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Thread: Home 27: Ward-bound
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2022-05-27, 10:45 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2008
- Location
- Fever dreams
- Gender
Re: Home 27: Ward-bound
[Dreaming Fox Inn]
Just terrible. That's often the case on this path. Things corrode until there's little left but strange attachments.
The little wheeled machines, they're following him now. They won't come closer while he's watching them, but they keep showing up right on his heels.
They, too, are in terrible shape.
The path leads down. Fewer cameras, more heat. His skin might start to feel too small on him. In their place, screens, broken or filled with static. Before some of them sit skeletons, or people so thin as to be like skeletons, eyes rapt and unblinking.
Shouldn't he do something? Or has he already done it?
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2022-05-27, 10:53 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2012
- Location
- Definitely lost
- Gender
Re: Home 27: Ward-bound
Dreaming Fox Inn
Mist can't just leave these people to sit here. But he's also not strong enough to take them with him.
He does what he can: he reaches out to close the eyes of the victims that still have eyelids before moving on. Perhaps now they can sleep properly.Spako Highclaws by Ceika.
[Sorry Boss, but as always, I get the last word.]
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2022-05-28, 12:20 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2008
- Location
- Fever dreams
- Gender
Re: Home 27: Ward-bound
[Dreaming Fox Inn]
Closing their eyes so that they cannot see the signals even if they were there on the screens to be seen.
A strong move, if an obscure one.
He comes to a larger rounded room, where the air is cool again, and his memory is clear again. From above, trails of sand crumble in little waterfalls, making heaps on the uneven floor.
There is a pathway to the right - the other tunnel would also have led here.
There is a pathway on the far side - music is playing from down there, faintly.
And there are others here, who are dreaming and not only dreams; he can tell somehow.
A mechanical girl with jet-engines over her shoulders and jewel-screened eyes, dressed in pale camouflage clothes where she rests in a sand-pile.
A rectangular slab of plasma screens, larger than a breadbox but smaller than a refrigerator, displaying a monocolor cat.
A heavily-built man with skin of brass, pacing in front of the exit.
The little rolling things have followed him here. And behind them, a few of those gaunt watchers are crawling this way as well, neither watching nor resting now.
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2022-05-28, 12:44 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2012
- Location
- Definitely lost
- Gender
Re: Home 27: Ward-bound
Dreaming Fox Inn
The cat bothers Mist, but he can’t put a finger on why. He’s not sure why the girl rests there but she seems peaceful at least. Mist walks towards the exit on the far side of the room but stops at the restless man.
”What’s wrong, friend? You look worried.”
He asks, though perhaps he has his own worries too. He can’t quite remember. But it was something about eternity.Spako Highclaws by Ceika.
[Sorry Boss, but as always, I get the last word.]
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2022-05-28, 12:49 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2008
- Location
- Fever dreams
- Gender
Re: Home 27: Ward-bound
[Dreaming Fox Inn]
"It doesn't make sense!" Complains the brass man. "As soon as the night ends, every time, it all falls to bits. I can never remember enough."
"He doesn't know how to relax." chimes the mechanical girl. It's good to be dreaming. No negotiations, no violence. It doesn't matter if you can't remember the music afterwards, does it?
The screens show a cheery " :3 "
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2022-05-28, 09:42 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Nov 2006
- Location
- The King's Grave
Re: Home 27: Ward-bound
[Underside Tunnels]
Fortunate that Arthfael avoided that verbal slip up.
It would have gotten a pretty major eye-roll from Khannie along with a 'not THAT kind of harpy'.
"I've met Tuskfang, he's adorable. There was this weird kid at Glog digging hole for a treasure hunt I guess? She lead us around the camp-site and we found some actual treasure hidden in some rocks behind the lake. It's was just a bunch of cool little trinkets but it was still fun. I know Tuskfang liked it I think he wants to be a treasure hunter or something like that."
Treasure hunter is a pretty great profession as certain cats can confirm.
"Still not sure who hid the box in the rocks. Someone must have put it there, right?"
It continues to be a mystery.
Khannie watches the dark, rushing water as their ride continues onward. She's imagining all the strange treasures that might be hidden away in a place like this.Warning! Random Encounter™ detected!
The Eternal Game Nightmære Stuff
It doesn't matter whether you win or lose, just how awesome you look doing it.
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2022-05-28, 09:52 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2012
- Location
- Definitely lost
- Gender
Re: Home 27: Ward-bound
Dreaming Fox Inn
”How does it fall apart? Have you been here a while?” Mist asks him. Is he doing some sort of loop? What’s so important about memory that it’s ruining whatever it is the man is trying to accomplish?Spako Highclaws by Ceika.
[Sorry Boss, but as always, I get the last word.]
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2022-05-28, 06:27 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2008
- Location
- Fever dreams
- Gender
Re: Home 27: Ward-bound
[Dreaming Fox Inn]
"The speed, the timing. I can't remember when anything was." The brass man rambles. "So how can I keep anything going if I don't remember what came last?"
"Been here every day for..." "...I can't recall. But a very long time."
"Oh, every day, really? I guess I do see him a lot." muses the jet girl. "Must be stuck in the other world. Nothing new happening to him."
Screen:
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2022-05-28, 06:29 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2012
- Location
- Definitely lost
- Gender
Re: Home 27: Ward-bound
Dreaming Fox Inn
Which other world? There's lots, Mist ponders.
"Well, who are you? I'm going that way." Mist points to the exit.
"If you want you could come with me and maybe you'll remember." He does seem to have acquired a bit of an entourage, hasn't he?Spako Highclaws by Ceika.
[Sorry Boss, but as always, I get the last word.]
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2022-05-28, 09:30 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jun 2008
- Location
- Boston, MA
- Gender
Re: Home 27: Ward-bound
[Cass' Tower]
Wren stretches languidly as the game draws to a close.
"Well played. You learned quickly. One day I'll have to teach you some drow strategy games. I have a feeling that you'd do well," says Wren, smiling at Wenomir without a hint of irony. "For now, I'll have to say good night to you two kids. I have a hot date I need to be getting to."
Wren winks playfully, taking a moment to check himself and his appearance, before heading out, leaving Wenomir and Cass (and her cat, and her lizards) alone.Originally Posted by Lord Magtok
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2022-05-28, 10:23 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Mar 2017
- Location
- US
- Gender
Re: Home 27: Ward-bound
[Underside Tunnels]
Arthfael starts to reply, but a quick glance over the side of the rockamander puts an end to that. He quickly find himself looking up at the cave ceiling, trying to ignore their close proximity to the river. "Don't look down, don't look down, don't look down, don't look-mmk!" He clamps a hand over his mouth, looking slightly green around his cheeks. That didn't do much to stop the sound of rushing water beneath them. He'd have to find another way of drowning out the noise... and apparently, the chatter between the girls wasn't doing it.
[Fort Aegis Resort]
...We can do that?
Of course they can. Eun was able to borrow most of Buhan's body before. It shouldn't be particularly difficult to borrow a much smaller part of her. She'd just have to figure out how.
...She probably wasn't managing that in the next thirty seconds. Outside the difficulty of figuring out how to do a partial shift in the first place, integrating the organs of a different species into her own metabolism would be a difficult task regardless. One she'd spend weeks studying for before making even a first attempt. Her natural intestines might not work great, but at least they were hers and she didn't need to worry about her immune system tearing it a new one.
"I'll, um, pass, thanks." Eun mumbles.
Wait.
Crap.
She got her wires crossed again.
"Sorry, that was..." She gestures at the side of her head. "...That was meant for her, not you. I'm, uh, fine with chicken." She quietly drags the bowl over and idly pokes at it with her spoon, feeling her stomach churn up under her anyway.
...She should say something else. Otherwise that's going to be the only thing Sam will have to work with for conversation, and she doubts he'll consider it much of a date if it's just a half hour of awkward silence.
"...So, um..." She glances around the room, looking for a prompt, her eyes finally settling on the futuristic console they both just got off of using. "...That's, um, not your first time, not by a long shot, huh?"
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2022-05-29, 10:56 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2009
- Location
- Beyond the Wall
- Gender
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2022-05-29, 11:08 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jun 2013
- Gender
Re: Home 27: Ward-bound
Suncrest Manor
Ana blinks for a second before nodding. ”I uh, yeah - I think I can do that.” She’d snuck inside in the first place, hadn’t she? Course, she had kind of mentioned where she was going to Kitty in the first place - but hey, they can cross that bridge when she gets there. Convincing mom to be quiet comes after they trick Eliseo’s moms."Are we living a life that is safe from harm? Of course not, we never are. But that's not the right question. The question is: are we living a life that is worth the harm?"
~Welcome to Night Vale
Spoiler: Quotes from Friends <3Originally Posted by SliiArhemOriginally Posted by Billtodamax
Interested in the Nexus FFRP setting? Try joining our Discord server!
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2022-05-30, 11:44 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2008
- Location
- Fever dreams
- Gender
Re: Home 27: Ward-bound
[Dreaming Fox Inn]
There's one other world that's has a particular closeness to this place, which is the waking Nexus itself. That's probable what they mean, even if various semi-dream realms are also close by, and the dreams of other worlds are simple, if not easy, to reach from here.
"I'm...that doesn't matter." says the brass man after a moment, not willing to admit that he can't recall exactly who he is. "You're just going in there? I suppose that's an okay way to try."
The jet girl stands up in an unnaturally rigid manner, disturbing the sand as her turbines start to spin, though slowly. "I'm Loni. I'll come too."
The screens depict its little avatar running out of the frame. It will not be going through that exit, thank you.
He has indeed acquired an entourage. That can happen with this charity, if you do nothing to discourage it.
And through the exit they go. It will be a bit of a long walk, with the passageway growing smoother ans steadier, the music growing louder, and otherwise, just the people and things following in his wake are around.
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2022-05-30, 12:30 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jun 2006
- Location
- Poland
- Gender
Re: Home 27: Ward-bound
[Underside Tunnels]
"Oh, yeah. He told us about it. He loves treasure hunts. Sometimes Cheasadh and I draw treasure maps for him and his friends." Brinika squeezes Cheasadh's hand as she says it. "I have no idea how those things got there, either. Aunt Reelshka was stumped too. She grumbled something about 'the Nexus being the Nexus' in that tone of voice she gets when she can't explain something. But the trinkets seem harmless." She glances over at Arthfael. "Uh, are you okay?"
[Cass' Tower]
Once Wren has gone, Wenomir wastes little time in pulling Cass closer, then putting her in his lap and giving her a kiss, embracing her affectionately.
"Any ideas for the rest of the evening?"My FFRP characters. Avatar by Ashen Lilies. Sigatars by Ashen Lilies, Gullara and Purple Eagle.
Interested in the Nexus FFRP setting? See our Discord server.
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2022-05-30, 01:17 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2012
- Location
- Definitely lost
- Gender
Re: Home 27: Ward-bound
Dreaming Fox Inn
”It’s nice to meet you.” Mist tells them. It doesn’t occur to him to give them his name. Maybe he forgot it. Or maybe he forgot his courtesy. Or maybe he remembered you shouldn’t give your name out in a dream. He waves goodbye to the cat on the screen.
”So do you remember what you do?” he asks, continuing down the passage. ”I run an inn.”
Fort Aegis Resort
Buhan meant that it might happen on its own, but on second thought maybe she shouldn’t put that thought into Eun’s head. She panicked enough about the nose.
”Naw, we had something like that in the orphanage I was raised in. We had nothing better to do, so we got good at it. Or at least I did. Some of those games were just unfair.”
Sam says this without any sort of somber tone. It’s a thing that happened to him. No need to be down about it.Spako Highclaws by Ceika.
[Sorry Boss, but as always, I get the last word.]
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2022-05-30, 01:59 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2008
- Location
- Fever dreams
- Gender
Re: Home 27: Ward-bound
[Dreaming Fox Inn]
After a pause, the cat waves back with a little 3-frame animation. Then they're gone from the room where the ways cross.
"Construction." Explains the brass man. "Bridges, buildings, a church once..."
"I was a soldier." Loni answers.
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2022-05-30, 02:03 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2012
- Location
- Definitely lost
- Gender
Re: Home 27: Ward-bound
Dreaming Fox Inn
"Ah, that sounds nice." Mist tells the brass man.
"...potentially not as nice. I hope your time was quiet." Mist tells the jet girl, though he thinks that is probably unlikely.
"We're not having a quiet time here." he admits, noting the music around them as they continue down the passage.Spako Highclaws by Ceika.
[Sorry Boss, but as always, I get the last word.]
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2022-05-30, 02:14 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2008
- Location
- Fever dreams
- Gender
Re: Home 27: Ward-bound
[Dreaming Fox Inn]
"It's very busy, but it's worthwhile." the brass man agrees. "What is the inn like? I don't think I've ever had cause to stay at one...have I?"
"Well, it was quiet by the end." the jet-girl says.
They come to a new room. Large, 16-sided, organized. An underground facility and not a cave.
At the center, on a pedestal, is the flute, enmeshed in machinery. It is the only well-lit part of the place. The rest, shrouded in darkness, is strewn with wreckage and bones, which is fine, and Mist shouldn't worry about it at all.
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2022-05-30, 02:20 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2012
- Location
- Definitely lost
- Gender
Re: Home 27: Ward-bound
Dreaming Fox Inn
"It's warm, lots of old wood and patched cushions." Mist says, his voice full of nostalgia and pride. "Just give me a second."
Mist pulls his Mask around him. Shadows hold nothing he fears. His steps are light, irregular, slipping from spot to spot without lingering in any one place for too long. Just in case.
There's a knife in his hand, ready to pry out his flute and jam it into the machines behind it to keep anything from moving due to the flute's absence.Spako Highclaws by Ceika.
[Sorry Boss, but as always, I get the last word.]
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2022-05-30, 02:48 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2008
- Location
- Fever dreams
- Gender
Re: Home 27: Ward-bound
[Dreaming Fox Inn]
That is the way of it - one Charity makes it easier to get another, and then still another - though it doesn't go on forever.
Mist crosses the dark floor, disturbing little, caught by nothing, and pries the flute from its enclosure while stopping most of the machinery from functioning.
The music, of course, stops.
Then, there are shouts of anger in the distance, lights begin to flicker on, showing the room filled with people emerging from a long distarcted dream
The brass man looks particularly shocked.
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2022-05-30, 02:54 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2012
- Location
- Definitely lost
- Gender
Re: Home 27: Ward-bound
Dreaming Fox Inn
That's just many perks of being a fox. Good at being light and pouncy. If he was the heir to the Duke he'd have a lot more trouble doing this. Though the Knight's heir would probably have it easiest, being a bird. Mist tries to return to where they started. Does he feel any different? Or does it only count when he escapes with it?
"It's mine; back off." he growls to the people, though he really would rather not fight people. Maybe they ought to leave.Spako Highclaws by Ceika.
[Sorry Boss, but as always, I get the last word.]
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2022-05-30, 03:03 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2008
- Location
- Fever dreams
- Gender
Re: Home 27: Ward-bound
[Dreaming Fox Inn]
It's not his yet. Mist is still being tested, he can tell.
"You can't just take it!" declares the brass man, striding up towards Mist, seeming more present somehow than he has most of the time.
What will all these people dream of, if not this song? Why, they'll have to fight, over that. The disoriented crowd is swiftly becoming an angry mob.
Loni is leaning against the wall of this final room, an amused expression on her face.
The little rolling machines are streaming in through the entrance, those bewitched by the screens shambling after them, turning their hollow, eyes-closed faces towards the center of the commotion.
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2022-05-30, 03:10 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2012
- Location
- Definitely lost
- Gender
Re: Home 27: Ward-bound
Dreaming Fox Inn
"Of course I can. It's mine, and has always been mine." Mist assures the brass man. Not technically true; at some point someone made it and then later it was given to him. But rightfully so.
Mist puts the flute to his lips and plays - the same song, but more, because it is him playing it and not merely an echo. It is sweet and repetitious; a good song to dream to.Spako Highclaws by Ceika.
[Sorry Boss, but as always, I get the last word.]
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2022-05-30, 03:34 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Mar 2017
- Location
- US
- Gender
Re: Home 27: Ward-bound
[Fort Aegis Resort]
"...Orphanage?" Eun stares at Sam blankly, the same sort of expression he might get if he claimed to have been raised by wolves. "You were an orphan?"
...He probably still is. She internally berates herself. That question was probably a bit insensitive. Not that Sam would care, but it'd cost her some amount of sleep later that night.
"That's, um... difficult to imagine." Eun quickly adds, swirling her spoon in her soup nervously. "I grew up with both my parents, and there was never a point when they weren't in my life. Almost, uh, excessively so." She grimaces. "And I don't think I've ever met someone who didn't have the same story, more or less... between our economy and modern birth control methods, there aren't..." She trails off, internally deciding that probably wasn't helping the conversation much. "...I, um... I guess what I'm trying to say is, what was it like?"
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2022-05-30, 07:22 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2008
- Location
- Fever dreams
- Gender
Re: Home 27: Ward-bound
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2022-05-30, 07:26 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2008
- Location
- With folk in the North
- Gender
Re: Home 27: Ward-bound
Underside Tunnels
"Setting up the treasure hunts are fun." She squeezes back when Brinika squeezes her hand, and smiles at her sister. She's concerned at Arthfael's illness, but less sure of what to do."Is it motion sickness, do you want a bucket or something?" She'll look around for one, hoping there's something because surely goblins get travel sick too, sometimes.Terrowin Avatar by HappyTurtle. Much thanks!
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2022-05-30, 08:04 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2012
- Location
- Definitely lost
- Gender
Re: Home 27: Ward-bound
Fort Aegis Resort
"I mean, I'd rather have had my parents, but I had it alright for Skyside standards. They had to toss me out when I came of age of course; they just didn't have the budget to take care of the little kids and the ones that got old. But I can't really blame them. But well-" Sam shakes his head.
"Properly speaking I was made in a vat and Sam Bacon's mind and soul were copied into the body, but both of us agree not to worry about that too hard. We got proof that we're the same where it counts, and that's good enough for us."
I mean really Eun, if he doesn't care about that can he really be bothered by things you say?
Dreaming Fox Inn
Mist spins, slipping away from the man's grasp.
"It was a gift to me; that makes it precious. Why do you want it? Is it something you remember?" he asks, the question deliberate but not pointed. Perhaps maybe it will help the brass man remember if there's something it seems he truly cares about.Spako Highclaws by Ceika.
[Sorry Boss, but as always, I get the last word.]
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2022-05-30, 09:36 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Mar 2017
- Location
- US
- Gender
Re: Home 27: Ward-bound
[Fort Aegis Resort]
"That's... probably for the better." Eun gives a little nod, trying to put as much conviction into the gesture as she could manage. The ontological implications of cloning (well, "cloning"... they've got about as much in common genetically as Eun does with her dinner) might be interesting, but that sort of conversation really didn't seem like first date material. Especially not when said date is a "clone" himself.
There's a few moments of silence as Eun's mind frantically searches for a way to keep the conversation going; any silence now would still likely be awkward. "I, um... I guess we technically have that much in common." She says finally. "The whole 'grown-in-a-vat' thing, I mean. S-sort of. Um..." She strokes her hair nervously. "I, uh... my mum gave birth to me way, way earlier than she was, um, meant to; I'd only been concieved about three months before then. I was about two inches long at the time, about the size of a small plum." She holds up her fingers to indicate. "The doctors ended up putting me into a pod, similar to the ones we use for all-purpose medical care and sleeping, only much, much smaller. The rest of the growing I did, I did in there."
"...Funny thing, that. We only had that technology because we were invaded by people from the future. In the original timeline, Eun-Jung Bu was a... just a sad memory for my parents. One last attempt at a kid before they called it quits." She rests her chin on her hand and gives Sam a nervous smile. "I have to wonder how many other people exist today who otherwise wouldn't. Other premies saved by the miracle of advanced medical technology. Children born to intertemporal couples. People saved from their original deaths by immigrant police, firefighters, doctors. Suicides prevented because someone was there at the right time. And things more subtle and dependent on the butterfly effect. It... sort of skews the whole issue." She blushes and hastily scoops some soup to her mouth. "...Sorry, that's a bit much a few hours after meeting, isn't it?"
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2022-05-31, 02:25 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jun 2008
- Location
- Boston, MA
- Gender
Re: Home 27: Ward-bound
[Cass' Tower]
Cass is perfectly happy to be scooped up, melting into the kiss with her usual enthusiasm while snaking her arms over Wenomir's broad shoulders.
"I could go for a soak," murmurs Cass, leaning into Wenomir. "I just got done putting the finishing touches and enchantments on the hot tub outside."Originally Posted by Lord Magtok