Home 24: A house in this market?

[Arkhosia]

Caelynn's Hotel Room

Those amethyst orbs well with sympathy as Caelynn processes Magtok's words. Maybe it was due to her chosen profession, maybe it was from being a mother. Maybe she'd simply grown softer or more aware over the years. Whatever the reason, Magtok's expression worked perfectly at tugging her heartstrings. She pauses for a moment, trying to find the right words for what she wants to say to him.

"I... I don't want to hurt you, I can tell you've experienced more than enough loss and pain already. I don't know what you should do either, frankly. But I care about you, even after all these years, and I want to make you happy. Even if it's just for a short time, even if I'm just some fleeting romance that vanishes into the aether after a couple of months... then at the very least, I'd have made those couple of months just a little brighter for you." She reaches out to caress his cheek - the human one, this time - staring into his eyes earnestly.

[Morty]

[Trick or Treating]

Opening the door is a fairly short woman with dark skin and piercing blue eyes. She's wearing slacks and a hoodie, having been relaxing at home for the evening. She smiles down at the little trick or treaters... and it seems she's not he only one to greet them. Behind the woman are a very large dire wolf and a much smaller, and seemingly fairly old, cockatrice. They're peering intently at the kids, but they won't come out unless their owner permits.

"Now, then," she says brightly. "Just who is it that we have here? An adventurer and some monsters?"

[Rebonack]

[Trick or Treating]

"Your mom sounds really cool," Khannie concludes. "I've never shot a crossbow before, but I used a hammer once and didn't hit my finger or nothing. But it was just on nails and I don't think you're talking about the sort of hammer you hit nails with?"

They probably aren't Khannie.

They're talking about the sort of hammer you hit monsters with.

But then the door opens and there's someone on the other side with animals and stuff but she isn't wearing a costume but who cares because she probably has candy! "Trick or treat!" Khannie hollers.

"I'm a giant adventurer because they're giant monsters," Khannie corrects. "Otherwise it wouldn't make sense."

See?

Perfect sense-making right there.

[Morty]

[Lake Cabin - Private Party]

"You might not get a whole tower but a loft apartment would have a nice enough view." Cass can't really recommend much for cities, though. Skyside's a trash-hole, Riverside keeps getting invaded, Inside is... weird.

She raises a hand, lazily floating another log on to the fire.

Electra seems to be of the same mind as Cass as far as that goes.

"It seems to me that the cities aren't terribly stable, though. Inside's probably most stable right now, and even then, things disappear and appear there all the time. Riverside keeps getting invaded by different factions, and if anyone in Skyside finds out you're affiliated with MERC, they'll be knocking down your door trying to kill you. Not sure the view is worth that," She comments, then finishes off her s'more and takes another nip of the schnapps. "Though if you liken paranoia to excitement, then there's probably little that can compare."

Fayyaad's uncertainty is plain on his face as his tail comes to a stop. What Electra saying seems true. He'd never really considered Skyside, but the recent invasion of Riverside is also concerning. The Chief Executive of MERC was reportedly very unhappy about how that affected business. But could he really live out in the countryside or the wilderness? Away from people? He can't imagine it would be comfortable. A place like this is good enough for a private occasion, but to live in...

"You make a good point, Electra. I'll have to think about it. But whatever I decide, you two will be the first to know and the first to see my new place," he says. "For now, let's enjoy Electra's fine retreat. I'd love to see it from the inside, too."

[Deathkeeper]

A Hotel Room

Dory gives a small nod, as if having expected such an answer out of him, but she snaps her fingers and within the blink of an eye Sam's attire changes. He gains a mullet, a certain outfit, and a rather large boot knife. "There. Welcome to The Porkchop Express. Remember dear, it is all in the reflexes." She says with a grin before hopping up on his back to set her chin on his shoulder. "Oh, and one other thing before I go that'll get you all fired up and chuggin' along?" She leans forward, still grinning, and whispers into his ear.

"That elfy roommate of yours? Alex-something-or-other? She's not completely dead."

"See you at the party. Toodles!" She shouts before vanishing, her fanged grin the last to go.

[A Hotel Room]

Sam chokes, turning towards Dory only to catch her vanishing chompers.
"I-but-you-she-ugh she did the thing!" how did she know he saw Alice in Wonderland ten times at least? Maybe it's just a cat thing.
Sam, determined to get his explanation on what in the thirteen hells was just said to him (which from what little he was told ought to be completely impossible) despite the price it will inevitably cost him, hugs Pippin and hurries out the door to the party, barely even taking a minute to figure out what she actually dressed him as and marvel how Dory keeps somehow making shoes that fit his trotters.

Oh no! Koshal isn't getting scared off! What do?



Flee!
After a moment of bafflement, the fellow turns around and runs into the woods, a little unsteady.

[Countryside]

There's a problem with that plan.
There's suddenly a very angry dog in its way, growling. And Koshal is advancing on him with his sword.
"Gimme back my stuff!" Koshal demands, not caring if it doesn't understand him. He can get wolves to understand him, a crystal person really shouldn't be this hard.

[Underground Racetrack]

Iknika grins.

"It did. I'm glad I didn't scare you away by swinging an axe."

She leans up to kiss Isaac on the cheek... and nip on it with her teeth once she's done.

[Underground Racetrack]

Isaac flinches, though while he looks at her with momentary confusion the red mark on his cheek fades before her eyes.
"Yeah, well, just don't do it again where you did last time." he tells her, desperate to ignore what just happened and avoid insulting some weird cultural thing goblins have. Don't insult your new girlfriend, Isaac, you haven't even gotten to a fifth date yet.

[Lord Magtok]

Ithuriel's Demiplane

"That easily," Ambriel repeats, raising an eyebrow as he leans back into the angel, a dastardly little smirk starting to form at the corner of his mouth. "So you are admitting I could definitely wear you out. That's very gracious of you, Ithuriel. I wouldn't think your angel pride would let you admit such a thing, my being a mere human and all. It's good to know your limits, though. Exactly why I wouldn't try to carry you; it's important to understand an insurmountable challenge when you see one," he nods sagely, trying his best to keep that devilish grin from growing any wider.

Caelynn's Hotel Room

Magtok sighs, and shakes his head. "Maybe if I try to retire, it'll stop. If I just say, really loudly, 'I don't want anymore of your apocalypses or psycho murderers or revenge quests' and lock myself away in the cave, things will stop happening. No more fighting, no more heroics, no more spectacle and showmanship. Just leave it for the next generation, and maybe take up a hobby as a designer of shiny technological weapons for them to kill each other with. Nobody ever gives the item shop people much trouble, right?" Mag, you do know what happens to cops who are only a few days away from retiring, right? Saying you don't want all that action and drama and excitement in your life just guarantees you won't be able to go anywhere without it hounding you everywhere you go.

There's no easy answers or secret golden path to victory, Magtok. Trouble will find you no matter what decisions you make. The best you can hope for is that they're mild, ordinary troubles instead. The kind of troubles other characters deal with, like getting turned into a talking marmoset or raiding ancient tombs for fantastic and wonderful magical treasure. Manageable, lower-stress problems, the kind which don't loom over your head for months and months before abruptly crashing down like the sword of Damocles.

Magtok kisses the catgirl. It's simple, easy, and it makes him feel slightly better about things. That's all we can really hope for right now.

[billtodamax]

Trick or Treating

She's the coolest. Agrees Endok. You're thinking of the tiny hammers, she uses a warhammer! Olon clarifies excitedly.

Trick or treat! Trick or treat! They say as the door opens. Endok looks immediately interested in the wolf much more than the person at the door but Olon is focus to task. She gives a little roar as she's introduced as a giant monster. I'm Gened! Beware my poisonous vapours! she adds, before breathing out in a way that she is certain looks poisonous.

[Recaiden]

[Countryside]

There's a problem with that plan.
There's suddenly a very angry dog in its way, growling. And Koshal is advancing on him with his sword.
"Gimme back my stuff!" Koshal demands, not caring if it doesn't understand him. He can get wolves to understand him, a crystal person really shouldn't be this hard.

Not a surprise dog! That's the worst! Much scarier than Koshal.
The fellow twists to the side, hoping to escape from both of their clutches and run along the shore. It's better than nothing.

Can Koshal get termites to understand him? Now that's a challenge.

[Morty]

[Underground Racetrack]

Iknika pulls away from Isaac and blushes fiercely, her ears pointing almost straight down as she realizes what she did.

"Oh my- I'm sorry, I just felt so romantic and... didn't realize humans aren't into that," she stammers out.

[Trick or Treating]

"Of course. Giant adventuress. That does make sense," Sophie says, sounding every bit like it does. Then she theatrically flinches from the "poisonous vapor". "Then I suppose I had better give you some candy so I don't end up on the wrong side of them, huh?"

The dire wolf looks curiously at Endok and sniffs a little.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Ithuriel's Demiplane]

"Heh. Of course you could wear me out - you could poison my food, you could have a string of convenient accidents to force me to heal you repeatedly, you could shove a bunch of other injured people in front of me. But right now? Without any tricks or cheating? I am absolutely an insurmountable challenge for you." She slips an arm round his waist and holds him against her, leaning round to kiss that smirk away.

And to prove her point, she'll keep the kiss going until Ambriel's left utterly breathless, pulling away only when she's confident it'll leave him panting and gasping and utterly unable to smirk so cheekily any more.

"And I'm moments away from picking you up, carrying you through that door and leaving you so exhausted that you'll barely be able to crawl off that bed before noon tomorrow."

[Rebonack]

[Trick or Treating]

"Yeah, you don't want to upset giant monsters OR giant adventurers," Khannie agrees. She holds out her little bag to accept any candy that might come her way. "What's your lizard chicken thing? I don't know that one."

What kind of adventurer doesn't know what a cockatrice is?

Obviously Khannie needs to get educated.

[billtodamax]

Trick or Treating

Endok reaches out with the back of his hand to the dire wolf, mouth hanging open in concentration. First impressions are important!

His sister gives him a look as she hold out her bag. Doesn't he know how important this is? This is the whole point! Some candy might hold me off for now. She concedes to Sophie.

[Morty]

[Trick or Treating]

"This is Beaky, a cockatrice. They're... a kind of chicken-lizard creature, like you said." Beaky squawks a bit as if to confirm. "My wife already had him when I met her, so now he's mine too." Szarn, meanwhile, reaches out to sniff Endok's hand with his huge nose. "And this is Szarn, our dire wolf. Which more or less means a wolf, only bigger and with all those spikes."

[Rebonack]

[Trick or Treating]

"Can any sort of animal be dire?" Khannie asks, suddenly very interested in this particular form of classification. "If you put spikes on a duck, would it be a dire duck?"

A VERY important form of classification.

If you can make things bigger and give them spikes, then that just opens up whole new vistas of coolness.

A realization passes through Khannie's mind and she gives a little gasp.

"Can pokemon be dire? That would be so cool!"

But...

There are already lots of pokemon that are basically just big animals with spikes.

What would the point, be?

Aside from said spikes.

[Lord Magtok]

Ithuriel's Demiplane

It takes surprisingly long to render Ambriel panting and gasping and utterly unable to smirk so cheekily, especially for someone who had a punctured lung only a year ago. Maybe they made some other upgrades while they were poking around in his rib cage? He still ends up breathless either way, though. He might be a cyborg, but he's not some holy magical superbeing or anything like that.

"Sounds...sounds like a plan," the fake angel agrees, trying to catch his breath. Important that he get in a few breaths now, before the big marathon begins. Huh, a marathon...y'know, maybe that's the real reason Needs had him jogging up and down the riverbanks all day. We should remember to thank him later, when we're done punching him in the arm for being so sneaky and devilish.

[billtodamax]

Trick or Treating

With the same level of intense focus Endok tries to reach around the dire wolf's inquisitive nose and scratch it behind the ears. Hello Szarn... He says quietly under his breath as he does.

You can have giant birds and bats and rats. Olon contributes, remembering the pens beneath her home. They don't get all the spikes and stuff though they're just big. Olon is very knowledgeable about animals. Practically a vet.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Ithuriel's Demiplane]

"Heh, I'm impressed, Wings. I-" Ithuriel pauses. She what? She'd been about to pick up her cute cyborg fake-angel and give him the night of his life, why the sudden pause?

Well, it's all a bit reminiscent of last time, isn't it? Whisking him away to her magical land of neverending winter, getting all cuddly with him before retreating the bedroom, is that it? What if it just turns out like last time and within a week she vanishes again? Why? What does she actually want out of this?

What does he want out of this?

That - oh dear, that's a conversation they need to have at some point, isn't it? But now's really not the time for that. But she still feels the need to say something right now. This can't just be the same thing as before, if only to curb her irrational fear of repeat deadtime.

She sighs. "You know, for a while I genuinely fooled myself into thinking I was only concerned about my duty to you, that it was just about making sure that you had, I don't know, become a half-decent guy and not just gone back to being regular Magtok and saying it like that makes me seem incredibly arrogant." Also makes it seem like Ambriel was just kind of a project or something though, the same way Ithuriel was always just a project. "But I really was just fooling myself. I missed you, Ambriel." There's a hesitant moment's pause from Ithuriel, almost as if she's a little surprised by herself...and then she picks up her cute cyborg fake-angel, stands up and starts heading towards the cabin.

[Morty]

[Trick or Treating]

Sophie appears to ponder this very serious question very carefully.

"I've never heard of a dire duck, but I've heard of dire badgers," she says. "And your monster friend there is right that you can have big animals without spikes. Maybe they're not dire this way. My wife knows a lot more about it."

Szarn rubs against Endok's hand in a friendly manner. He's really nowhere near as intimidating as he looks.

[Deathkeeper]

[Countryside]

Not a surprise dog! That's the worst! Much scarier than Koshal.
The fellow twists to the side, hoping to escape from both of their clutches and run along the shore. It's better than nothing.

Can Koshal get termites to understand him? Now that's a challenge.

[Countryside]

I'm fairly sure Koshal got the animalspeak from his time with Hunter, but I actually don't remember.
The fellow might be close to getting away, except the dog is somehow in front of him again. That's weird.
Koshal is still getting closer.

[Underground Racetrack]

Iknika pulls away from Isaac and blushes fiercely, her ears pointing almost straight down as she realizes what she did.

"Oh my- I'm sorry, I just felt so romantic and... didn't realize humans aren't into that," she stammers out.

[Underground Racetrack]

Isaac shrugs.
"Eh. It happens. People are into a lot of things. No biggie." Then he goes to give her a quick kiss on the forehead just to show that she's forgiven.

[Recaiden]

I don't think Hunter's lessons extended beyond mammals and/or psychic animals. I'm afraid this guy is too alien.

How did that dog get there!? Are there two of them? Three? Is he surrounded?
In a panic, the fellow pounces towards Faye, swinging his claws wildly.

[Rebonack]

[Trick or Treating!]

Khannie nods sagely at all of this new information (and candy) that she has acquired.

She doesn't feel like petting the dog right now. Or... the wolf.

Dire wolf.

Whatever.

But only because she really isn't that big on petting things.

There weren't exactly animals where she originally grew up and petting people was kind of weird.

And so she decides to settle with, "Thanks for the candy, lady! And thanks for telling me about dire things! Have a spooky Spooktober!"

She'll wait for her new friends to finish up before heading back down the stairs. They might want to pet the lady's weird chicken lizard, too.

[billtodamax]

Trick or Treating

Endok smiles wide as he pats the wolf. Friend acquired! Olon tugs on his arm to get him to leave. Come oooooon Endok! We gotta go get more candy! She says, and Endok gives the wolf a last friendly pat before waving to Sophie. Bye! Thanks for letting me pat your wolf! The pair of dwarves hurray after Khannie.

[Lord Magtok]

[Ithuriel's Demiplane]

"Heh, I'm impressed, Wings. I-" Ithuriel pauses. She what? She'd been about to pick up her cute cyborg fake-angel and give him the night of his life, why the sudden pause?

Well, it's all a bit reminiscent of last time, isn't it? Whisking him away to her magical land of neverending winter, getting all cuddly with him before retreating the bedroom, is that it? What if it just turns out like last time and within a week she vanishes again? Why? What does she actually want out of this?

What does he want out of this?

That - oh dear, that's a conversation they need to have at some point, isn't it? But now's really not the time for that. But she still feels the need to say something right now. This can't just be the same thing as before, if only to curb her irrational fear of repeat deadtime.

She sighs. "You know, for a while I genuinely fooled myself into thinking I was only concerned about my duty to you, that it was just about making sure that you had, I don't know, become a half-decent guy and not just gone back to being regular Magtok and saying it like that makes me seem incredibly arrogant." Also makes it seem like Ambriel was just kind of a project or something though, the same way Ithuriel was always just a project. "But I really was just fooling myself. I missed you, Ambriel." There's a hesitant moment's pause from Ithuriel, almost as if she's a little surprised by herself...and then she picks up her cute cyborg fake-angel, stands up and starts heading towards the cabin.

"I missed you too, Ith. But listen, we're talking about this...this stuff after," Ambriel insists, even as she hauls him off to the cabin. "The nervous pauses, the worried looks, that anxiety thing you're doing? When I can walk again, I'm going to hug you and you're going to tell me what's eating away at you. I'm sort of a trained diplomat now, so I'm way better at listening to people who are't me than I used to be, and that's what I'm going to do." Trained diplomat is a bit of hyperbole, since nobody actually trained Ambriel and roughly half the negotiations he's been involved with have ended in violence and suffering, but she doesn't need to know that.

[Ashen Lilies]

[Lake Cabin - Private Party]





Fayyaad's uncertainty is plain on his face as his tail comes to a stop. What Electra saying seems true. He'd never really considered Skyside, but the recent invasion of Riverside is also concerning. The Chief Executive of MERC was reportedly very unhappy about how that affected business. But could he really live out in the countryside or the wilderness? Away from people? He can't imagine it would be comfortable. A place like this is good enough for a private occasion, but to live in...

"You make a good point, Electra. I'll have to think about it. But whatever I decide, you two will be the first to know and the first to see my new place," he says. "For now, let's enjoy Electra's fine retreat. I'd love to see it from the inside, too."

[Lake Cabin - Private Party]

"I suppose the fire will survive if we go on a quick tour," Cassandra assents. "Lead the way?"

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Ithuriel's Demiplane]

That "trained diplomat" line isn't exactly gonna have people swooning at Ambriel's feet. Ithuriel has to suppress a slight snort of laughter at the horrendously inappropriate timing on Ambriel's part there. But they've done enough talking for now. She's not going to let her worries distract her any longer. Not right now anyway.

The door is opened, revealing that same warm, snug interior as last time with furs draped handily about the place, a fire burning merrily away, a couple of pieces of artwork mid-way through being worked on...and beyond, a nice big bed loaded with blankets, pillows and more furs.

Ithuriel smiles at Ambriel, closing the door and pulling the curtain down as she carries him over to the bedroom.

[Lord Magtok]

Ithuriel's Demiplane

Oww. When the curtain goes back up, Ambriel is...well, he's a lot of things, but I suppose humbled would be a good place to start. I mean, he knew Ithuriel is this big, super-powered angel lady, and he's just a mortal human being. He knew she'd be nothing short of inhuman, that her very nature as an angel gave divine power greatly exceeding that of mundane human being, that it'd been something like ten years of loneliness from her perspective, that she was going to utterly destroy him if he let her. He knew all of this ahead of time, and that he absolutely had to be careful here.

Well, long story short, he wasn't careful. Ambriel thought he'd discarded most of his old pride and ego from his time as a Magtok, and even joked ahead of time, acting like he was still the same cyborg who didn't know his limits...and yet here we are. Using her magic once to keep going was a good idea, and pretty resourceful. The second or third time...maybe we should've called it quits then. The sixth time her magic was used to keep Ambriel going...oof.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Ithuriel's Demiplane]

Poor, poor Ambriel. Arguably Ithuriel really should've had the sense to call it a day by the fourth time at the very, absolute latest. Maaaybe the fifth. Definitely not the sixth though. When he finally regains consciousness, he'll find that Ithuriel has long-since vacated the bed, though she apparently took the time to adjust the blankets to make sure he was nice and comfortable while recovering. The cabin is warm, the bedroom door is open, the faint crackling of the fire still burning in the main room can still be heard. Aside from the flickering glow of the fire, though, it's quite dark in the cabin which in fairness is how Ithuriel likes it.

Through a small crack in the window, a clue as to Ithuriel's location will waft its way through to him - the scent of meat roasting on an open fire. A bigger clue will be when Ithuriel walks in a few minutes later with a tray full of food. It's all a little rough-around-the-edges homemade stuff, but there's quite a pleasant aroma to it. There's a big ol' hunk of nicely flamed meat, a number of chunks of brown bread heavily laden with seeds, a large steaming bowl of some sort of broth made from a generous mix of veg and probably some of the less-eatable bits of whatever animal the meat came from...and a dollop of spread with a knife in case Ambriel likes having some spread on his bread. Not your most typical breakfast and hardly the sort of thing a food critic would give a glowing review over, but it does at least all smell good.

As for Ithuriel? She's positively glowing (even more so than she normally does) and has quite the smile on her face. "Hey Wings, I figured you might be feeling kinda hungry when you woke up."

*****

[Thad's Apartment]

"Waaait, Vivi, could you actually do that? That'd be very mean and definitely not a humble, innocent bumblebee thing to do!" Lucy huffs in Thad's defense, completely failing to actually look at all angry about it. "Besiiiiides, i-if you did that, I'd love my convenient rest-stop and you'd lose your easy way to get in contact with me, wouldn't you?" She grins mischievously, matching Vivi's gaze. "And then you'd never be able to fulfill whichever of those wild and unwholesome fantasies of yours I can fulfill."

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Lake Cabin - Private Party]

Electra chuckles, and rises, gesturing towards the cabin.

"Alright, then, follow me." She leads the way inside, and gestures for them to follow.

Inside, there's a fairly large bed, along with what the others might identify as some sort of high-tech generator nestled in one corner. Next to that is a decently-sized fireplace, set into the wall. There are still a few ashes in the fireplace; they look fairly recent, so Electra must have been here recently. In the opposite corner from the generator is a tall, metal cabinet with a rather hefty lock on it. Weapons, perhaps? Along the opposite wall from the fireplace are more cabinets, and a small kitchenette consisting of a countertop along the wall below said cabinets. All of these appear to be relatively new, wooden construction, though whether they've been finished, or if Electra still has more work to do on them is unclear. There's a small refrigerator nestled in among the cabinets, humming away, as well. The cabin has a cozy, calming atmosphere, even though it's obviously still in a state of being refurbished. Despite being a single room, it's still spacious enough to not be cramped, however.

Electra sweeps her hands around once they're inside.

"Not much to see, but it's livable, at least. What do you think?"

[Morty]

[Lake Cabin - Private Party]

"If the fire goes out, I can just start it up again," Fayyaad assures Cassandra as they walk to the cabin. "Since the embers will still be hot it won't even take much out of me."

Once inside, he takes a look around.

"It is pretty simple," Fayyaad says. "But cozy. Good if someone wants to stay away from things for a while, I suppose. And there's a fireplace here too, I see."

[Deathkeeper]

I don't think Hunter's lessons extended beyond mammals and/or psychic animals. I'm afraid this guy is too alien.

How did that dog get there!? Are there two of them? Three? Is he surrounded?
In a panic, the fellow pounces towards Faye, swinging his claws wildly.

[Countryside]

Faye leaps out of the way, while Koshal advances forward, trying to smash the butt of his sword against the strange thief's head.
A proper knight would at least try to not kill this strange monster-person, even if he's ignored requests, threats, and responded with violence.