PAINKILLER
[Town ~ Southern Outskirts] (Davey, Irina)
Irina watched as Samuel left. She commented, "I've never seen him so upset." She could figure why. The two left the day before on a day trip to desert ruins... But ended up in a foreign desert with occultists. Perhaps after they rescued each other, they may have tried amending themselves, she figured. Samuel was so close, but Todd was still a conceited asshole. He prioritized his racism and power over love—and it was tragic before Samuel's eyes.
Davey drew her back to him. "No, I suppose not," Irina said, chuckling. "I still feel like we barely know each other. What do you want to talk about?"
(Samuel, Serenican Soldier)
"How could you betray us?" the soldier moaned.
Samuel crouched down. "I betrayed nobody. Now roll on your back. I think I can fix you up."
The soldier lay still. He snarled, "I heard of you. You were discharged for insubordination. And then... You're with that terrorist woman. She destroyed my gun with no effort! What are you, some kind of magical anarchist?"
The Colonel shook his head. "No. I'm a human being. Did they tell you that? Did they leave out why I chose what I did? Well, Haderach was full of civilians and the siege was killing them all. You know what they told us to do? Bomb everything. Kill the enemy, but also the starving, innocent people who were stuck there. I'm a human being who knows that there would be more loss than any gain."
"Even if that was true, Serenicans died and we lost the war," the soldier seethed, "and terrorists are killing more of us."
"It's because of racism," Samuel cut in. "Now roll the fuck over or I'm not helping you."
The soldier frowned. He used all his strength to go to his stomach again.
Samuel felt along his back, looking for tender spots. As he found each, he massaged them with his thumb. He did so for a few minutes before he stood back up. "You should start feeling a bit better."
The soldier reluctantly moved—but felt no stinging pain. He sat up. His mouth was left agape. "W-what? How did you...?"
"Can you do me a favor?"
"Yessir?"
Samuel looked over his shoulder. "The woman you tried to kill? You deserved what she did to you. But I need you to call for help." He took the communicator from the soldier's belt. "She'll bleed out before long. And to be clear, she used to be with Nosferatu, but she's not anymore. Before you can charge her with whatever you wanted to, you'll have to get me first. Now stand up and make a call."
Current Time: 4:00 PM
Current Weather: Clouds once again dominated the area, along with divides in the sky. Thanks to both, the temperature cooled down to a comfortable warmth.
edited 17th Aug '16 6:16:05 PM by electronic-tragedy
Life is hard, that's why no one survives.
[Town ~ Southern Outskirts] (Davey, Irina)
Davey tipped his head a little to the side, nodding it thoughtfully.
"Yes... well," he spoke softly, "we've known each other for about a... day. A day or so. And we've been busy." He shifted his hands slightly, still keeping up the pressure, straining not to accidentally poke or prod the wrong spot. "And... in a manner of speaking, I feel I can say... I know you. The way you are, anyway. The kind of person you are. Maybe you've picked up something similar from me. The gist, absent the details, hmn? But those details do sound interesting. The occult? 'Nosferatu'? And a terrorist? Oh," he glanced at his hands, then back at Irina, his bewhiskered mouth set in a sheepish smile, "not to bring up fresh wounds."
He glanced at the bloody patch again, still disconcerted by how much there was. "But you're right, we barely know each other. It's high time we rectified that, don't you think? But first things first: how are you feeling? Samuel said you would need more blood and I don't want you to be talking too much if it's going to drain your energy."
[Southern Desert ~ Hidden Cave (Outside)] (Connie, Amy, Maya, Omar, Thing in the Dark)
"See," Connie smiled and gave Amy a friendly nudge, "You're the perfect girl for the job. You've just got to figure out how to rub some of that positivity off on Maya."
When Amy explained why she liked Connie, Connie frowned, glancing at the other girl in confusion, even concern. "Amy, I called your best friend a..." she hesitated, deciding not to repeat her choice phrase from earlier, "...and you still think I'm 'super nice'?" She sighed and shook her head, "Sometimes I think you're a little too forgiving of people. Someone could really take advantage of that, you know?"
Meanwhile, closer to the cave, Omar smiled and shook his head.
"Not in the slightest," he said to Maya, before turning to the cave again, "you'll see if he ever decides to politely join us out here."
"Well- hey," the thing in the dark replied indignantly, "don't go making a big show out of it! You're making me feel like a circus freak here. Have a little patience or something, jeeze."
Omar looked at Maya and shrugged, then called back, "the longer you're absent, the more the tension builds. If you had just stepped out a minute ago, no one would've batted an eye."
All that came from the cave was indecipherable grumbling.
"Anyway," Connie continued as they drew nearer to the others, "I've never really thought of other girls as... like... girlfriends. Not like boys do, I guess. Well, hell, I've never even had a boyfriend either. So I guess there's that whole lack of experience, and this... you, telling me this, it just seems... I dunno, sudden? I need to think about it some more."
She sighed again as they reached the cave, taking silent note of Maya's movement. She felt like the negative end of a magnet, face-to-face with her own kind. "So," she began, glancing at Omar suspiciously, "where's the cave dweller?"
"Do you have to ask?"
this place needs me here
[Forest Trail To Mountains: Wagon (Teri, Wolfe, Gwion, Nemaforte, Zuri, Iraal, Scents, Oswald)]
Scents stared blankly (that is, even more blankly than her helmet's visor normally was) as Oswald struggled to open the ration pack's wrapping. The minotaur's helplessness seemed so bad that it was nearly miraculous.
She stepped over towards him and extended a hand towards the rations. With a brief command, a small metal talon slid out from one of her suit's fingers and slit a narrow cut in the packaging. "Here," she said again, voice amused.
Meanwhile, Iraal was attempting to explain what she had meant to Nemaforte, though she suspected it was a futile effort. "It's not just that I'm saying that our species look closer to each other than they do to vayen," she said, her voice taking on an unconsciously lecturing tone, "but also that your species even looking orl-like at all seems unlikely if your planet is as you describe. A tidally-locked world should lead to much more drastic evolutionary conditions than just a lack of sunlight..."
Her head turned as Nemaforte and Zuri exchanged another conversation about 'energies'... and the younger woman immediately bolted back down the way they came. Unsurprising, at this point.
She ignored it and resumed what she was saying while she waited for Nemaforte to finish with Oswald. "I'm trying to remember if I've ever heard of a planet like that in my universe - it's not as common as some older theorists expected. I know I've never done an expedition on one."
But when Teri followed Zuri and let out three short whistles - certainly a signal - she sighed and realized that the plan was probably being upset by supernatural strangeness again.
"Scents!" she ordered. While it wasn't obvious whether Scents could contribute anything Teri and Wolfe couldn't, she had the communications link. It wasn't a long distance, but it would be shorter with talking.
"On it, doc," Scents replied. She let go of the rations and jogged back down the trail as fast as vayen legs enhanced by a powered exoskeleton designed for rapid movement could take her. Which is pretty damn fast. Arriving at the scene, she observed both of the Terra Novans examining an apparently comatose Zuri. She checked that theory by waving a hand in front of her face, without success.
You have to be shitting me.
Doc? she sent to Iraal. Our last student is down. Uninjured but unresponsive. She remembered a previous incident. I'm guessing it's something to do with that astral projection thing.
Iraal repeated this information, though in her own words, to the rest of the group present at the wagon, and sighed heavily. The psychics just couldn't seem to stay out of trouble.
Didn't want to split the post with a pointless new location tag, but currently Teri, Wolfe, Zuri, and Scents are not at the wagon anymore, while Gwion, Nemaforte, Iraal, and Oswald are.
Crazy Kiwi
Mountain Trail
[Zuri, Scents, Teri, Wolfe]Wolfe scarcely had time to give further thought on the Zuri situation before Scents arrived at speed. He watched as the alien investigated Zuri's non-responsive form and tried the old stand-by of waving a hand in front of her face.
"Un-fuckin'-believable, innit?" Wolfe said. "It's getting late in the day, we haven't started off yet, and we've got this to deal with. We can't leave her here and we can't exactly sling her on the back of the pack horse with the provisions."
Teri nodded. "I thought we had problems with a half-crazed bull-man, but at least he's compos mentis."
[Northeastern Forest ~ Trail to Mountains (Wagon)] (Oswald, Gwion, Iraal, Nemaforte)
Oswald had only just returned his attention to the ration and it's fiendish wrapper when Scents decided to step in and help. He stared, eyes widening in wonder as the wrapper appeared to cut itself open, sparing him the hassle. He blinked a few times until, with the sound of Scents' voice, it all seemed to click together.
"Oh!" he raised his head, looking towards the voice, "thank you! Thank you. My muscles, they're..." he closed his eyes briefly, as though in concentration or in pain. He shook his head and sighed, letting go of whatever he'd been trying to say, concluding instead with another, "Thank you..."
He muttered a few more thank yous under his breath, then set into eating the ration. As he dug into the bar with his oddly-shaped teeth, he seemed to settle back into sitting quietly and listening to those around him. It was hard to tell whether he was fascinated by all that was being discussed or just stupefied by what he couldn't possibly make sense of.
this place needs me here
[Southern Desert (Cave)]
Amy shook her head. "I'm still not happy with you about that...but I don't hold grudges for long! Holding long grudges is hard for me! So let's not dwell! Let's try to make a new friend!"
Seeing that whoever (or whatever) was still not coming out of the cave, she stretched her arms out and smiled brightly.
"It's ok!" she called, "We won't hurt you. We promise. In fact, I'll give you a big hug of friendship. Don't be shy!"
Maya just looked away and shook her head, visibly irritated. This is a goddamn waste of time. We have a ranch to find, and this dude isn't showing up. Either they need to come out or I'm dragging them out of there.
I'M SORRY I have writer's block. x_x
[Southern Desert ~ Hidden Cave (Outside)] (Connie, Amy, Maya, Omar, Thing in the Dark)
Omar smiled wryly at Maya. "Patience, ye of little faith. I'm sure your ranch is going nowhere, and besides," he squinted up at the cloudy sky, then rounded his eyes back at the cave, "I need to clear up this situation so you three don't accidentally blab about it to the wrong people. That's why I called you here in the first place."
Connie groaned and murmured—mostly to Amy, "And here we go; we're being 'silenced'."
The man rolled his eyes and shook his head, "No no no, like I said earlier, you three aren't in trouble. This is simply already a very complicated situation that I'd like to keep from getting any more complicated. That's exactly what will happen if word about this leaks out to the wrong people, capiche?"
"The wrong people like the authorities?" Connie asked in a faux-innocently-curious tone. "I mean, this doesn't seem sketchy at all."
Omar stared at her, mouth smiling but his eyes telling a different story. "Just bear with me." He turned his attention back to the cave while Connie snickered at a bear-in-cave joke that no one had made. "Weller," he called into the cave, "come on, get out here. You've got a girl who wants to give you a hug and two others who are about to turn on me. If you get out here in five seconds, I'll go into town and get you something to eat."
There was a sudden scrambling sound and, approximately five seconds later, the thing in the dark stepped into the light, emerging from the cave.
He stood about as tall as the girls from the top of his head to his feet, though proportioned a little differently. There seemed to be more length in his neck and torso, and a little less in his legs. He had on one shoe, some dirt-covered jeans with a few small holes and one big hole, and a checkered farmer shirt in a similar condition. It had been hastily buttoned up, with only a few buttons connected at all, and only one button connected to the right hole.
His eyes were somewhat large, with big—though rapidly shrinking—pupils and irises colored blue like light in an icy cave. His skin was largely black—obsidian, coal, jet black, save for a white area that extended from his lower jaw down the front of his chest and belly, at least from what could be seen through his shirt. The fingers on his hands—still working on fastening one last button—and toes on his exposed foot were tipped with claws that, though large, were still fairly short and nubby given his size. His tail was a properly big, lengthy thing, held high, but falling slightly—along with his arms—as he saw his audience. His head, too, was pretty large, with a very long mouth and small, widely-spaced nostrils forming a rounded, even blunt, snout.
He looked quite a lot like a lizard—or perhaps something a little more amphibian—wearing clothes and standing on his haunches.
this place needs me here
[Southeren Desert (Cave)]
Maya's eyes widened. Holy shit...Holy fucking shit...
Amy's eyes widened as well, and she gave out a very dramatic gasp, before a huge smile grew on her face.
"Oh my goodness!" she said, her eyes practically sparkling now, "A giant talking lizard! That is so awesome! Hello! And as promised..." She gave Weller a light hug, "Here you go!"
She then quickly pulled away, then started patting where his cheeks would of been. To her slight disappointment, his cheeks were not squishy like Davey's. The feeling of disappointed quickly vanished when she decided to repeatedly pat his snout instead.
"You didn't have to hide from us, silly." she said, "Why are you hiding in a cave? Are you shy? Aww...you don't have to be shy."
Maya, on the other hand, could not believe that this was the guy that Connie was scared of. It was shocking to see a lizard this big and dressed up, but he was the least intimating thing she had ever seen in her life.
So... She signed, turning to Omar, Did you stumble on this dude while you were in this cave? What's the story here?
[Hotel]
James sat next to John, putting slinging an arm over his shoulder. "You alright now, hon?"
"I'm getting there." John said, slightly opening his eyes, "Though, I don't know what else I'm gonna do. I mean, going back out to the desert is completely out of the question." He sighed, "I think I need to lay down for a while."
"Me too." James shook his head, "I need a damn beer."
The two of them stood up, with Pancake nuzzling comfortably in John's arms. With one more look at the outdoors, they both went straight to the elevator and back upstairs, unsure what to do for the remainder of the day.
They ain't gone; I'll use them later.
edited 20th Aug '16 4:05:57 PM by Masterofchaos
[Southern Desert ~ Hidden Cave (Outside)] (Connie, Joseph, Amy, Maya, Omar)
Connie found herself blinking several times and in several different ways as she tried to make sense of what had stepped out of the cave. It wasn't the strangest thing she'd ever seen—she had known Davey for half a year and even he wasn't the strangest—but the combination of that strangeness and her own earlier experience in the cave left her feeling a little dumbfounded. It almost even made her angry that what had terrified her turned out to look so innocuous. But now, she began to make sense of what she'd run into. The dark tendril she had initially stepped on was just the guy's tail. She'd had such a hard time seeing him because, against the dark of the cave's inner depths, he was black on black, sans the lighter spot visible on his chin. And the voice she had heard, the strange sound of her own cry of fear ...had he been doing the same?
"Hi. Hi there." he said, his apparent nervousness burgeoning into a smile as Amy made good on her promise of a hug. He turned his head towards Omar, saying, "I think this is the best response I've gotten yet."
Omar, who had returned to unloading equipment from his motorcycle, waved a hand lazily in the former cave dweller's direction. "Joseph Weller ladies and ...ladies. The story begins and ends with him."
Joseph glanced at the man again, his nervousness returning with haste. "Neh heh... I mean, jeeze, you make it sound so important."
Omar fixed him with a one-eyed stare, "And you're shortchanging yourself to claim that it isn't. Give yourself a little consideration. And say hi to the others."
He was still caught in the midst of Amy's very affectionate greeting, blinking every time she patted his snout. He drew his neck back slightly but it did little to help. "I wasn't hiding," he claimed, "I swear I was... just... back there looking for my other shoe. It's hard to see, you know."
Meanwhile, Omar turned around to answer Maya. "Oh no," he shook his head, "Not here, no. I stumbled upon him in town, in a hotel. See, he was staying there with two men, and uh, they're a big part of the reason I don't want you telling anyone about this; about him being here."
this place needs me here
[Southern Desert (Cave)]
Amy blinked.
"Why can't we tell anyone?" she asked, looking back at Omar, "If he was with two people, don't they deserve to know that he's here, safe and sound?"
She gave Joesph another look, this time out of curiosity. She had been around Davey, so from the look of things, animal like people weren't too much of a big deal. On top of that, he didn't look threatening—far from it, as a matter of fact—so there would be no reason for anyone to be afraid of him.
Now she really had to know just what on earth was going on.
"Are you hiding from someone?" she asked, "Or are you trying to get away from the chaos in the town? If that's the case, why not just head to the ranch with us? We'll keep you safe! Promise!"
[Southern Desert ~ Hidden Cave (Outside)] (Connie, Joseph, Omar, Amy, Maya)
Omar wrinkled his nose and shook his head. "Not a good idea. Besides, I've already spoken to them; I did what I could to put their minds at ease."
Connie couldn't stop herself from staring at the lizard for more than a few seconds at a time. Even turning her head away found her eyes drifting back to goggle at the weirdo in the proverbial room. Joseph his name was. What was with all the weirdos she'd ever met having bland-ass, biblical names? First David and now Joseph. Dave and Joe. No Zorbox or Bettaqintus, or even something just a little fancier, like Johannes Baldwin St. Imhotep Ortiz the 3rd.
"Involving those two again at this point is just going to complicate things and slow them down," Omar continued, fixing Amy with a levelheaded stare, "we're dealing with a time sensitive matter here, and when it's zero hour, we don't need any surprises or complications threatening the success of what we're trying to do."
Connie seemed to have finally caught the eye of Joseph in return, though he seemed even more concerned she was about looking conspicuous. Every time she turned her head his way, he'd look at the clouds, or Amy, or his claw finger things. But in the corner of her vision she could see him slowly winding back. It was kind of annoying, and Connie wasn't much a fan of beating around the bush, so she stared at him directly and purposefully, like her eyes were shooting piercing laser beams.
Unfortunately, before she could elicit any sort of response, the lizard creature turned his attention to Omar, chiming in with a question. It was so weird to see that huge mouth move and form words, then have such a 'Joe' voice come out of it. Even having seen Davey do the same for over half a year, it was weird. Maybe it was because Dave had all the fur and whiskers in the way, but for this new guy it was just mouth. It wasn't exactly an uncanny weird, but more of an 'am I dreaming?' kind of weird.
"I still don't get why you didn't just tell them what was going on last night," he said, "Before we left."
Omar began detaching two jerrycans from his motorcycle. "Because," he began, hesitating slightly, "because... Weller, last night was a night full of chances. I didn't expect to meet you, or a person with your very special problem. And when I found out who you were; where you were from, I saw that we had a very rare, very fortunate opportunity to get you back to where you belong. In retrospect it was probably too slim a shot to make, but at the time it was a maybe. It was a maybe that would become a 'definitely not' if we took the time waking up your friends and explaining everything to them."
Joseph looked down slightly, a frown playing across his big weird mouth. He didn't say anything else. Omar turned around and glanced at the others. "I know this stuff sounds terribly confusing to you three. Like I said, it's a wild story," he gestured at the lizard, "Weller here has a pretty severe temporal displacement problem."
"Among other things..." Joe murmured to himself.
edited 21st Aug '16 10:51:47 PM by Ryuhza
this place needs me here
Friendly Neighborhood Lich
Trail to Mountains - Wagon (Nemaforte, Oswald, Gwion, Iraal)
Nemaforte seemed completely oblivious to the situation with Zuri, her mind currently being preoccupied with other things - namely, what kind of spell and herb combination to try on this second attempt at removing Oswald's curse.
She didn't feel the need to cast a magic circle as Zuri had done before in the previous ritual, as it was unnecessary on Orenya given the strong magic field about the place. All she did in preparation was remove her gloves and sunglasses, as before. Once again, she tore off a tiny white spiky leaf of the "vampiric bristle" herb she had used before, and again had it soak up some blood that had still not yet clotted on Oswald's leg... and again tasted his blood for good measure, even though it wasn't part of the ritual.
"Sen Oswald, you need'll put down your cake before we begin, lie down a time, and close your eyes," Nemaforte instructed. Once he did so, she stood at his feet, fanning her arms out so her capelet kind of looked like little wings. Suddenly she noticed that his aura looked a lot... healthier than the last time, though there was still that dark presence about, especially around his head.
She also felt a dull sensation inside of her, like a bit of fatigue. Changing her plan all of a sudden, she walked around until she was right next to his head, extending a hand towards it until it was hovering right above his face. She could feel the aural wisps flowing from his head into her palm, but did not expect to see the "normal" parts of his aura do so rather than the cursed parts.
"Orani-me kata, kami inor tei."
The spell did it. Satisfied, she used that hand to hold the vampiric bristle leaf, which began to shrivel and turn dark. Then she took the tiny bottle of gray-ish fluid, which looked to contain the very clouds above in liquid form, and extracted some with the dropper, transferring one drop onto the leaf, which fizzled a tiny bit upon impact. With a palm out, she held the leaf right above his forehead.
"Sio more-me kiyo maia," she spoke, as if into the leaf itself. "Maia la more-ha!" She released the leaf, which drifted down until it landed neatly on Oswald's brow.
"This'll hurt little-ly, try and bear it a while," she spoke to him, a tiny bit tongue-tied from alternating between two languages so quickly.
And she decided to repeat the same spell she used before.
"Nue sen Azwald, sio nen sundira morshali-ya!"
Again she forcefully slammed her palm upon Oswald, but this time stopping less than an inch above his forehead. The same faint warm ripples spread out from the impact, though they were visibly dark.
Almost immediately, she sank to her knees, having to support herself with her other hand, while the one hovering above Oswald's forehead trembled a bit. She also had to shut her eyes, for they began to sting all of a sudden.
"Tei-bi oreal... nue tou-bi oreal... kusa nai mornai..." Her voice was growing faint and winded, and she herself began to feel very light-headed.
But she would not have her spell interrupted this time. With her eyes still closed, she withdrew more of the "celestial sight" fluid into the dropper, and then traced a finger just above Oswald's face, stopping right over his eyes.
"Open your eyes you can now. It feel'll refresh."
Although she could not see when he did so, she could feel it nonetheless. And as soon as Oswald opened his eyes, the first thing he would see was a watery mess when the a drop of the strange grey fluid fell onto them.
"Fia nave dai la tei-bi more-me..." Nemaforte muttered, as she narrowly opened her own eyes and squeezed a couple of drops into them as well. After blinking a few times, she looked down at Oswald.
"Ah, better I feel. Better you feel, dai?" Her voice still sounded a little shaky... but it seemed she knew what to do. Forgetting entirely about Oswald for a moment, she reached into her own bag, a bit surprised that her vision was slightly blurred. Nonetheless, she found she was looking for - the same round blue mushroom she accidentally dropped when she first arrived here.
"Turian-wishta, mushroom of time..."
And without hesitation, she popped it in her mouth. "Most not like this taste," she commented to nobody in particular as she walked toward the edge of the wagon and tried to get a look at the surroundings, "but used to it I be. No herb taste'll horribi for me."
Suddenly she remembered she had left Oswald and her bag behind. Once she reached him, she bent over him and gazed right into his eyes.
"Dore-ya... Awaken..."
There was a strange allure in her flesh-pink eyes, and though they were still a bit of a blur, Oswald should be just beginning to see them, and soon other things as well.
So yeah, Oswald should have his sight back, but his vision might be blurry or otherwise weird (I'll leave the rest up to Ryuhza) for a while.
Northern Desert - Ritual Site (Rip, Lupin)
Lupin kind of expected that sort of reply from Rip, and he could only make a small sigh at it. He had to admit Rip was right, at least about one thing.
"You're right - I am a worrywart. I have to be, given my line of work." He took a slight bow of his head. "Being that close to crime brings up so many variables, and any slip-up could mean death, or worse, detection."
He handed the stone back to Rip. "Shall we head over to the others, then? Perhaps after we've all had a bite to eat, we can deal with this rock of yours."
And with that, he started walking back to the rest of the group, inviting Rip to follow. He did so in a morose fashion, feeling a marked spite for this entire desert, longing to be back in town rather than in the middle of nowhere, in cover of the night rather than the brightness of the day, even though the sky was filled with clouds.
Northern Desert - Ritual Site (Vicky, Hazel, James, Kris, Kaitlyn)
Kaitlyn's rather dark comments about her superhero remark caused Vicky's smile to vanish, but she still listened intently.
Vicky blinked a couple of times before answering. "I... don't have much experience with crime to be honest," she admitted, automatically turning her head towards Yamiko for some reason before looking back at Kaitlyn. "But! I can learn really fast!" she chirped, with a cheeky wink. "With enough practice, I bet I could even make bullets bend right around me, and knock weapons right out of people's hands!"
"I can helbe your connection to crime..." Vicky turned her head around to see Yamiko, who was speaking in a distant and almost sing-songy voice, her speech the slightest bit slurred. She was still sitting next to Mari, propping herself against one hand on the ground, and holding her other hand lazily by her shoulder and pointing upward.
"Wait wha-?" Vicky muttered, but Yamiko didn't seem to hear her. She turned back to the group, scratching the side of her head. "Yeah I don't think I'd ever wanna get drunk. Even that lil' bit of cosmic potion is... whoo!" She threw back her head in a sigh. "Ohmygod, she's right, the sky looks kinda green," she spoke in a strained voice, before straightening out her head again and putting a silly smile on her face. But that smile soon vanished, and she seemed to blank out for a while, then shook her head and held the side of her head again.
What caused her to space out was a sudden thought entering her mind, clearly not her own. For a moment she thought of the dark interior of a house and a person inside it, and somehow knew the person wasn't supposed to be in the house. No, there were two people, a man and a woman. But it was brief, and that's what caused Vicky to shake her head - in disbelief. I must be imagining things.
edited 22nd Aug '16 9:16:08 PM by ladytanuki
Come, my child of the devil. Your mother is calling you. Hear my call in Hell's grand hall, where all our dreams come true.
[Southern Desert (Cave)]
Amy tilted her head, blinking.
"Now you're making me more confused!" she said, "Now I have more questions on top of the questions I already have! Now I have never ending questions! What do you mean temporal displacement problem? What kind of powers does he have?" She gasped, " Ooh! Is he a shapeshifter?"
Maya noticed that throughout all this, Connie hadn't said a word. Part of her wanted to ask if she had anything to say, but everything else in her said no. She was still too angry—and the fact that all of this was just a huge misunderstanding made her even angrier. She was called a cynical bitch for no reason, and she was probably going to get no apology. No acknowledgement that her upbringing was dismissed for no reason.
So, again, she kept her distance, and decided not to even look at Connie in the eye. Instead, she looked between Omar and Joesph.
That's a little cruel. she signed, Not telling the people looking after him where he is. Though, I guess you have your reason...whatever the hell it is. But seriously; what do you mean by time sensitive matter?
edited 23rd Aug '16 11:52:39 AM by Masterofchaos
Valley Of the Dead God - Baron Verez et al, Zekarim et al, Brin, Hoshi, Miyuki, Zuri’s Astral Projection
As absorbed as he had been in trying to convince Zekarim to let them pass without using magic, Blair had not focused much on the new arrivals. It was not so much that he wrote them off; even he could not divide his attention to two different groups of subjects where magic was concerned. Now that the dealings with Zekarim were mostly secured, Blair sent a message to Roscoe - and this time felt the touch of interfering magic as the stranger drew closer.
Interesting. This man - or whatever he was, given his odd appearance and the way he registered to Blair’s senses - seemed to wield a magic at least as potent as what Blair was putting out at the moment. He could certainly not dismiss that. As the man spoke to Zekarim, Blair connected to Roscoe again, completing the link this time.
She responded first. Blair! We heard a gunshot. What is going on?
That didn’t concern us. We’re fine. But our new arrivals are very interesting. I’m reading the tall one’s magic right now. It’s crossed very neatly with advanced technology. Quite impressive. And I’m fairly certain he’s read me.
That doesn’t sound safe, Blair.
Of course it isn’t. That’s why I’m going to make friends. Or perhaps it will be a case of keeping my enemies closer.
All he got in response was a scoff.
At any rate, Blair continued, we’ve got the go-ahead to inspect the Dead God. Tell the others they can join us now. Be careful crossing the Valley.
We’ll try. Roscoe did not sound happy.
Get Hoshi and Miyuki to help you. They’ve done well in covering me and Brin. The man had stopped talking, having just posed a question to Zekarim. ‘Spacefarers known as seraphim’? Why, that was interesting enough to keep this man around. Blair decided he would intercede on the man’s behalf.
“For my part, I can say you’ve caught my interest,” Blair said with a bright smile, without troubling to hide the spark of mischief that came naturally to his kind. “I’d say your spacefaring seraphim have just won you three tickets in. You’ll tell us more, won’t you? And that’s a lovely avian you have there.”
If only that had been the end of it. Something nudged at the fringes of Blair’s awareness. His expression went blank for a moment as he looked inward to uncover the problem. He followed the something all the way up above them, and found it caught just beyond the perimeter he had just set for Zerakim.
“Well, then,” Blair said as he turned to the acting commissar, the life returning to his faded blue-green eyes, “it seems you have an opportunity to test me as well. That sensation, like a premonition, which you just felt is a signal that someone with the intention of reporting your activities has just tried to leave, or perhaps enter, your airspace. What would you like to do with them?”
I made a bit of an executive decision. Let me know if I’ve overstepped on anything already planned, as I’ve been gone a bit and lost track of the OOC thread. Also, Blair is making an assumption about Astral-Zuri’s intentions, since they combined to get her stuck in the perimeter.
Small Valley - Suela, Cyrus, Kito, Hoshi, Miyuki
The feeling of something being very wrong had not left Roscoe since Blair’s last message to her. With a small sigh, she turned to the rest of the group. “Blair and Brin have cleared a way for us to get to the Dead God,” she said. “Blair says we can make our way over now, but to be careful.”
She looked up and then waved at Hoshi and Miyuki, flying over the Valley of the Dead God, hoping they would see her signal to help them, if the others were ready to journey on.
I left this open-ended since most of the characters in the Small Valley haven’t been really active for a couple months probably, and it would be natural to have lost interest and such.
edited 23rd Aug '16 6:16:35 PM by savlamar
[Northeastern Forest ~ Trail to Mountains (Wagon)] (Oswald, Gwion, Iraal, Nemaforte)
Oswald seemed understandably eager to get the sight-restoring ritual underway. He looked up at the sensation of the herb against his leg, confused at first and still gnawing at his ration like a dog with a bone. However, when he heard Nemaforte's instructions, he broke into giddy smile.
"At once!" he said, though it took him a little longer than 'at once' to assume the proper position, with much grimacing involved in between. It was as though all that had kept him together before reaching the wagon had since come unglued, leaving him a mostly limp sack of limbs. Eventually, he managed to lie down without bumping his head against anything or pinching his tail. He laid his head down slowly, closed his eyes, and rested his hands atop his chest, waiting, expressionless, for what came next.
He was quiet as the grave for the following few steps of the witch's. Even the part that was said to hurt a little brought about only a slight wrinkle in his brow and a twitch in his mouth. When it came time to open his eyes, he did so, grunting his surprise at the sight—muddled and blurry though it was—before him.
"Oh- it, I... yes..." he spoke, his hopefulness grounded by an inescapable uncertainty, "something, ah... seems be happening."
Oswald became silent again until Nemaforte returned, finishing her ritual. He blinked several times, then squeezed his eyes shut and opened them slowly. He was staring right at her, but his eyes seemed distant and unfocused. His pupils had contracted into narrow slits, but the eyes themselves seemed motionless. With much deliberation, he removed a hand from his chest and reached out, extending his arm until his dark, sooty fingers were inches away from the face above him. His eyes came back to life a bit—at least as far as movement was concerned. They turned to stare at his raised hand, at his fingers, and finally at the space beyond them. For a moment—a hesitation—he drew his fingers back. But the moment was graciously brief.
The half blind, half crazed 'minotaur' lying on the floor of the wagon touched the side of Nemaforte's face and murmured, "Ah... what eyes..."
[Northern Desert ~ Ritual Site (Near Truck)] (Rip, Lupin)
"Is that right?" Rip asked, trying very—sort of—hard not to sound too disinterested. In truth, he couldn't recall what Lupin's job was, if he'd been told at all. His attention flashed back to the stone in the younger man's hands. As he took it back into his own possession, getting a firm grip on it before nodding to Lupin that it was safe to release, he held it up and said, "Well, don't let this tyke scare you too much. It's a nuisance at best."
He frowned initially at the suggestion to join the others, still not fond of the idea of wasting further time eating and chatting. It felt like he'd already spent the better part of the day in the desert and had gotten so frustratingly little done. He wasn't willing to return to Davey with a problem still in hand. But being as Hazel—his best shot at ridding himself of the spirit cleanly—had already made herself a fixture at the lunch table and Rip himself couldn't entirely ignore an unmistakable ache in his gut, he found himself relenting. So he stuffed his stone-bearing hand into his jacket pocket and followed Lupin over.
[Southern Desert ~ Hidden Cave (Outside)] (Connie, Joseph, Omar, Amy, Maya)
"Oh yeah," Joseph nodded, a bit of sarcasm infiltrating his tone, "but I've only ever pulled it off once."
"It's not a-" Omar stopped himself, sighed, then began more slowly and deliberately, "It's not a superpower. He doesn't have superpowers. It's a very strange..." he hesitated on the word, "...force of nature that Weller has had the misfortune of getting himself tangled up in."
Joseph shrugged helplessly. "All I did was fall asleep in a library. I guess that's against the rules of nature or something."
Connie was still trying to regain the lizard's attention or burn a hole through him with her eyes, whichever came first. It was starting to feel a bit like a game, guessing when he would finally notice. So much for 'feeling like someone's watching'...
Turning to Maya, Omar explained, "It might sound cruel to you, but it was a necessity. They were nice people-"
"Really nice." Joe murmured.
"...but they weren't equipped to handle Weller's problem. Not beyond offering him a place to stay while he was here. See, under the right conditions, Weller could be transported to another time and another place in an instant."
Joe made a clicking sound while pretending to snap his clawish fingers. His eyelids had lowered slightly, and he gazed away despondently.
"They were going to lose him eventually, but they seemed very attached. I don't think they'd want to hand him off to someone else, and I didn't exactly have proof beyond my word that I could help him. But Weller here's an independent young man of..."
He glanced at Joseph, who looked up in turn, a little confused for a moment, before filling in with, "seventeen."
"A young man of seventeen, capable of making his own decision, especially in a circumstance so extreme and personal as this one. That's why I approached him privately."
Joseph finally caught notice of Connie's one-sided stare off. His eyes widened in a crazy mix of surprise, confusion, and equal measures of both panic and amusement. He glanced to Maya, then to Omar, before meeting Connie's relentless stare again, as though to ask, Me?
Realizing suddenly that she didn't have much in the way of a real followup planned, Connie brainstormed for a few quick moments, then asked— or rather demanded, "Hey, why didn't you say anything when I was in the cave? You know, you scared the shit out of me."
His eyes widened again, though this time he couldn't keep the amusement away from his mouth. "Oh that was you? I suh- puh- sorry, I-"
"Oh, don't blame him for that," Omar cut in, briefly diverting his attention to Connie, "I told him to avoid being seen, especially by anyone from town. Partly to avoid a situation like this," he gestured around him, "—things happen—and partly to avoid letting the two men he was with know that he's still here. I've done my best to put them off the idea; having them find out now that he's still around and worse, where he is, would throw a wrench into this plan at a crucial stage and make it even more difficult to gain their trust.
"As for the time sensitive matter," he paused, grimacing slightly as though wrestling with a difficult conundrum, "it's not something I can tell you about in detail. I'd love to, believe me, but doing so would risk the success of getting Weller back home. All I can say is," he gestured behind himself, "this cave is key to that success. And we could have had him home very close to the mark last night, but we were too late. There's going to be another chance within a few hours, but he'll wind up a week early."
Connie raised her eyebrows. "You're serious with all this time travel stuff?"
Omar nodded and said, rather matter-of-factly, "Oh yeah, deathly serious."
this place needs me here
Northern Desert - Ritual Site (Camp) (Yamiko, Vicky, Mari, Hazel, James, Kris, Kaitlyn)
Mari raised an eyebrow in amused curiosity at Yamiko, "Yeah, I 'eard that too. It's probably just a fox..." She lowered her voice so that only Yamiko could hear, "So you 'ave the ability t'telepathically communicate with others. Neat." She grinned before knocking back her glass of sake. "You know, at this rate I'll probably end up carryin' you t'town. But first, you'd 'ave t'give me directions."
There was another yip of a fox, causing Mari to stare off into the distance. She extended her power sensing, searching for the fox. She detected its presence out in the desert some ways away. "Yep, just a fox." Mari frowned slightly, disturbed by the slight 'off' presence she detected further away. As long as it didn't come closer, she wouldn't concern the others yet.
[Southeren Desert (Cave)]
Amy looked at the cave, blinking once or twice.
"This cave?" she asked, "Does it cancel out his time traveling powers or something? Or is that your weird way of saying that it'll keep him hidden? If it's that last part, I think you should find another hiding spot; Connie found him!"
Maya examined the cave as well. I don't know, it's still pretty out of the way from town. Connie just stumbled on it by chance. Not a lot of people would normally head this way.
"...I guess you're right." Amy shrugged, before turning to Joesph and Omar, "But doesn't he need to eat? Go to the bathroom? Anything like that? Why not head to the ranch with us so he can get all of his essentials?"
On top of that, Maya signed, How the hell is shoving him in a cave gonna help? If this cave doesn't have powers, all that's gonna happen is he's gonna go POOF again, and then you're gonna have hope and pray he didn't end up in the 17th century.
Amy started playing with Joe's tail, mostly out of curiosity, but also because she had the urge to touch it for a while. "You said you just met Omar through this cave, but he talks like he known you for a while...have you time traveled and met him earlier?"
edited 24th Aug '16 1:24:48 PM by Masterofchaos
Attitude is prohibited
[Valley Of the Dead God] (Mid-air)
Hoshi sighed. "For real? I thought we were supposed to be defending Brin and Blair! Now, what? They've decided to take their chances Weirdos & the Gun Guys?" She pouted. "This is what we get for being disorganized. I bet if Rin were here-"
"Rin wouldn't have come with you," Miyuki reminded her. "You go on ahead, I need to check something."
"Aw hey!" complained Hoshi. "Don't ditch me! If you've found something cool, I wanna see it!"
"I'll be back," Miyuki replied. "Just go." And without another word, she left.
[Valley Of the Dead God] >>>>> [Small Valley] (Roscoe, Suela, etc)
Hoshi arrived swiftly, coming to a smooth and graceful landing at the head of the group. "Okie-dokie, folks," she said. "Things seem pretty much resolved, I guess, so let's go. It's just a short walk, and I'll keep the beasties away." She paused, briefly, and looked around. "Nothing cool happened while we were gone, right?"
[Valley Of the Dead God] (Mid-air) >>>>> (Zuri's Location/Treeline)
Miyuki sowed down as the approached the semi-transparent person suspended in the air. "That's... Strange..." she remarked. "Who, or what, are you?"
edited 25th Aug '16 12:00:34 AM by Blackfire667
Not entirely dead.
[Southern Desert ~ Hidden Cave (Outside)] (Connie, Joseph, Omar, Amy, Maya)
"Hey, we don't know for sure if the ranch will even take us," Connie said, looking at Amy, "I didn't talk to anyone when I was over there, I just ran by. Who knows, maybe farmer Brown will greet us with a shotgun."
Omar also looked to Amy. "It's not a power," he reminded, "and although this cave doesn't necessarily stop the displacement from happening, like I said, it takes a certain set of conditions for it to happen. With a little knowledge of what to avoid, we can at least reduce the risk of it happening. That's another reason I've asked him to stay here;" he gestured at the cave again, "this thing—this uh, key to getting him home—it's presence is also helping to keep him grounded here in the desert."
Joe glanced at the others. "It's a pretty heavy load on the noggin. I wish I could say it makes more sense the more you hear about it, but..." He shrugged, his big mouth bending into a half frown.
"As for food, I was just out taking care of that," Omar stepped back over to his motorcycle and patted one of it's saddlebags. "There should easily be enough for a week at the least," he turned his eyes to Joseph, who was trying to fix some of the buttons on his shirt, "since you'll land a week early, I figure you'll have to live in the woods for a bit, right?"
Joseph, distracted and having difficulty gripping the plastic buttons with his claws, said, "the woods, yeah." He managed to fasten one of his loose buttons, then paused, and glanced at Omar again, looking confused or bothered by something. Before he could say anything about it, something else caught his attention. Caught it by the tail, in a manner of speaking. He raised his arms slightly and looked behind himself where he found Amy touching his tail.
Reflexively, he coiled it a little closer to his leg and said, "Oh jeez, I thought you were a cat." He had a very specific cat in mind, and though her sudden presence might've spelled out a few problems, he was nonetheless disappointed to be wrong. He moved his tail in an almost wave like motion, as though he was entertaining a cat, and said, "No, we met in a hotel in town. It was last night— or this morning, I guess. I've been having a hard time getting sleep..."
He turned slightly to look at Omar, lightly whopping Amy with his tail at the same time. The man had returned to his motorcycle, going through whatever provisions he'd packed into the saddlebags. Joe hesitated, turning his head back towards Amy but still glancing in Omar's direction. "We talked for a while... I don't think he's slept since we met. He's smart, y'know, like, really smart. Or at least he's knowledgeable. He seems to know a lot."
Connie walked by Omar and Maya, glancing uncertainly at the latter. She definitely wanted to say something, but she wasn't sure if it was the right time. Time, these things always took. So she shimmied on by, heading towards Amy and the lizard instead. "Amy," she scolded, "mind your hands; the guy's not a toy."
this place needs me here
[Southern Desert (Cave)]
Amy twisted her lip. "I know that! I just wanted to touch it...it's so swooshy!"
Maya signed, Well, it looks like you're already taken care of. She didn't even bother to acknowledge Connie's paranoid prediction about the ranch. Instead she said, Though, I would suggest staying away from town for a while; someone had the bright idea to bring tanks while looking for one girl.
"It probably died down by now!" Amy said, "I mean...I least I hope it did. Davey and the others are still there the last time I checked."
We can't risk it. Maya said, We gotta find that ranch until we see Davey and the others. Unless you wanna stay here and hang out with Joe for a while...
"Well," Amy said, pulling Joe into another hug, "I like him! He's very friendly! I wouldn't mind hanging out with him!"
Maya blinked, before shaking her head. I was being sarcastic; it looks like he and Omar need to work some things out. We should probably start heading for the ranch.
[Southern Desert ~ Hidden Cave (Outside)] (Connie, Joseph, Omar, Amy, Maya)
Joseph's mouth fell open. He blinked several times before getting anything to work in a communicative capacity.
"Tanks?" he asked, his eyes widening and narrowing and doing all manner of strange things, "You mean— you mean like, straight up army tanks? In town?"
" 'fraid so." Connie said, glancing in the general direction of the miles-away town, as though she might see a plume of smoke rising up into the sky. Or better yet, smoke that spelled out a full status report.
Joseph was gripping his head in his hands, dragging them down the sides and staring at the ground a few feet away. "And... did they, y... you know, shoot anything?"
"I um, ...yeah, I think so," Connie nodded, biting her cheek slightly, "I kind of dipped out of there before I saw the damage though." She then glanced between Maya and Amy, asking, "is the bed and breakfast still standing?"
"Omar!" Joe turned to the man, thwapping Amy with his tail again, "Omar—sorry—Omar! We gotta- we gotta-"
"Hey Weller, don't freak out," the man held up a hand to still him, not even looking up from the motorcycle, "If your friends have any sense at all— if they're in any real danger, I'm sure they would have left town by now."
"Yeah all right okay," Joe nodded, sounding entirely unconvinced, "sure, that's if they got some kind of warning! One of those tanks could've blown a chunk out of the hotel before anyone could- coul- y'know- we've gotta make sure they're all right!"
Omar sighed and stepped away from his motorcycle, facing Joseph in earnest, "Keep calm," he said in a slow, soothing tone, as though he'd never known a burden in his life. "All right, I'll tell you what: I'll go get you something to eat from town—as I promised—and while I'm there, I'll check in on your friends. I'll make sure that they're okay." he put a hand on the lizard's shoulder and gazed levelly at him, "How does that sound? Good?"
There was still a bit of panic in Joe's eyes, but he seemed to be calming down. "Yeah... yeah I guess so. Thanks."
The man then looked up at the three girls. "Actually," he said, "if you don't mind, I think it would be a good idea if you did stay with Weller here while I'm out. While the cave does reduce the risk of displacement, having people around is even better."
this place needs me here
[Southern Desert (Cave)]
"Last time we checked," Amy said, "Yeah. Everything was still in one piece!"
Amy let out an annoyed sigh when Joesph smacked her in the face with his tail, again. Rather than say anything, though, she just rubbed her face. It wasn't a big deal, but it still slightly hurt.
But at Omar's suggestion, her eyes widened, practically sparkling.
"Really? You want us to stay here with him?" she let out an excited squee and hugged Joesph once again, tighter this time, "This is so cool! We get to become friends and tell stories!"
Maya, on the other hand, wasn't a fan of this—mostly because that would mean she was forced to be around Connie a little longer. A ranch would've been the perfect chance for her to find a room to avoid everyone; the cave wouldn't.
But for Amy's sake, she forced a smile and turned to Omar, Just be careful, ok? I'm guessing that the tanks probably left by now, but still...be safe, dude.
Amy was still clinging onto Joe; he still wasn't as soft or squishy as Davey, but to her, he was still cuddly enough to be around.
edited 25th Aug '16 8:45:26 PM by Masterofchaos
Friendly Neighborhood Lich
Valley of the Dead God (Mid-air) (Zuri's Projection, Miyuki)
For a while, Zuri tried in vain to move from her spot, feeling much like an insect caught in a spider's web. She grew more worried by the minute, for she remembered something she had read about astral projection back in her parapsychology class. Specifically, anecdotes of people growing very sick when astral projecting for too long, even going into a coma or dying in some cases. If this continued on much longer, would Zuri become a ghost permanently? Moreover, as she struggled, she felt more and more faint, like she would disappear entirely soon. After a while, she held still, pondering what to do next and how to get out of there.
"Who, or what, are you?"
She heard a voice nearby, and out of the corner of her eye she saw, much to her surprise, Maya, that military soldier accompanying Hana back at the hotel last night. The metal-plated black jumpsuit was unmistakeable.
"Maya... it's me, Zuri..." Zuri's voice was faint yet clearly strained. "...I mentioned... my astral projection... last night... This is it... but... I'm stuck and... I have to get back to my body... Is... is there anything you can do to help me?"
Yeah, I think Zuri's too stressed right now to remember/pay attention to "Maya"'s hair. I think as of now, only some really strong magic that could override Blair's surveillance field would be able to free Zuri's astral projection from it.
edited 25th Aug '16 10:22:05 PM by ladytanuki
Come, my child of the devil. Your mother is calling you. Hear my call in Hell's grand hall, where all our dreams come true.
[Southern Desert ~ Hidden Cave (Outside —> Entrance)] (Connie, Joseph, Omar, Amy, Maya)
Joseph let out a stifled gasp of surprise as Amy caught him in yet another hug. He'd never felt quite so popular, or quite so much like a stuffed animal. The situation caught Connie's attention, who looked on a little pityingly, but entertained all the same.
"Your friend is very eh... friendly," Joe said over Amy's head.
"Oh Amy just thinks you're cute," Connie replied, casually waving off the sentiment, "she has a great deal of love to give out to all that is cute in the world."
"Cute?" he repeated, pulling his head back and glancing at Amy herself, "d'you think I could get that in writing?"
Omar, who had fished a box of matches out of his jacket, looked up. "Oh, do be careful with him; he's had a rough couple of days and is a little beat up." He cocked his head, "Weller, how's your arm?"
"Better!" he said, wriggling his left arm free of Amy's embrace, "always better." Indeed, there was a considerable tear in his shirt's left sleeve, right below the shoulder. Within was some kind of wound, wrapped up in slightly tarnished bandages. Upon closer inspection, there were clearly more cuts, scratches and bruises under his jaw and about the rest of his head. However, most were small and well along their way to healing. Even the larger ones weren't deemed in need of any bandaging.
"Good," Omar smiled, nodding, "keep it up. Now," he glanced at the others, his gaze settling on Maya, "there's one last important thing before I go. C'mere." He walked into the cave, waving the four along behind him. "Oh, and grab those gas cans, won't you?" he added quickly, indicating the two jerrycans he'd left next to his motorcycle. Without saying anything else, the man went over to the gas lantern that Joe had banged his foot against earlier. He opened the fuel valve slightly and pulled out a match from his box, struck it, snuck it into the lantern's inner glass chamber, and lit the mantle.
The resulting illumination allowed them to see a good bit further into the cave. Near the once pitch-dark back, the cave's large entrance narrowed into a single passage. As it turned out, the passage ended only a few meters past where the light lanterns shone, leaving the cave with nothing but a disappointing dead-end. However, one of the walls of the cave seemed to have some kind of dirty cloth or rug hanging down from midway to the roof. Omar loosed the lantern's fuel valve further—giving it a nice white glow—and walked over to the dirty thing. He wasted no time in brushing it aside, revealing a sturdy, solid iron door built into the cave's wall.
"Here we have it..."
this place needs me here
[Southern Desert-Cave]
Amy pondered over Connie's word carefully. Again, Connie did have a point; her hostile behavior wasn't helping. All it was doing was making things worse. She hated it so much...especially since she wants to befriend so many people.
"I'll do my best." she said, "She listens to me the most...I'll see if I can get through to her. Hopefully. I-I'm not really good at convincing people. But I promise I won't let her bully you or anyone else. That's no way to make friends!"
She then smiled. "Why were you confused that I liked you? You're really pretty, and you're super nice, and I really like being around you! There's lots of things I like about you!" She rubbed the back of her head, "Though, maybe you don't like other girls like that...that's ok! I'll just go after Davey next." she giggled, "I'm kidding! He's an adult and I think I gave him enough cuddles. In seriousness...I hope Maya isn't the reason you rejected me." She pointed to the cave, "Yeah! There's someone in there. Don't worry; it isn't a body. But I think he's shy."
Maya quirked an eyebrow. Whaddaya mean they're not quite human? Are you pulling my leg here?
Once she saw Amy had returned with Connie, she took several steps away from them.