[Nexus] Home 17 - Where you know all your friends and all your enemies

[Halae]

[Kate's Apartment]

"Alright, I can see why you prefer the stairs. that thing sounds terrible," Eric says, looking flatly at the elevator as he floats out of it, "Now that we're here though, I want to test something. walk forward, find your door. I'm trying to get a sense for how much you're... I guess absorbing from Ky."

It's an experiment. Eric has grown fond of those for his daughters; He's been enjoying pressing their creative limits in order to make them simply better at what they do, and that's leaking into what he's doing now.

[Lost_Deep]

Kate's Apartment

"...okay."

Kate turns the wrong way at first, but after peering down the hall in that direction she turns around and heads the right way. She walks down the hall, and like she's done it a hundred times she turns at the right place for her apartment. She almost touches the handle, but stops herself and looks over at Eric, confused.

[Halae]

[Kate's Apartment]

"That'd be the one," Eric says, frowning slightly; whether it's a thoughtful frown or an upset one is hard to tell, "Once we're inside, and with your consent, I'd like to take a peek inside your mind. It might help explain exactly what's going on; you're operating in this building like you've lived here a long time, but only in such a way that you don't realize you're doing it, and that has me concerned."

[Lost_Deep]

Kate's Apartment

"Yeah, that has me concerned as well," Kate fidgets uncomfortably. "But truth be told the idea of someone going into my mind doesn't put me at ease, either... but this is really weird!" She shakes her head. "I have no idea what to make of this at all."

[Halae]

[Kate's Apartment]

"You don't have to say yes or no right now, but it might be prudent to do it before it becomes a problem," Eric says, Thoughts of an invasive spirit coming to him, "We don't know what sort of effect this might have on your psyche."

[Lost_Deep]

Kate's Apartment

Kate nods. "Definitely. I don't want anything to go wrong with my brain." She looks at the door. "Should I knock? You're sure that her roommate still lives here?"

[Halae]

[Kate's Apartment]

"She's still here, though she may not be here right now. I can't be sure without searching for minds, and at that point it'd be quicker just to knock." Eric says, "I don't have a key to the place if she isn't."

[Lost_Deep]

Kate's Apartment

Kate nods, and then knocks.

"Just a minute!"

"Welp," Kate says to herself. Time to face the music.

The door open to show Sophie, the grig. She's wearing a tank top as usual, her brown and strongly wavy hair let loose down her back. She sees Kate, Kate sees her, and both are surprised. There is a moment of shocked silence, and then Sophie voices her thoughts.

"...the *******?"

[Halae]

[Kate's Apartment]

"Alternate dimension shenanigans," Eric chips in cheerily.

[Lost_Deep]

Kate's Apartment

"There had better be more of an explanation than that!" Sophie snaps.

"I KNOW YOU!" Kate blurts out, quite surprised. "You... I know you! You... I know you I do! You used to be a spider, a normal spider, and then... something happened!"

Sophie blinks. "Come in, we've got talking to do." She opens the door wide to let the pair in. Kate peers into the apartment, dumbfounded.

[Halae]

[Kate's Apartment]

"This is Kate; she appears to be from a universe with easily accessible faster than light travel. She also seems to be subconsciously absorbing information from her previous incarnation here in the Nexus, thus why she recognizes you, why she knew which door was to the apartment, and more. To her credit, she didn't panic when Scylla glomped her." Eric says, floating inside slowly, and quietly directing Kate to do the same, "To save on confusion, we've decided to call the previous Kate 'Ky', as a form of differentiating the two."

[Lost_Deep]

Kate's Apartment

Kate walks in. She looks around. "This is so crazy."

"Which one was Scylla? Know what, first thing first, Kate! Sit down before you fall down."

Kate does sit on the couch, looks around, and then at Sophie. "I don't... remember your name. I'm sorry."

"Sophie. I'm Sophie." Sophie takes a big jump, trying to land on Eric's shoulder. She whispers into his ear, "Okay, how are we going to do this? Copi will be back soon, and Cai with her, and if Kate finds out she has a freak-mind-clone-siste and a robot-not-quite-daughter-thing she might up and pass out. She's only halfway here as is, I don't want to break her!"

[Halae]

[Kate's Apartment]

Nothing will stop Sophie from landing on Eric's shoulder, I've opened up a mental channel; we can talk telepathically, so as to avoid... complications. I can divert them for a while as she gets her bearings; she's mostly panicking because of her subconscious knowledge infecting her current psyche which are at odds with one another. She actually has been quite calm about these things, but the knowledge is new to her and is what is causing the internal panic. I'd recommend you talk to her for a while while I explain the situation to Copi and Cai, so that they can help in making a rational decision and introducing themselves to this new Kate slowly and quietly, giving her enough time to process things properly. Sophie will find many, many colors, images, impressions, and similar coming through the link. Eric very rarely thinks in actual words, after all.

"Just stay calm, and think about yourself for a moment. To help calm yourself, I'd like you to start breathing in and out quietly, and think about each part of your body, from the top of your head down to your feet and what it currently feels like. It's a simple meditation to help you center yourself. To calm yourself, so you can approach a situation rationally."

[Lost_Deep]

Kate's Apartment

Wow this feels weird. Okay, there's no way to guess now Copi will react, but Cai will probably be easy enough to divert for a bit. For that matter, Cai is the more important one to divert; when Kate left she was just an AI in her laptop. Any topics you would recommend? Anything I should look out for? Cripes, I feel so in the dark. Emotions are leaking over the connection from Sophie's end. Happiness, worry, and confusion are the most notable ones, but it's really an emotional cocktail with a little bit of everything due to the magnitude and oddity of the situation. She's not showing it in her face or body language, though.

Kate, in the meantime, nods to Eric and closes her eyes, starting with a basic key breathing technique. That's a good start to calming down.

[Halae]

[Kate's Apartment]

There's an odd sort of grumpy sensation from Eric's side, Talk to her about whatever she asks. She'll likely be the one to ask you if you allow her the opportunity to do so. She is very much confused at the moment, and could use a friend; I'm currently just a source of information right now, while you are well and truly capable of being a friend to her. When the conversation starts, just talk. Go with the conversation. It'll do you both well to have that sort of connection for your first encounter once she's centered herself through the meditation. Do you know when the other women shall ariive? I may need to head them off relatively soon if this plan is to be at all successful.

eric will walk Kate through the steps of the meditation, progressing from the top of the head, down through her body.

[Beans]

[Certain's Home]

Certain groans and cries out as her skin burns and changes color. She then blinks a few more times as her eyesight gets worse, leaving her legally blind without her glasses. And finally, at the additions to her body, she rubs her ears, flaps her vestigial wings a little, and then knocks on the door and calls, "Hretka, honey! I'm home!"

Hretka opens the door, looking Certain up and down.
And up and down.
And up and down.

"... So. Um.
... The ears are cute."

And she promptly faints.

[Lost_Deep]

Kate's Apartment

I don't know. Copi said she was going to take her for a walk! The last time she did this she was out for twelve hours! Neither of them need to sleep or eat, so they can do things like that. Wait! Cai said that she wanted to learn about jobs. Aim for when most of the businesses close... two hours, tops, but if they decide to call it quits early they might be on their way back right now. Copi just does not like scheduling! And now Sophie is starting to get upset. This is just stressful for everyone, isn't it?

[Ionbound]

Hretka opens the door, looking Certain up and down.
And up and down.
And up and down.

"... So. Um.
... The ears are cute."

And she promptly faints.

Certain frowns and tries to catch Hretka as she falls, moving supernaturally fast as she does so. If she's successful, she'll lift Hrekta gently, and carry her to the couch, where she'll lay the execuloth down and wait nervously for her to wake up.

[Beans]

Certain frowns and tries to catch Hretka as she falls, moving supernaturally fast as she does so. If she's successful, she'll lift Hrekta gently, and carry her to the couch, where she'll lay the execuloth down and wait nervously for her to wake up.

[Certain Home]
She wakes when laid on the couch, rubbing her eyes. "So, er... you're a demon now, then?" She smiles weakly, reaching for her hand. "I still think the ears are cute."
Sitting up, she stretches. "Why'd you choose to, though?"

[Ionbound]

[Certain Home]
She wakes when laid on the couch, rubbing her eyes. "So, er... you're a demon now, then?" She smiles weakly, reaching for her hand. "I still think the ears are cute."
Sitting up, she stretches. "Why'd you choose to, though?"

Certain takes Hretka's hand and says as she also smiles weakly, "I don't think so...Not all the way, at least. And I didn't really choose to...Someone paid me to summon a demon for them, and it turned out to be set up so it summoned in into me. I was exceedingly annoyed, nuked the area which nearly burnt out my life, and said demon restored me in exchange for a part of my soul. Not that I agreed to this. And then, while I was on the way home...I was attackd by a pack of monsters, and had to give up another part of my soul and humanity to survive...And now I'm like this. And...I wanted to ask you...Should I go all the way?"

[Beans]

Certain takes Hretka's hand and says as she also smiles weakly, "I don't think so...Not all the way, at least. And I didn't really choose to...Someone paid me to summon a demon for them, and it turned out to be set up so it summoned in into me. I was exceedingly annoyed, nuked the area which nearly burnt out my life, and said demon restored me in exchange for a part of my soul. Not that I agreed to this. And then, while I was on the way home...I was attackd by a pack of monsters, and had to give up another part of my soul and humanity to survive...And now I'm like this. And...I wanted to ask you...Should I go all the way?"

[Certain Home]
Hretka frowns, holding her closer. "I... I don't know. I mean... I love you no matter what you are. What matters is whether you think you should or shouldn't. It's your soul, and I support you no matter what you choose."

[Ionbound]

[Certain Home]
Hretka frowns, holding her closer. "I... I don't know. I mean... I love you no matter what you are. What matters is whether you think you should or shouldn't. It's your soul, and I support you no matter what you choose."

Certain nods and hugs Hretka as she says, "Alright...I...love you, Hretka. I...I don't know what to do..."

[UncleWolf]

Jace's Date

Ooh, you know what's a really good way to get Zebes to lose it? Yelling at him. She might not actually get to the end of that rant, he's already reacting badly.
"Of course we realize that, pothoc! That ***** made Jace a freakin' floating ball of gas with eyes for three days! And the whole time once she popped up today I was trying to get her to keep running her mouth to me and focus on Jace instead of you, except she was too stupid to take the bait. Because yeah, he'd have been much happier taking the bullet again instead of it hitting you! he's louder than you might expect, punctuating himself occasionally with a fiery little snort.
What the hell was he supposed to do? She ****'d with lives 'cause she felt like it! Do you think she'd have just calmly let us go if he called off the meal? We have no way of fighting that kind of thing! She could've blasted us into minnows for ruining her fun. So he panicked and thought going with it would probably keep everyone alive, even though he hated it. And!...and.... he stammers as his voice falls, anger already burned out.
I'm sorry, Veronica. You didn't deserve that. We didn't know what to do. We didn't have an answer so we just tried to make sure you got home safe. We're lousy protectors, it seems. And I'm a lousy brother for pushing him to get a date and find someone to talk to.
If you want we can leave so you can land and call that cab. I don't think either of us should be flying like this." he notes sadly.

Jace's Date

It doesn't matter if Zebes yells, Veronica doesn't seem to be in a listening mood so she'd finish what she had to say anyway. When they're both finished she gives a small shake of her head, obviously on the verge of bawling. Jace and Zebes will see her do a small flip, pulling her wings tight to herself before plummeting directly towards the ground head first at an incredible rate of speed. If she isn't stopped she'll snap her wings open mere feet from the ground and roll to the side, throwing off excess energy as she glides, trying to get away. Zebes could probably keep up with her if he wishes despite the fast dive however.

[Deathkeeper]

Jace's Date

Zebes doesn't pursue her. There's a point where it's not ok to follow someone in a time like this.
There's just one more thing, and that's a small whisper in her ear, like a sigh (or two) yet audible through the wind ripping past her.
Sorry

[UncleWolf]

Veronica's Apartment

Veronica shut the door to her apartment quietly behind her, feeling weak, tired, and more than a little saddened by the events of the night. She had known that going on a date would probably lead to embarrassment, but she hadn't expected it to be that much of a disaster. She had finally been able to get some time to herself and go out, and what was the result? Mental violation, losing an expensive set of clothing, and failing to keep a hold of the stone that was meant for Heather.

The last one bit deep when she spotted the young Harpy waiting for her in the hallway, a tired yet hopeful expression on her face. The expression fell when the young girl noticed the state of Veronica, nearly turning to tears but understanding that something horrible had to have happened. Heather didn't bother to say anything at first, instead choosing to dash forward to give her older sister a tight hug around the waist. "It's okay, really. I know you tried." She says, her voice muffled with her face against Veronica's stomach.

It was truly hard for the older Harpy to keep her composure. "I didn't mean to break the promise." She says quietly, kneeling down to return the hug. "It was a really pretty stone too. I misplaced it and I'm sorry. Forgive me?" Veronica says with all the sincerity in her heart. Heather only nods, rubbing her face against Veronica as she does so and even though she's quiet Veronica could feel the wet spots on her clothes from the silent tears.

For a few minutes all Veronica could do was cry quietly with her as she let the frustrations out. In the end she rubs her eyes on her feathered shoulder before picking up her little sister and carrying her into the kitchen. "Where're our brothers?"

"Sleeping. Stayed up playing vidja games in their room after the sitter left." The girl replied, voice still muffled against Veronica until she's set on the kitchen counter to see Veronica's tight smile. "Good. Then this is just for you." She says before opening up the freezer and taking several items out. At the very back was a mostly eaten tub of strawberry ice cream but there was more than enough for a few spoonfuls left for Heather inside. It took Veronica a few minutes of hard scraping(as well as a couple bent spoons) to get the freezer-burned icecream out, but watching Heather's eyes light up more than made up for the effort. There really wasn't much but for a 1am snack for a young Harpy it'd be enough of a treat.

As soon as she was given the bowl Heather gave a small squeal of delight before digging in. Several bites in though she stopped, frowning up at Veronica. "Aren't you going to have some?" She asks, sounding guilty about the entire ordeal. Veronica simply smiled in reply, holding up the tub with the open end away from her sister. "Of course. I'm just going to eat from the tub." She lies, using the spoon she served with to act like she was scraping the bottom before quickly putting it in her mouth, still smiling and making a pleased sound. The charade made Heather smile unknowingly before once more digging into her own bowl.

Veronica "ate" quickly before giving a small burp with a giggle and putting the tub in the sink to allow warm water to pour into it so it could get clean. Heather gave a burp and giggle of her own before passing her licked-clean bowl back. "We'll do dishes tomorrow." Veronica decided out loud before helping her sister off the table with a smile. "Run to the sofa while I get changed. We'll crash there tonight. Just us two." Heather gave her sister's legs a happy hug before running off, allowing Veronica a chance to head to the hall closet in order to grab a change of clothing.

With her brothers in one bedroom and her sister in the other, Veronica usually slept on the sofa anyway. As small as she was it wasn't that bad, and to be fair it was quite a nice one to lay on.

The Harpy changed in the bathroom into just a pair of gym shorts and a greatly oversized pink t-shirt to match Heather's PJs before stumbling into the living room and onto the sofa where Heather was waiting for her smiling with the blankets and pillows already arranged. Veronica laid down first before raising a wing to allow Heather to wriggle in with her stuffed spider-moose toy(minus a couple legs). "Do you have work tomorrow?" The younger one asks quietly without daring to look up at her older sister just in case she did.

"Nope! I'm just gonna stay here and veg out with you three. Sorry, four. I forgot to include Spider-Moose." She admits with a grin as she wraps her wing protectively over Heather. "Want pancakes in the morning?"

"With syrup..."

"Of course."

"Love you, sis."

"Love you too."

[Beans]

Certain nods and hugs Hretka as she says, "Alright...I...love you, Hretka. I...I don't know what to do..."

[Certain Home]
Hretka just holds her. "Let's just relax for now. You'll be able to think once you've had time to clear your head."

[Ionbound]

[Certain Home]
Hretka just holds her. "Let's just relax for now. You'll be able to think once you've had time to clear your head."

Certain nods, but says nothing, just holding on to Hretka for dear life.

[OrchestraHc]

The Hidden Manor

Tep will ignore the odd little effects. They don't seem much to worry about to him.
He has a few slightly more specific subjects in mind, but it probably won't be much more than 10 broad labels at this rate.

The Hidden Manor:

See, that's the thing, odd little effects don't stay little for long. Depending on how he stacks them, his book wind might blow through the cracks between the stacks or he may even get static shock any time he drops a book on a specific stack. It really depends on how their organized, for example, if the stacks are all in a row. If they are all in a neat grid, one of the books may simply refuse to fall. As in it would literally stop the width of it's own spine between itself and the book beneath it. Just not go any further down.

[UncleWolf]

Veronica's Apartment

Veronica simply glared at the alarm clock on the nightstand next to the sofa, daring it to move a minute closer to 7:00 AM, when the alarm was meant to go off. Since it was only 6:44 AM, that was going to be a while, and despite her near-tangible hatred of the device it ignored her psychic warnings and flipped a minute closer. After the clock taunted her some more the Harpy gave a quiet sigh and, mindful of Heather, extricated herself carefully from the blankets to shut the thing off so it wouldn't wake her little sister up. For a moment she allowed herself a groggy smile, kneeling down next to Heather as she stroked her hair and feathers. Unlike herself Heather's plumage was all bright reds with traces of black. Her father had been a songbird rather than a raptor, but that didn't make Veronica love her any less. After a quick peck on the little girl's forehead, Veronica checked in on her half-brothers. As usual they were sprawled messily on their beds, having played their game till exhaustion. One was tall, leggy and thin with long white feathers that barely seemed capable of flight, while the other was shorter, stockier, and more barrel chested with mottled brown feathers. Crane and Owl.

Gods mother sure got around. She thinks to herself with a small shake of her head as she sneaks into the room to look at the game. It was on pause so she hit mute and unpaused it, controlling the little adventurer for a moment. Double flip behind the waterfall...yup. Gold orb. They'd never have gotten it. Sure as hell took me forever to find it the first time I played it. Proud of herself she moves the PC back to where it was before pausing and unmuting it, knowing the two would be none the wiser. With her good deed done for the day she went to her closet to grab new clothing so she could work through the hardest part of her day.

A bath.

As small as the rest of the apartment was, the bathroom and bath had had no expense spared due to the simple fact that it was an exhausting process for her and her family. It was sometimes fun and relaxing but having to take an hour just to bathe every time you wanted to do so was an effort. Because of this the bathroom had to be customized to allow more than one bather at a time with two large step-in baths set onto a raised floor, separated by wooden screens from the front and thick frosted glass between them. For the sake of ease the left was the girls' and the right was the boys'. It kept things simpler and slightly more appropriate. They were practically in-door hotsprings and a large chunk of Veronica's pay over the last few years had gone towards buying the things and getting them installed. Until a couple years and an apartment ago they'd been forced to use a series of small showers which had been...unpleasant. Unpleasant and smelly.

Veronica's nose wrinkled at the memories of nearly a dozen unwashed bodies in their home she grew up in and was glad she swore they'd never have to deal with that again.

With any luck she'd be able to buy the 4 bedroom apartment next to them in a couple years if her savings kept up and then get the two sets converted into a large suit. It'd be expensive as hell, but the room would be worth it.

As she slipped off her clothing and into the steaming bath to float for a while, Veronica's mind wandered and she couldn't help but verbalize some of it. "Why buy the apartment? I mean, it's not like we could really do anything with all that space."

Because what if you started a family? I mean, some day you want to, don't you, Veronica? Sure, you could fit yourself and a child in this apartment, but what about your siblings? What if they want to start a family and return to a familiar nest? Could you kick them out? Making the large suite would give a good solid foundation and you know it.

Veronica sighed at herself in response. "I know..." She whispered to herself. "But thinking of all that money...makes me wince, but...yeah. It'll be worth it. Besides, what if the boys decide to take a Harem? It happens." She admits to herself before wincing. "Oh god, what if Heather does? Maybe I'll get lucky and they'll all take Non-Harpy mates."

She shakes the thought from her head as she floats on her back, head resting on a floating pillow. Even though the initial thought was shaken off, another creeps up on her.

What about you?

"What about me?"

What about your mate? Your clock is ticking away, Veronica. Tick tick tick...

"Screw you." She growls.

Exactly. Her mind replies, smug.

"So what if I haven't been with anyone ever. It's not that unusual! I'm not even 25." She pleads to herself, trying to get herself to understand. "Plenty of people are waiting until their 30s now days before having kids, let alone getting into relationships. It becoming the norm."

Really? Prove it.

"Um...Bethany! Yeah, see! She and all my other frien-"

Bethany? The entirely-too-hostile and hideously ugly boom manager? Do you really think she counts? And Friends? What friends? You don't go out, you don't call anyone, and you certainly don't talk to anyone at work.

Veronica could feel her shoulders slump deeper into the water, the weight of the water finally soaking into them as well as the weight of the realization both pulling them down. "Um...I just haven't met anyone that I like." She tries to justify, already knowing what the response is going to be.

Not even Jace? Sure, he effed up, but..."Damn right he effed up."but what would you have done in his situation? Or Zebes'? Can you say you'd have done any differently in their shoes?

"Of course! I would have at least mentioned they were being slowly stripped." She growls angrily before a realization courses through her, making her wish she wasn't so light and could just sit at the bottom of the bath to hide from the feelings. "No...I guess I wouldn't have. Not if I knew what she had been capable of. Last thing I'd want is for someone to be made like they never existed. Stripping and a bit of mind warping, as nasty as it is, is nothing compared to that."

Then weren't you being unreasonable? Least you can do is go to his shop and apologize to him and Zebes.

"I wasn't being unreasonable!" She says steadfastly as she grabs the shampoo and begins to rub it into her hair and feathers gently. "I was being emotional. There's a difference." Keep telling yourself that. "Of course it's different. This way I can blame it on what she did and how bad it felt rather than on the whole thing. See?" Now you're just nitpicking. "I know!" She shouts with a groan before rolling over on the water to let her front half soak for a while. After a few quiet moments she sighs and extends a wing, allowing the greater surface area to make it float on top of the water while she stares at it from her floatie pillow. "I shouldn't have said those last few things. It...it was too much. I know, I know, I should give him a call, but I don't even have his phone number. Or even the name of his shop. If it even has a name."

Veronica, you're one of the most favorite news anchorwomen on TV. You have spunk, charm, and resources. Finding one person and his familiar in this city is only a matter of you picking up that phone and calling some acquaintances. At least go get some coffee with the damned man. You owe him that much.

Veronica sighed, knowing she'd lost the battle. "I will...but tomorrow. I want to spend the day with the others for once. It's my week off and I'd been neglecting them lately. If nothing else we can have an adventure of trying to look around for him."

Coward.

"Damn right I am." She says before diving beneath the water and shaking the soaps and such off of her. The little inner voice stayed quiet afterward, even allowing her to dry off under the hot air 'shower' she had installed that helped fluff her feathers back up as well as dry. Veronica?

"Yes?" She asks to no one in particular with a heavy sigh.

You're still the best mother they've ever had. Don't forget that. You should be proud.

The thought made the Harpy smile, feeling warm inside as well as out. It took a few minutes for her feathers to dry enough for her to leave the bathroom after getting dressed. Once in the kitchen she started pulling out everything for pancakes. "Yay. Pancakes."

And syrup.

"And syrup." She says to herself, still smiling.

[Halae]

Kate's Apartment

I don't know. Copi said she was going to take her for a walk! The last time she did this she was out for twelve hours! Neither of them need to sleep or eat, so they can do things like that. Wait! Cai said that she wanted to learn about jobs. Aim for when most of the businesses close... two hours, tops, but if they decide to call it quits early they might be on their way back right now. Copi just does not like scheduling! And now Sophie is starting to get upset. This is just stressful for everyone, isn't it?

[Kate's Apartment]

I can do a psychic sweep for them, Eric sends back, You just have to buy me a little time. the meditation is helping with that.