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Another day, another mysterious bar appearing out of nowhere. Leo is acquainted with Milliways and its lurking habits. He doesn't even bother calling Zanna; it'd take her too long to come over, and they get doors fairly regularly, so he just goes in and gets some absinthe with crushed cochineal. (Demonic tastes make for very odd mixed drinks.)
"What? No, I just didn't want to get you in any shit. I guarantee your sister will not like me, and I can't promise I won't be kind of delighted by it. She kind of reminds me of Zanna, it'd be funny."
liakoura
"She will definitely not like reminding you of your murder friend. But no, I'll be fine, me and Kiri are good, she'd be way more upset if I didn't try to bring her any magic."
"In that case... want to go home? Or would you rather wait for the gay to wear off, or something, that sounds potentially awkward."
liakoura
"I don't mind encountering Kiri while still gay," says Aleko. He reaches for his clothes and starts putting them on.
Leo does the same, after inducing his surroundings to stop containing sticky and licorice-scented substances.
"Yep! You'll have to hold it, but I can come through. You could do the same for a jaunt into Apocalyptic Hellworld if you liked, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say you don't."
liakoura
"I'll pass."
Once they are all clothed, back down the stairs they go. Hello, door. Aleko holds it open.
Once they are all clothed, back down the stairs they go. Hello, door. Aleko holds it open.
"Well, not yet, I have to do my shopping."
Leo winds up with an actual shopping cart full of books, various herbs, shiny rocks, et cetera and so on. "Okay, now with the door."
Leo winds up with an actual shopping cart full of books, various herbs, shiny rocks, et cetera and so on. "Okay, now with the door."
liakoura
Aleko closes the door and opens it again. There's a library.
"Kiri! Kiri!" And then the rest of his utterance is gibberish.
"Kiri! Kiri!" And then the rest of his utterance is gibberish.
Oh yeah.
Leo rolls his eyes, rummages through his shopping until he comes up with a pearl, dips it into a bottle with an eye-watering alcoholic scent, intones at it for a bit, and pops it under his tongue. "Testing, one two three. Translation is back online?"
His right ear begins filling with smoking black fluid. He shoves a tissue in it irritably.
liakoura
Aleko blinks at him. "Uh, yeah. Oh! You aren't speaking Welchin. I don't know where I got the idea you just spoke Welchin. Kiri's over here!"
And then he takes off at a bit of a run towards the correct section of library.
And then he takes off at a bit of a run towards the correct section of library.
Leo follows at a more sedate pace, bringing along his shopping and wiping away occasional further trickles of unpleasant magic-related fluids.
calescent
Kiri is already absorbing her brother's thoughtful explanation when he turns the corner.
"Hello, Leo."
"Hello, Leo."
"Hello, Kiribel... Lady Ardelay... whatever. I'm told you'll want to make sure that I'm not going to do unpleasant things to your nice shiny kingdom?"
Leo steps up cheerfully.
You couldn't call him nice, at least not with a straight face, on any relevant scale. But he knows what's good for him, and what's good for him is not fucking up Kiribel's nice shiny kingdom while she's around to turn him into a scorchmark on her lovely floors. And it's not like there's anything nasty in particular he's made a habit of doing. He just won't turn down an opportunity for something good for him and bad for everybody else if it's on offer. And won't get him incinerated.
calescent
"Well, that will - suffice. I'm very curious about your magic, Aleko was right about that."
Leo removes the tissue from his ear. "It's not without its costs, but it's versatile. I'm not all that powerful, but I know... a lot. Mostly courtesy of Milliways. As you can see, I've brought a metric shitload of spell components, mostly the ones that'd be good for, say, public works projects or blessings or things, as opposed to giving your enemies heart attacks and such. Though I do have enough ingredients for something along those lines for one person. I'm told there's such a candidate."
calescent
"I'm not positive I'm ready to endorse regicide. I'll want to consult with some people first. Apparently you fixed Aleko's teeth; what can you do that couldn't be accomplished by a properly aimed prime? 'Ko, you could've just asked Ekador, I don't think he'd have minded."