Trog's Tavern CLIII

[Rebonack]

"Oh golly, I think you saw your reflection in the window," Navvy confides in the other wyrmling. Bronze dragons are used to seeing their reflection in the water, so they learn about mirrors and stuff real quick. "That wasn't another dragon, it was a moving picture of you."

He can't think of a better way to explain reflections. Navvy isn't familiar with the physics of it at all. He is familiar with head-pats, however. The elf gets a pointy smile for his trouble.

"Zosteranithaximine is a swell name. I'm Navanaxinermis! All the humanoid kids at the playground call me Nax or Navvy, though, since humanoids don't usually like proper dragon names very much," the wyrmling says. He's not sure why they dislike long names so much. Dragon names are only a few more syllables than most humanoid names. What's the big deal? "Do you want to play at hunting things? The kids at the park usually wanted to play Knights and Dragons, and I always had to be the dragon. It was grubby since Susy would wack me with a stick and then I was supposed to be dead."

It occurs to Navvy that Susy was grabbed by the goblins just like he was. She wasn't always nice to him, but now he's finding himself hoping that she's okay. Those goblins sure were a bunch of creeps, though...

And then someone starts talking in draconic?

That gets Navvy's attention right away.

<Howdy!> he calls out in the dragon tongue. <You're looking for your dad?>

[Earl of Purple]

"Zosteranithaximine is the bestest name. But Navanaxinermis is really good too! Lots of enns, even if no zeds." Zoster nods. Z is confirmed to be the best letter. "Refleckersion? Like an upright lake? Aww, that's no fun. If you were gonna play Knights and Dragons, didn't you ever get to play eater them?" Zoster's not played with humanoid children before, so he's not familiar with their way of playing knights and dragons.

[Draconic]"Oh, hello! I'm Zosteranithaximine, what's your name? Can we help? We're dragons, we can help find dads or anything. Especially if it's gold. Is your dad gold?"[/Draconic] Zoster doesn't have any trouble speaking Draconic, it turns out. No weird word usage or misplaced 'ing's. It's almost like it's his native language.

The elf continues patting Navvy's head, whilst the one that got punched grabs the puncher and headbutts him hard enough to break his nose. The dwarfs find this even more hilarious than the little dragons with their stilted conversation.

[bc56]

<Yeah! He's really tall, and he has an orange crest like me and a big axe! And he's not gold. I'm Achuak!> Achuak completely forgets to show proper respect to the dragons, although they probably don't care.

[Rebonack]

"No, the dragon doesn't get to eat anyone since you pretend to be a crummy evil chromatic dragon," Navvy explains through the head pattings. "That's why I wanted to be a knight but I never got to be, even though bronze dragons disguise themselves as human knights all the time to stop creepy bad guys. And it's the knight's job to save the prince or princess from the dragon. It's a pretty keen game if you don't get stuck being the gosh darn dragon all the time."

Then more information on the missing dad.

<I met some lizardfolk one time, they lived in a marsh by the cave I used to live in. They seemed like real dandy folks,> Navvy reports. <I'm Navanaxinermis, it sure is swell to meet you Achuak! Do you know if you're dad is still around the tavern somewhere?>

Navvy peeks under one of the tables, just in case there might be a lizard man hiding under it.

Alas, all that's down there are a bunch of dwarf and elf legs.

And then suddenly!

Zee walks down the stairs with a little crystal flower perched in her hair and a little silver wyrmling perched on her shoulder. That's in spite of the fact that she's over there trying to talk with that heterochromic weirdo and the gal who just wrecked a motorcycle. But that's totally fine! She would have walked down those stairs DAYS ago and the meeting with the other two folks by the bar was happening night before last! Boy time sure is confusing when you keep track of it all, isn't it? Less confusing for Zee, since everywhere she's currently at is 'right now' from her perspective.

She heads behind the counter, sets Karaglen down on top of it, and rummages around until she comes up with a... crowbar? "I'm going to clean up our room real quick," she informs Karaglen. "You should go introduce yourself to the other scaly kids over there. I bet they would love to meet you," Zee suggests, a mischievous gleam in her eye. "Be right back!"

And up the stairs she goes again.

[Earl of Purple]

"<He's not on the ceiling is he? I love ceilings, they're great places to hide and nest and say hi to all the bats. Although don't live in the same cave as bats. They smell real bad.>" Zoster looks up at the ceiling and peers between the rafters as he speaks, before flapping his wings and taking off to hover up and get a closer look.

The elf that was patting Navvy's head falls over, overbalancing in his attempt to find Navvy's head after the wyrmling dived under the table. The dwarfs, needless to say, find this really funny. Nearly as funny as the fight the other two elves are having, which involves fists, heads and feet primarily, and doesn't look at all graceful or elegant.

[Slii Arhem]

"Aha! See? I knew we'd find tribute here!" The box is taken triumphantly and placed on the table with a flourish, one tentacle expertly removing the shrink-wrap in the process and depositing it somewhere on the floor behind them. "A wise choice, mortal! Suzie never forgets those who are loyal to her!" Oh, hey, we have a name now! Suzie folds her tentacles imperiously and looks down at this young man who- okay look, she's trying to make it look like she's looking down at him, but she's not particularly tall and they took one of the low tables instead of-

"Minion! Why didn't you think to grab one of those high tables with the stools? Go claim it at once! And take the tribute! And my drink!" Really, why didn't her sweet, loyal, devoted minion think of that before she had to prompt her? Oh well. Enough with that distraction, she still has to deal with this mortal man! The young (with all the tentacles and scales it's kind of hard to tell? But she looks quite young, at least) krakengirl smirks, her mouth proving remarkably stretchy as it shifts from its default closed o-shape, a slight clicking of teeth shifting within in order to accomplish this simple facial expression. "I shall heed your warning, mortal. You have done well. I could use more loyal followers by my side. What do you say?"

Without another word, the youngish mortal shifts his posture a bit, bendng slightly and dropping at the knees until he's squatting just enough that Suzie can lord over him properly, "It sounds quite interesting, but how does it pay? I mean, currently I'm at an internship with High Lord of Terror Zalexsz so practically anything would pay better. But if you don't have benefits or overtime, I think I'll have to say no for now. Oh! But I could still do you favors evenings and weekends. I have my own car, such as it is, and could drive you places if you want. Or courier things I suppose." Oh hey, that's why he's so unremarkable! It's a professional minion! You don't often get those in bars where major heroes, villains, and other Nexus celebrities hang out like Trog's. Usually because the background NPCs tend to scatter at the first sign of extradimensional hooplah.

[Chaotic Bob]

Flying up to look into the rafters probably isn't going to be revealing lizard-dad.
What it does reveal instead, is a bunch of stuffed animals lurking on a few of the wooden beams. A white rabbit, a very miniature ostrich, something that is probably supposed to be an octopus but doesn't have enough arms and too many eyes, a menagerie of different plush lizards...
Possibly more elsewhere, but those ones seem nearby.

Meanwhile, Karaglen is deposited on the counter and swiftly abandoned!
Well not really abandoned, but she does feel a little bit like she's missing out on some food.

No food, but maybe some more friends!
So with that, she takes a little leap off the counter to go flap towards the other dragons! They all seem to be looking under tables and up on the ceiling and stuff, so she's going to land vaguely nearby in a spot that isn't imminently surrounded by the dwarves and elves.
"Um, hello! What are you guys looking for?"

[bc56]

<We're looking for my dad! He went this way and should've come back before and I went after him and now I'm lost and what if I never find him again?> The pressure starts to overwhelm Achuak, and he begins to panic.

[Rebonack]

Zee is just kind of... standing there. In front of the anatomically correct guy. Smiling awkwardly. Every now and again she glances around him to make sure the woman who got banged up in the motorcycle crash is still deadtimed and therefore not hemorrhaging to death.

Fun fact: Zee experiences all of this stuff in real time. Thankfully she's (mostly) patient about it.

And Navvy?

Well. He just spent the last few seconds sitting there on the floor slack-jawed when another mom walks down the stairs carrying a silver wyrmling, exchanges some words, and then heads back up stairs again.

What.

Is that... is that a thing his mom does normally?

He's pretty sure he would remember something like that.

And that other wyrmling! The was his mom was carrying and petting her. Is she his sister?

He's pretty sure he would remember something like that, too. Navvy gives his head a little shake. His memories must still be discombobulated from the cu sith chewing bits of him off.

The silver wyrmling asks a question and the little lizard guy answers. And starts freaking out!

<Oh no, umm...> Navvy pipes up in draconic. <Hey, don't worry about it too much, okay? We'll find your dad and everything will be just swell.>

<He went to go help some kobolds with a faerie infestation,> Zee pipes in draconic. Weird that a human can speak draconic without a human accent. She doesn't have trouble with the sibilants at all! <He'll probably be back before too long. If you stay put, then you'll probably meet him when he gets back. The most important first step of being lost is to stay put! It makes it easier to find you.>

Oh.

Well.

That's what's going on with that, then.

Navvy offers a somewhat awkward smile at the silver wyrmling. "I'm Navanaxinermis. This might sound kind of batty, but is Zee your mom? Because if she is, then I think we might be brother and sister."

[5a Violista]

Speaking of deadtime and hopefully being anatomically correct, her player decides that she's just been suspended there for too long.

Luckily, because of Juliana's foresight to wear a quality leather jacket, a helmet, and gloves, it's only less than half of her body that looks bad on the outside.

Unfortunately, it's just TOO LOUD in here for her to concentrate and the air is too blurry...or rather, everything sounds like it's too loud and looks too blurry. There's got to be a bard in here, right? Where do they always sit, she wonders. In the back corner, maybe. Yeah, that makes sense. If she can just get back there, maybe she can throw her wallet at them and make them play.

Using the wall as one would use a crutch, she works her way along the wall trying to find the back corner.

...there's the faint smell of burning leather originating from near her wrists.

[Earl of Purple]

Huh, they're weird-looking. But probably not important, so Zoster flaps back down and rejoins the clutch of lizard-like individuals.

And there's another one! "Hellos! I be Zosteranithaximine. He's Navanaxinermis. My name's betterer because it's got a zed. What's your name? Does it have a zed?" Zoster's quite cheerful and has also forgotten he's supposed to be looking for a lizardman dad. This particular bismuth drakeling isn't great at concentrating.

[Chaotic Bob]

Karaglen looks a fair ways into the depths of worried upon hearing that everyone is looking for a missing parent...at least up until mom clears that up.
Sounds like they just pulled an Uncle Xeni and had to go do work-stuff for a bit. They usually come back soon enough from work-stuff.

"Well, it sounds like that one's solved...maybe have some brownies while you wait? Mom over there makes really good brownies."
Which also answers that question that Navvy asks, right around when he asks it.

Which then immediately leads into a sort of uncomfortably surprised "I have a brother?" sort of thought-train derailment.
Zoster gets himself a "I'm Karaglen..." as a somewhat distracted answer.

Though she does try to pull herself back together pretty quickly.
And super happily! Her grin is huge.
"I have a BROTHER?"
Karaglen points at Navvy, grin growing pretty much to its limit.
"You're my brother! Haha!"
And then he is definitely getting yanked into a hug, as soon as she flaps over there.
And then probably Zoster. And Achuak.

Mass hugging for everyone!
"Look! He's my-"

Her excitement cuts itself off, as she glances over someone in the hug-group's shoulder to see Juliana Over There. Hurt.
Hurt kind of badly it looks like.

"Um...sorry. I'll be right back?"
At which point, she's going to extricate herself and fly Over There. Her glee is still there, pinging around in the back of her head, but she is very carefully nudging it back so she can do her Duty first.
Help others. Then enjoy yourself.

[bc56]

Achuak hears the strange human lady. He understands, at least mostly. He should stay here until his dad gets back.

Cutaway panel to Kothar wandering across a trackless desert

And then the hug! Achuak is surprised and just a bit uncomfortable, but he returns the hug.
Until Kara leaves, and he watches with interested eyes.

[5a Violista]

[Over There]

Juliana, who is finding it difficult to concentrate and see at the moment, looks at the little dragon that extricated herself and flew towards her.

"H-hello, little bird," she says, not really sure why a bird or something like a bird flew at her. She stopped moving because it's hard to walk and move at the same time, in this state.

Because she can't see it's the dragon Karaglen, she's not sure if she can be understood. She's never really had the talent to speak with birds, unlike all those princesses in stories. "Do you know if -" She pauses to fight back the pain. And now there's smoke coming out from her sleeves. "Do you know if there's any music in here? I can't see very well right now." Maybe even if this bird(?) can't understand her, the falconer can? That's what Juliana assumes.

That makes no sense, though. Why would someone as injured as her want music, of all things? Shouldn't she be asking for a healing potion or a cleric or a medic or something? I know I would be.

[Rebonack]

"Oh golly I have a sister for real?" Navvy exclaims. "This is just the swellest thing ever! It might even be STUPENDOUS!"

There's quite a bit of laughter and hugging and general excitement!

<My sister's right, you should go ask my mom for something to eat,> Navvy suggests to the young lizard person. He's about to ask Kara ALL the questions when suddenly she goes zipping off. "Huh?" the little wyrmling grunts moments before spotting the badly injured woman. "Oh jeepers! How did I miss that?" he gasps before running over to see if there's some way he can help.

And the woman needs help with...

Music?

For some reason.

Navvy quickly looks around the tavern. There's a little stage for live music, but no one's there. But then his eyes settle on something even better! A tall, brightly colored machine! And from all the cool human TV shows he used to watch all the time (where he learned Common, incidentally) he knows exactly what it is! "Don't worry, I'll get some music for you Miss Lady!" he hollars as he bounds up to the machine and begins slapping one of the buttons over and over again.

A little black disk slides out of the machine, gets set down on a turn table, and a needle descends.

The jukebox, created waaaay back in 2007 by the Incarnation of Plot begins playing Great Balls of Fire.

Looks like it turned out that the jukebox was a plot device all along.

[Hattish Thing]

Meanwhile!

Zee feels nothing particularly weird regarding the newcomer's smile.

It's anatomically accurate.

What else is there?

"You're in Trog's Tavern, specifically," Zee replies brightly. "And the City of Inside, a bit less specifically. And the Nexus, if we're talking really non-specific. Congratulations! You've tripped into the grease trap of reality! Or the crossroads of all possible worlds. Or a really awful giant crossover fanfic with five times the references and half the coherence." She plucks up a confection with a napkin and holds it out toward the newcomer. "Would you like a welcome brownie?"

He should accept.

Zee's brownies are great.

Then Zee kind of... leans to one side a bit, peering around the newcomer at ANOTHER newcomer limping in through the door.

"Hmm... Sir?" she asks. "Do you mind if I help that woman not die? It should only take a minute."

Unfortunately for Juliana there doesn't appear to be any music, live or otherwise, going on at the moment.

The figure stares forward vacantly, his expression blank despite the chaos occurring elsewhere as he registers what had been said. The crossroads of all possible worlds, she had mentioned. What a thought that was, an interconnected dimension with natural bridges to alternative realms. A crossroads, one whose current could, theoretically, be reversed? The possibilities were infinite and myriad, more research would have to be conducted, as soon as this awful aching pain faded away within his skull, as well as the unusual sensation within his stomach.

Slightly overwhelmed by all that had occurred, the man's blank stare is finally broken by the offering of the brownie. Slightly distracted by the rumbling of his stomach, the figure winces before reaching out cautiously for the dessert, holding it bare in his hand, perplexed by the weight and texture of the confection.

A slight whisper is all that rolls forth past the figure's lips as he stares towards the brownie in confusion.

"Nexus... It cannot be."

"Shall not my lord permit to me a bead of sweat nor heated excess? The ease with which... no."

[Rebonack]

Zee glances over at the wyrmlings bouncing around the tavern.

It looks like they've got the situation with the injured woman handled. Great!

That means Zee can safely attend to...

Whoever this guy is.

He decides to spout some gibberish, so Zee responds in kind. "Turning and turning in the widening gyre."

Is that the correct response?

She really has no idea.

She's talking to an anatomically correct guy giving a brownie a thousand yard stare.

Zee isn't sure if there is a correct response in this situation.

[Arkhosia]

You Must Recruit Additional Minions

The poor minion's orders are delivered mid-sip, and the bedraggled fishmaid sputters as a bit of beer finds its way down the wrong pipe, coughing a little as she ekes out a subservient response. "A-apologies, Milady. For - forgive me for such a lapse in judgement." Standing up and grabbing both mugs, balancing her broom between the crooks of her arms and the box sandwiched between her arm and her side, she moves as best she can through the crowd - no easy feat with the broom in the way - to deposit the mugs on a higher table, setting the tribute down in the center.

[Earl of Purple]

Zoster's being hugged! He hugs back a little confused at what's going on, since this is really his first time around dragons he's not related to and around people who aren't coming to give his mum tribute to stop her eating them. Or, well... his mum wouldn't eat them anyway, or the sheep, but it makes them feel better and that's all that matters really.

When the others all bound over to Juliana, he follows, abandoning the elves and dwarfs to their drunken violence and drunken merriment, respectively. He then sits on the ground, unable to help specifically with the injuries. Navvy apparently can, using the... Thing in the corner. "Wowserific! I want eight for my hoard when I'm a biggesterest dragon! What's it? So funner!" He'll flap over to Navvy and the jukebox, sitting on his haunches and staring at it in fascination and listening to the music.

[Chaotic Bob]

Pretty beat up, possible speaking and vision issues, asking for weird things...
This lady must have some mild brain injury on top of everything else.

So while Navvy goes to humor her musical request, Kara's going to attend to what she sees as the real problem here.

"Just relax, miss, you'll get your music while I fix you up."
And so, barring interference, Karaglen is going to pull out that neat crystally energy to start repairing what look to be the worst parts of Juliana.
She's pretty sure this shouldn't be too difficult, for all the surface injuries, but she's not sure how well healing someone's brain is going to work with this...she hasn't tried yet!

[5a Violista]

[Over There]

Juliana thinks she can hear some music playing...good.

She focuses on the music and uses it to vent the extra magic in a controlled manner: the smoke from the gloves stops, and instead mild waves of heat are released through her hands. With the exception of the pain in her legs, everything seems to... "Wai-"

She just noticed what the little dragon by her said.

The magic actually seems to work! The biker seems to be healed pretty quickly, actually. No more bleeding. Any internal injuries she may have had are quickly gone. However, she doubles down in pain from her stomach, as her body quickly absorbs the magic.

Suddenly, her gloves burn off, as well as her jacket's sleeves up to the elbow. Flames leap off her arms straight above her and a skull appears in the flames. A fire elemental is formed, while the biker lies in pain on the ground, having been basically used as a portal.

Fitting with the music, the elemental throws a great ball of fire at a table.

[Gnrlshrimp]

Oh, a professional minion? Well that's quite unusual. Suzie spins round in her chair, leaning forward (and looming as best as she can) to get a better look at this fellow. Marina's apologies receive no immediate response - she's far too interested in this possible new recruit. Oh, but he's asking about payment? Well that's tricky. "Hmm, you do look like you know what you're doing. I guess this Zalexsz guy has given you some decent training, but has he been giving you the responsibilities such a well-trained minion deserves? It might be a while before I can do everything I'd want to look after my minions, but you'd help us get there a lot quicker." She stands up, intending to add a bit more to the sales pitch when, wouldn't you know it, that darned fin catches her stocking again and rrrrips another hole in it.

"Grr! A thousand curses upon this cursed form! A million curses! So help me, I'll curse the curse right out of it! MINION!" She barks, turning to see her fishmaid has already darted off to another table. "Oh, right, yes, much better." She stomps over, leaning on her coral staff to hop neatly into her seat. Much better indeed, now she can lord over all the patrons! Well, except for those guys at that high table over there. Oh well, it's better than nothing anyway. "Oh, right, yes. MINION!" She shouts at point-blank range (poor fishmaid), "How, uh, how are we doing for stockings?"

[bc56]

Achuak jumps up, removing the spiked bone club from his belt and brandishing it far less than menacingly at the fire creature which just appeared. <G-g-go back, you, y-you fire t-t-t-thing.> His teeth chatter in fear.

[Rebonack]

The table doesn't appear to appreciate getting set on fire.

Or at least it probably wouldn't appreciate it much if it were capable of having thoughts rather than being an inanimate object.

And so it just sits there burning merrily. A napkin holder ignites, napkins immolating and plastic bubbling. What a mess.

Navvy, for his part, appears to be rather shocked by this development. He's still perched on top of the jukebox and looking pretty flabberghasted. Why did a fire skeleton just jump out of the hurt lady!

That doesn't make any sense!

But he's not about to let something like this go unanswered!

"Hey!" he shouts at the elemental, standing tall, flaring his wings, and puffing out his chest a bit. "You stop setting stuff on fire RIGHT NOW or I'm going to blast you!"

It is always important to give evil-doers a chance to repent first.

Sometimes they're just confused or scared and not really evil-doers. And sometimes the threat of justice is enough to get the genuinely evil ones to behave themselves.

[Earl of Purple]

"Oh, a burny burner. Go back to the volcanoe, burny burner! This is our terrirriritory, and there's no volcanoe about heres! Um, I don't think. I've not seened one, anyway." Zoster joins Navvy in trying to look intimidating, flaring his pterodactyl wings, the little hands halfway down splaying open, and though he doesn't puff up with air, his multi-hued metallic scales seem to stick out a little.

He's not too interested about the table, he just wants to make sure the juke box isn't damaged. He wants that for his hoard!

[Chaotic Bob]

Karaglen backs up in a hurry, finding the heat in Juliana's general vicinity really uncomfortable.
Though not enough to run away in terror, at least.

She glances over at the table to see if there are any fireball victims (doesn't seem so?), before standing her ground nearby.
Not to admonish or fight the fire elemental, of course. No, that's...not really her thing. Mostly just going to hope it doesn't notice her while she keeps trying to tend to Juliana.

Did the elemental's arrival burning off her clothes actually burn her?
"I'm not really sure what's happening, but can you still talk to me? I need to know what's wrong!"
It seems more complicated than usual! Most wounds don't persist after simple healing, in her experience, let alone spit out fire elementals.

Although...maybe it was trying to possess her or something? And her healing evicted it?
This seems like a rational interpretation.

[Slii Arhem]

You Must Recruit Additional Minions

The poor minion's orders are delivered mid-sip, and the bedraggled fishmaid sputters as a bit of beer finds its way down the wrong pipe, coughing a little as she ekes out a subservient response. "A-apologies, Milady. For - forgive me for such a lapse in judgement." Standing up and grabbing both mugs, balancing her broom between the crooks of her arms and the box sandwiched between her arm and her side, she moves as best she can through the crowd - no easy feat with the broom in the way - to deposit the mugs on a higher table, setting the tribute down in the center.

Oh, a professional minion? Well that's quite unusual. Suzie spins round in her chair, leaning forward (and looming as best as she can) to get a better look at this fellow. Marina's apologies receive no immediate response - she's far too interested in this possible new recruit. Oh, but he's asking about payment? Well that's tricky. "Hmm, you do look like you know what you're doing. I guess this Zalexsz guy has given you some decent training, but has he been giving you the responsibilities such a well-trained minion deserves? It might be a while before I can do everything I'd want to look after my minions, but you'd help us get there a lot quicker." She stands up, intending to add a bit more to the sales pitch when, wouldn't you know it, that darned fin catches her stocking again and rrrrips another hole in it.

"Grr! A thousand curses upon this cursed form! A million curses! So help me, I'll curse the curse right out of it! MINION!" She barks, turning to see her fishmaid has already darted off to another table. "Oh, right, yes, much better." She stomps over, leaning on her coral staff to hop neatly into her seat. Much better indeed, now she can lord over all the patrons! Well, except for those guys at that high table over there. Oh well, it's better than nothing anyway. "Oh, right, yes. MINION!" She shouts at point-blank range (poor fishmaid), "How, uh, how are we doing for stockings?"

Impromptu Minionterview

"Responsibilities such as fetching the appropriate-height table and maintaining hosiery inventories?" The nondescript fellow asks dully. One might almost think that he's being sarcastic until he pulls out a rumpled and much annotated sheaf of papers, covered in flags and highlighter marks as well as numerous effluvia best left unknown. He thumbs through it, nodding to himself. "Yes to the first, no to the second. Though I was trained on logistics before that was left to the genocidal AI he has wired into his coffee machine. Several options present themselves for cutting costs in the stocking budget. Apart from just going without you could switch to latex or other more durable materials, or buy leggings which have become more fashionable lately. Or you could get a brand deal with one of the brands looking to exploit your image. And with the right kind of stockings, you could lean into the worn and torn look of them as a genuine part of your brand, like distress jeans." Oh, he's that sort of minion. There's always one on any good evil payroll, although they never usually last long. The high turnover due to fits of pique and destructive whims on the part of their employers is only matched by how dedicated they always are to holding everything together.

That stack of notes is probably every order and directive Zalexsz has ever given him, in writing and cross-referenced to other contradictory orders rated by importance and likelihood of getting him killed for disobeying. When his internship does end, likely violently, he'll at least be smugly satisfied that he didn't deserve the horrible skin-rending punishment he was being subjected to.

And the slightly darker satisfaction that the next morning everything would go to hell without him there to make it function.

[Arkhosia]

Usurpation of Fishmaid?

Marina pivots at once to return her attention back to Suzie as her mistress calls - so immediately in fact, that she manages to bump an elbow into the side of the table, eyes widening and biting back a yelp. If the sound of another accursed tear in her lady's stockings weren't causing her to cringe enough! Clutching the bruised appendage, the fishwoman puts on a bit of an amusing display as she tries her damnedest to maintain that crisp and formal stance of attention in spite of how she keeps shifting in place, as if trying to outpace the acute ache in her arm.

"A-about nine more pairs, milady." The maid reports with as much composure and professionalism as possible, cringing only a little now - though the point-blank shouting didn't help her recovery much. "Would you wish for me to change them for you again, milady?" Marina is already reaching for a small pack kept suspended off her push broom to retrieve a new pair when the potential candidate offers his own expertise on the matter. The maid freezes, amber irises taking in that hefty stack of notes with a degree of apprehension. Was - was she supposed to have a stack of something like that this whole time? Oh dear, she'll have to buy more office supplies now won't she?! It was hard enough convincing Suzie to provide her the coin to purchase a couple pens and a diary, it would be torture to convince her lady that yet more paper and pens are needed!

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Managing Minions and Measuring their Merits]

Suzie folds her tentacles and stares at this potential new recruit (with roughly 2/6 eyes), nodding thoughtfully as he explains her options. How very informative! How very useful! Why hadn't Marina ever come up with something like this to fix the stocking problem? "Hmm. I like the sound of that. Deliberately torn stockings, made from something more durable. Hah! Never again would I have to send Marina out to fetch more stockings at two in the morning!" Well that'd definitely be a boon for Marina, wouldn't it? It's not exactly easy to acquire stockings at two in the morning after all. Thankfully, this being the Nexus, there is at least somewhere open, but it was still the sort of demand that'd cost the poor fishmaid a good hour or two of sleep before she'd get back. "What do you think, Minion?" She asks, turning three eyes on Marina. "No more disturbed nights for you! I'd have to find something else to keep you busy. He'd definitely be useful to have around."

He.

Hmm.

"POTENTIAL MINION! What is your name anyway?" Very important to know his name, so she can avoid using it wherever possible! "And who gave you those clothes? They're so dull. Dreadfully boring. I can't have that! I need all my minions looking at least as fabulous as Marina does!" Wait, was that praise for the fishmaid? It takes a moment for Suzie to cotton on to what she just said. She hastily coughs and shakes a tentacle, her rows of teeth clicking slightly. "Who of course only looks so good because I dictated how she should dress!" Not exactly how that played out. Her direction was to "wear a dress" and "I don't know, look like a servant or something". Hardly dictating Marina's exact outfit, but she can't let this potential new minion know that!

[Slii Arhem]

Usurpation of Fishmaid?

Marina pivots at once to return her attention back to Suzie as her mistress calls - so immediately in fact, that she manages to bump an elbow into the side of the table, eyes widening and biting back a yelp. If the sound of another accursed tear in her lady's stockings weren't causing her to cringe enough! Clutching the bruised appendage, the fishwoman puts on a bit of an amusing display as she tries her damnedest to maintain that crisp and formal stance of attention in spite of how she keeps shifting in place, as if trying to outpace the acute ache in her arm.

"A-about nine more pairs, milady." The maid reports with as much composure and professionalism as possible, cringing only a little now - though the point-blank shouting didn't help her recovery much. "Would you wish for me to change them for you again, milady?" Marina is already reaching for a small pack kept suspended off her push broom to retrieve a new pair when the potential candidate offers his own expertise on the matter. The maid freezes, amber irises taking in that hefty stack of notes with a degree of apprehension. Was - was she supposed to have a stack of something like that this whole time? Oh dear, she'll have to buy more office supplies now won't she?! It was hard enough convincing Suzie to provide her the coin to purchase a couple pens and a diary, it would be torture to convince her lady that yet more paper and pens are needed!

[Managing Minions and Measuring their Merits]

Suzie folds her tentacles and stares at this potential new recruit (with roughly 2/6 eyes), nodding thoughtfully as he explains her options. How very informative! How very useful! Why hadn't Marina ever come up with something like this to fix the stocking problem? "Hmm. I like the sound of that. Deliberately torn stockings, made from something more durable. Hah! Never again would I have to send Marina out to fetch more stockings at two in the morning!" Well that'd definitely be a boon for Marina, wouldn't it? It's not exactly easy to acquire stockings at two in the morning after all. Thankfully, this being the Nexus, there is at least somewhere open, but it was still the sort of demand that'd cost the poor fishmaid a good hour or two of sleep before she'd get back. "What do you think, Minion?" She asks, turning three eyes on Marina. "No more disturbed nights for you! I'd have to find something else to keep you busy. He'd definitely be useful to have around."

He.

Hmm.

"POTENTIAL MINION! What is your name anyway?" Very important to know his name, so she can avoid using it wherever possible! "And who gave you those clothes? They're so dull. Dreadfully boring. I can't have that! I need all my minions looking at least as fabulous as Marina does!" Wait, was that praise for the fishmaid? It takes a moment for Suzie to cotton on to what she just said. She hastily coughs and shakes a tentacle, her rows of teeth clicking slightly. "Who of course only looks so good because I dictated how she should dress!" Not exactly how that played out. Her direction was to "wear a dress" and "I don't know, look like a servant or something". Hardly dictating Marina's exact outfit, but she can't let this potential new minion know that!

Redemption of a Fishmaid

"Alex. It was the most common name in the Nexus when I was born." He says as if he's proud of having an incredibly nondescript name, "And no one gave me these clothes. I bought them from the thrift store. I only have to wear the purple and gold spandex and the helmet that completely hides my face when I'm on the clock." It's actually impossible to imagine someone as dull as this man in such an ostentatious outfit. That's probably the purpose of the outfit, but even then it's hard to picture it without all the color bleeding out of the uniform, sucked into the well of dullness it's covering.

He glances over to Marina as she eyeballs his stack of annotations and guidelines and completely misreads her reaction to them, "I can photocopy a bunch of this for you if you want your own copy. The first two thirds is all about dealing with my current boss, but I keep a general rules and appendix in the back that is transferable to basically any minioning job for villains, demagogues, cult leaders, secret monsters in fleshsuits and three-piece suits, and most call centers and megacorporation cubicle farms." He locates a sticky flag and separates a hundred pages or so off from the much thicker sheaf that's apparently specific to just Zalexsz, "I've made the offer before, but most people thought it was weird and a bit boring."