Inside 69: Nice.

[Deathkeeper]

[SNS Street Gym]

Oh shush now, rapier. G’nichi had a plan!
Namely he really did want to make absolutely sure no one would call Intersection on him if the staff did do something to these brutes.
”Oh, please. Would I have told you if I thought you could?” he asks, playing up his confidence even if he doesn’t feel much. But then, even the rats were probably smarter than these morons.
”Self defense!” he says shrilly as he steps forward out of the staff’s helpful back-dash, swinging the pink instrument in a golf swing at one of the retrievers while giving it permission to use its powers on its victim.
Just don’t kill them okay? We’re the good guys.

[Rebonack]

[Golden Flock Orphanage]

"Wait, don't!-" Lucas yells out as he notices Melissa leaping, one arm held out.

Aaaaand then she's gone.

"Isaac we were all supposed to go at once! We were supposed to stick together, remember?" Lucas laments. "She's, what, nine? Eight? If you say someone else has to go first of course she's going to dive headlong down the stairs."

Lucas puts a hand on Isaac's shoulder.

"Now. Let's go. Together. If the stairs collapse then we just deal with that as we go."

And then spooky dude appears.

Lucas gives him a flat, unamused look before lobbing that cold-iron tipped spear straight at the boogie. He's got a pretty good arm!

Meanwhile!

Melissa glances back over her shoulder and-

No stairs.

She frowns.

"No fair! No cheating!" she pouts, giving her foot a stomp for good measure. "You think you can trick me so easy? You think I don't know how spooks work? I promised my big brother I was going to stay with them and I will!"

She seems mostly annoyed that she leaped away too quickly. But isn't that what Isaac wanted her to do? Isaac you butt, this is all your fault!

Then she raises her hand above her head, darkness and moonlight swirling between her fingers for but a moment, and then she clenches her fist. Dozens of silver threads erupt from between her fingers, stabbing into walls and doors and floors and ceilings and everything else in her general proximity. She gives her arm a twist wrapping the gossamer strands around her wrist and black flames begin licking down their length.

What's she doing?

Trying to devour all ghostly manifestations in her general proximity. Ghosts rearranging a building? Turning doors into walls? Flipping hallways in on themselves? It's all gossamer magic, magic stained by the ghostly soul. And anything with the tormented echo of a ghost tainting it is cat-food as far as Melissa is concerned.

[Deathkeeper]

Golden Flock Orphanage

”I thought you would walk.” Isaac growls.
And then spooky thing! Why did they have to come here? They should have gone for something smaller.
Isaac forms a little wall of force with his hand and pushes it at the specter at shoulder height. It would be enough to bowl over a normal person.
Or maybe knock the head off a weird goopy thing.

[Reinholdt]

[Temperance Teahouse]

"I've never done any official massage learning," Holly comments. It's pretty unfortunate, because learning the basics is pretty cool.


Her only experience with flying - machine-assisted or no - was the airships to and from VIGIL.
Well, that, and that one time she jumped off VIGIL's flying island. And I guess that one time Stu did a rocket-powered jump. And jumping out of Watchtower's tower. But one of those is just a jump and the other two are literally just falling with style. She supposes she could fly if she tried out a lot of things and found the right biology that would allow someone of her size to fly. . .but that would likely involve repeatedly jumping off tall buildings or cliffs until she got it right.
"No, I haven't," she finally says, after chewing her food enough to give her time to think. "I've a couple airships, and I've fallen a handful of times but I've never flown."

[Temperance Teahouse]

"I'm sure you're probably still just as good as me," Rein laughs. He's not able to claim otherwise, too much of a novice.

"Airships are cool. Falling sometimes is?" Reinholdt raises an eyebrow at Holly inquisitively, wondering if there's a decent story there. Falling is not considered the optimal form of movement in most cases.

He shakes his head and shrugs, moving on to the point. "Would you like to try? Flying, that is?" Some people love the idea, some people are indifferent, and some people are just afraid of heights. Reinholdt sips some tea, almost finished with the sushi, which is good cause the ice cream that comes with the Tempura Fried Bananas is just starting to get melty. In retrospect, he should have waited until now and called over the waitress to order again instead. Hindsight's tricky like that.

[Lord Magtok]

Delilah's Old Hideout - Haz

Spoiler

Show

[Delilah's Old Hideout]

Possessions tend to be described in a multitude of ways. Cold and suffocating. Painful. Terrifying.

As this entity of light flies into Ambriel, it just feels like sleep and a dream. A rapid dimming and gentle dismissal of awareness, as his consciousness is suffused and enveloped by something far beyond it.
The bright side to this is that he won't have to deal with that usual sense of horror from being a witness to one's own body acting without your consent. Instead, his world becomes nothing but an endless expanse of stars with no one but him and the figure of light for occupants.

I would like to reassure you that I mean no deliberate harm to your body.
The figure speaks, still in that distorted feminine voice, but echoing further off into the void around them.

Back in the real world, barring any potent surprised to keep the body nonfunctional...

His biological eye becomes the same molten gold with amethyst that Venmaunt's were, but the mechanical eye's color remains as it is.
The entity makes a passing sweep through Ambriel's mind, to glean what it may about the cyborg's recent activities and anything at all about the shooter, but it's possible the mechanical half of things could make this less than convenient. This isn't ideal, but there really isn't anything to be done about it right now if there's no easy access to the memories.

Time is too short to waste time really digging into it.

With luck from there, "Ambriel" isn't going to be shot, as he swiftly strides the rest of the way into the kitchen, rushing to flick the fleshier set of fingers through the series of missing symbols in that cloud by the sword-pinned thing. And then stare down at the fallen form of Venmaunt.
"I am sorry, my child. In another future."

If by now, Haz hasn't already made a move, "Ambriel" will attempt to look as unaggressive as possible as he tries to catch a glimpse of the fellow through that unfortunate hole in the ceiling.
Hands held to the side and still.
What happens after this will direct future action.

It's got his brother. Pretty obvious to see that, when his view of the room ahead has shifted to a view of the runes, as his brother manipulates the things and displays an infinitely greater grasp of magic than anything he's never indicated before in his entire life. If that thing made the half-dragon our enemy, if Venmaunt really was our ally and had no intention of helping his mother before he was inhabited by this divine entity, well...I suppose we might owe someone an apology for blowing their entire head off later on. Still, her fault for using him as a puppet like that. Haz did what had to be done, as he always does.

"Hey Koalemos, what part of '**** off and die' did you not understand the first time?" Haz growls as he overtly strides into the room, finally using that extensive Greek/Roman mythology research he spent so much time on, back when Zeus and Dionysus were mucking about in the Nexus. It is a shame Magtok never saw fit to pit him against either of the stupid frat bros, that he never got to tango with a major mythological figure, but maybe today's the day that all changes, if he can just get the thing to leave his baby brother alone and fight fair.

"Let me make this simple for you, Feia puppet. Either you back off and I leave this building with Delilah and Ambriel, or you try to get in my way, and I leave this building with Delilah and Ambriel," he challenges the thing inside his brother, moving to elbow right past and work on ripping the big ugly sword right out of Delilah's midsection. This might sound a little cocky and overconfident to you, but c'mon. It's possessing Ambriel, the diplomat of the team. Even without this suit of power armor on his side, Haz could easily pick the silly cherub boy up by his little white suit and throw him into the street without much effort. It probably doesn't even know enough programming languages to use Amb properly; it'd be like challenging a one-armed child to a game of Watchforce Fisticuffs II: Hyper Tournament Edition. The kid might get one attack off, if he's lucky, whereas you've gotten so good at zoning with Blanche that you'll probably perfect every single round if you put in even the most token of efforts into the match.

Delilah's Old Hideout - Ambriel

"I'm sorry, you're probably running into some trouble out there. My brother's a little quick on the trigger and my body was designed to be extremely uncooperative in situations like this one. Whatever you were doing looked important; is there any way I could convince you to let me know what's going on, guide you through whatever you're trying to do here?" Ambriel's consciousness asks the figure, assuming this holy figure to be on the side of good and justice and world-saving. I mean, all it's done so far is apologize with every other word, how could it be evil? Delilah unfortunately is...well, he doesn't really know how to justify that. Clearly there was one hell of a fight before he showed up here. Nothing about this ritual seems designed to help her, given that it involves her being pinned to a wall with a sword, but...I dunno, maybe we should hear the spirit out first, before we assume anything. Maybe our intel is mistaken.

[Rebonack]

[Creepy Victorian Fungus Trap]

The skittering horror is flailed at sort of effectively! And birds of magical force crash into it! Oh and Jack just brandished the relic of Growth at it while invoking some bird gods.

Those are certainly some things.

Let's see what they do to awful amalgams of parts shall we?

First of all? The sword. The sword cleaves through the thing's defiles meat pretty effectively, causing it to part at the slightest touch. It's almost as if the sword's swordness is unusually swordy. Kind of a weird idea by hey! Nothing wrong with a swordy sword. When several bird missiles crash into the already injured limb it half-drops half-throws Melissa across the library into a waiting pile of books. This is probably a good thing for her, relatively speaking, because some weird stuff is about to go down when Jack brandishes the relic of Growth at the horror.

Specifically?

The relic attempts to tap into whatever power Jack has. Normally it would be her shape shifting bird magic but she has more than that now. She has a thaumaturgic connection to the sphere of Observation. And so the relic taps into that. A sickening wave of power pulses from the relic, causing whatever part of the horror she's looking at to begin bulging and swelling with dozens, if not hundreds, of disgusting lumpy tumors. The horror is already pretty misshapen and had difficulty moving, but the addition of all those tumors really isn't helping it at all.

The monster snarls and bleats and squelches and whispers in agitation as it lashes out at Jack with one of its misshapen limbs, aiming to just slap her silly. Meanwhile, at the other end of the thing, a... face? bursts out of the back end of the thing in a spray of lumpy oil. A face that looks like a cross between a skeletal pair of wolf's jaws and a crimson flower-like fungus. It makes a gurgle sound for a moment before spitting a sticky blob of oil at her.

Thankfully this stuff won't cause more mutations.

Unthankfully it will sting like heck on account of being vaguely caustic. More concerning is the fact that it'll temporarily scramble the meaning of Melissa's nerve impulses to her arms and legs. Flopping around uselessly in a situation like this would be bad.

[Recaiden]

[Rooftop Statuary Garden]

The Jack-statue has an enchantment on it to prevent wear-and-tear, without which it would be quite fragile. The magic comes from the holiness of a saint, the devoured healing light of the mirror-sun. The material it's made of is kind of impossible, but it's not magic in the same way.
"I transmuted the light and dark around the garden into a solid shape, and had it copy your appearance. I mean, I couldn't make it look like just anything; it would have to be a copy of one of us or one of these statues, unless I just made a big block and took all the time to carve it too."
That should do for a short explanation, she thinks.
"I think it's the sort of thing you could learn to do, although, I mean, I'm not a very good teacher."

[Eurus Hive]

Yes, your underwear as well, unless you want to risk it ending up on the inside of your skin.

The water has a slight electrical tinge to it, and is warm, like a hot spring.
As Sylvette walks deeper into the water, the rippling floor shifts under her feet, possibly sending her completely underwater. The spikes around the rim of the pool arch inwards. Filaments lift from the walls and stretch towards her.
The psychic presence becomes a pressure. Breathe. Sleep.
But if she succumbs to all this, she really won't drown. The hive will reach into her lungs and see to that.
She'll just dream, while the Weavers speed her body through its changes. Which won't be as quick or easy as the last-person's, unless Sylvette is also secretly a half-fiend. It will be a troubled sleep, and she won't be alone even in her dreams.

[5a Violista]

[Temperance Teahouse]

There's actually not much of a story she wants to tell about falling: "Sometimes falling is just the fastest way down," she says, trying to play it off as a joke.

But actually, flying (instead of just gliding) is something she's always wanted to do. So, trying to not sound too hopeful (in case it's just one of those 'technically/practically flying' things that telemarketers try to sell all the time), she says, "Yes! I'd love to, do you know a way to do it?"


She has forgotten all about the ice cream but probably should eat it because that's part of the thing she was most excited for.

[Ionbound]

[Creepy Victorian Fungus Trap]

Melissa cries out in terror as she's flung into the pile of books, and then screams more as some of that nasty oil is belched onto her. Still recovering from the toss, she can't dodge and gets the nasty, stinging oil on her. She tries to get up and wipe it off, but with her nerve signals scrambled, she can't do anything but flop on the floor like a fish. Good luck, Jack! You're our last chance.

[Arkhosia]

[What's Kraken Inside?]

Marina isn't terribly capable of helping with Zee's terrible sewer crab affliction - but even if she were, she seems a little knocked out of it by the sudden collision. She takes a second to process it all before being helped up by Marina, sloppily attempting to dust the skirt of her newer attire. "E-er, yes! We demand that you must guide us there!" She insists, falling remarkably easily into the Minion role of echoey cheerleader despite the minor concussion she seems to be coping with.

[Morty]

[Intersection Canteen]

Okay, the hand waving is a bit hard for Ith to interpret. She decides not to read too much into it for now. Maybe she can help, maybe she can't. No harm in trying next time though, right?

"Yeah, I get it. Serious stuff requires a serious response, and it sucks afterwards." Ith sighs, slumping back in her chair. Way to oversimplify it. "And we have ****-all to show for that one as well. I hope whatever crap AMEN is up to stays out of Inside."

"Aye. When I came 'ere, I heard AMEN are washed-up has-beens of no consequence," Michalson says. "Guess they got a little fight left in 'em. Maybe becoming a detective isn't the peaceful job I thought it'd be. Was gettin' tired of planeswalking."

[Earl of Purple]

Rooftop Statuary Garden

"I would like to learn some kind of magic, but... I'm not that great at concentrating." Which is one reason why she doesn't have a job- she doesn't think she could hold one down. Also, she enjoys her free time. Jack goes up to touch it, just to make sure it's physical. It doesn't register as an illusion, but she still can't quite grasp it's physically there.

Eurus Hive

Sylvette does slip as the water reaches her hips, falling over backwards and yelping. She takes a gulp of water, and starts to panic, but the psychic pressure manages to calm her down, and she even yawns, feeling surprised at how tired she suddenly is. She'll drift off to sleep.

She shifts and turns in her sleep, as she begins to change. Antennae are the first step, long and feathered growing from her head. A chitinous exoskeleton starts to emerge, metallic green and growing over her back and shoulders. Her fingers lose the bones, becoming soft and tactile tentacles and gaining two extra on each hand, and a pair of mandibles emerge from her jaw, though they're hidden by her cheeks. More metallic green carapace cover her lower legs and feet, with toes fusing into a pair of blunt claws. A smaller pair of arms are growing from her armpits, with a metallic green carapace covering them from the hands to their mount on her torso; they end in barely functional hands with obsidian claws.

Creepy Victorian Deathrap

Jack sees the incoming tendril, and flaps her wings to go up and avoid it. She points her wand at the nearest cluster of tumours, and blasts it with magical bird-shapes. Hopefully the tumour is a weak spot that can be attacked and damaged for increased effectiveness, and not just an unfeeling growth of strange tissue.

[Rebonack]

[What's Kraken Inside?]

Okay.

What information has Zee got to work with here?

Two girls. Both with tentacles. One with a coral staff and a lack of empathy. The other with a servile attitude and maybe a concussion?

She did NOT run into that person anywhere near hard enough to cause a concussion.

That's pretty bare bones. Even if these folks might not actually have bones?

"Umm... which library?" Zee asks. "There are a couple different ones. Abrajin's Library is a bit more general purpose and WAY weirder. Philip Memorial Library is more about forbidden spooky knowledge and smells like fish people."

You can't really get away from the smell of fish people over in Arkham Street.

"Is there a particular book you're looking for..." she squints up at nothing. "Suzie?"


[Creepy Victorian Deathrap]

Jack deftly dodges the limb! Which is good since her partner just got incapacitated. The magic missiles slam into the tumors, causing them to burst like puffballs sending thick brownish black smoke roiling into the air. There's a strong possibility that breathing that stuff in is unhealthy.

The horror isn't looking very happy with the beating it has taken so far, but it's still moving. Moving fairly threateningly as a matter of fact. A multitude of mouths open up along the limb nearest Jack and they begin singing. It's... wonderful. The most perfect song Jack has ever heard. She may suddenly find herself overcome by a mountain of emotion, weeping at the sublime beauty of it. That might make it difficult to defend herself.

Speaking of having trouble defending herself!

Melissa got... not quite paralyzed. But considering how she's flopping around uselessly that may as well be what it was. That awful flower/mushroom/wolf-jaw thing distends and lurches toward her, tendrils moving to lash around her wildly flailing limbs and bite down on her clothing. She'll be dragged back toward the misshapen bulk of the horror as its whole back-end splits open into a giant maw of spongy mushroom flesh, oily black hair, and goat-horn teeth. Unless stopped it's going to swallow her whole.

Probably a good idea to prevent it from doing that.

[Recaiden]

[Rooftop Statuary Garden]

The statue is as there as anything. Solid, stiff, cold.
"Ah, that's a difficulty. There's some kinds of magic that are more about emotion or willpower than concentration, but I don't know them." Anchor says, to add a bit of encouragement to that disclaimer.

[Eurus Hive]

Without any magic that can physically transform herself like the last candidate, Sylvette is going to be in the pool for a long time.
Not as long as you might think it would take for your body to rewrite and regrow itself, thanks to the elixir in the pool, the weavers on the shore, and the supernaturally perfect microorganisms spreading through her body. But she surely won't be getting out today.
The Tineye changes.
The elixir and the living pool make sure she doesn't die in the process.
At some point they dump a bunch of tin into the mix.
The weavers make sure she doesn't devolve into a useless ball of cancer and extraneous tongues, or a brainless monkey husk, or anything unfortunate.
It looks like everything is going well. It sure seems like humans are born wit the wrong number of arms, huh?

Meanwhile, the hive reaches ever deeper into her dreams. Relived memories play out differently with the presence of Fay and the queen. In vague flashes, she dreams their dreams, snippets from their arrival here, the glorious past, the struggle to grow in the Nexus, the more glorious future. Meaningless struggles of a life of crime are contrasted with the natural cooperation of the hive, while highlighting some commonalities. Flocks of hounds scamper through her recollections to make an initial assessment of her skill at telepathic command.
They hope that by the time the wakes, the hive will seem mostly familiar. Old friends.

[Reinholdt]

[Temperance Teahouse]

There's actually not much of a story she wants to tell about falling: "Sometimes falling is just the fastest way down," she says, trying to play it off as a joke.

But actually, flying (instead of just gliding) is something she's always wanted to do. So, trying to not sound too hopeful (in case it's just one of those 'technically/practically flying' things that telemarketers try to sell all the time), she says, "Yes! I'd love to, do you know a way to do it?"


She has forgotten all about the ice cream but probably should eat it because that's part of the thing she was most excited for.

[The Temperance Teahouse]

Reinholdt rubs the back of his head. "Yeah, I suppose so." He smiles, but the joke wasn't funny enough to make him laugh. He does leave it alone however as well.

"I do actually! I know a guy. I'll show you after we finish eating. Not far from here." Reinholdt says, that knowing grin coming back to him. He doesn't seem intent on elaborating further, continuing with the last vestiges of his meal. He finally tries the fried banana and closes his eyes.

[Ionbound]

[Creepy Victorian Deathrap]

Melissa screams as the creature starts to swallow her alive, starting from the legs. She struggles as best she can but is half-eaten already before she can get her body enough under control to push back. She grunts as she holds onto the edges of the creatures mouth, "The sword! Toss me...The sword! So I can get out!"

[Earl of Purple]

Quaint Victorian Deathtrap

Well, Jack has to avoid breathing, avoid listening to the singing and throw a sword. She's crying from the raw emotion in the sound, and can't bring herself to harm it. She hears Melissa, though, and lowers her wand to the sword. She can't do much; the music is so powerful and good. It's so beautiful, she doesn't want it to end. But she can still help Melissa; she shoots the sword with the force-birds, vaguely hoping it's pushed into Melissa's reach.

Rooftop Statuary Garden

"I know, I should really start to look into it." But that would require concentrating long enough to make a plan! And Jack kinda doesn't do that very well. She managed to plan this, but didn't have a plan for what happened after.

Speaking of plans, what's happening on the shadow front?

Eurus Hive

Her dreams aren't pleasant. A world of smog-choked skies and ash-strewn fields, where fogs inhabited- or so the Skaa believe- by face-stealing monsters. A world where an immortal emperor oppresses the Skaa labourers and peasants, so they live worse than slaves, whilst his favoured nobles get wealth, privilege and sometimes, even, magic. In order to keep that magic, nobles and Skaa are forbidden from reproducing; nobles who mix their seed execute after, to ensure no half-breeds. Some happen anyway, and the results are hunted and executed if found. Sylvette is one of those hybrids; a life on the run, joining thieving crews and working to steal valuables and food. As a Tineye, she spent some time working as a lookout to provide warning if Obligators or worse Steel Inquisitors headed towards their hideout. She also went on burglary missions, to keep an ear out in case somebody woke up.

Anything to make her dreams easier is really quite easy. Pretty much anything's better than the dreams she usually has. The feeling she's not alone is most certainly welcome, as well. Telepathic command skill is quite low, she's usually either a lone agent or a lookout, not a leader or coordinator. In a lot of her memories and dreams, she's staying aware of her emotions; it seems that emotional manipulation is something she's familiar with and knows how to detect. That might change the Hive's ideas on how to influence her, and might explain her behaviour earlier.

[Rebonack]

[Creepy Victorian Deathrap]

With Jack mostly immobilized the horror will reach out to grab her, its front end splitting open much as its back end had.

Apparently it is planning on capturing our heroes. Probably taking them to the Thing in the Walls. Judging from the journals they would likely be absorbed into it, their bones spit out into the earth surrounding the house to be found by some other would be adventurer or burglar. How many people has this house devoured?

What's just two more?

Then.

Three little birds.

Ping ping ping!

They bounce the sword straight into Melissa's hand.

She had better do something quick before she vanishes into the horror's bulk. It probably doesn't have anything friendly in mind for our heroes.

[5a Violista]

[The Temperance Teahouse]

That's a bad sign: if your date doesn't laugh at your bad jokes, then that means...
...
...Actually, Holly doesn't know what that means. It means something, that's for sure.

"Okay!" she says. Holly starts to imagine what sort of guy this could be, as she tries the dessert as well. Sure, the ice-cream is good, but she's getting slightly more banana than ice-cream. What kind of guy could get them to fly unassisted? She starts brainstorming, while eating. Magic could do that, definitely. Or...maybe some sort of magic carpet or broom? But no that probably counts as a vehicle. Or maybe it's one of those suits you can wear, or a jetpack? That might work too, but those could arguably not count as unassisted flight. "He's got to be some kind of magician," she says when her thoughts finally break free from being just in her head. "You don't have to tell me if it'll spoil the anticipation," she says, taking a break from the half-melted ice-cream and banana, "but I'm currently imagining either some kind of levitation magic, or a nerdy wizard who turns people into birds. Or maybe a pixie. That might work, too."

[Ionbound]

[Creepy Victorian Deathtrap]

Melissa does her best to grab the sword, but only manages to once she's pulled into the beast! With a wet slurp, Melissa, with the sword, is sucked into the belly of the creature!

[Reinholdt]

[The Temperance Teahouse]

Reinholdt lets out a very satisfied sound before taking another bite of the delicious dessert Holly recommended. He didn't think fried bananas could pull it off, but he was wrong.

Holly does manage to make him laugh a little with her guesses. "Well he's no magician. A trickster maybe and there are certainly similarities to be had." Reinholdt shakes his head, thoroughly amused.

"You were closest with pixie actually. This guy, bit of a fool, wandered too deep into the Weald and got enchanted by Will-O-Wisps. The mean kind that draw you off the trail and turn you into one of them, you know? Well there he was, Will-O-Wisps, spinning all around him, practically doomed. Fortunately, he was just barely smart enough to bring someone else with him into the Weald and they saved him before it could get too far. So now he's one eleventh Will-O-Wisp, and has a small suite of weird powers." Reinholdt nods at Holly for half-guessing the next part. "Levitation of sorts being one of them."

[5a Violista]

[The Temperance Teahouse]

"One-eleventh Will-O-Wisp?" Sure, it sounds like Reinholdt is completely serious, but it still sounds funny. She laughs a little, but tries to not laugh too much because he's talking about somebody who was, in fact, partially turned into a fairy against their will. "I heard a story once where somebody was one-third cow, but never one-eleventh anything. But I guess, in that situation, it makes sense."

Seeing there's only a little bit of the banana left, the half-human woman finishes it off, leaving her date with the responsibility to decide whether to drink the remaining melted ice cream or to leave it there.

"Glad he got out of there," Holly adds. "Fairies can be pretty scary." Will-O-Wisps are a kind of fairy, apparently.
She says this even though, supposedly, she's half an elf.

Anyway. It looks like they're finished except for maybe the last of the drinks. Holly even comments on this, and then adds, "So, we're splitting the bill, right?" Honestly, they should have discussed this before the date, but...sometimes people like her forget to bring that up.

[Reinholdt]

[The Temperance Teahouse]

Rein smiles a bit all the same, enjoying the melody of her laughter. "It's pretty rare. Then again, so is one-third cow. How does one come to be one-third bovine?" Thinking about it hasn't come up with many answers that feel satisfactory. Something involving a minotaur perhaps?

It turns out Reinholdt turns down the melted ice cream drink. While sure it's just as delicious as Rein could hope for, as most milk products are, he doesn't want to eat too much either. He already had an extra glass to drink after all. He's pretty satisfied with what he's gotten anyways. And thus ends up motioning for the bill.

"Oh no no, don't worry about it. I'm paying. I did ask you out after all," Rein says. Technically true, though it was a very rushed question and answer at the last minute of nearly missing a train. There could be argument that that shouldn't count. Rein doesn't seem particularly bothered by this technicality. If she insists, however, he will back off and agree to splitting the costs. Generosity is important, but so is independence.

[Recaiden]

Rooftop Statuary Garden

"I know, I should really start to look into it." But that would require concentrating long enough to make a plan! And Jack kinda doesn't do that very well. She managed to plan this, but didn't have a plan for what happened after.

Speaking of plans, what's happening on the shadow front?

"Maybe if I run across anything like that, I could let you know." Anchor says, a little skeptical. Should start to look into it usually means not going to look into it. That's fine of course, not everyone should do magic.
Anchor turns to survey all the statues with a smile, ending up facing Jack. "Should we head back down? Do you know where you're staying tonight?"

Can't believe I forgot those poor shadows!
Poor Jack's shadow in particular, with Jack not even noticing its coming and going. You might say she's distracted by Anchor, if you're being charitable. But it's still inconsiderate.
While the solids have been going to look at statues and chatting, I imagine they went off somewhere completely different, perhaps running across the rooftops of various buildings. Perhaps discussing things in a ill-lit corridor. Perhaps slinking through a marketplace, surprising people.
Just enjoying their freedom.

Eurus Hive

Her dreams aren't pleasant. A world of smog-choked skies and ash-strewn fields, where fogs inhabited- or so the Skaa believe- by face-stealing monsters. A world where an immortal emperor oppresses the Skaa labourers and peasants, so they live worse than slaves, whilst his favoured nobles get wealth, privilege and sometimes, even, magic. In order to keep that magic, nobles and Skaa are forbidden from reproducing; nobles who mix their seed execute after, to ensure no half-breeds. Some happen anyway, and the results are hunted and executed if found. Sylvette is one of those hybrids; a life on the run, joining thieving crews and working to steal valuables and food. As a Tineye, she spent some time working as a lookout to provide warning if Obligators or worse Steel Inquisitors headed towards their hideout. She also went on burglary missions, to keep an ear out in case somebody woke up.

Anything to make her dreams easier is really quite easy. Pretty much anything's better than the dreams she usually has. The feeling she's not alone is most certainly welcome, as well. Telepathic command skill is quite low, she's usually either a lone agent or a lookout, not a leader or coordinator. In a lot of her memories and dreams, she's staying aware of her emotions; it seems that emotional manipulation is something she's familiar with and knows how to detect. That might change the Hive's ideas on how to influence her, and might explain her behaviour earlier.

The hive, too, is from a world of smoke and ash, and has only with great effort made their way to better climates. But there, they overcame the monsters in the fog. A spot of hope.
Here, creatures don't go hungry. With the mother hive's roots reaching down into the earth, and the cleaners processing nutrients into meat and honey, stealing food just to get by will be a thing of the past. They have an ageless queen and those who go by noble titles, but no strain of the hive is more oppressed than any others. And she need not flee when Obligators discover a hideout, not with Archers and guardian-beasts in the hideout.

Her emotional awareness is interesting. So clear, even in sleep. Unprecedented. Arranging good situations and letting her feel as she will may be the best way.

And how about the other side? She seems to have neither the skill nor the ambition to lead. How willing is the Tineye to take orders?
One of the telepathically advanced creatures brushes her dreams curiously. is this for me?

[5a Violista]

[The Temperance Teahouse]

"I'm...not really sure how it worked. The story never explained it," Holly says. "It was a divine cow, so I assume he just somehow had three parents, or something."

Holly catches some of her loose hair with her finger and twirls it around, thinking.
See, normally, this is the first date and they didn't decide on anything beforehand so she'd insist on splitting the bill. Well, she doesn't actually know what she would normally do, it's been that long. But she assumes she'd act that way.

But, on the other hand, she has a lot of upcoming expenses that she didn't expect and, at least for her next couple paychecks for her various jobs, most of her budget's spoken for. And the new year, too: shoot, she forgot that she needs to renew her annual train-and-bus pass if she wants to keep on going between everywhere she needs to without buying all that gasoline. Between replacing clothes, repairs, preparing for the date, and all her jobs, visiting Skyside, trying to finish or throw out all her perishable food because of the torn-out electrical wires, and everything else it completely slipped her mind.

Finally deciding what's best for her, she allows him to pay for the bill. "Thanks," she says, "I'll have to take care of the next one."

Now that that hair is all wrapped around her finger, she lets it loose. That part remains curly.

She lets him pay the bill while she finishes her drink. Once that's over with, she stands and says, "Well, let's go find this guy, then. You said he's not that far from here?"

[Earl of Purple]

Quaint Victorian House

Being captured is bad, right? Jack knows it's bad. So why can't she bring herself to stop it?

Still holding the Relic and her wand, Jack is taken by the beastie.

Rooftop Statuary Garden

Yes, it kinda does mean it won't happen.

"Yep, there's an attic not far from here with a massive bed in it. Also a haunted grandmother clock. It chimes thirteen at every hour, even though somebody's tried very hard to stop it working." Jack can tell by the fact somebody's bent the pendulum, split the face, broken all the glass and lodged an axe in the case.

So long as the shadows are having fun, that's all that matters, right? And is Jack's likely to come back?

Eurus Hive

It's not so strong when she's asleep, but it's strong in her memories, and her dreams. Even if, in the dreams, it doesn't precisely map to her actual body.

In the street gangs, the low-level Skaa thieves, betrayal and death are ever present facts of life. Only the paranoid and the cautious live long. The Allomantic crews, however... They're bound by more concrete bonds of loyalty. When she was working with an Allomancer crew, Sylvette trusted them... Maybe not with her life, but certainly enough to go on a burglary they planned and organised, doing what they told her to. As they trusted her to do what she was told, to keep a tin-enhanced eye on the rest of the house or the street so they can get in and get out quickly, efficiently and without being noticed. She's quite used to taking orders, from those she trusts. And the Hive has positioned itself that she trusts it, because she knows it's seen all she's been through and hasn't turned her away, it knows what she is and accepts her.

[Rebonack]

[Quaint Victorian House]

WELP!

That's a less than ideal outcome, isn't it? Getting swallowed by a horror?

Both prisoners will likely find themselves rapidly restrained inside the ambulatory heap of wolf, mushroom, and goat parts by writhing black tendrils. Not that the color of the fungal vines is very obvious, given that it's absolutely pitch black inside the thing. They'll be able to feel it shuffling along, though at a nearly glacial pace. It's pretty badly injured from the beating our heroes have given it. If they could just find a way to blast it some more from the inside they would probably be freed!

Once restrained inside of cysts of woody tendrils more bad things begin happening.

First?

That unearthly singing continues.

Second?

The cysts begin filling with fragrant (and mutagenic) oil.

If either of them can fight their way through the stupefying effect of that song now would be a great time to do it, because the horror is probably headed toward the dumbwaiter.

[Reinholdt]

[The Temperance Teahouse]

"Oh yeah. Three parents could do it." Divinities were so weird. Weird and kinky, but not usually in the cool way. But her answer did hold a level of indisputable logic to it.

Reinholdt nods, smiling. "That's fair." No point in arguing it. Holly could get the next one. Which means there probably will be a next one. Which means things are going well and that's great.

After paying for the meal and leaving a larger than normal tip, Rein stands as well. "Absolutely. This way." He'll lead her out and down the street a bit until he finds a section of road that's not terribly busy and turns to her.

"You'll have to excuse me," He says, stepping over to her and moving to try and pick her up. In his experience bridal style works best because they can hold on too. "Hold on tight." If she's let him get this far, he'll start floating off the ground and up into the air at a slow, but steady speed. Doing so will make him turn quite pink, though his clothes are unaffected.

[Terumitsu]

[The House on the Hill]

Sam smiles as he passes the washroom.
”A tub big enough for my giant behind is always welcome.” He would hate to have to remove all these nice old fixtures. He tests the faucet to see if there’s anything still running in the pipes.
Regardless, that leaves the door on the end of the hall. Interesting.
No time to waste! Sam trots over and opens the door.

Huh, stairs. Made of..Stone? On the second floor? Weird.. Wait no, that wasn't stone, the wood was just petrified. Still, it was almost like looking at a mineral cross-section.

Up they would go to an attic, not quite empty as it seems like there were a few dust-covers on... Things. That could be a loveseat with maybe a mannequin just tossed on top? And that other thing might be a table with a vase on it? The shapes were irregular. There must be some kind of draft here as the chill seemed worse here than before. Maybe that was just bad insulation. A problem, sure, but it was an old house. This kind of thing was practically expected.

There was a small window just to Sam's right from which a shaft of weak light struggled against the heavy shade up here. It would be impossible for a person of normal sight to see the other end of the attic as it was though they would be able to at least see the dust particles in the air and the.. Was that frost around the window? There was a thin film of rime covering the outer glass, obscuring any shape that might be beyond it.

...Did that dust-cover just move a bit or..?

[Recaiden]

Rooftop Statuary Garden

Yes, it kinda does mean it won't happen.
"Yep, there's an attic not far from here with a massive bed in it. Also a haunted grandmother clock. It chimes thirteen at every hour, even though somebody's tried very hard to stop it working." Jack can tell by the fact somebody's bent the pendulum, split the face, broken all the glass and lodged an axe in the case.

So long as the shadows are having fun, that's all that matters, right? And is Jack's likely to come back?

Perhaps one day all the stars will align and the conditions be right for Jack learning magic.

"It doesn't bother you too much?" I guess one would get used to the chiming, but it certainly makes it less useful of a clock. "Sounds pretty unique, though. I mean, why don't we go and you show me the place?"

As for the shadows, well, having fun was the point of the day, right? Coming back doesn't senm too likely, given what we've seen. The longer you spend apart, the further you go, the more you have Anchor's shadow suggesting that you come with them since Jack won't even notice you're gone...these things are all risks of your shadow disappearing for good.

Eurus Hive

It's not so strong when she's asleep, but it's strong in her memories, and her dreams. Even if, in the dreams, it doesn't precisely map to her actual body.

In the street gangs, the low-level Skaa thieves, betrayal and death are ever present facts of life. Only the paranoid and the cautious live long. The Allomantic crews, however... They're bound by more concrete bonds of loyalty. When she was working with an Allomancer crew, Sylvette trusted them... Maybe not with her life, but certainly enough to go on a burglary they planned and organised, doing what they told her to. As they trusted her to do what she was told, to keep a tin-enhanced eye on the rest of the house or the street so they can get in and get out quickly, efficiently and without being noticed. She's quite used to taking orders, from those she trusts. And the Hive has positioned itself that she trusts it, because she knows it's seen all she's been through and hasn't turned her away, it knows what she is and accepts her.

Because they weren't just a gang, they were a team. The Tineye lookout was trusted with their safety, the others trusted with their success.

Wake up, child. It is time to meet your new crew.
The queen reaches down and lifts her from the roiling pool.
Open your eyes, see your kin and the glory of your new form.
I am Aaiesi, Queen of all the hives. I am overjoyed to have you with us.

The queen is probably the most monstrous creature in the hive.
Huge. Six insectoid legs with webbing between them, six arms in three completely different pairs. One of the castle's armored canals as a tail, three-part pincer-full-of-teeth at the end. A forest of tentacles for hair behind bladed horns. Distressingly human eyes. Teeth on the outside of the torso, like a corset of enamel. Bulging translucent hollows like windows into her lower back. Separate jawbones that forgot they belonged on the inside of the face.