, they can beat their wings to maintain balance and even take to the air mostly upright. Like Nadas is doing right now. Sure, your axe-hand caught him in the left leg and it's now oozing ichor profusely, but he doesn't need that leg to fly away!

Which, for all the talk of ending things quickly, is what the Nademon is about. Put plenty of vertical air between him and Ilpholin, out of her reach where he can rely on his magic. Or, at this moment, words, which it seems he has endless hope for. If he can make it a little ways up, he hovers and speaks.
"You are...not weak, demon-slayer. I offer a deal: allow me to depart safely, and I will leave your brother's body behind, free of me at last." That axe-wound is actually tremendously painful, you can hear his inhuman voice warped further by the strain. Maybe that's why it's offering more of its deceptive truths instead of diving back down to tear her throat out. "It is an excellent thing to have a mortal guise, protesting in horror as you take command of its flesh - but better to scurry diminished back to the abyss than to risk perishing completely. Can you do that?- spare a monster to save your kin?" Although in the long run, without silver poison in the wound, his leg will probably be fine.

[Demon Tour]

"Deal." Was she supposed to hesitate? Mull it over? The demon was clearly lying. It wasn't some parasitical force that took over her brother's body and could shed it at will. It was her brother at his worst. Such was his birthright, inherited from the worst mother imaginable. Surely it wasn't capable of what it was offering?

But Ilpholin had made a mistake in the proceedings. She fell victim to sentiment and tried to pity it. Give it a chance. If she had merely struck it down in the library, or even in that alley, this would have been over. She gave him too much time to prepare for this, and all the advantages are his right now. She needed to recoup, regroup, and retry. Catch it off guard and assassinate him properly instead of trying to perform last rites.

For that, Ilpholin needs time. Something the demon was offering, in its own backwards way. It was a bitter pill to swallow, but she was not in position to turn it down. Better to live this time and learn from her mistake, than to die trying to correct it.

[UncleWolf]

The Empress' Estate - Sakura

Initially it seems that The Empress might be content to let Sakura leave without another word as she sits and begins to peel an apple with a small knife, but right before the woman leaves she speaks up. "I will be healed enough by the time your husband is ready to awaken to be in the room when it happens. I will sense when it is about to happen and will send word if you are not in the room." She explains as she sets the knife down and places the apple on a small wooden plate. "As for what injured me, it is something neither you nor your husband and family will need to worry about. I am his sole target and he will ignore everyone else."

The Empress' Estate - Tester

The Empress gestures for Tester to follow her towards a small alcove set inside the wall, and she gestures towards the quivers, racks, and wraps within that hold javelins, knives, and throwing axes of all shapes, sizes, and makes. Everything from simple stone and wood to solid steel construction. All of it looks as ancient as the Empress' own armor. "Do not touch it, but tell me if anything calls to you."

The Lotus Gardens - Pastry Shop

"Now would be perfectly fine." Jezebel states before patting her lips with a napkin to clean them gently. Afterwards she takes the empty dishes, from Celestel as well if she's finished, and places them upon the counter for the shop owner. "Though if you need to call a car to take us there, we'll have to leave the confines of the Gardens since combustion engines and the like are not tolerated very well. It helps keep the wear and tear down on the mosaic stone streets and sidewalks."

The Lotus Gardens - Cessie

"The closest experience I could compare possession and fusion of the soul to would be as you started dreaming while awake. Not daydreaming, but a blur of reality and imagination as the latter slowly creeps in. Whether that imagination is joyous or horrendous however, is entirely dependent on what is taking over of course." Jezebel explains before getting up and moving over to stand behind Cessie. She leans over the mage and separates the three pictures.

The first two seem to be fairly typical specimens of female human and elf. Each appears to be a little before middle-aged, giving them a sense of maturity in their faces while their bodies were both "motherly" with wide hips and large breasts. It wasn't that they were drawn with the thought of anything sensual in mind, rather it seemed to try and invoke a sense of comfort. The human's hair was cut short, right above her shoulders, while the elf's was in a braid all the way down to her waist, and despite the elf's curves, she was still more slender of frame than the human was. Both sketches had detailed notes on the weight and composition of the "Gargoyles" with Jezebel seeming to favor white marble. Each sketch also had a second more detailed and enlarged sketch of their faces, revealing that the human's was made to be more round while the elf's was slightly more angular with a softly pointed chin.

Both would likely be considered to be quite beautiful by most people.

The third sketch, labeled "Drake" at the top, is considerably different. Where the elf and human were soft bodied and comforting, this one was lean and muscular and powerful. The Drake was humanoid and seemed to be primarily elvish as a base, but a sharp chin, narrow cheeks, less-pointed ears, and a pair of devilish horns betrayed infernal ancestry in there as well. The woman's lean muscles were mostly covered in scales that had two sharp points where they overlapped. It was hard to tell from the size of the sketch, but Cessie might figure out that this one would stand at least two heads over the other possible statues. Next to the sketch of the main body were three small ones showing her backside and a number of possible tails. The first was thick and scaled, almost crocodilian with a wide base, and the last was thin and whip-like with a spade point. There was a number of middleground tails between the two sketches, with middle one being much like the devil tail except thicker with a couple pointed spines on it.

"I am not sure whether or not I'd go for black or white marble for the Drake." Jezebel admits, pointing to her note about it on the paper. "And while I had models for all of these, they can be changed as much as necessary to come up with a good idea for the Gardens. Humans and elves tend to make up the majority of the population here, but I included a Drake because I figure it would represent a melding of different backgrounds and ideas and life stories. After all, the Gardens doesn't care who you are or where you come from. If you accept us, we accept you."

[Morty]

[DMside - Wenomir]

Wenomir sighs.

"I have heard about the invasion, yes. If that's what it takes, we can promise the temple our protection, should the need arise. Publicly or otherwise."

[Deathkeeper]

The Empress' Estate- Tester

"Well, I don't think I want to be trucking around spears everywhere. Would rather something I can carry a bunch of. More lightweight. Unless they come back or something." Tester squats down, examining the metal blades, including the more oddly-shaped ones.
"Wow, these are real? I thought blade-discs were something the vids made up."

[Murkus]

[Fourth Tower Compound]

That's enough. Vax needs to end this. THe dim retrieves a large seed and sticks it between her sharp teeth. Then she surges forward. As she moves she grows. Her body bursts from its human shape, becomes less defined and more bestial. Before she reaches Sticks she's a mass of thorny leaves and vines, already three times her original size and still growing.

[Fourth Tower Compound]

Nazaan doesn't hesitate when he sees that Sticks isn't going to accept his offer and gestures towards the wizard, sending a stream of flames against him.

But then he has a bird to worry about. The wisps that dances around warn him of the impending monster quickly approaching and he attempts to slip inside the compound's front entrance before the bird can reach him. Hopefully it wouldn't go straight into the building.

[Fourth Tower Compound]

Sticks retreats from Vax into a cloud of churning spirit-stuff, letting his captive souls hide him and carry him backwards away from danger. They'll try to strike or grab and harry Vax if she persists into them. It's like beating her way through a crowd of more or less solid individuals, all determined to engage in a physical altercation. They swarm at her together, as one. The arcane fire Nazaan unleashes is lost in the slurry of color and light, though several small souls begin to visibly fray and burn around the edges of their transient forms. The fire eats inward, yet still they fight.

Bolts, meanwhile, is halted by the Compound's entryway. Mostly because he's a little to large to fit. He slams against the archway, masonry shuddering and exhaling clouds of choking grey dust. His metal beak slams and snaps as his head twists in the entryway. One of his eyes appears to be damaged and is leaking an orange fluid, but the other is still glaring bright, full of furnace-like energy and a raw desire to protect his master, to kill if that is what his master requires.

[Recaiden]

[Demon Tour]

"Deal." Was she supposed to hesitate? Mull it over? The demon was clearly lying. It wasn't some parasitical force that took over her brother's body and could shed it at will. It was her brother at his worst. Such was his birthright, inherited from the worst mother imaginable. Surely it wasn't capable of what it was offering?

But Ilpholin had made a mistake in the proceedings. She fell victim to sentiment and tried to pity it. Give it a chance. If she had merely struck it down in the library, or even in that alley, this would have been over. She gave him too much time to prepare for this, and all the advantages are his right now. She needed to recoup, regroup, and retry. Catch it off guard and assassinate him properly instead of trying to perform last rites.

For that, Ilpholin needs time. Something the demon was offering, in its own backwards way. It was a bitter pill to swallow, but she was not in position to turn it down. Better to live this time and learn from her mistake, than to die trying to correct it.

She was supposed to yell incoherently before grabbing at him with a whip-arm, just barely missing, and then rag at the sky as he fled. Maybe say something pithy about demons, something that would let the Nademon commit to this as a real fight to the death.

But, uh, agreeing works.

"This will take a little time. I'm not a practiced exorcist, after all." He grins at his awful joke and descends back to the alleystones, careful of his healing-but-still-injured leg, a ways further from Ilpholin than when he took off.
"You will stay right there and not try anything, no sudden moves, no turning your arm into a gun, nothing."

Assuming he gets that far without Ilpholin trying exactly something, he raises his arms, stretching out both hands, and begins to chant - a long, intricate, occasionally repetitive spell. First a glowing ritual circle springs up across the alley, enveloping the two of them (very symmetrical), running up the nearby walls, and then Nadas's demonic features start to, very slowly, melt away.

This is the difficult part. Using his demonic energy to stand in for the spell's reagents and more carefully prepared ground, even while forcing it back down inside of him. Not to mention getting all the words right; who knows what awful thing could happen with a mis-incantation? But he's always had a good memory. And something not completely unlike justice (desperation?) lends him clarity, strength. If Ilpholin still doesn't do anything to interrupt, she might find herself floating up out of her body, up into the muted brilliance of the astral plane. Not alone.

[DMSide]

"I'm not sure." she says. "I can't even say if people out of flesh and bone have a programm at all. If there is any, we aren't aware of it." Mia says but smiles. "I doubt Deus Mechanicus would miss that or don't tell us that."

Alice smiles back.
"I can imagine there are robots built without knowing what they're built for, much less how they work on the inside, right? Even really complicated ones."

[Gullara]

[Fourth Tower Compound]

Rather than pursue, Vax backs off a moment. Despite her shape, she's still no beast. She returns to her lover, her senses reaching out to detect Stick's next move. She has far more than vision to sense him with.

"Nazaan." Her voice comes from somewhere inside of her, though she doesn't appear to speak. "We leave." She scoops up Zhareen, gently. She stays at this size, though she seems barely restrained. By sheer will alone she controls her shape now.

Now, to make their exit. Nazaan wasn't lying earlier, though who knows how capable he was. Vax has a major player in this compound a long time, however. At her will, one of the defensive spirits of the compound springs to life. A spider from the door frame drops down upon Bolts, it's legs entrapping, its fangs dripping with caustic venom. It may eat into even the metal bird, though nothing like it would flesh.

[The Empress' Estate - Sakura]

Sakura pauses by the door. Somehow she'd forgotten the Empress' wounds in the heat of the moment. She glances back and bites her lip. "Okay..." She hardly knows what to say to that. Rather than linger on that now, she steps out of the room.

[MERC Office]

Eliseo recoils backward. "What the hell was that?" It seems like it's gone as quickly as it was there. "You guys aren't messing with me, right? There was actually something there?"

[Reinholdt]

[Demon Tour]

What does this demon think it is doing? Why isn't it flying off per the agreement? Does it take Ilpholin's reprieve so lightly as to attempt some further treachery? It wants to land? Fine. It wants her to not move in a threatening manner? Understandable. It wants to start some ritual with her in the circle?

Oh Hell to the NO.

The instant anything beneath Ilpholin's feet starts to glow, she pounces, not even letting the magic circle finish forming before making her decision. She's had time to catch her breath, and while it's not nearly enough, the instinct screaming danger at her is enough to drive her quickly.

Ilpholin's axe hands lead the way, the left coming in for a slightly downward horizontal chop. This one is held closer to the chest and might not reach given the extra distance he gave himself and expected dodging value, hence its more defensive position. The right axe is outstretched for a more diagonal vertical chop. And outstretched and outstretched. Oh no wait, it's actually stretching out, as if linked to a chain. Or rather a whip. The weight makes an axe-whip more difficult to control than a regular whip perhaps, but it is surprisingly useful in proving wrong someone who thinks they have the distance to safely get out of the way.

"I never said anything about participating in your shenanigans, fiend," Ilpholin spits. "The agreement is nulled and void."

[Recaiden]

Let this be a lesson to you, Nadas. Crazy people are not necessarily gullible ones.

The demon easily keeps away from the left-axe; that was never going to reach. But the other one, the way it keeps stretching out like that, moving in what seems like an impossible arc - he really did think he was safely out of the way. Having exactly zero practice in defending against axe-whips, he throws an arm up in a panic, which is cut clean through. Shame; that hand isn't going to grow back without additional measures.

With a wordless shriek of pain, Nadas turns and runs down the alleyway. This was foolish, so foolish. Anything but running away was a mistake. At first, ichor is pouring from his stump arm, but his monstrous regeneration and a brush of magical flames close the terrible wound quickly; bleeding to death from that was never a concern.

[Shadowcaller]

The Lotus Gardens - Cessie

Well, all these all reminded her of something. She didn't understand why Jezebel had drawn them all nude though. This was like showing her the skeleton of a building, it did not give her the an idea of the final product, not to mention that it was indecent!
"Do you want it to look like you or not? I could see either the human or the elf work, the human if you want something very familiar, the elf if you want something a little bit new. The dragon-woman seems like something completely different though." It reminded her a lot about Harnetta... and her children.

The Lotus Gardens - Pastry Shop

Celestel shakes her head. "That won't be a problem. I can take us directly there without a car if you wish. As long as you aren't afraid of heights of course." She says with a wide smile. "I am sure her ladyship is aware of our gargoyles, well, this is another of our famous beasts which lends itself to rides."

[Fourth Tower Compound]

That was one terrifying construct, Nazaan has absolutely no objections to get as far away from it as possible when Vax arranges an distraction. Hopefully, Spidy (why had they let Zhareen name it?) would end that monster forever.
He bolts for the back door, speaking the key phrase that makes the door open on its own. It was disgraceful to run away in this manner, but at this rate Malechenar would be arriving at the compound at arrest them all.

[Deathkeeper]

MERC Office

Koshal turns to Eliseo and opens his mouth to answer, but his wallet falling to the floor distracts him and as he leans back to see if he can pick it up he loses his balance with the painting and falls onto his back, with the heavy painting likely landing flat on his face in a most painful way.
"Ow."

[Shadowcaller]

MERC Office

Dena would have told Koshal he was lucky he broke the paintings fall with his face if she was here right now.

Either way, there are no signs of whoever or whatever stole the cellphone from Koshal. The only they could see was it being lifted out of the pocket and then disappear. Iknika could feel something move though, but it was too fast for her to get a grip on.

[Morty]

[MERC Office]

"That must have been a real ghost!" Iknika exclaims. She will try to help get the painting off Koshal, though. "How do we track down a ghost?"

[Reinholdt]

[Demon Tour]

The time it takes to awkwardly retract the axe whip (the weapon grating loudly on ground provides a most intimidating sound that pleases her greatly) makes Ilpholin think twice before immediately giving chase. She glances down at her burn wound. It should have recovered long ago but it was still not healed. He's got too much of a head start, wings that are still mostly functional despite her earlier attempts, and she's too weakened. Ilpholin doesn't follow her prey, allowing Nademon to escape.

This itself was not without risk. Ilpholin waits in the alley, forcing her breath to remain steady as she keeps an ear out for a feint and a flank. The demon could have escaped earlier and didn't, it might be stubborn enough to repeat the process. Slowly it becomes clear that isn't the case here and her weapons turn back into trembling arms.

Ilpholin always knew Nadas had some form of twisted luck. There was no way he could have known just how vulnerable she was to Shatter. She's certain that if he did, if she had shown any weakness, a second blow would have killed her outright. To be fair, she didn't realize just how bad it would be either. She was unconscious during most of the implant and integration procedures. Curse that damnable brother and his damnable luck. This weakness of her augmented body she would have to address before approaching this problem again.

Bending down, Ilpholin goes to scoop up the grotesque severed hand the demon left behind. Perhaps she'd find some way to use it to track him down. For now though, she just wants to retreat, get home, and take a hot bath.

[Gullara]

[MERC Office]

Eliseo inches back toward the other two, looking around warily. "Do you track down a ghost? I mean, it's a ghost." What are they, those chicks from that one movie?

[Deathkeeper]

MERC Office

Koshal groans, setting the painting aside and picking up his wallet. Darn, they got his phone. Uncle Krayger already paid for that thing and he hadn't used all the minutes yet! Or...is that how it works? Koshal hadn't been paying attention, he'd been thinking about puppies.
"It's a ghost, of course you can track it." Like those dudes from that one movie!

Faye starts sniffing around Koshal, trying to see if the intruder left a scent.

[Shadowcaller]

MERC Office

Does ghost leave a scent? Perhaps not as Faye can't catch it. He'll smell Eliseo and Iknika, not to mention the smell of old house, but not any more scents.
It does sound like someone is coming up the stairs though, maybe it is- "What are you doing up there?" Nope, it is just Dena.

[Morty]

[MERC Office]

Iknika turns around, grinning innocently.

"I think we found a ghost," she says.

[Halae]

[Rooftop]

Harnetta grins, and goes to fold her chair up, attaching it to the wine cooler, before picking up the whole thing with her tail through a hook on top of the portable cooler, "Well, I'm ready to go."

As soon as Wenomir indicates he's ready to go, Harnetta will pick up his legs from under him, and in just a moment he'll be in a bridal carry. "Hold on!" she says, and leaps off the side of the building before taking to the air - seems neither the cooler she's carrying nor Wenomir cause much in the way of problems for how much she can carry.

[Rooftop]

Wenomir is picked up and carried off. It's a thoroughly new experience for him.

[Harnetta's Rooms]

It'll take a bit of flying, but in relatively short order, Wenomir and Harnetta will be arriving at a certain mansion in Riverside, where the Half-dragon moves down to land on the balcony and sets Wenomir down as well. "Here we are. Sorry it's a bit of a mess; I haven't had the chance to clean up for company." She'll pull the curtain aside to reveal a spacious room with a large bed covered in silk sheets, desk and dresser spotless, and the whole place is immaculate, "... Oh, huh. Guess the butler stopped by while I was out."

[Morty]

[Harnetta's Rooms]

"I didn't know you were enjoying the high life," Wenomir says, looking around. He's having mixed feelings about visiting the Lotus Gardens, especially for... this kind of purpose. But he'll worry about it in the morning. The whole purpose of this meeting is to stop worrying for a while. "I hope no one's going to interrupt us, though," he adds. He takes his shirt off while he does so.

[Halae]

[Harnetta's Room]

"Mmm. Signed on as a sword instructor. But we're not here for that, are we?" Harnetta will already be reaching for the buckles of her shirt that gun under her wing membranes, and will take off her top in full view of Wenomir. The smile she's wearing says she knows this fact too.

When she reaches for her pants, it's clear she's making a show of it, and before too long, she'll reach for his belt buckle in order to pull the curtain.

[Morty]

[Harnetta's Rooms]

Wenomir will watch the show with great attention, before pulling the curtain. His doubts cast aside, he'll do it with force and try to keep it down for a while, before eventually falling asleep, head resting on Harnetta's chest.

[Gullara]

[MERC Office]

Eliseo spins around, perhaps a bit jumpy. Oh, her again. "Looking around, like we said." What does she want now?