Character Inn

[Garden ~ Tea House (Inside)]

Oswald rubbed the side of his head and murmured, "What I wouldn't give to work a job in a sweets shop..." He savored the thought for a moment, before waving a finger and remarking, "Ah, a very wise'' pursuit." He hummed a bit of a laugh, then lowered his hood again. Just as he did so, Blossom's strange artifact began acting up in the sort of way only strange artifacts could.

"Oh!" He raised his hood back up in a surprise that changed quickly to apprehension when he saw what was causing the loud sound of vibration. After Blossom explained—to the best of her abilities—what was happening, he rose to his feet and with a bow, said, "As it pleases you. It has been a delight to share in your illustrious company, madame. I bid you whatever good luck I have left to give, and may your research prove fruitful."

She was gone before he had quite finished, though in his bow, he did not notice. A few seconds of quiet later, he turned back to face Marie.

"And that leaves... us. Hm." He fell silent again, a fist pressed against his masked mouth thoughtfully. "We hardly know each other, yet I shun the thought of leaving you alone here after you came to us seeking company." another pause, "Marie, do you, by chance, know of a nearby inn? Have you, by chance, been there?"

edited 22nd Aug '14 8:18:25 AM by Ryuhza

[Behind the inn]

"You haven't seen the second Ghostbusters movie?!" Sara exclaimed in amazement. "But it's amazing! Maybe even better than the first!"

"It's not that good," Gregory muttered to Se, "but I'm not going to try and argue with Sara about stuff she likes. She's very... passionate."

Gregory lead his group towards the theatre, while Steve stayed behind, standing next to Rein. He glanced up at the sky and called Rein's attention. "Hey, check out those clouds. You might get your rain, after all."

[Sparring Area]

"Samuel Castellano," Samuel said with a slight smile as he approached his surrendering opponent, yet the smile faded as he continued to speak. "Sorry Miss Reynolds, but if your entire offense is this reliant on these little vials, then you're limiting yourself far too much to be useful in a fight, magic be damned. Don't you know how to throw a punch? Anything would be better than giving up as soon as I realised your tactics. It's shameful."

"Oh, I'm somewhat competent in hand-to-hand," Joan replied. She threw a couple solid jabs and an uppercut to underscore her point. "The problem is, as I stated, you can smack me around from across the room. I don't have that option. If you have the slightest bit of intelligence, you'll reach out with those tentacles you claim are arms, and the best I can do is hit your wrist. If I knew aikido or something, I'd still be fighting, but all my training is in Western boxing and wrestling, which are useless against someone with your abilities. Put simply, I picked a fight with the wrong guy."

[Tea House]

Marie only waved as Bolssom left. Wonder what all of that was about...? She finally took a sip of her tea. To her surprise, it actually tasted really good. Though it could use a little more sugar.

"There's an inn?" she asked, "Here?" Her eyes widened slightly, "I didn't know that! This was actually the first place I went to." That means having to be around more people...'

[Bar]

Nyris beamed, marveling at this strange new way of looking at the world. She craned her head to look around the room. "Fascinating!" she said, a note of awe in her voice.

She then dropped the discs from her eyes and passed them to Akiel, who gave them a try.

"Interesting..." said Akiel, but with a good deal of reserve. Then she paused, looking intently at a certain spot. "Wait... Some of these colors match up with-" She trailed off.

[Bar]

An expression of confusion appeared on Havanar's lopsided face. She looked over at where Akiel was staring, then felt silly for it, as of course she could see nothing.

"Sorry? Match up with what?"

[Inn -> Theater]

"Well, in that case, I'm staying put," Rein replied, standing at the back door. "Have fun Se!"

"I probably shouldn't feel abandoned, and yet I do." Se noted, sounding a little exasperated with herself as she made her way to the theater.

[Theatre]

Gregory placed his hand on Se's shoulder. "Hey, look on the bright side. At least Steve abandoned us as well. Minus one Steve is equal to one Rein, right?"

"You don't understand math or people," Sara muttered, as she darted towards the film selection list.

[Inn]

Steve placed his hands in his pockets, scuffing his feet on the ground before turning to Rein. "So... you're just going to wait here until it might start raining. Not exactly the most exciting pastime, is it?"

[Sparring Area]

Samuel snorted as he offered Joan a handshake. "Yeah, a lot of people make that mistake. So... where you from, kid? What's the story with the magic?"

Joan accepted the hand shake readily. "I'm from Philadelphia originally, but I've lived all over Earth. Or at least, my Earth. As for the magic, do you have Harry Potter in your world? My magic works a lot like his potions except for the fact that, y'know, I'm real. Mix the right ingredients, and then it's just cook, bottle, and save until you need it."

[Sparring Area]

"I don't read that fantasy crap, but I think I get the gist of it," Samuel replied with a slight grin. "Where I'm from... my world, I'm a superhero... well, was a superhero... still am, kind of... it's complicated. I'm in that messy grey area of being both retired and pretending to be dead, while still fighting crime. You know the one, we've all been there."

He took a short glance around the dojo before turning back to Joan. "Well, it looks like there's nobody left for me to beat, so I think I'm going to go grab a drink. You're free to join me if you want."

[Bar]

Akiel turned back to Havanar, slipping off the spectacles. "Alright, see, Kasuar- we can sense heat. Got these infrasensitive pits on our faces, kinda like snakes do. It's almost like a kind of second sight. Some of the heat spots I can sense normally also come through on these spectacle things. So." She made a face. "Probably weren't expecting that, were you?"

Nyris smiled.

"I'm not thirsty, but I'd be glad to join you. I could always use the company." Joan turned and left the dojo, expecting Samuel to follow her.

[Bar]

"I suppose I wasn't," Havanar agreed. She looked curiously at Akiel, not quite sure what to make of her expression. Was she annoyed, or amused, or something else entirely?

She looked down at her meal again, noting it was almost entirely gone, and once again felt a brief gust of fatigue. I should probably get going soon, she thought, then shook herself to stop. She looked over at Akiel again curiously. "What exactly is that like? I mean - " She cut herself off. "Um. Your reaction seems a little odd..."

[Garden ~ Tea House (Inside)]

"Yes, an inn." Oswald confirmed. "Or so I've been told."

He paused, watching the tea table from his heightened position for a few seconds, before kneeling back down and turning his hood towards Marie. "And I am very much interested in seeing this inn for myself. I want to know how it measures up to this beauteous garden, and, perhaps, learn of any such similar amenities as offered by this tea house. It's only a skip short of the truth to say that I'm half starved, and the whole truth to say that I'm feeling half starved."

He eyed Marie's tea cup from beyond his shadowy veil, then turned his hood to glance at the door out.

"Are you feeling terribly attached to your tea, miss Marie?" he asked, still watching the door.

[Tea House]

Marie took another small sip of her tea. "Yeah...I would like to see the inn too. Maybe I can get me something to eat while I'm there. I only had a small egg salad before I got in here."

When Oswald asked about her tea, she shook her head and sat her tea back down

"Not really. It's pretty good, but it could use a lot more sugar." She cocked her head to the side, "Why'd you ask?"

[Garden ~ Tea House (Inside)]

"Well, if that is truly the case..." Oswald turned his head back towards Marie, and once again got to his feet, "then perhaps you would like to join me in finding it." he extended one hand down to the girl. "It is your choice, of course, but I would like to get going as soon as possible. Yay or nay?"

Sorry for how long that blurb took, I've got a lot of homework to do and in the end couldn't think of much else to write.

[Game Room]

Claire seemed to take the Firstborn's abrupt departure in stride and leaned back in her seat. "No, I don't really have any plans." She said, quite casually, as she looked over at Daniel. She paused, briefly, and looked at his gauntlet. "By the way, that's pretty interesting-looking..." She said, pointing to it.

[[Game Room]]

“This?” Daniel asked, turning his hand so the top of the gauntlet faced her. The armor on it was lobstered, save for the stretch of metal covering the back of his hand, which was a single piece. It was plain with a silvery finish. Or it had been when it was made, having grown dull with time and negligence.

He mulled over whether he should tell her the truth. On the one hand, there were too many powerful people here, and he didn’t want to make their job easier if it ever came to a fight. On the other…

He took off his gauntlet again, revealing the inside of it. On the single piece, there was a circle etched into the metal, with a number of chords and smaller circles forming a design inside it. Small symbols were etched along curves and edges and even inside some of the smaller circles; but what those symbols meant he could not tell, only that their shape and location had to be exactly as it was.

“I need this to cast a certain spell,” he told her finally, “Sorcerers of my class are only allowed to use etched runes like this. I prefer to keep it on at all times; you never know when danger rears its head.”

“Listen,” he said, sliding the gauntlet back on his hand, “would you be kind enough to accompany me to my room? I still don’t understand what most of the things here are,” he gave another glance around the room, “and I’m afraid I’ll be clueless if I run into something similar there. You could order something in the Dining Hall and have it sent to my room if you think you’ll stay long.”

edited 25th Aug '14 9:24:13 PM by Elfhunter

[Bar]

Akiel shrugged, giving a quiet laugh. "I guess it was." Then she shook her head. "It was nothing."

Nyris spoke up, "Sure you weren't pushing the racial supremacy angle? I mean, it must be pretty handy to be able to see heat."

Akiel turned and rolled her eyes in Nyris' direction. "I'm pretty sure. It's just another difference, I thought she'd be interested to hear it." She looked back to Havanar and her look changed to one of concern. She had noticed something, and her head turned downward, looking intent. "You look a little tired. Are you okay?"

Nyris smirked again, and teasingly asked, "Are you offering to take her up to her room? A bit forward, don't you think?"

"Shaddap." Came the terse response.

[Bar]

Havanar bobbed her head. "No need. I'm okay." A pause. "And that does sound quite interesting, although I'm not sure how exactly to discuss it. There's a reason why the spectacles translate things into identifiable colors - it's very hard to cross species' sensory boundaries."

Her fingerclaws tightened slightly as she realized that this might lead them back into another argument about integration, and she looked about for something else to discuss. She blinked heavily, snout drooping. "Actually, I am rather tired, though that's not unusual at this time. I don't know that much about how kasuar sleep - um, I mean I don't know anything about how kasuar sleep - but gluvpaki have a rather more staggered sleep schedule than most of the species we know."

She picked up the spectacles and slid them into a loose fold, then turned cheerful again. "Still! It's nothing a walk wouldn't put off, I think!"

[Theater]

"Oh, minus one Steve more than cancels out minus one Rein, assuming they don't try to kill each other." Se observed, amused. "Back two," she added to Sara. "You overshot."

[Inn Back Door]

"Having trouble standing still?" Rein asked, amused. "Most of the speedsters I know actually aren't compelled to be constantly in motion, though I wonder what Fate would have been like without the abusive original mother. Tre has the patience of a machine, which suits a literal cyborg I suppose."

[Theatre]

Sara glanced over at Se. "Wow, you two are more suited for each other than I thought," she muttered before turning back to the selection list. "Ahh, here we are, Ghostbusters 2."

Before the movie began, Sara turned to Gregory and tossed him some small change. "Get popcorn."

Gregory glanced back. "It's free."

"Then get a lot of popcorn. Go."

"Alright, I'll go."

Once Gregory had left to get food, Sara leaned in and whispered to Se. "So... you and him... that's a thing now? That's an actual thing that's happening, isn't it?"

[Inn Back Door]

Steve bounced back on forth on the balls of his feet. "Yes, being an actual person, I'm not as patient as a cyborg. I don't feel like waiting around and then watching you get disappointed or whatever emotion you can feel when it doesn't."

[Bar]

Arriving at the bar, Samuel ordered himself a white russian. He turned to Joan and asked, "Are you sure you're not thirsty? It's all free here, y'know."

[Inn - Back Door]

"That's not exactly what I asked." Rein observed. "I was indirectly inquiring if your particular skillset means you can't stand still." She shrugged. "You got somewhere else you want to be? Go. I'm not asking you to stay."

She also punched him in the shoulder, producing the same whipcrack noise Se had when she exceeded the speed of sound on a local scale; Rein must have pulled the punch at the last moment considering it didn't hit that hard. "Also, if you ever insinuate Tre is anything less than human again I'll break a finger, understand? It wasn't her choice to get enhanced, and she bleeds as red as anyone. Beside, Fate's as human as it gets."

[Theater]

"I suppose that depends on if he remembers to call." Se observed, with some amusement. "And when. Not that I wouldn't come if I thought he needed my help...and I could get there, which is a little more difficult than calling."

Se looked closely at Sara. "Am I getting in the way of something here? Because if you mean to tell me to butt out, it works better to actually say so."

[Bar]

"Oh. Good." Akiel nodded once, an affirmation. "And now that you mention it, it is kind of hard to discuss, yeah. Amazing that there's something out there that lets you approximate my experience, even if it's in false-color. There isn't anything particularly strange about how we sleep, I don't think..."

"Unless who you happen to be sleeping with is warm-blooded, of course." Nyris muttered under her breath.

Akiel's head angled sharply in Nyris' direction. "I've got two words for you: psychological projection."

Nyris' mouth quirked up, as did her eyebrows. "What do you mean? You already know I have broader tastes than you do."

Akiel folded her arms, seemingly glad to be on the rhetorical offense for once. "Exactly! What with how often you bring up the idea of me and Havanar being in love, I have to wonder if you aren't projecting your own feelings for her onto me as a way to disguise them."

For a brief moment, Akiel looked smug.

"I know it's free," Joan responded, "but I don't need any liquor in me right now. Just want to talk."

"So, tell me about yourself. Who you are, why you had to fake your own death, that sort of thing."