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Isabella skips down the list of cities by population to put a portal setup in Seattle. Mostly for her and her mother's and potentially Zeviana's convenience. It's the biggest city within reasonable commute distance of the clan lands.
It is here that he and Isabella are hanging out, unprotected by any wards, when someone back in New Kystle thinks to check.
"Darling!" exclaims Yerena Liandril. "I've found Adarin! That liar Antelier said he was nowhere to be found but I just double-checked, and he's with that extraplanar hussy in her plane. Holding her hand. Those odd birds they have are practically on top of each other. How is your mana supply, darling?"
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dark_light
prodigal_miser
"I don't know what you mean by that," said Gervail, somewhat offended.
"Our children are very nice," proclaims the penguin.
Adarin continues to not say a word. He is not touching that subject. Nope.
"Our children are very nice," proclaims the penguin.
Adarin continues to not say a word. He is not touching that subject. Nope.
dark_light
"Yes," says Isabella, "that is plain."
"What are you getting at?" Yerena asks.
"I'm getting at: I'm not impressed with you. I don't think you can help me or Adarin with anything we want to do in any ways we need, in the form of practical help or advice. Including needs like 'charming conversation'. You're not charming, you're not useful, and I'd really rather be getting on with my afternoon than talking to you, so now I'm getting increasingly uncharming myself in case I can get you to go away. Since I'm not planning to shoot you just for being irritants. If you would like any reasonable demonstration of my general harmlessness we can talk about that. Otherwise I'm willing to give you up to half an hour spent checking you into a hotel, as a courtesy and since I don't want you bivouacking on top of my garage, and writing up a little phrasebook so you can order room service until you have enough mana to go home, and then I'm done."
"What are you getting at?" Yerena asks.
"I'm getting at: I'm not impressed with you. I don't think you can help me or Adarin with anything we want to do in any ways we need, in the form of practical help or advice. Including needs like 'charming conversation'. You're not charming, you're not useful, and I'd really rather be getting on with my afternoon than talking to you, so now I'm getting increasingly uncharming myself in case I can get you to go away. Since I'm not planning to shoot you just for being irritants. If you would like any reasonable demonstration of my general harmlessness we can talk about that. Otherwise I'm willing to give you up to half an hour spent checking you into a hotel, as a courtesy and since I don't want you bivouacking on top of my garage, and writing up a little phrasebook so you can order room service until you have enough mana to go home, and then I'm done."
prodigal_miser
Adarin laughs, softly.
He gives a brief explanation of some of the specifics - they wouldn't know what hotels or room service are - and then says, "That being said, I agree with Isabella in that neither of us would like to make nice."
"We haven't been rude," points out Gervail.
"Actually, you really, really have been. We are being extremely reasonable, though maybe not personable. You've spent most of your time here commenting on my choices in women, or how we've been incredibly unhelpful when you've been just as unhelpful to us. We don't owe you anything, and you only showed up because I was inconvenient. Let's not pretend it's anything more. I will not stop being inconvenient to you because you ask me to," he says icily. "Also it is really quite rude to insult someone's girlfriend. I don't know where you thought otherwise."
He gives a brief explanation of some of the specifics - they wouldn't know what hotels or room service are - and then says, "That being said, I agree with Isabella in that neither of us would like to make nice."
"We haven't been rude," points out Gervail.
"Actually, you really, really have been. We are being extremely reasonable, though maybe not personable. You've spent most of your time here commenting on my choices in women, or how we've been incredibly unhelpful when you've been just as unhelpful to us. We don't owe you anything, and you only showed up because I was inconvenient. Let's not pretend it's anything more. I will not stop being inconvenient to you because you ask me to," he says icily. "Also it is really quite rude to insult someone's girlfriend. I don't know where you thought otherwise."
dark_light
"You have responsibilities because of your gifts! The - the timing and the behavioral changes are worrying -" Yerena stammers.
"I acknowledged earlier," says Isabella, "that from the outside it probably does look kind of like I did something to him. But you have yet to make the corresponding acknowledgment: you are not entitled to a look from the inside. You have my statement that I didn't do anything and his statement that I didn't do anything and plenty of new information about what happened to him the last time he was on New Kystle to go on for explaining what changed his tune. That's what you get. Do you want a hotel room or do you have the mana to go home now or do you want to wander the streets of a strange city with daemons you don't know how to handle and a language you don't know how to speak?"
"I acknowledged earlier," says Isabella, "that from the outside it probably does look kind of like I did something to him. But you have yet to make the corresponding acknowledgment: you are not entitled to a look from the inside. You have my statement that I didn't do anything and his statement that I didn't do anything and plenty of new information about what happened to him the last time he was on New Kystle to go on for explaining what changed his tune. That's what you get. Do you want a hotel room or do you have the mana to go home now or do you want to wander the streets of a strange city with daemons you don't know how to handle and a language you don't know how to speak?"
prodigal_miser
"... Hotel room. We don't have the mana to get home right now," sighs Gervail.
"All right. Isabella, should I write the translation phrase book while you find the hotel?" asks Adarin. "You're the official one."
"All right. Isabella, should I write the translation phrase book while you find the hotel?" asks Adarin. "You're the official one."
dark_light
"Sure. 'Charge it to the room'. 'Meals for two, whatever you recommend'. 'I have lost my room key'. 'I can't figure out how to operate a key card.' That kind of thing." She pulls out her phone and starts looking for Seattle hotels.
Path hops forward a few steps towards the penguin, since she's still on the ground and the cat is in Yerena's arms.
"Crash course on how to be a daemon. Don't touch other people besides your person - really really don't. Daemons are fine, though, you can touch the cat. You should get your own name. You can't get too far away from him or it hurts. If you can't be around him all the time for some reason, especially if people try to grab you, you need to get a few hundred yards away even though it hurts, but teleporting will work to cheat it out of taking too long. You don't have to eat but you can if you want. You sleep when he does. I think you're an Adelie penguin but I don't know what it means about you. Questions?"
Path hops forward a few steps towards the penguin, since she's still on the ground and the cat is in Yerena's arms.
"Crash course on how to be a daemon. Don't touch other people besides your person - really really don't. Daemons are fine, though, you can touch the cat. You should get your own name. You can't get too far away from him or it hurts. If you can't be around him all the time for some reason, especially if people try to grab you, you need to get a few hundred yards away even though it hurts, but teleporting will work to cheat it out of taking too long. You don't have to eat but you can if you want. You sleep when he does. I think you're an Adelie penguin but I don't know what it means about you. Questions?"
prodigal_miser
He nods, retrieves his book of cheat-sheets, flips to a blank page, and gets to translations.
Soon enough he's done. He rips out the page and hands it to Gervail. "There you are. Please tell anyone who asks that I have not gone the way of my mother. Also that I would prefer not to have visitors."
"No," says the penguin quietly. "Thank you."
Soon enough he's done. He rips out the page and hands it to Gervail. "There you are. Please tell anyone who asks that I have not gone the way of my mother. Also that I would prefer not to have visitors."
"No," says the penguin quietly. "Thank you."
dark_light
"No problem," says Path. He goes back to Isabella.
Isabella finds a hotel. She hops on her cloud-pine, kisses Adarin goodbye, and leads the couple out of the parking garage at walking pace. She gets them a room: "Charge my card. They don't speak a lick of English - no, nor Spanish. You have someone who speaks Tagalog on staff, really? Well, it's not that either, sorry. If they make trouble, call me. They have a phrasebook but if they're incomprehensible also call me. They'll probably leave without formally checking out. They're from far away and might need the amenities demonstrated for them - key card, plumbing, lamps."
The hotel person swipes her card and shows the visiting mages to a room, where he does indeed demonstrate the key card, plumbing, and lamps.
Isabella finds a hotel. She hops on her cloud-pine, kisses Adarin goodbye, and leads the couple out of the parking garage at walking pace. She gets them a room: "Charge my card. They don't speak a lick of English - no, nor Spanish. You have someone who speaks Tagalog on staff, really? Well, it's not that either, sorry. If they make trouble, call me. They have a phrasebook but if they're incomprehensible also call me. They'll probably leave without formally checking out. They're from far away and might need the amenities demonstrated for them - key card, plumbing, lamps."
The hotel person swipes her card and shows the visiting mages to a room, where he does indeed demonstrate the key card, plumbing, and lamps.
prodigal_miser
Adarin heads home through the portal, and finds a nice spot to curl up with his magic talking bird. He's got some things to talk about with her.
Gervail is curious about lots of things in the hotel, but obviously he can't ask questions. He doesn't have the drive to try working through lots of hand motions, so he doesn't. He assumes it's all magic and leaves it at that. At least it's a nice place to stay while they wait for their mana to regenerate.
Gervail is curious about lots of things in the hotel, but obviously he can't ask questions. He doesn't have the drive to try working through lots of hand motions, so he doesn't. He assumes it's all magic and leaves it at that. At least it's a nice place to stay while they wait for their mana to regenerate.
dark_light
Isabella leaves them there, reminding the hotel staff to call her if they fuck something up, and flies through the portal to go home to Adarin and flop on him.
prodigal_miser
Daemon talk is concluded, and then Isabella's home. He is flopped on.
Cuddles!
"So, that's the kind of thing I dealt with all the time," he says lightly. "Charming people, right? We should build a summer home there."
Cuddles!
"So, that's the kind of thing I dealt with all the time," he says lightly. "Charming people, right? We should build a summer home there."
dark_light
"I will admit this along with my other experiences of your world puts your past offer to build me a house there in a somewhat unflattering light. I just hope they don't wreck the aircon unit in their hotel room or something and cost me a few hundred bucks, that would be irritating." Snuggle. "How did you grow up marinating in that and come out so great?"
prodigal_miser
"I was going to put it deep in the night side where no one goes because of the cold. Probably next to the portal at same. So you'd be far away from them," he says. "I think you have my father to blame, mostly. He was good at fathering, kept me sane with lots of stories. You would have liked him."
dark_light
"Well, how'd he turn out so great then? Is it just 'cause he wasn't a mage?"
prodigal_miser
"I think? I mean, I don't think all mages are terrible, but the culture is toxic. So I guess him just not having grown up in that was what did it."
dark_light
"...What mages are there who aren't terrible besides you and Zeviana, and should we be talking to them?"
prodigal_miser
"The two we met were of the non-terrible sub-type. They probably have good intentions, but -" He makes a vague hand motion. "You saw. The casual entitlement."
dark_light
"I'd categorize them as terrible, just not obviously dangerous about it."
dark_light
"You can get better than mildly terrible busybodies, now." Nuzzle.
prodigal_miser
He giggles. Nuzzle! "Okay, well, I take what I can get for redeemable features for New Kystle mages. I am much happier here."
dark_light
"I'm glad."
"I was sort of worried that you'd be suspicious of me when they started insinuating that I had to have slipped you something or something."
"I was sort of worried that you'd be suspicious of me when they started insinuating that I had to have slipped you something or something."
prodigal_miser
"Um, no? Why would I be? They were just insinuating things, it happens. I know you better than they do. Thus, why I love you."
dark_light
"I know that and you know that but you could've reasonably decided that you didn't know that you know that. Mind-affecting spells exist. They're rare - and nauseating - but they exist."
prodigal_miser
... Snuggle.
"I didn't know those existed, but I'm pretty certain that I'm not being mind-controlled. I mean - what are the effects of some of them? Are they subtle or really obvious? I'm not getting suspicious of you, I am just paranoid and would like to keep an eye out for them. Because... Ick."