Riva

Bristleback Lodge

Blackwell-Brandt Cabin

"Nah, me neither. Never hurts to try a new game, though." Peter selects the game, and pulls a blanket over them as it loads. He passes Chris a controller and sips his tea again, nuzzling his cheek.

Mitch, Rakiri & Val's Cabin

"He has... this way of communicating, sometimes - I'm pretty sure he just pulls it out of his ass on purpose whenever he feels like it. Very direct yet subtle at the same time. And by subtle, I mean needlessly complicated." Mitch holds Rakiri's shoulder and keeps him close. "And before you ask, it's definitely not spy stuff, since Dominic's pretty straightforward."

Val orders the food to be delivered to their cabin. "I can get that. The war decided what I would do for a long time, too. Sorry for making you feel pushed."

"Me too, both parts."

Lex, Jiko & Izzie's Cabin

"I was speaking colloquially, of course. You kind of remind me of myself when I was younger." Izzie says to Nebris, then walks to the kitchen to help Lex prepare the drinks. "Is hot chocolate okay?" She asks Kyerine, taking out two packets of chocolate mix, one for Nebris and one for herself.

"That's funny, because the table looks just like the ones we have back at my home, and I was hoping Lex might feel the same." Izzie replies to Eyala. "At a glance, I'd say we're all pretty communal."

Dominic & Mike's Cabin

"You're not forgetting anything. And have you seen what I look like? I'm not supposed to get frown lines until I'm 150." Dominic jokes and takes a deep breath, preparing himself for a short speech.

"Long story short, Percival is one of Mike & Cristina's biological children, gone missing only to turn up a decade and a half later, in a completely different star system. Not even Cristina or I heard about it, since he was part of a secret experimental project in a remote research base to develop new oncosymbiotes. Though to be fair, we weren't as high-ranking as we are today." Dominic explains rather quickly, and though he isn't showing much, his more relaxed expression would tell Zsolt that he's relieved to have someone else to talk to it about. "It still took Mike going through a lot of red tape to get even that much, and there are some very important details we still don't know, chiefly how Percival got so far away from his intended destination in the first place."

He glances down at Zsolt's prosthetic leg with intrigue. "You didn't go with a clone replacement or a hybrid prosthetic?" He inquires, leaning back a bit once Zsolt mentions Mitch.

"About Mitch. He hasn't talked to you or Ariadne, so I'm afraid he's not as well as you'd hoped. But you already knew that. He's fine otherwise - maybe going a little bit soft around the edges. I am as well. His sentence is already up at this point, so we just haven't returned home because Greg found a ship that we've been travelling on with a bunch of other people from various places. As for Ariadne, last I heard she was undergoing training to become a high officer. I suppose she's never been one to take it easy."

Snowdrift Woods

"Switching places now, are we?" Mike searches for a frequency Torvahk's helmet would recognize. Once he does, he wirelessly syncs up his implant with it, sharing information on their surroundings & potential targets, along with a kill counter on their UIs. Among them are two small flocks of geese-like birds, hanging down from tree branches by their feet, one on their 2 o'clock and one on their 9 o'clock.

Mike sets his sights on the 2 o'clock flock, a bit further away from them. He stands still for a moment, figuring out where to shoot. Feeling the wind blow slightly to the left, he draws his bow a bit off-center to one of the birds. He then releases, sending the arrow flying on an arc, readily piercing through its neck., startling the rest of the flock into flight. It's at this point that Mike immediately draws a second arrow, and shoots a second bird center mass just as it flutters above the treeline, dropping both to the ground. "Got two." He says, the counter going up to confirm it. He jogs to where they fell to retrieve them.

Snowdrift Woods:

Torvahk doesn't reply, too focused on his surroundings while also keeping himself balanced...which was rather simple as not only was he trained for keeping better footing, Kahmandra had a more natural advantage for keeping their balance on certain surfaces due to their talon feet capable of gripping the ground, even with the specialized footwear the avian species wore. He quickly caught sight of the 9 o'clock flock, his thermal vision mode making the quarry easier to spot with heavy contrast from the frigid surroundings. In a matter of moments, Torvahk would unfold his sniper rifle and fire a couple hollow-point shots into the flock. While one of the shots narrowly missed their target, Torvahk was able to bring down three geese with one shot due to serendipitous angling.

"Start adequate, think I..." He commented, both on his and Mike's progress as he caught one of the geese single-handedly as it fell. He wouldn't be able to stop the other two from plummeting toward the ground though. During this time, Torvahk would pack the animal in his suit's inventory pack, collapse and pack away his sniper rifle, and carefully descend down the tree before jumping toward the ground with a three-point landing.

Living The Fever Dream

Dom and Mike's Cabin

"You still look good, man." Zsolt tells Dom, patting his knee, "They emphasize your wisdom. Even if you really need to work on smiling more - not only are your laugh lines woefully underdeveloped in comparison, but your dimples are too cute to be hidden by a frown."

"Huh, so, you're like a dad by-proxy now. Congrats. Granted, it sounds like the hard parts are mostly out of the way. Parenting-wise at least. I'm...a bit more concerned about the oncosymbiotes stuff. I know this sort of thing is important, but, if word gets out that they experimented on a kid... this sort of thing could start riots back home." he shakes his head slightly, surprised that Percival had made it to adulthood after going missing, "What are your plans with him? And who's Greg, exactly?"

As conversation shifts to his leg, he glances down, "Wasn't conscious enough to really tell the hospital what I'd prefer. For them, this was the most reversible process once I came out of my coma. For me, once I had my senses back and got used to using it, it would have been more of a pain to stay put in that bed than just stick with what they'd given me."

Though hearing about Ari was exciting, his large, canine ears still droop as Dom tells him about Mitch, the news being the last thing he'd wanted to hear, "I'd hoped he was just too busy to talk. I understand what he's probably feeling, though. It took me a while to work through everything too.. Do you think I should go talk to him, or would I be pushing my luck? I think you know how close we were. I'd hate to just lose that."

Lex, Jiko, & Izzie's Cabin

Nebris happily skips to the kitchen after Izzie and stretches up onto her toes to pull a trio of copper mugs out of the cabinet, one for Izzie, one for herself, and one for Kyerine, "Oh, ok. I only speak Galactic Common, but maybe they'll teach me Kolokuiali in school." she says in a chipper voice while setting the mugs by the stove while Lex works on filling a kettle with milk for the cocoa. While the little pink skinned girl is completely unaware of what the tall lady in the marble-looking exoskeleton was talking about, she is still very, very pleased at not being talked down to, "And, I do? What were you like when you were younger?"

Lex smirks wider than ever as Nebris spews out more and more pure, unadulterated questions, "Are you sure you're not part Kirina? You sound like a curious scholar in training."

Eyala, meanwhile, waves her hand toward Kyerine and lightly bundles him up in a blanket of warm, soft, malleable light before turning her head to Izzie, "Ideally, we are. Life tends to be easier with friends. The biggest problem on Alba at the moment is ironing out how to retain our culture while harmonizing with outsiders and their traditions. It gets to be a rather complicated melody at times."

Blackwell-Brandt Cabin

"True. Nice that they eventually made it multiplayer. I call dibs on Donald Duck. Because magic is cool." Chris says, downing his tea and settling comfortably into his floofy Peterpillow.

Reinhardt Cabin

Byron wraps his arms around his brother's bare back, pressing close to him and nuzzling against his hand, "So does being the bedmate of a perky human radiator." he says with a smirk, before pushing himself into a seated position, "I did pick up a holoboard game I think you'll get a kick out of. It's based on Ancient Japan. And there's magic. And samurai. And ninjas. And cute customizable characters."

Cernunnos

Merrick peers at the video feed with Amos and is about to speak up as Russell warns them about the noise. He tenses up, then puts a hand lightly on the young boy's shoulder, "I'm gonna be laying down some ice near the doors, ok? I'm just telling you so you don't get surprised by it and slip." as he speaks, he indeed coats the floors with a very thick, very wide layer of ice specifically designed to slip up anyone hoping to sneak up on them and make them lose their footing.

Cor, meanwhile, begins readying his weapon, "Hope age has been kinder to your darkvision than it has been to mine, love." he says to Tor

edited 12th Jan '18 6:00:43 PM by GhostElm

"I'm as free as the dust in the solar wind."

Riva

Shopping Plaza

Christopher nods to the question, still nibbling and eating away with a grin too polite to say anything with a mouth full of food. Though as Greg points out the winter clothing store the small boy runs forward towards the store to quickly duck in still with his donut clearly wanting to get out of this cold. Leaving Greg behind carrying all the rest of the Donuts.

Lex, Jiko & Izzie's Cabin

Kyerine pauses as Izzie asks if he'd like hot chocolate pausing first. "Kyerine not- had it before... It sound nice." He replies with a nod, still trying to warm up.
The small Rhysha slowly looks around the room and examining things as he curls up in the newly bestowed blanket from Eyala.

---

Gemini Nebula

MMS Cernunnos: Analytic Operator Bay

"I'm- I'm not sure, it was quick and- like I can't hear anything else, no like footsteps or talking... But I know a heard a door." He responds to Toraq clearly looking nervous but at the same time determined; still with his head leaned on the wall as he tried to listen to any movement.
Though as Merrick's hand even barely touches him he strongly, almost violently recoils himself back and against the wall for some reason, though he does nod to Merrick's comment at the same time as seeming aggitated or spooked.

Amos begins the slow reconfiguration process; it'd be a lot faster if Amos knew more about the system architecture but he can manage. Its an unusual system that seems to be designed to blend human-cognition and computerised data-processing seemlessly.

A much louder noise, one everyone can hear this time as someone opens one of the doors into the CIC itself followed by a amused feminine and slightly digital voice. "Pitty, the security system is down. I was expecting i'd have to put more effort in." A voice that to Toraq might ring very familiar approaching towards this bay, giving everyone only a short time to act or plan before she arrives.

edited 12th Jan '18 7:37:40 PM by darkdestinysoul

"After time adrift among open stars, along tides of light and through shoals of dust, I will return to where I began."

Riva

Reinhardt Cabin

Duncan sits up after Byron, with an eager look on his face at the mention of the game. "Ooh! Sounds fun. Whip it out, I wanna play. Actually, hang on, I'll get snacks and stuff." he says and quickly clambers out of the bed and heads over to the small kitchen area.

---

Shopping Plaza

Greg watches as Christopher immediately darts away and into the store, leaving him alone with all the boxes. "Well...okay, then. I'm coming." he says simply before following after little Christopher into the store.

---

Rakiri, Val, and Mitch's Cabin

Rakiri reaches out and wraps his arms around Mitch and Val, as best he can. "It's okay. I still love you, I guess. Just don't do it again." he says, with a playful smirk to show he's mainly joking around. "But more seriously, all this talk of clothes is making me want to buy some. I've been thinking about reworking my image a bit recently, admittedly. Maybe even getting a tattoo or a piercing."

---

Gemini

MMS Cernunnos: Analytic Operator Bay

Tor is about to respond to Cor as he adjusts his glasses, until the familiar voice catches his ear. His ears twitch, and Cor would immediately feel Tor's Essence readings quickly start to spike as he lets out a low, threatening growl in the direction he hears the door open, his body taking on a more feral posture. "...Don't tell me that bitch is back again..." he says with a snarl. "What? Was me lopping off your head once not enough for you? MIRA?"

Amos continues to focus on the reconfiguration, periodically getting a bit frustrated as he tries to comprehend the foreign aspects of the system. He feels a bit of concern as he overhears Tor's statements. "...MIRA? Wait...wasn't..." he trails off as he works to recall events. "...She was the one that called me a child! And was trying to hack the Troperia during that invasion!" he shouts, briefly losing focus.

"Amos." Tor says, with a glance over his shoulder.

"Right, focus on the task at hand...urgh..." Amos mutters as he reluctantly returns to his work.

Old habits die hard, especially when no one else lets them die either.

Riva

Snowdrift Woods

Mike swiftly picks up the birds off the ground, stringing them up on his belt. He then observes Torvahk closely as he takes his turn, and frowns when he sees him downing three birds with one shot. "So that's how it's gonna be? All right." He says, clearly jealous. He walks further into the forest in search of more animals to hunt.

Bristleback Lodge

Blackwell-Brandt Cabin

"Aww, but I wanted to play a mage too." Peter pouts and makes googly eyes. "Can you pick one for me, then? I'm not really familiar with the characters."

Lex, Jiko & Izzie's Cabin

Izzie chuckles. "'Colloquial' isn't the name of a language. It means using words that everyone understands, regardless of what their jobs are or what they're studying." She explains to Nebris. Lex might be able to catch her think, I keep forgetting most people don't have a dictionary already downloaded into their brains by age five.

She smiles when Lex mentions her own scholarly background, helping her explain her own childhood as she takes a third packet for Kyerine. "What she said, basically. It's important to be curious in order to be smart. I still am." Once the milk is heated, she mixes the ingredients together. "Yes, I heard some human groups are rather... contentious when it comes to living among others. Anyway, here we are." She passes the cups of cocoa to Kyerine and Nebris.

Mitch, Rakiri & Val's Cabin

Val rolls to lie on his back, and reaches up to boop Rakiri with his paw. "A tattoo? Can't you just shapeshift those?" Mitch asks.

"It wouldn't be made with regular ink. A permanent tattoo for an Echirean would have maelstone mixed in, leaving a neural imprint, and can only be done by another Echirean as well as a result. You would usually get one to show in your base form." Val explains.

"Oh, that explains it. Do you have some kind of design in mind?" Mitch gets a little frisky with Rakiri. "And where would you want it?" He asks with a naughty grin.

Dominic & Mike's Cabin

"Children, plural. Several dozen - a typical population, as far these types of experiments go." Dominic corrects Zsolt, not seeming to react to his suggestion to loosen up at the moment. "Riots are quite overstating it, but yes, it would at the very least be scandalous. On the one hand, it's essentially the same line of reasoning the Páłavon used for their organic AI initiative, and that gave us people like Ísofer and Kennith. They even borrowed our research on the making of Triti for it. On the other hand, this project is explicitly designed with combat purposes in mind, and the secrecy, while not unwarranted, would make it look even worse than it needs to be. I trust that the people running it are following ethics protocols otherwise, but still."

"Fair enough. A hybrid prosthetic might be easier to maintain in the long run, but it's serviceable." Dominic replies on his leg. "I wouldn't push him if it hadn't been almost two years, but... well, it has. I think it's what he needs. I know he misses both of you, and the only reason he'd push away is because he thinks his presence would hurt you. Show him that that's not the case."

"Greg is Percival's boyfriend - one of two, along with Chris. They're all orphans, so the two of them have been tagging along with him by proxy. Speaking of which, Mike and I are looking to formally adopt him. It's not common between Promethean generations, especially with Peter already practically an adult, but it's not unheard of either." He says hopefully.

"Anyway..." He gets up, walks next to Zsolt, and lifts him up to give him a long kiss, breaking into a warm smile after. "Is this enough cuteness for you?"

edited 14th Jan '18 12:31:48 AM by AqueousBunnies

Bridgeback Lodge

Lex, Jiko and Izzie's Cabin

°I'd say... You should accept this, Camélia. Be nicer...

   "...Right, sorry. Sure, that could be fun. It's rather cold around, anyway."   

She tries to smile weakly before coming in the cabin, admiring a bit the decor around. Lightly stretching, she lands on a comfy chair.

   "Oh, huh, drinks? Uhm... Yes, like Elaya, some warm cider would be appreciated."    Camélia passes a hand in her hair.    "And, hum... Sorry if I look a little bit cold. I'm rather bad with others. Must be because of how must time I spend with only Gasus in space... Yeah, sorry. If you wanna know stuff, just ask, ok? I'm just not the one to ask others..."    she adds, looking a bit embarrassed before sinking in the chair.

In the meantime, Gasus seems to simply go stand a bit above Camélia, in an Idle Animation.

edited 14th Jan '18 10:36:00 AM by Phazya

What's the use of money if you ain't gonna break the mold? Even at the center of fire, there is cold All that glitters ain't gold

Snowdrift Woods:

"Food more, all for better," Torvahk figured as he climbed down the tree, eventually jumping off once he deemed it a safe enough height...for a Kahmandra anyway. He would then follow Mike, not entirely sure where to go next.

Snowdrift Streets:

Meanwhile a figure in a white parka with matching snowpants and solid black ski goggles would be wandering about the city as if they were searching for something or someone. Said figure could be identified as a human, but anything beyond that was unrecognizable at least with their state of dress, which seemed to be intentional on their part. Having already gone through the Nebula Lounge and the Slice of Life Pizzeria, the figure would find themselves looking around one of the main shopping plazas, coming to a stop near one of the overhead light posts.

"Weather cold enough for ya?" A passing human male pedestrian remarked upon seeing the heavily-dressed figure, whom replied with an emotionless, androgynous voice, "Yes..." The pedestrian couldn't help but laugh a bit after hearing this before adding, "You're not from around here are you?" To which the figure replied with a flat, "No..." Said figure would then display a holographic projection of a picture taken from a security camera on another world to the pedestrian. Said image was a solid amber projection that featured Ivan Lugo flipping the bird at the viewer.

"Have you seen this person? I know he's on this planet," The figure asked the pedestrian, whom replied, "Sure haven't, but that's a hell of a picture to give to the authorities. Looks like a troublemaker if you ask me."

"I'm looking for them. If you can't give me information, you are of no use to me," The figure told the pedestrian in a cold manner before they asked, "Are you an undercover cop or something?" The figure would not answer, instead walking away as they began entering a nearby clothing store.

"Hey I'm talking to you!" The man shouted, only to realize that it was pointless..but not before muttering, "Fucking asshole..."

Living The Fever Dream

Riva, Lex, Jiko and Izzie's Cabin

Mirielle was taking a sip of her cocoa, for now listening to the other's talk, she sitll seemed a bit anxious form the explosion before, though by now seemed at least mostly alright. As she drank she looked around in the room, keeping silent.

"One may feel fear in the face of danger so long as one banishes fear when danger actually arrives"

Riva

Rakiri, Val, and Mitch's Cabin

Rakiri closes his eyes briefly, smiling as Val boops him. As Mitch starts to get a bit grabby with him, he blushes a bit as he gives him a questioning look. "Well...what part of my body would you like to see tattooed? I want it to be somewhere you guys will see it a lot, so...that could be just about anywhere on me."

---

Shopping Plaza - The Great Outdoors

Greg wobbles into the clothing store, aptly named The Great Outdoors, with it being home to a variety of winter and hunting gear. He manages to avoid walking into a few displays as he struggles to keep the donut boxes balanced in his arms, which slightly obscure his vision. "Gah...maybe I shouldn't have gotten distracted by donuts. Or, at least not buy 50, you know, like a sane person..." he mutters to himself. "Where did he go? Christopher?" he calls out, doing his best to look around. He takes another step forward, possibly whaling right into the mysterious person dressed in the white snow gear.

Old habits die hard, especially when no one else lets them die either.

Riva

Shopping Plaza - The Great Outdoors

Little Christopher has ducked his way deeper inside, slowly nibbling on that donut. The little kid (who signs proberbly say shouldn't be left unattended in the store) grinning happier in the warmth as his fingers tingle and his near-frozen skin warms up.

Cheerful and facinated, he doesn't hear Greg call out for him distracted; his attention currently captured by a racks of very brightly colored adult-sized snowboards all up on the wall above him and above what the little kid could get down; not that he could use them or for that matter knew how to snowboard.

Shopping Plaza - Outside

A small make-shift drone, made of very cheap built plastic is buzzing with a camera is observing and watching things in the Plaza, peering at various different stalls and people and into various stores it passes.

---

Riva

Lex, Jiko & Izzie's Cabin

Kyerine weakly takes the drink nodding to Izzie from his wrapped up spot, looking like someone whose down with a severe case of the flu. "T-thank you."
Or well he does for the next few moments. As after pausing and taking a few small sips of the drink, within 30 seconds people may already start to notice him moving a little less sluggish and having a bit more color back in his system. Luckily Rhysha abosrb energy quickly, no waiting for a silly digestive system to slowly abosrb it or for it to slowly heat up his blood.
It'll still take him a while before he's back running properly but it's not a difficult fix atleast.

He'll gently wave over to Dr Mirielle.

edited 16th Jan '18 9:09:22 PM by darkdestinysoul

"After time adrift among open stars, along tides of light and through shoals of dust, I will return to where I began."

Shopping Plaza - The Great Outdoors:

The figure in the parka is bumped into by Greg, causing them to suddenly turn around and say, "Mind watching where you're going?" Even though their tone sounded rather...emotionless about the event, their body language might has well have screamed You have a death wish or something? Don't fuck with me! It then occurred to the figure to ask the captain, "Actually now that I think about it, can you tell me if you've seen this person? He's a very rebellious figure wanted by...certain authorities."

In a few moments the parka-wearing figure would holo-project the same amber picture of Lugo flipping the bird in front of a surveillance camera.

Living The Fever Dream

Riva

Shopping Plaza - The Great Outdoors

Greg staggers back as he bumps into the person with the parka, though manages to keep his payload of donuts from crashing to the floor. "Well, that might be easier if I didn't have four boxes clearly blocking my face. But sure, man, lemme do that." He answers. He turns his body to the side, and peers at the person briefly, almost as if sizing them up.

When he presents the the photo of Lugo, he looks at it briefly. "I dunno. He looks like a fugitive. And I can't break the Fugitive Code, man. We can't go snitchin' on one another. Its like, and unwritten rule. You understand, I'm sure."

edited 18th Jan '18 7:34:37 AM by BaronGreen

Old habits die hard, especially when no one else lets them die either.

Riva

Snowdrift Woods

"So I take it you've only ever been a soldier & hunter. Ever thought about doing more, or something completely different?" Mike continues walking, and eventually something new pops up at the edge of their sensor range, directly ahead. "We should check that out." He says, picking up speed.

Bristleback Lodge

Rakiri, Val & Mitch's Cabin

"If we stayed indoors all day, that would be the case, yeah. Really though, you'll wanna take clothing into account." Mitch gives Rakiri a peck on the cheek and nuzzles their beards together. "I'd recommend arms to start. You go sleeveless a lot, so that's even better. You could also do it on your upper back or chest if you want, although a top's gonna cover some of that if you get a big one like me. I wouldn't go with a face tattoo for your first time, and you should experiment with paint first if you ever wanna do that." He advises.

The doorbell rings as Mitch finishes speaking. "I'll get that." Val rolls out of his boyfriends' laps, landing with a soft thud. He shifts back to a bipedal pose as he walks to the door and opens it. A delivery man stands outside with their food, and Val takes it inside before closing the door. He places the boxes on the table and opens them, the wraps' pleasant savory smells wafting up into the air.

Riva

The Great Outdoors Store:

The figure in the park would tense up after Greg's reply before practically hissing, "But you know something don't you? If I were you, I'd start talking before I move this discussion outside. Do anything stupid and I'll be more than happy to collect on your bounty also,"

Snowdrift Woods:

Torvahk thought for a moment as he pondered Mike's question before answering, "Know not do I. Plans some had I...forever ruined, are they. About this, talk not want I." The conversation would become silent for a few moments before Torvahk would then say in response to Mike's report, "Following am I!" He would then sprint after Mike....unintentionally outrunning him by several yards.

Living The Fever Dream

Riva

Shopping Plaza - The Great Outdoors

Greg is struck speechless for a moment at the apparent bounty hunter's reply. And then he just laughs. "Wow, man, that joke just flew right over your head, huh? It's fine though. I've got another bounty hunter friend that need to work on his sense of humor too, so don't worry about it." he answers with a still friendly smirk. "As for my bounty, that's like...way old news, so. I wouldn't worry about it, ya know? There's more than...a few people that would be upset if someone tried to claim it. So, it's best to just forget that all our sakes, yeah." he says, sounding completely casual, in tone at least. Greg's body has unconsciously taken on a somewhat more defensie posture. "Where did that boy go..." he says, now focusing on looking around the store again for his companion.

---

Rakiri, Val, and Mitch's Cabin

"I used to wear paint back when I was living on Riva undergoing my Talon training, so, yeah I've played around with it. But those are good suggestions. Arms or back...hmmm..." Rakiri reponds, trailing off as he's distracted by the food and looks down at the food boxes. "...Okay, that smells really good." He says, sitting forward. "Food hasn't had this affect on me before...is this hunger?"

edited 18th Jan '18 4:30:45 PM by BaronGreen

Old habits die hard, especially when no one else lets them die either.

Lex, Jiko, & Izzie's Cabin

Lex pats Izzie on the head with the tip of her tail in return for her silly thought as she passes by to give mugs of cider to Camélia and Eyala, "No worries, dear. Just do what makes you comfortable." she says to the former.

Eyala glances toward Mireille pensively. She'd never seen her species before, and a number of questions are going through her mind. Not that this is surprising to her. A plant person would probably be a walking buffet on a world inhabited by a group of obligate herbivores. She decides it's best to keep these particular thoughts concerning the doctor's edibility to herself for now. Instead, she turns her head to Camélia, "I can relate, I spend a lot of time on my own too. What do you like to do for fun?"

"Oh, ok." Nebris responds to Izzie's explanation. Gladly grabbing her mug of cocoa, she starts swallowing down the sweet liquid, enjoying its radiant warmth, "Some of the other kids back home make fun of me for being so curious. Did that happen with you too?"

Cernunnos

"Something tells me this is one of your less cheerful friends." Cor whispers to Tor, aiming his weapon toward the door her voice is coming from.

"She's a major b-" Merrick pauses, glancing down toward Russell for a moment, before continuing, "bother, yeah. Keep calm, Amos and stay focused. Everything will turn out fine." As he speaks, he gracefully steps off to one side slightly away from the group, before raising up several half walls of ice for them to use as cover and to block Mira's path. He also adds a second coating of ice further into the room past the first he laid out, this one with sharp blades attached angled to rend flesh that slides into them.

Reinhardt Cabin

Byron chuckles at his brother's eagerness, a smirk slinking across his face at his brother's phrasing. After all these years, he still couldn't always tell whether it was Duncan's child-like innocence side or his slightly hidden dirty-minded goofball side that was surfacing at any given moment. Slowly, he gets out of bed and straightens out the pillows and sheets before pulling on one of the two comfortable, complimentary silver robe that are hanging from hooks on the wall and slipping the matching slippers onto his feet.

As he wanders into the other room, he casts a lingering glance toward Duncan in the kitchen before moving on to the laundry room to get his brother his pants from the dryer. Once he's thoroughly checked that the unfortunate scent was out of them, he folds them up and places them on the counter near his brother, then heads over to the table by the fireplace and tree, where he sets up the holographic board game. Within a matter of minutes, he starts to work on building his character while running a comb through his hair.

"Did you ever finish your hot chocolate, Dun?"

Blackwell-Brandt Cabin

Chris tussles Peter's hair, "You're so cute when you pout." he tells him while toggling through, "You get to be Sora. And you're gonna like it." he says with a smirk, selecting the character for him, "That close enough for you?"

Er...Greg, I'm getting some uneasy vibes on your end. Is someone threatening you? Do you need me to make something bonk somebody on the head so you don't go all Captain Fire Chicken on them and wind up in prison?

Dom & Mike's Cabin

"I was indulging in a bit of hyperbole, yes. It's still not gonna be pretty if this gets out, though." he tells him, before nodding to his suggestion, "Should we warn him I'm coming first? I'd rather be greeted with a hug than by him having a heart attack."

"As for adopting Peter, I'm sure he'll appreciate it. Even if it's this late in life. Speaking from experience, I think it should help all of you grow closer."

His lips curl into a smile as Dom lifts him and kisses him, a familiar rush of emotions flooding his mind and bringing a comfortably warm blush to his cheeks. As the other man breaks away, he takes his hand, "I'd missed that. Glad some things don't change."

edited 22nd Jan '18 1:31:58 PM by GhostElm

"I'm as free as the dust in the solar wind."

Bristleback Lodge

Rakiri, Val & Mitch's Cabin

"Talons are the ones that specialize in melee combat, right?" Mitch asks to remind himself.

"Yeah. And, yeah." Val answers both Mitch & Rakiri. "Not so different from another kind of hunger, don't you think?" He says with a smile, picking up an insect wrap. They all look the same on the outside, about the size of large spring rolls. However, they come in two variants - one is Kirina-based, with mushrooms and a spicy citrus sauce. The other includes steamed nuts and fresh crunchy grass, giving it a more earthy taste.

Blackwell-Brandt Cabin

"Sure." He confirms their character selections and starts the game proper, watching some cutscenes.

"Yeah. This couch is really comfy, and I'd rather not get up. But if I need to charge someone, let me know right away."

edited 22nd Jan '18 12:55:43 PM by AqueousBunnies

Shopping Plaza - The Great Outdoors:

The figure stared intently at Greg before remarking with Tranquil Fury that sounded too emotionally dead to even pretend to be that tranquil, "You'd better not be threatening me. I've killed people three times your size that made your eating habits look healthy in comparison for less..." They paused a moment before adding, "I'm not one for jokes, so answer me plain and simple: Have you seen this man, or are you going to just be another waste of my time?" They then pointed to the image of Lugo with a gloved hand in a way that further emphasized the seriousness of their question.

Snowdrift Woods:

Torvahk would continue running ahead of Mike (at least, he thought he was still ahead. For all he knew these aliens could probably teleport) before coming to a stop at the edge of a small cliff that was easy to climb down safely. Ahead of him was a clearing that went on for about a quarter mile before being cut off by another treeline much taller than the ones behind him. It was hard to initially tell whether he had ended up near a frozen plain, or if he was next to a frozen lake, so for the sake of safety Torvahk remained where he was before dropping to a prone as he spotted some sort of quadruped in the distance.

"Prey possible?" He muttered aloud as the avian focused on sighting the scope. It was hard to tell exactly what the animal was, but it was definitely mammalian with a thick coat of fur, and large enough to make several well-placed shots even from a distance.

edited 22nd Jan '18 10:23:38 PM by ParadoxialStratagem

Living The Fever Dream

Riva

Shopping Plaza - The Great Outdoors

Christopher is nowhere to be seen by Captain Greg or the other figure at this point, having already started to wander off to explore the store at the start he's... Somewhere? Proberbly okay.

The cheap homemade drone reminicent of the one that got blown up early is at the door to the store flying just barely above head height starting in and watching the conflict occuring between Greg and this bounty hunter, maybe even recording it.

Lex, Jiko, & Izzie's Cabin

As Kyerine is curled up with his drink, he tilts his head to the side slightly and puts out a hand over the top as a blue glow surrounds his cup and himself as he even in his weakened state seems to be doing something with his powers.

---

Gemini Nebula

MMS Cernunnos: Analytic Operator Bay

Walking into view of the door to the opperator bay is a holographic woman very familiar to many here, though she had a strong glow around her as she smriked. "Oh good, not only is there company but it's all of you." Her voice dripping with sarcasm as she transforms her arm into a a large blade.

Russell is just standing there, biting his lip unsure what to do a immesne look of focus trying to keep track of a nearly mass-less hard-light holographic figure. Both his hands holding the pistol tightly, his hands and body shaking.

"Hmm cute. Amos, actually all of you. Move to the side. The contents of that pod are mine!" She demands as she starts taking quick steps into the room looking at the half-walls just ahead with amusement with a bloodthristy grin. "And put those gun's down. Unless you think you can-" Cue her stepping onto the ice and her avatar sparking for a moment before slipping and falling over like someone losing her balance.

For Amos the process is still ongoing, he's figured out all the required changes at this point but the issue is he still needs to upload them, restart the system and revive Thirteen.

edited 23rd Jan '18 6:37:59 PM by darkdestinysoul

"After time adrift among open stars, along tides of light and through shoals of dust, I will return to where I began."

Riva

Snowdrift Woods

"Ah. I heard about how you got here. Very well." Mike runs after Torvahk, now being the one behind, until they reach the clearing. Mike takes a moment to enjoy the view and take a deep breath, apparently preferring open spaces. "Yes. A bit strange that it's alone, though. It looks like a herd animal." Nevertheless, he draws his bow, and takes a clean shot at the creature.

Bristleback Lodge

Lex, Jiko & Izzie's Cabin

Izzie smiles at Kyerine, seeing him start to recover, and makes a slight giggle when Lex pats her. "No, but that's probably because I grew up with a bunch of other kids like me. I did notice people treating me differently once I started travelling outside Íriδen, my homeworld. It happens." She says to Nebris.

"That must be pretty lonely. The smallest crew I've travelled with was Dominic's team, and even then we're only spaceborne for up to a week or so at a time. You don't talk to other poeple online either?" She asks Camélia, having always had other people to talk to throughout her life.

Dom & Mike's Cabin

"Hm, he's likely going to have a heart attack either way, but I think it'll be easier on Val and Rakiri if I tell them first. By the way, Rakiri is Mitch's new boyfriend. Quite a bit has happened since we last saw each other, yes." Dominic holds Zsolt's hands and kisses him again. "But I agree. What do you plan to do after this?"

edited 24th Jan '18 1:49:18 PM by AqueousBunnies

Riva

Reinhardt Cabin

Duncan rifles through the cabinets in the kitchen, pulling out a jar of trail mix, some Astro Puff cheesy puffs, and some cracker sticks and Nutella spread. "Oh. I forgot about it when we started...well, you know what we did. Kept a lot warmer that way too, heh." Duncan answees before chuckling to himself. He goes to the fridge and pulls out some ices tea and vanilla soymilk as well, putting all the refreshments on a floating hard light tray before returning to his brother in the other room. Spotting him in the robe, he remembers his own state of dress. "Oh, yeah. I should de-nudify myself too probably."

Rakiri, Val, and Mitch's Cabin

"Well, they're know for other stuff, but that's the main think they're typically noted for, yeah." Rakiri says, adding onto Val's response. "More generally, they're basically the naturalists of the Echirean tribes. They live solely off the land with limited tech and innovations. It's a simple lifestyle, but it can be refreshing."

At Val's comment about hungers, he blushes slightly and picks up one of the Kirina wraps before smirking in response. "I take it you mean the one with this goin' on..." he says, and starts to shove the spring roll into his mouth, in a clearly suggestive manner, only to pause and gag as the spicy sauce hits the back of his throat. "Ughaah..!" He quickly takes the roll out and coughs, pounding on his chest to try and stop his coughing fit. "AtashiranI'm glad dicks aren't this fucking spicy or that'd be difficult. Bleh..."

---

Shopping Plaza - The Great Outdoors

Greg is silent as the bounty hunter seemingly threatens him again, as well as dissing his eating habits. He seems to respond with a momentary Kubrick Stare as the gears in his head start to work, before he proceeds to smile and laugh, looking completely relaxed again. "Wow. Okay. You clearly need to get laid, buddy. Seriously, it'll help you a whole lot. Now, excuse me, I got some shoppin' to do so I can go back to my cabin and do just that, so have a nice fuckin' day, eh?" he responds simply, and casually gives him the finger before turning to walk away from the man, small patches of the carpet sizzling under his feet with each step.

At Chris and Peter's mental concern, he subtly shakes his head. "Oh. I'm. Just. Fine. Don't worry. Please." he responds, though they'll more than likely note that his temperature and temper are quickly reaching a boiling point.

---

Gemini Nebula

MMS Cernunnos: Analytic Operator Bay

"Of course. We aren't insane enough to come out here with only one man...unlike someone, clearly. Guess our last scrap left your brain a few gigabytes short, hm." Tor snaps back at her, his hateful gaze locked on her.

"I don't see your name anywhere on here, you 8-bit bi-...er, you're not getting Thirteen!" Amos shouts defiantly, changing his last word for the sake of Russell and his virgin ears, despite Tor clearly calling her a bitch a few seconds ago.

"Amos, I literally just called her a bitch. Please, don't censor yourself. She doesn't deserve it." he says with a brief glance back at the engineer over his shoulder before glaring back to Mira. As she starts to advance, he shifts his stance, to that mimicking one similar to that of one who kickboxes. When the ice catches her, he doesn't hesitate to take advantage and leaps in with clearly practiced agility, one Essence charged claw poised to strike. "I think we can and more, actually!" he roars, not caring about whatever she was going to say as he goes for his strike.

Amos meanwhile mutters to himself as he works on getting the information uploaded so he can reboot the system.

edited 24th Jan '18 8:34:06 PM by BaronGreen

Old habits die hard, especially when no one else lets them die either.

The Great Outdoors -> Exit:

"You clearly don't know anything, and you run your mouth like a damned fool. Pray you don't run into me again, because if you so much as clench a fist, I will break it, shove it down your throat, and make you eat it. Can't be any worse than any other trash you clearly eat enough of," the figure treatened before storming out of the building.

Snowdrift Woods:

The arrow would hit the mammalian creature in its leg, not penetrating very far but definitely carrying enough kinetic energy that caused the animal to emit some strange bellowing noise that definitely conveyed sharp pain. Torvahk would follow up Mike's shot with four bullets toward the animal's center mass. While one of them barely missed, three of them would hit the target right through its left side. It would bellow again before it began to hobble away, unable to run as it limped through the snow while revealing itself to be a humongous creature that was most likely part of a herd but ended up straggling behind. While one would be hard-pressed to find a terran analog for this creature, it would best be described as a weird mesh between a furred hippo and a boar, maybe with a hint of elephant, although the specifics were difficult to tell from far away, it was easily as tall as an average house and probably half the weight.

"Fahlk kehree seh dahl! (Lit. Away food ours goes!)" Torvahk anxiously shouted, switching the safety of his rifle back on before leaping off the cliff and pursuing his prey. The shock absorbers of his armored spacesuit were able to absorb most of the impact, leaving behind only minor discomfort in Torvahk's feet that he was able to ignore, determined to claim dinner for himself and his crew.

Living The Fever Dream

Riva, Lex, Jiko and Izzie's Cabin

Camélia nods at Lex giving her the cider.    "Thanks, Lex, right?"   

She blinks at Izzie's remark.    "Online...? No, I obviously don't have the cable. Although I passed the year or so in hibernation, only waking up for stretching and body maintain. I woke up like... Two times, so yes, It must've been two years in hibernation. The only compagny I have is Gasus, speaking to me during the body maintain week. So, in the end... Yeah, I'm not a people person. Although I still have the Dream Link, if you can call that an online for you."    she offhandedly remarks, drinking on the warm cider, her cheeks getting a bit blueish.

What's the use of money if you ain't gonna break the mold? Even at the center of fire, there is cold All that glitters ain't gold

Blackwell Cabin

Sensing Greg's reaction, Chris sighs while waiting for the game to load, closing his eyes and focusing on Greg's location, Well, I'm glad that didn't end up with you bursting into flame and barbecuing little Chris, Greg. he broadcasts to the captain, who he's guessing is still seething with risidual rage. Grg. Have cute. he says, sending him mental images of adorable, floofy, puppies and bunnies playing together as a form of Cooldown Hug while snuggling with Peter.

Lex, Izzie, and Jiko's Cabin

Eyala shrugs off her question being unanswered, figuring the girl just hasn't gotten used to crowds yet. She meanwhile turns her attention to Kyerine, trying to entertain the boy by altering the pigments in her skin to make herself look like a near perfect copy of him, seemingly with little to no effort on her part, as she manages to do this while quietly sipping her cider.

"Maybe my daddies'll let me visit Íriδen sometime, it sounds like a really nice place. Do you miss it?" she asks Izzie excitedly, taking a double-take as she notices Eyala acting as Kyerine's doppelgänger.

Lex nods politely when Camélia asks if she'd remembered her name correctly, "Are you feeling alright, dear? You're turning blue."

Dom and Mike's Cabin

"Ah..." Zsolt says, ponderously as Dom explains Mitch's current situation, feeling as if his heart had dropped into his stomach, but trying not to let it show on his face, "Should've expected he'd decide to settle down at some point, I suppose." he allows himself to press into Dom's second kiss and rubs the back of his hand with his thumb, "I've never been one to beat around the bush, so, I'll probably just cut to the chase and go see the old bear. After that...well...I guess I'll play it by ear. I'll be around, though. And I have a little place not too far from here if anyone wants to stop by later."

Reinhardt Cabin

Byron looks his brother up and down approvingly, "That was the thought process behind bringing you your pants." he says, standing up and snagging a handful of choco-hazelnut spread covered cracker sticks and a glass from Duncan's tray, "I don't personally mind the view, but the neighbors might disagree seeing as several of our windows have an excellent view of your bubblebutt along with several other features." He raises his glass to his brother before downing it, giving himself a frothy soy milk mustache, "Prost!"

Cernunnos

"Get a grip, you useless pile of analog hardware. Unless you like falling on your ass." Merrick snickers, melting away the ice daggers in front of Tor as he charges ahead and attempting to begin entombing Mira in a coffin of ice, "I know it was very graceful from this angle. A bit like a walrus trying to do ballet."

Cor, meanwhile, skips the chit-chat and simply discharges his weapon precisely in the direction of Mira's head.

"I'm as free as the dust in the solar wind."