Character Mansion

[North Guest Bedroom]

Andrew nodded, hesitated, about to grab his mask, then looked back at Ozzy, then shrugged, and left it there.

Then he and Oswald walked downstairs to join the party again.

[Dining Hall]

Gabrielle laughed at the comment of Esa stealing her food, then said, "There are some mages participating in government, where I come from, but most political mages are involved in the multiple Mage's Societies and associations and the Council and things. And no, not all magic here is considered evil or the Devil's work, although there is Corrupt Magic, but not everything is really good or bad, I suppose."

[Dining Hall]

"Good to hear," Esa said. "It's always a shame when fear makes people hasty to judge." A pause, and then, she had to ask: "your people still honor the spirits, yes? Your ancestors, the spirits of nature? I hear of many people who do not, and I wonder how they continue."

[Outside]

Aseyu just chuckled at Mai's comment.

Samira gave a sharp inhale through her teeth. "Doomsday cultists digging around with powerful lost magics? Sounds like a recipie for disaster." She paused, considering whether or not she should share her own scars' story. It wasn't quite as impressive a tale, and if Xavier had a good grasp of history he could probably guess it. Still, she'd tell it if he wanted, but for the time being asked, "are we talking about the sort that thought doomsday was coming, or one looking to bring it around?"

[North Guest Bedroom —> Kitchen]

Ozzy smiled at Andrew, seemingly forgetting that he'd put his mask back on, then began to walk with the man back to where they had left Hilda and Sven. As they walked to the balcony and headed down the stairs to the first floor, Ozzy reached beneath the large reddish scarf hanging around beneath his hood, and began to unfasten the binding that fastened together the neck of his cloak. By the time they stood just outside the kitchen, he had taken his gloves back out and pulled them on his hands, though they were noticeably looser than normal, the fingers flopping about unnaturally.

Before stepping inside, he took one moment to lean against the wall beside the door frame, breathing in and letting go of a long and deep breath. He shut his eyes for several seconds, then turned and stepped into the kitchen.

"Hilda, Sven." he said, his voice steady and his expression difficult to determine.

Outside

Unfortunately for Anne, Mai misinterpreted what she was trying to ask. Apparently, it wasn't obvious enough that she was trying to find out what Mai thought about the current situation without cluing Aseyu in to what she was doing. Then again, the fact that Mai had described Aseyu as "self-explanatory" probably said quite a bit. At any rate, Anne figured she was just going to have to wing it.

To Aseyu, she said, "A little bit. It was nothing bad, if that's what you were wondering."

[Outside]

"The latter, mostly," said Xavier. "Folda Enyarhkedralenxe Magarexe — the Order of Purifiers of the Earth, or just Purifiers — believes that the state of the world is so bad that the gods have abandoned it, and so they want to destroy the world to allow the gods to begin anew. One of them compared it to euthanasia. I can kind of see where they're coming from, but I think they might be overreacting, besides all the theological problems like why can't the gods start somewhere else." He snorted.

"How I got involved in it is... kind of complicated, actually." He took a deep breath. "Okay, so there's this nation that split from China a few decades back, Huaxia. Six months ago, they all of a sudden take an intense interest in the Baghdad Battery, so the US government hires me as part of a team to look into it. Upon being mistaken for a spy, I get kidnapped by the Huaxians and learn they're using it to power a military spaceship. Problem is, a Purifier in their ranks is planning to hijack it and use its nuclear arsenal to attack the US, causing mutually-assured destruction in response. I manage to escape and, since I'm the only one who knows about, I go after the Purifier as best I can. I manage to kill her, but before I can, she, well..." Xavier put a hand up to his eyepatch, his claws matching up near-perfectly with the tiny scars on his face. He closed his hand into a fist and yanked it away from his eye.

Xavier licked his lips a little nervously, then continued, "Anyway, the ship got grounded and now there's this sort of purge going on in the Huaxian ranks. Not like the USSR's Great Purge, though, more like being absolutely sure they aren't compromised in any similar way. Other countries are doing similar things and I've heard rumors America's going to jump on the bandwagon too. Because while there aren't a lot of Purifiers, everyone's incredibly paranoid about them for obvious reasons."

Mai got the feeling she had done something wrong, but couldn't say what she had done or where the feeling came from. She glanced between Anne and Aseyu, remaining silent as she thought it over. Maybe it had something to do with what she had said to Anne. Or maybe something she had said to Aseyu. It was hard to tell.

edited 20th Jun '13 8:30:30 PM by TeraChimera

[Outside]

Aseyu looked at Anne and shook her head. "Do define 'a little bit'. Anything interesting she told you? I trust dear Samira to try and accurately represent me, of course, but... well, me and her don't see eye-to-eye." She flashed Samira a playful grin and added, "something about the eight inches I have on her, I think?"

Samira rolled her eye before turning back to Xavier. "Of course it would be religious fanatics," she muttered. Then, aloud, "this group was made up of your people — chimeras — right? Did the news of all that had happened ever get out? If so, I can't help but imagine it would make things... difficult for your community." She glared at the fire. "A handful of maniacs can do a lot to people's perception of the group they claim to represent. I'm sure you know the feeling."

edited 16th Jun '13 7:22:27 PM by KillerClowns

Outside

"It was just the facts, or at least they sounded like facts," Anne replied, "She also told me that she thought you were a good person despite your...um...." She paused, trying to figure out the best way to word that without offending Aseyu. "...habits. Though, I don't remember exactly what was said, considering that this was shortly before the...er...craziness in the library earlier."

[Kitchen]

"Oh hello." Hilda turns around from talking to Sven. By the look of the plates around him and a couple drained glasses of beer, it seemed he'd been engaged in satisfying a major case of the munchies, and in the process found an excuse for some alcohol. "We've just been hanging out. It's nice to..."

Sven turns around, "Oh Ozzy! Nice to see you guy! Been missing you down here, I can't even tell ya."

Hilda steps back and summons up a sign out of fire, the words "Majorly Buzzed" with an arrow pointing at Sven. It stays for a moment before disappearing.

edited 16th Jun '13 8:48:03 PM by Aqueos

[Outside]

Xavier couldn't hold back a derisive snort. "It got out, but come on. People are stupid, but they're not that stupid. Claiming that chimeras want to destroy the world because there's this one, unique, found-nowhere-else group that... Listen to that, I can barely even say it with a straight face. If you were a public place, you wouldn't get accused of hate speech because it's so goddamn stupid that no one could take you seriously. It's the kind of thing people post on YouTube to laugh at."

He began talking a bit faster and gesturing a bit. "Besides, pretty much every chimera has magic-" Wait, if she and Aseyu are close, then- "— the non-soul-destroying sort — so this is one time where that works in our favor: if we all wanted to destroy the world, we'd've done so already. It's like those stupid conspiracy theories where the government orchestrated this or that event so they could respond to it and look good. Take a look at Congress: if they were competent enough to run a conspiracy on that scale, they'd have sorted out all the country's problems a long time ago and wouldn't need fake assassination attempts on the President to thwart in order to look good. Or if NASA faked sending men to the moon all those years ago, why haven't they done it again?"

He smirked and spread his wings a little. "Long story short, when people hear about that sort of thing, speciesism doesn't enter the picture. It's just too extreme to talk about in that context."

edited 17th Jun '13 6:51:41 AM by TeraChimera

[Kitchen]

Ozzy stared at Sven for a moment in nervous confusion, managing an uncertain, "Ye- uh- yes... nice to see you too Sven. Listen, I-" it was at that moment that he noticed the sign Hilda conjured up. He was briefly enraptured with the spectacle, but the words eventually hit him, and after a slight bit of airy laughter, he nodded. "Duly noted."

Taking another deep breath, he looked between the two and continued, "Listen, Hilda, Sven. There is something I've been keeping hidden from you two; from a lot of people. Perhaps," he said with a bit of a teasing tone in his voice, "you know what it is. It must seem strange to you that I'm still wearing this... unusual, heavy, rain-sullied attire, despite that I'm in here, here in this bright, well heated house, full of people. Or that it's bizarrely contradictory that I should invite you two to dine with me, and then refuse all offers of food, and indeed refuse to withdraw my mask to even make it possible to eat."

He sighed and lowered his head. His leg twitched slightly, as though he wanted to move— to step back, or turn away— but he stood fast. "I'm not bound by any strict oath of conduct that makes me act this way, and I'm not insane. Not abnormally insane, anyway. The truth is..." his gut clenched, "I am nervous about my appearance. I am nervous about what it may insinuate in another person. What ideas about me, that it might give them. What they might do. But these fears are based only in what I know of the people in the world where I am from. Here, these feelings— these worries... shouldn't matter."

He shook his head, then raised it and looked at Hilda, who was probably following his words better than the man surrounded by empty bottles of beer. "But, alas, they do. And so, this is me learning to ignore those feelings. I'm sorry if it seemed as though I didn't trust you two. Now..." he stepped backward, "I think a second introduction is in order."

[Outside]

"Sammy," Aseyu said to Samira, "you warm my heart." Then she turned to Anne and said, "ah, she told you I was a slut." A pause to let the blatant self-identification sink in. Koyel in particular seemed astounded, but before he could comment, Aseyu continued, "which is true, more or less. Don't worry, though, if I'm not your type," she sighed, "I'll let it go. I just like to be told these sorts of things straight — no pun intended — rather than wasting time trying to figure it out." Then, a less mischievous and more sincere smile came to her face. "For what it's worth, I'm not just interested in bedding you, either. You seem like the sort of person I'd like to call a friend, with or without benefits."

Samira turned back to Xavier, groaned, and said, "how... fortunate for you." Then she looked into the fire with a sigh. I really shouldn't be so jealous, she thought to herself. It's good that things went better for them than it did for us. And I suppose it even makes a bit of sense — there's similarities, but there's also a lot of differences. She idly tossed a few twigs into the flames. "I suppose being consistently over six feet tall with claws, wings, and magic has its advantages. Speciesists aren't as liable to yell slurs. At least, not at your face."

edited 17th Jun '13 6:46:02 AM by KillerClowns

[Outside]

"The moderately intelligent ones don't," said Xavier. "While sober, anyway. A bunch of guys once got a little hopped up and almost managed to lynch me in the middle of the night. Almost." He rubbed his neck. "The thing they never tell you about getting strangled is how much it hurts."

He sighed and rustled his wings a little. "But the clever ones, well... They know how far they can push the boundaries, even without actual slurs. Because, well, what good are claws against words? I can't exactly eviscerate someone for calling me a snake or something and reasonably claim 'he started it'. And the ones who do, well..." He slouched over and wrapped his arms around his legs. "That's the sort of thing that breeds speciesism, not grandiose schemes worthy of a Bond villain."

[Wine Cellar]

Claire raised an eyebrow. "For a supposedly agriculture-based firm to have even one employee who has skinned anyone at all, especially a living person, strikes me as most unusual, to say the least. I assume that's not public knowledge, though? Or do the firms you're familiar with take on a very different role than the ones I'm used to?"

Outside

Anne took an unusually long time to reply to Aseyu. This...wasn't something she was expecting to run into here. While getting to know Aseyu would be interesting, she wasn't quite sure if she wanted to know her that well, not to mention that her earlier thoughts about Aseyu's interactions with Claire (and Sven's unhelpfully adding to it) still stood. On the other hand, it was somewhat flattering that someone wanted to go that far despite her curse. It'd even be a new experience, to boot - her father was rather strict about this sort of thing, and the dwarfs weren't exactly eager either. A quick look over Aseyu, however, opened up a whole new array of concerns.

She glanced awkwardly at practically everyone else who was present and could possibly overhear what she was about to say before finally responding. Quietly, she said, "Well...um...I guess I'd be open to the possibility...but one, we practically just met; two, I look even more vile naked than I do clothed; and finally and most importantly...." She paused again. Aseyu did say that she liked to hear most things flat out, but Anne couldn't help but worry that she'd wind up sounding offensive all the same. "...I'm not so sure about...um...getting with someone who appears to be twice my age."

[Wine Cellar]

<As far as the public knows,> Kokabiel said, <Alice Winters' primary achievement is rising from poverty, shattering the glass ceiling, and generally having an inspiring and wonderful life story.> It tilted its head. <The usual. Western Amalgamated Agricultural takes PR very seriously.> A hologram of a spring green hummingbird logo appeared beside Kokabiel. <Very often found in these trans-dimensional places. Last I heard, they'd found one of our old mining particle beams and mistook it for a weapon. Technically inaccurate, but since it could rip through even the heaviest of Earth's tanks with ease, I suppose the distinction is... academic. I pity anyone who is around on the off-chance they get its energy core recharged.>

[Outside]

"You'd be surprised," Samira said grimly. "Back in my world, nineteen years back, a couple of maniacs pulled off a 'grandiose scheme worthy of a Bond villain'. Crashed a plane into a skyscraper in New York. That bred a lot of resentment in narrow minds for the rest of us who were just trying to live our lives." She found a twig covered in dry leaves and tossed it into the flames, watching it burn to cinders. "I was fine," she said after a few moments. "People being uncomfortable around me wasn't new, what with the scars and all. But my daughter was just entering middle school. Trying to make new friends, fit in... and then, a bunch of people who share her religion pull off an atrocity." She picked up another twig and snapped it in her hand. "Like middle school wasn't bad enough on its own."

Aseyu, cheerfully oblivious to Samira's story, turned to Anne and said, "don't worry about the looks, hon. I've always been of the opinion that it's what's on the inside that counts. Sammy's daughter said I was, what was the phrase? 'Definitely not neurotypical'. I've seen my share of people who've taken a beating, trust me. You've got the advantage that I can still see a time when you were pretty. Some people I've been with started uglier and just got worse... but it didn't matter when we got to it." Then she leaned in, voice quiet enough to avoid Tamara overhearing, said, "besides, I'm sure you've figured out how to be gentle with those fingers of yours on lonely nights." Then, aloud, "and as for the age? Consider it a learning experience. Trust me, hon, I'm not here for something long term, but when you find that someone special, they'll be thanking me for teaching you a thing or two."

edited 17th Jun '13 8:07:15 PM by KillerClowns

[Outside]

Xavier blinked and flapped his wings in shock. "Oh," he said dully. "Um, well... fuck. I mean, fuck. That's just... I can't imagine what it'd've been like to go through with that, one way or another. And at least you're old enough to deal with it. Your daughter must've..." His voice trailed off and he shook his head. "I don't know. I just don't know."

He stared at the dancing flames of the fire. "That makes most of what I've been through seem tame by comparison. At least in my case, I can see where they're coming from. With yours, it's... hysteria." He swallowed. "Damn, I've probably sounded really insensitive, being thankful for common stuff." Xavier stopped, blinked, and smacked himself lightly. "And I'm still drawing the conversation back to me. Xheva. Fuck."

Mai stayed silent for now, still listening to Aseyu and Anne. They certainly were quick, weren't they? And so frank. What was it with humans and sex? It was practically more important than breathing, the way some of them went on about it.

[Outside]

Koyel felt a little out of place. He didn't quite follow the scarred woman's conversation, certain he was missing some important context. (What were "skyscrapers" and "planes", anyways?) Aseyu appeared to be doing her job rather poorly, freely offering services that most would pay obscene amounts of money for, but Koyel wasn't about to question a member of the Pearlescent Order on how they did business. Unless she was lying? Possible, but unlikely — she seemed like a member in attitude, confidence, and even her subtly mountain-influenced Meyil province accent. So he took a seat besides Mai, who seemed just as lost, and nodded. "Evening..." an awkward pause. The voice had seemed feminine, but he wasn't confident and left it hanging.

Samira, meanwhile, said, "don't worry. We survived. I'm mostly just wondering why our experiences were so different." She frowned. "Could be a lot of things. The attack on your world, ambitious as it was, failed. There was no gap in the skyline, no hundreds of mourners... nothing like that. Or maybe it's just that you guys are, like I said, scarier. No offense meant. Or maybe you just lived in a fortunate community, and not every one of your people has the same story."

[Outside]

Mai glanced at Koyel. Maybe it'd be good to stay away from Aseyu. "Evening," she said, turning to face him. "Mai Xiang." She glanced briefly to Anne and Aseyu, then turned back to Koyel. "You seem a bit confused. Something on your mind?" Probably about me, or else you wouldn't be talking to me.

"None taken," said Xavier. "I mean, now that sort of thing makes a lot more sense. I still don't think that's entirely it, though. It just... doesn't feel right. Something's off." As he thought, he began to get a little brooding. This was heavy stuff, and kind of hard to take in. Not exactly conducive to a uplifting mood.

"Maybe," Xavier said slowly, "it's because of the groups involved. With you, there isn't a clear name given to the type of people involved, right? It's just 'extremists', and without anything more specific, it spreads to the rest of your group. With the Purifiers, they're a much more distinct group and specifically described as a doomsday cult. That kind of thing makes them easier to single out." He turned to Samira and cocked his head. "You get what I'm saying?"

Outside -> Bathroom

Well, Aseyu just went and dismissed her later two concerns. Anne did find it rather odd that she didn't address the first concern at all, but given what she'd seen of Aseyu's general personality, it seemed like the woman would sleep with any random stranger off the street provided they caught her interest enough. She'd definitely raise a few eyebrows back in Theodiscus with behavior like this.

As for her own verdict? She still wasn't sure; accepting had its own upsides and downsides, but so did dismissing. She couldn't help but worry about what the dwarfs were going to think of this when she told them, but at the same time she realized she could just leave this part out. It wasn't like anything that happened here was going to carry over when she managed to return to Theodiscus. On the other hand, if she accepted, she felt as if she was completely dismissing the memory of her father, who most certainly would not approve of it...So many conflicting signals, and Anne had no idea how to resolve any of them.

In fact, she was so conflicted about it that, at that moment, she suddenly felt very sick to her stomach.

"...Excuse me, I...think I need...um...some time to myself," she said, before turning and bolting through the door. She made her way to the bathroom upstairs, and slamming its door behind her when she entered.

edited 18th Jun '13 9:47:08 AM by Yomegami

[Outside —> Entry Hall]

Aseyu blinked. "Uh," she said, "that didn't quite go as planned. I should, er... well, I'm gonna have to give her smoe space, but maybe I should make sure I didn't ruin things too badly?"

Normally Samira would advise against it, but in this case she said, "go ahead. Just don't take it too hard if you pushed her too far."

Aseyu nodded and headed in, wondering where Anne had gotten to.

[Outside]

Convenient, Samira thought, before returning to her conversation with Xavier. "Don't worry about Aseyu," she said, "she'll back off if she has to."

Koyel agreed, putting in, "the Pearlescent Order does not train fools, though they often play foolishness to their gain."

Samira nodded in agreement, then said to Xavier, "now, where were we? Ah, yes. Murderous terrorists groups." She laughed bitterly. "Ah, I always find the most pleasant topics, don't I? Anyways... no, this group of maniacs had a name themselves as well. 'Al-Qaeda'; 'the Base'. From where I'm looking, there's just as much a distinct line between them and the sane as there is between you and those Purifiers you speak of. Being on the wrong side of that line got me this." She pointed to her own scar, then shook her head. "Technically not the same group — long story, won't bore you — but still, I don't think you've quite got it. In-group out-group thing — lines that seem blatantly obvious from the inside aren't as clear from the outside. You know?"

Koyel still wasn't following, so he turned back to Mai. "Well," he said, nervously. "Uh, if you don't mind my asking, what are ya? I ain't seen anything quite like you before — I mean, you sorta look like that Xavier fellow, but not really."

edited 18th Jun '13 4:45:13 PM by KillerClowns

[Outside]

"...Oh," said Xavier. "Yeah, I get that." I probably look like an imbecile. "Well, then it probably was the success in your world. I mean, I say destroying the world is ridiculous, but if it worked, it wouldn't seem like that. Maybe the reaction wouldn't've been so extreme if the attacks had failed. Or maybe my people just got lucky," he said lamely. He went back to staring at the fire.

"You know," he said after a while, "if nothing else, it could be worse." Kaln, that's so patronizing. "It's no help to you now, but take a look at World War II-era Japanese-Americans after the Battle of Ni'ihau. That particular event wasn't as bad as yours, but the eff-" Xavier cut himself off, turning to Samira. "You do know what the Battle of Ni'ihau was, right? Or maybe the Ni'ihau Incident? I know a lot of people haven't heard of it, but you're a history teacher, so maybe..." He waved a hand vaguely.

"Same species as him, actually," said Mai. "Technically, anyway. But we're from very different areas, so we're two different..." She scratched her head. "...breeds, I guess. You know how two dogs can look really different because of their breeds, but they're still dogs? Maybe you don't. Anyway, kinda like that." She shrugged. "I don't know, I was never really good at this sort of thing."

[Outside]

Samira bit her lip, recalling that she'd heard the phrase somewhere. Where had it been... ah. She finally nodded and said, "to be honest, the first time I'd heard of it was when one of my students was doing an essay on the treatment of Japanese-Americans during WWII. This was... almost thirty years ago?" She sighed. "That student probably has a husband and kids right now. Wow, I'm old." She glanced up at Xavier. "I say to the centuries-old being."

I had to look it up myself. There's something darkly funny about the battle summary box in the article. Samira's far better educated than I, but I've decided to give myself some wiggle room so my ignorance doesn't hurt her characterization.

As for Koyel, he had never heard of a "dog" before. But he got it. "Like how me and the Orina who just ran after that Anne girl are both Uelane, even though I'm short with sandy skin and she's really tall and got skin near the same color as that sky." He looked up at the night sky — thankfully overcast, or he'd probably be gaping at the countless stars his world lacked. "Whaddya make of her? The Orina, I mean. She's... well, ain't what I expected. Looks the part, but don't she seem a bit forward for the job? Can't be good for business."

edited 18th Jun '13 7:46:45 PM by KillerClowns

[Outside]

"Heh," said Xavier. "I know what you mean. I get that feeling from time to time, especially around humans. And I'm not yet middle-aged. At least you won't have to feel old for another millennium." He grinned.

"Anyway. So Ni'ihau is the most isolated of the main islands of Hawaii. I've heard it's even privately owned. But after the attack on Pearl Harbor, a Japanese pilot crash-landed his plane there. Once they learned about the attack, the residents of Ni'ihau held him prisoner."

Xavier took a deep breath. "Now, this is where it gets complicated. See, there were some Japanese living on the island, too. Born in the US, so they didn't have any significant cultural ties to Japan as far as I know. And yet, knowing full well about the attack, they tried to help the pilot escape. They had no real reason to help him — except for the fact that they shared an ethnicity."

His voice grew a little distant. "The pilot was killed in his escape attempt, but that didn't really matter. If the Japanese helped the pilot so quickly solely on the basis of race, then what other Japanese would turn against the US?" He snorted. "There were other reasons, too, but I'm pretty sure the incident played a major part in the decision for Japanese internment camps which were, well... really, really shitty."

"Dunno," said Mai, shrugging. "She's unique, I'll give you that. But if you're looking for sex, I can imagine that some people would appreciate you not dancing around the issue like you're standing on tacks. It's just, 'You know what you want. I know what you want. So let's get down to it, hmm?' Quick and efficient. Besides, I can't really see her as beautiful. She doesn't have any of the things I'm looking for."

You know, I never did ask her what she did that needed anti-magic. Whoring is probably just a cover, albeit one she's rather well-suited for. For some reason, though, sharing this thought with Koyel never crossed Mai's mind.

Bathroom

Anne stood in front of one of the sinks, taking in deep breaths and trying hard to calm herself down. The reason for all this could easily be seen by looking in the sink: it was full of vomit. She realized that she could have just thrown up into the swamp - it was closer and more convenient to use than this basin was - but one, she didn't want to attract the attention of everyone else who happened to be outside at the moment; and two, she really didn't want to know what Aseyu would think of it, especially considering what was being discussed beforehand.

At least the one thing she gleaned from this experience, unpleasant as it was now, was that she was not ready for this sort of thing. Nothing in her life thus far had prepared her for something like this. Had her father not been murdered and herself not cursed, she probably wouldn't have slept with anyone besides perhaps Morgan after their marriage, and probably no one else but him. Plus, she probably wasn't going to sleep with any of the dwarfs (not that any of them had expressed the desire to - they probably didn't even want to see her naked). So perhaps it wasn't so surprising that the simple option had made her nervous to the point she felt the need to hurl.

At the same time, she did feel rather bad about promptly abandoning the conversation like that, which was made even worse by the fact that this wasn't the first potential conversation she bailed out on. She reminded herself that she still needed to find that woman from earlier and apologize for the rude dismissal. Hopefully, she was still around here somewhere. After she managed to get her thoughts in order, she was going to go back down there and apologize to Aseyu. And maybe after that, she could go make herself something to eat; another look at her vomit reminded her that she hadn't eaten since she got here, and she'd been here a while.

Before she would do any of that, however, she was first going to try and clean out this sink. The last thing she needed was someone throwing a fit about a basin full of vomit. After some confusion about how to work the mechanism (she tried pumping the spigot to no avail, before finally noticing the fancy brass handles and tweaking them some), she turned the water on and started rinsing the vomit down the drain.

It had been some time since her departure, but Grimhilde had dealt with the issues that had required her to return to Theoland. As much as she wasn't thrilled to return to the house in the swamp, she had unfinished business here. So once again, she found herself standing in front of it. She looked no different from her earlier appearance here, though she did look decidedly unhappy.

She was about to enter the house, but naturally she couldn't miss the large congregation of people sitting just outside it. Some of the people were new to her, but she did recognize Xavier, Koyel, and - much to her chagrin - the one-armed woman. She gave the latter a venomous glare while tapping her mirror and making the dragon's face reappear on it, but otherwise said nothing.

To the group as a whole, she said, "Greetings. I don't suppose any of you have met the owner of this building?"

[Kitchen]

Hilda tries to think of something to say but comes up short, but Sven has the tact of an elephant and so speaks up. "Introduce yourself again? If ya want I guess. I mean, I'm not sure exactly what you are but I'm pretty sure if you wanted to eat me you would have eaten me by now."

Hilda doesn't say anything, Sven's speech is simply too scattered.

He sighs, "Woulda gobbled me up or something. Right? But you wouldn't do that Ozzy. Unless..."

"Annnnnnddddddd anyway," Hilda interjects, seeing where this might be going even if it's extremely unlikely, "Go ahead, no matter what I'll be with you." She glances at Sven, "He's... already somewhere else."