The Honor Circle Returns! (IC)

[Boog]

Marya continued repairing Richard, impervious to most forms of musical expression that didn't end in a guitar screech. Yes, it was beautiful, but she was busy right now. The zombie, on the other hand, spaced out completely. At first he tried to remain focused on his drink, or on helping with his repairs, then back on his drink, then back on his drink- wait, he'd just done that... Too late though, his train of thought was focused too much on what he was hearing. His fingers twitched with the music a little while, and someone passing close by could probably hear what was once a rather well-trained voice humming along.
The mongoose didn't mind his being distracted as she finished off the last stitch. They'd long since gone past the point where she felt the need for him to thank her every time she did this. Waving away the occasional wisp of smoke from flesh seared together again and checking over the sutures one last time she got up and made her way over to the bar, where she found drinks and someone she believed to be very much on the right page.
"Hey," a hand that was probably more like a paw than his own swatted Dekuyaketh on the shoulder. "Spare a cig? My buddy keeps hiding mine." She jerked a thumb at Richard over her shoulder.

--

Boog drummed his fingers on the counter thoughtfully, then shrugged and slipped the same thought into Andrea's head again. Start with being detectable enough to be payed, work out the details later.

[Sunblink]

...Dekuyaketh:

Dekuyaketh nearly choked on his cigarette when Marya tapped him on the shoulder. With some effort, Dekuyaketh minimized and concentrated his surprise to his fingers, which nearly squeezed the tobacco out of the ivory sliver pinched between his digits. When he wasn't expecting for anyone to approach him, and was comfortable in his solitude, being confronted by someone came as quite a shock to him. The surprise faded rather quickly to indifference. As Marya asked him for a cigarette, Dekuyaketh rummaged briefly through his pocket with the cleverly bladed fingertips of his mechanical arm, maneuvering the tremendously large limb like it was nothing. Drawing the box out of his pocket, Dekuyaketh mashed the remainder of his cigarette into the nearby ashtray with his other, organic hand, extinguishing the light at the end amidst the nest of crumpled cigarettes, and then fished a fresh cigarette out of the box for Marya.

Turning around in his swivel chair, Dekuyaketh brushed some long, black-red hair out of his face, then handed Marya the cigarette. "Here," he said. Because he felt obligated to, he added, "The brand's... probably not what you're used to, as a forewarning."

Now that he got a clear look at the mongoose, he resisted the urge to tilt his head quizzically and scrutinize her. She looked like the typical resident of his planet at first glance, but she appeared less anthropomorphized than the inhabitants of his homeworld; more bestial. This probably deserved some questions - maybe she was from his planet, although the chances were slim. Then again, anyone from his planet would have taken off running once they saw he was a Demon.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Cogidubnus]

 Although the jackal's reprising attack was fast, it was in melee combat where the wolf truly shined. Now that he had paused for a moment, the jackal could get a better look at the iaidoka's blurring form - the shining light from before appeared to be one of the wolf's charms, slipped under his shirt and burning brightly enough to be seen through the black fabric. The air around the wolf seemed smudged as well, as though something was distorting the light, although very faintly.
The wolf's sword flashed over his head in what appeared to the jackal as a wall of steel, and then even as the light from his charm blinked out, he struck, a thin line of silver arcing towards he shoulder and aimed to end somewhere around her hip.

* * *

Linos raised an eyebrow, his grin fading somewhat. He sat back, tapping his fingers on the counter behind him. "Look. I'm just a musician." he said, the blind man somehow giving the insectis a look, the guitarist looking uncomfortable. He stared at the little guy for a few seconds, considering, before cracking a small grin, and picking up his guitar. "Most people just ask for an autograph, yeah? he said, a bit of humor back in his voice. "Life's story, not so much. Not much I'm willing to tell, hm?" he said, looking at Karazkt just a second longer than he had to. "But I don't think you're interested in my past, eh?"
The grin seemed forced, but only half so. "My music is good. Always. I can't tell you how or why. I've always been good, although I've not always been skilled. Ah. I tell a lie - sometimes my music is bad. And when that's so, it's very bad. But I doubt you want to hear me play bad songs."

Surprisingly, the panther stretched, holding his guitar in one hand while his back arched and toes flared, and then leaned forward quickly, face only a little bit away from the insectis's face. "But, I can only play instruments - well, things fashioned with care. For example."
With his face only inches away, he lifted one hand and knocked on the insectis's head once. It was nothing more than a dull thud, without any of the qualities the panther's music had expressed before. "Doesn't work that way, you see. But then again, I'm just a musician. I play an instrument like any other."

He stood up. "Most just can't play the heartstrings."

[Stygian]

Sighing, the machine set down her hand, and then thumbed the little bottle of analgesic in her other one, wondering if some more would be needed. It shouldn't have been, but with people that might look like humans or at least something close to normal mammalian creatures but who were possibly quite different in metabolism and tolerances, one could never know.
   ':you know, i don't understand how you can leave your friend alone with him so easily', she added in a serious tone right out of the blue when Dani didn't respond, hoping to get the woman's attention by surprise.

- -

A few moments passed, the dark-haired woman's mouth sliding open a little, before she managed to snap out of it, look down, and with a little shake put her hand to her face and rub her forehead.
   'Okay, okay... eh... I...' she began, hesitantly. A slight blush spread to her cheeks, and she covered her eyes with her palm. 'A drink. Get me a drink. Something with rum in it. Whatever. God...'
   Trying to compose herself, the woman silenced, after a quick look at Linos as the panther moved, then just sat with her chin on her hand and tried to listen in on the thoughts adrift in the room. Marya was pretty focused and empty-minded, only somewhat curious about the Dekuyaketh guy - it was a wonder that she had managed to intercept his name, with all the haziness of his mind - and not as she would have expected her to be. Linos seemed to feel a bit uncomfortable and restless, the guy named Alex was ignoring an aching nose and slowly starting to get hungry, and the humpback in the corner was thinking in a jumble of coherent thoughts and sudden spikes of data and figures and encryptions. Largely, she was getting very few clues as to what was going on.

- -

Keeping his eyes on Sylvie for a while, wondering when she was going to sit down, and hoping to avoid getting back on the self-loathing and arrogant track, he immediately switched topic back to the much more interesting.
   'How about you then? Play anything interesting?' he asked the elf. 'There has got to be music where you come from. No matter who or where or when, I have never encountered any civilized place without music.' He sipped his drink a bit again, then sat up and placed the empty glass on the table. In the same movement, he left more space in the sofa for her. 'And not a place without music that wouldn't have been better with.'

[Boog]

Boog picked up a few of Andrea's surface thoughts and snickered, "Something with rum, coming up. And sorry about the confusion." He strolled off cheerfully, a few features of Andrea's mental image drifting through his overall appearance. Nothing indecent, just a touch more human looking here and there every so often rather than his usual caricature of the human form. While he mixed up a drink he'd heard of that was creatively called Something With Rum (a substance terrifying to watch made and tasted not entirely unlike a rum and coke with some sort of citrusish aftertaste) he wondered to himself how long it would take her to notice that she'd just had a thought slipped into her skull completely under her radar.

--

"Thanks," Marya grunted, snatching the cigarette, "Anything's better than the cheapos I usually get anyway. Damn things are probably 40% fuckin' cardboard anyway, this'll have to be an improvement." She whisked out a lighter that someone has scrawled 'hands off my goddamn lighter!' on with sharpie and lit up with one practiced motion. The mongoose took a long drag, holding it for a while before slowly letting the smoke waft out over her features. "Ahh, sweet nicotine. Best friend a gal can ask for." She flicked off a little less than half the cigarette's length in ash in a neat pile next to the ashtray and finally looked up at the individual she'd just mooched off of.
Richard had been encouraging Marya to think before she spoke or acted, and frankly she didn't much care for it, but the conditioning had took just enough to keep her from blurting out 'Holy crap, is that your real face!?' The guy looked sort of like some hybrid of human, beastfolk and demon, which was a little unlikely as heritages went (not due to their being different species and thus unable to crossbreed naturally, as there's gene therapy and spells for getting around that, so much as the simple fact that by and large the three species found one another staggeringly unattractive). He looked too normal to be a monster and too weird to be anything she'd heard of.
"Hey, if you don't mind my asking... What are ya?"

[Angel]

Dani was a bit annoyed the first time Sahlena spoke. She'd been at the halfway point between sleep and awareness, and no-one likes to be interrupted from that. She couldn't tell whether the android had just tapped her arm or if she'd just imagined it, but she ignored it for the time being.

After Sahlena's next comment, though, she opened her eyes. Now here was a subject she was curious about. She sat up, pushing herself up on her good arm, and looking curiously at her now-very-numb bad arm. "Why? I know he's dangerous, but it doesn't seem like he'll hurt her. If he tries, Syl's more powerful than she seems." There was also the possibility he'd break Sylvie's heart, but Dani could help with that, whether it required a shoulder to cry on or bones to fracture. The Red poked her left arm, around the burn. Nada. The painkiller had done its job.

"But it does seem like you know him better than anyone here. So what else is there to worry about?" She wasn't about to go rushing up and drag Sylvie downstairs, but when and if the elf returned, it would be nice to warn her about any danger she could be in.

--------

Once again, Sylvie was a litle lost as to how to respond. Since she figured Stygian didn't really trust himself too much, reassuring him that he hadn't seemed the way he described might not work. Pointing out her own bad qualities and apologizing might not sit well with him either, and she didn't feel like doing that anyway. Bad qualities should only be apologized for when someone else discovered them. If you said them outright, it gave a bad impression.

As he spoke, the Green looked over at the glass of wine he had poured her, picking it up and smelling it experimentally before taking a sip. The fruity taste was pleasant enough, but she'd never really liked alcohol. It wasn't dangerous for her to drink, she just didn't like the smell or taste. She set the wine down, looking a little embarrassed, but still comfortable.

The change in topic was nice, and gave her a leeway to a topic that interested her, even if she wasn't an expert in it. "Yes, we have music. Nothing quite as complicated as synthesizers or some of the other things I've heard of here, but we have guitars, brass instruments, that kind of thing. There's even a whole school of magic dedicated to music, though I think the artist down there might give any bardaic mage a run for their money." Sylvie knew that bards could hypnotize their listeners and affect their emotions powerfully, but she'd never heard of or experienced anything quite like Linos's music.

"I sing a little for fun sometimes. Never really thought to try it as a career, though. I never studied bardaic magic either, but I met an elf who did once. If she'd shown up here, it would've been fun to watch. A lot of people can break glass when they sing, but as far as I've seen, only bards can break stone and walls using just their voices."

[Stygian]

In response, Stygian looked calmly at Sylvie and nodded a little, pondering. It took a little time to start getting into meaningful natural and pleasant responses, but he felt like he was beginning to warm up.
   'Sounds a bit less eclectic and more impressive than anything we have back home', he commented, beginning to pour himself some more to drink. 'I like that. There's some fantastically bad stuff back home. Punk, for example, or Death Metal...' He sipped, then hummed a little. His dark gaze studied the elf even more closely for a moment, warm with thoughts and intent and yet chilling at the same time. 'The reason I asked, really, is because... well...' He paused, then snickered. 'Well, beautiful people tend to have beautiful voices. You're an elf. By all means, you should be...'
   Something came to the man's mind with a veritable snap, and he stopped, then smiled somewhat sinisterly.
   'Heh. I don't know if you're going to believe this, but I used to sing with a choir. Hymns, that sort of thing.' He looked at her over his glass, then remarked as if just casually in passing; 'I don't suppose you're into that? I mean, the religious.'

- -

The machine muttered something that passed Dani's hearing, then flexed that re-made hand and placed it at her arm. Clicking, the myriad of little blades and pincers, tools and lasers began getting to work. Sahlena grabbed the woman's arm, holding it still as the surgical tools began picking, cleaning and stripping the skin, and a strange burning smell filled the air, little wafts of smoke emerging from between needles and scalpels as small as to be barely visible. The occasional spray of some sort of watery solution only added to this.
   ':i don't suppose you can tell right away from looking at him, but that man is under pressure all the time, not to let himself go too much', the machine commented, looking up to give Dani a serious gaze, all the while keeping up the movement of those instruments as if it didn't require the smallest bit of concentration. ':he doesn't readily admit it, but it is uncomfortable to him. painful, at times.' That red gaze remained, unwavering. Only the six surrounding sensors in her face moved. ':he's not supposed to be human, however much he wants to keep seeming that way. not even supposed to be approachable. anything or anyone close to him eventually feels the effects, no matter what. and i am speaking out of personal experience. sure, he's charming sometimes. but that's because he's manipulative. i think he does something to people as well, to cloud their judgment...'
   Most of the damaged and scalded tissue was gone now, exposing the open wound, almost down to the muscle in places. Noting this, Sahlena let go, moved over to the cabinet for a bit, and began preparing antibiotics and a protective disinfectant gel.
   ':whatever girls he haven't ended up eating have all been mentally crushed. there might be exceptions; i just haven't seen any.' She turned back to Dani, sat down, and began carefully working the wound again, with her tools and a wet piece of cotton wool, preparing to put the gel and bandage on. The whole procedure had taken a little less than five minutes. ':i trust him to watch my back. i trust him absolutely to get a job done. but i would never trust him on that level...'

[techmaster-glitch]

Karazkt

   The Insectis remained silent and almost completely unmoving as Linos explained a little about himself and his music, even when Linos demonstrated a point on his own carapace exo-skull. "Almost" unmoving, because even though his body and face were completely impassive, his antennae waved and twitched noticeably as Linos talked. Not erratically, though--expressively. Even though the rest of him almost gave the impression of a spaced-out statue, they way his antennae always moved with Linos' speech made it seem (truthfully) that he was latched on to Linos' every word. Unfortunately, the exact significance and nuances of the motion of his antennae would, of course, be completely lost on anyone outside his race.
   When Linos finished speaking, Karazkt's head tilted. He made a buzzing hum. "ThaT iz inTerezTing...iT iz zimply that you Kan play with zuch zKill that you do theze eKzTrordinary thingz. An unusual KonzepT To me..."
   Karazkt paused for a few moments, as if unsure of what to say next. Or rather, whether or not he should say something next. "If...you are willing To divulge..." He said slowly, "WhaT are you? You looK liKe a Being, buT you do noT zmell liKe one. You do noT zmell liKe an Angel, a Demon, or a Kubi, all razez who Kan eazily Konzeal their formz, and whoze zmellz I am familliar with."

Mechangel

   The cloaked hunchback in the corner, of course, had been silently observing the bar. It didn't look like he was going to get anything else useful from the two newcomers. Slightly annoying, since he didn't have the slightest clue yet what the woman can do.
   But wait. The time-manipulator...he had returned to the bar, and wasn't being too surreptitious about occasionally glancing over his shoulder to look at the cloaked man. The cloaked man wasn't sure what he ment by this...but it probably didn't matter. Either way, the man had seen enough.
   Quietly getting up, he walked along the wall to the door going to the quarters corridor, and went through it.

[Sunblink]

...Keaton:

Cog's strike was successful - in her disarmed state, and how she was relying on brute force, there was very little Keaton could do to efficiently counter the incoming sword, especially at its accelerated speed. The blade neatly cleaved Keaton's skin through her pants, fortunately stopping before it could do serious damage to her, but disorienting her and knocking her very off-balance with the force of the strike. Yelling loudly, both in surprise and pain, Keaton toppled over, the gash in her side spewing blood. With a loud thump Keaton hit the ground on her opposite, uninjured side, her claws embedding themselves into the dirt the instant her body impacted the earth. Almost immediately, Keaton tried to get up, only to realize that her body would not cooperate, or at least not without a great deal of pain; enough for her to realize that, with her body so unresponsive, continuing the fight would be foolish.

Keaton bit her lower lip for a moment, then sighed. Her gigantic, meaty claws suddenly began to shed their skin, the flaking pieces of blackened matter slinking away and absorbing back into the shadows. Her hands were underneath the fleshy shell, wholly separate from the shadows she used to create the claws. "Alright. Alright. I give."

---

...Dekuyaketh:

As Marya enthusiastically took a long drag off of the cigarette Dekuyaketh offered, he looked mildly impressed, particularly at both Marya's lung capacity and her apparent appreciation for nicotine. Dekuyaketh found it fortunate that Marya shared his adoration for cigarettes, although she didn't seem to possess his psychological and compulsive need for them. Due to Marya's quick thinking and admirable restraint, Dekuyaketh remained unaware of her confusion at his outlandish appearance and focused his attention on rifling through his seemingly-bottomless cigarette pack for another.

At Marya's question, Dekuyaketh looked surprisingly unoffended, although he did seem slightly boorish, as though the answer to Marya's question should have been plainly obvious. Resisting the urge to say something particularly obnoxious, Dekuyaketh clinically mumbled a reply. "Etaslya. Resident of Etakor, which is a planet in a galaxy... shit, I don't know. Very far away. Or rather, I was an Etaslya... now I'm a Demon," Dekuyaketh took a drag off of his cigarette. "It's very complicated. I don't suppose you're from Etakor, given your question."

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Boog]

Marya quirked an eyebrow. "You used to be a certain species? Wasn't aware you could just pick those up. Then again, always used to fail Social Biology class. In my defense though, phantasms and fae being in the same animal kingdom isn't really something you see coming..." She shrugged, shifting the cigarette from one corner of her mouth to the other. "Yeah, I think we ain't from the same place. Think so." The tip of the cig looped in another glowing figure eight, lips working silently as she thought (the same centers of the brain used for aggression were, in many breeds of beastfolk, also used for speech. This results in their exhibiting more than a handful of visible tics or habits when thinking hard, and makes their politicians fantastic fodder for talk shows). "The world's kinda big, I really don't think anyone's explored the whole thing yet. But yeah, seems like a no there. We have demons, and they tend to be a bit more..." She looked Dekuyaketh up and down, "... Sparkey."
There was, of course, the matter of what this meant. Other worlds. Not like other planes, like wizards and fae will tell you about. Those were always either monstrous realms beyond sanity or full of suitably mysterious philosophical conundrums. Unless a combination bar and fight club was some metaphor for society, it was safe to say that this was just a place that was nowhere in her own world. And this guy sure as hell didn't seem like some squiggly nightmare or an ascended spirit...
Ah. She'd bother Richard about it later.

[Angel]

Sylvie's face turned a bit warm again, though her expression was calm. There was very little religious music back home, not counting bards, but they followed Muses more than gods. Half of her wished there was religious music; one of the first real pieces of music she'd heard in this dimension was Mozart's Requiem, and it had instantly become her favorite song.

"Well, it depends on what you mean by religion," she explained, crossing her legs and sitting back. "It seems like over here, religion is mostly about proving who's right about what in the end, and it's based more on belief than proof. Back home, we don't need to argue. There are multiple gods, and they don't require blind faith. They have all the proof they need that they exist. Clerics and faith-based mages are everywhere you look. A few gods even appear in human form sometimes..." She trailed off a bit here, a memory crossing over her face, unpleasant and interesting at the same time.

She snapped herself out of it after a bit and faced Stygian again. "But I guess a few of us are what you'd call religious - people who live under the favor of a particular god or goddess. Reds like Dani are favored by Wrenth, the goddess of freedom and chaos; Greens are favored by Albell, the goddess of the earth." She smirked a little sheepishly. "There's other races like that, too. Probably doesn't make much sense, but it always did to us."

------

At first, Dani could only watch, dumbstruck, as Sahlena began removing the burned skin from her arm. Her eyes told her that she should be screaming in pain, but the analgesic obviously worked very, very well. About the only thing unpleasant about the process was having to keep still. Because the android was talking, and because the painlessness of the surgery denied it that much attention after a while, Dani focused on what Sahlena was saying.

Admittedly, what she learned was something to be concerned about. The Red was pretty sure a machine couldn't lie, no matter how human she happened to seem. And because there was so little doubt as to the truth of her words... She'd tell Sylvie to watch out if she got the chance. Sylvie was used to people being either sarcastic or frank with her, except those who clearly couldn't be trusted (anyone who worshipped a certain god of deception and thievery, for example). She was always careful when first dealing with people; it was just her nature. There was also the chance she was still suspicious of the real reason for Stygian's attention, though the reason was probably the same either way. But from what Sahlena had said, even if Syl was cautious, she was still in big trouble. She was conflicted; on the one hand, Sylvie had never had this kind of attention from a guy. On the other hand, that might end up causing more problems for her in the end.

"Well, there's not much I can do about that now, but thanks for telling me." Dani didn't move her arm, watching everything Sal did again. Wrenth, please don't let Sylvie be that naive... please let her be an exception... Not that praying to a goddess of chaos is going to help much, but that's not all you are, so help me out here.

[Stygian]

Humming to himself for a bit, Stygian rubbed his lips with a finger, nodding slowly. What he had spoken of brought back some bad memories for him as well, however he chose to push those away in face of her quite good response. He couldn't say that he had been worried about anything, but to hear her speak so easily was better than he had hoped for.
   'Stop it. You're really making me contemplate moving there now', he said, just a hint of sarcasm in that statement. 'Heh... It would be very convenient if things were so easy. Then again, I don't know about those gods themselves. They could be like the Greek pantheon from back home, in which case I would be a lot more worried...' He paused, humming to himself with a smirk on his face. 'Then again, one questions the definition there again. Technically, that sounds more like... Well, where I come from, there was this man who said "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. Any sufficiently advanced being is indistinguishable from a God". So technically, one might say that those gods may simply be very, very powerful entities. At least, if you go by the basis that a god should be omnipotent. Monotheists do that...' He sipped his drink, then smirked again. 'Actually, personally I would find that idea rather impractical. If it were not for certain personal experience.'
   The man silenced, taking on a more pensive expression for a bit, thinking back on something that Sylvie had said earlier, and then looked up at the elf again. 'So you were serious about that, earlier? Meeting a god, I mean.' He looked at her humorously. 'Are you sure you weren't just really impressed and confused? Personally, I think that I could do a good job of acting at least some sort of entity of power, to the right person.'
   Chuckling to himself, Stygian stifled a self-berating comment, and the wish to have another smoke. Leaning his head on his hand as he adjusted his seat, moving a little closer to the elf, he felt a little bit of squirming in the back of his neck. Part of him could not but feel the rush of heat to her face, or enjoy her smell in a way that made his tongue rub a fang inside his mouth. The conversation was more than pleasant enough to let him ignore such things though.

- -

Applying the gel, the machine seemed almost absentminded in her work, until she stopped when the wound was covered, and she took out the bandages for the final wrapping. Delicate tools folding in and disappearing, she wanted a brow to frown with.
   ':look, i didn't mean...' she began, and then, in a quite human fashion, she cut her own words off, and looked up at Dani seriously. ':please don't do anything rash. i know this guy, and even though it may sound insulting, i really have to believe that...' She paused again. Of course, her hands kept moving with fluid, seamless precision, betraying the fact that with her concentration, she was not really at a loss for words. But much experience had taught her that when communicating with people - organic people - it was much better to behave as they did, all the way down to the slip-ups. And even if she knew that she was putting conscious effort into it, a personality was a personality nonetheless. And she considered herself to have one.
   ':look, i don't want to be patronizing or anything, but he is just venomous. if you think you have to do something, please ask me for help, alright? i don't want anything ill to happen to people because of him. for his sake too.'

- -

Leaning over the table still, taking her drink once it was served up by what appeared to her as mostly a coherent blur of rude noise and blurry, for the most part incoherent sepia- or brown-colored images, the dark-haired woman glanced up at Linos and Karazkt over the rim of her glass, and then broke in suddenly.
   'He's telling the truth. He's... Being? Wait...' she said, narrowed her eyes a bit, and then looked inquisitively at the panther in particular. 'You guys are both from the same world? I see.'

[Cogidubnus]

 Linos had quirked an eyebrow at the little Insectis, shaking his head just slightly. He slumped into one of the chairs away from the bar, drumming his fingers on the table as soon as he sat down.
"No, no - I just said, I've never always been skillful, but music has always been this way to me. It's not just skill. But I am just a musician."

He was about to continue when the lady from before butted into the conversation. Linos tilted his head, waiting a moment for the lady to continue, before speaking.
"...I was going to say, you tell me. Mr. Antennae man." he turned, looking again at Karazkt. "Adopted nearly at birth. Adoptive parents dead. Long, long time ago. Far as I know, I am what I am. You, though." he said, looking at the woman. "More and more, I begin to wonder if you're quite allright in the head."

* * *

At the jackal's proclamation that she yielded, Cogidubnus instantly stopped, the silver blur of his sword spinning round once as he performed the ritual blood-wipe, and returned the sword back to its sheath. He offered her a hand, prepared to help more if her wound was worse than it appeared.
"My apologies, lady - you are alright, I hope?" he said, concerned. "You fought well, in any case - you very nearly had me with the bolt of lightning." he said, smiling genially. "Drinks are on me."

[techmaster-glitch]

Karazkt

   The goggled Insectis' antennae jerked in obvious surprise when the woman at the counter spoke up. Karazkt guessed this is what a Human was. Very strange thing. She did say something that made Karazkt take note. The musician turned back to Karazkt when she finished speaking, and said that he didn't even know what he was. Karazkt addressed the woman first.
   "AKTually, I am noT zo zure if he iz from my world or noT. Everyone haz zmellz on them from where they Kame from; where they've been. Of Kourze, while there are a few otherz here who are definiTely from where I am from, mozT are uTTerly unfamilliar To me. You here-" Karazkt pointed his antennae at Linos, "-do indeed zmell like my home, buT iT zmellz...wrong...zomehow. I Kan'T KwiTe puT my anTenna on iT, buT we are from the zame plaze, and yeT, noT from the zame plaze."
   Karazkt paused for a moment. He buzzed another hum again. "You do noT know your own origin? Very well. While I doubT I will be able To zay for zerTain whaT I thinK you mighT be, I will aTTempT to eliminaTe az many pozzibiliTiez az I Kan.
   "Az zaid, you are noT an Being; you are a KreaTure of zome zorT. You are Klearly noT a Mer or InzeKTiz or Undead. I am zure you are noT an Angel, Demon, or Kubi. Though I have noT enKounTered either, I highly doubT you are a PhoeniKz or Gryphon, az you are not an avian zpeciez, nor do you have an eKzezz of featherz. And if you had many featherz, I probably would be aTTempTing to remove them from you righT now. Though I have heard liTTle, azide from their eKzTraordinary power, and enKounTered none of them, I do noT believe you are a Dragon or a Fae. Indeed, to appear az a Being you would have to aKTively dizguize yourzelf, and thuz are dezieving uz, which, on the other antenna, iz a pozzibiliTy."
   Karazkt paused again. His antennae moved oddly for a moment. "Mythoz, I KannoT be zerTain. I have meT zeveral Typez of Mythoz, buT the problem iz, each zpeciez iz zo differenT from each other, they all zmell liKe differenT razez enTirely." Karazkt paused again. "And Were. I have never meT one, buT I do know they have alTernaTe formz...and their normal form looKz like a Being."
   Karazkt let the implication hang.

[Angel]

Sylvie actually giggled, looking a bit bemused with herself. "Would you believe that that possibility had never occurred to me?" She paused here, choosing not to be nervous that Stygian had shifted closer to her - though the backs of her ears were burning a little now.

"Though I guess it makes sense... I had been trapped on a pirate ship for a week or two before that. Along with the people who were with me. But I'm pretty sure he was the real thing. Technically, you're right - we found out he wasn't really a god, just an avatar of one. He and the three other people we fought were the four aspects of a god called Mouph - the god of mischief, deception, thievery, and luck." She smiled a litle as she went over the memory. "We met Dale Sanàl, the aspect of thievery. Once one of my friends figured out what he probably was, he denied it profusely. Then, to 'prove his innocence', he asked those of us with money to check our pockets. The captain did - and found that his money pouch was completely empty."

The girl folded her hands in her lap, looking sheepish again. It was odd now that she thought of it, but she knew it had really been Mouph - for reasons she wasn't sure whether to mention. "We'd never even seen him move. And Kel's pouch looked like it hadn't even been opened." She smirked. "It could've been a trick, I guess, but there were other things too. The other aspects, their challenges... it was all pretty convincing. But I guess in your world, he'd have been deemed insane. His other aspects too... but they seemed pretty crazy to begin with," she muttered, remembering the annoying behavior of the aspect of mischief, and the ratty attire and silence from the aspect of luck.

------

As her wounds were wrapped, Dani thought carefully. Okay, so she would restrain herself from running upstairs to save her friend - partly because she couldn't move her legs, anyway. And Sahlena was right. If the fights outside were anything to go by, Stygian was not to be trifled with.

"Okay," she said, still sounding a bit reluctant to agree. "Like I said, there's not much I can do now anyway. If I do panic, I'll ask you for help first, though. Thanks again," she added, eyeing her treated arm with interest. It barely hurt at all, though she guessed that once the painkillers wore off, it would be rather painful.

[Stygian]

Quirking an eyebrow, Stygian shot Sylvie a suggestive look, and chuckled.
   'Actually, they'd most likely be in high demand. If someone didn't get too angry with them and they ended up in an accident', he said, the meaning of the accentuation clear. 'That's more likely, really. Because people can be touchy.' Eyes narrow, he looked down for a bit, pensive, enjoying a brief moment of silence. He wasn't about to speak of what he thought would happen to Sylvie herself in his world, or to get into the more appaling parts. Fact was that he was getting frustrated with all the unpleasant reminders sneaking into the conversation. A quick look at Sylvie revealed a troubled face, and he gritted his teeth. This was ridiculous. He didn't care whether if it fit; he was going to break in with something...
   'I think you would make a much more convincing image of a goddess', he said, and gave Sylvie an ember-hot black look. 'Persephone perhaps. The classical representation doesn't match your beauty, but gods are concepts, and so we see them as we wish.' He kept looking at her, pausing for a bit, letting the words sink in and hopefully distracting her away from anything else. Then he grinned, showing a bit of his fangs. 'Though I wonder. I am not sure whether if I would want to be tested. I don't take well to that kind of thing. So I just hope you are not doing something like that to me now.'
   Less obviously, Stygian hoped that on another level entirely as well. He took another draw of his drink, quelling the thirst welling up and his slight dizziness with the too fragrant and clean air at the same time.

[Sunblink]

...Keaton:

Keaton looked a little skeptical that Cogidubnus was being so polite to her after his victory, but she supposed that not everyone was like her in that respect. After grimacing a little, Keaton reached out and closed her hand around Cog's proffered hand, allowing him to assist her to her feet. Walking was going to be rather difficult with her hip split open - but it was a short distance from the circle to the tavern, and she could go to the infirmary immediately after she entered to get the gash patched up.

"I'm alright," Keaton said, grinning a little. "Uh.. thanks, but actually, I probably should have been more careful with the bolt of lightning." Almost self-consciously, Keaton used her hand to brush away some of the dead and charred fur around her chest, peeling back some of her burned shirt. She needed a replacement for her clothing, but there was an easy solution - metamorphosis. "I mean, I coulda killed you there. I'm sorry. I do... well, I do need a drink, though."

Keaton thought for a moment, 'And possibly some marshmallow peeps.'

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Cogidubnus]

 "Careful with the hip, then - I must be getting rusty, I was going for the shoulder." Cog said, grinning and nodding back, and walked back with the jackal to the tavern. "And, not so much. The circle would have stopped it before I -died-, I think." Cog considered for a moment. Had they said that, exactly? It was just to the yeild, after all...
"I hope." he said, again smiling, and proceeded back inside the Tavern.

* * *

"Well, there you are, then." the guitarist said, sitting carefully, but smiling easy. "I guess you've got your answer right there. Couldn't say, myself. I've never been anything but what I am."
If the panther had pupils, he would have slid his gaze back to the woman who interjected before, humming a tune underneath his breath. It sounded vaguely like certain stanzas of the Lacrimosa of the Requiem Mass, although it sounded mostly just like a person humming to himself. He tilted his head slightly.
I've never seen the bartender get out from behind that bar before. Is that an axe he's got?

[Paladin Sheppard]

...Piix:

Piix raised her eyebrow skeptically when Pal suggested they stop the match. For a moment, she simply tugged on Orpiment, testing Pal's considerably heavier weight atop the hammer. Even a weapon enchanted to be weightless could be encumbered if additional weight, such as a person standing on it, was added. Finally relinquishing her efforts, Piix let her arm slacken, realizing that Pal's intention was not to attack, but to disarm and formulate a truce. She looked up at Pal.

"Whaddya talkin' about? I don't see wha' yer talkin' about. I mean, I'm only under five feet and armorless, while you're completely... an'..." Piix trailed off, her eyes rapidly scanning over Pal's armored body. "...totally covered in armor an' weapons an'..."

Finally, Piix seemed to get the point.

She sighed, her shoulders slumping, and looked momentarily disappointed, but didn't complain. After all, she was definitely at an automatic disadvantage, given the significant difference in height, weight, build, and equipment. "...Ah. Well, okay. I see yer point. Want to get a drink an' forget this ever happened?"

~Keaton the Black Jackal

Paladin took his foot off of Orpiment and slid Cobalt into the sheath on his back. Sticking out a hand he looked the Orin over again, smiling he said "Agreed lass but only if ye let me pay for the drinks. And as for forgetting the fight?" A hungry grin appeared on the wolf's face "Only if ye share a bed with me tonight."

[Angel]

Sylvie could tell something was bothering Stygian the slightest bit; she just couldn't quite figure out what it was. The compliment he gave, combined with his look, made her face turn quite a dark shade of green and simultaneously sent chills along the back of her neck. What she was really thinking about, though, was his final comment. He'd seemed calm, but that statement didn't match his demeanor somehow. And as long as both of them were being honest with each other...

"I'm not anywhere near as powerful as a goddess, though I appreciate the compliment," she replied, looking right into his eyes. "But even if I could test you, I probably wouldn't. Mostly because, well..." She blushed a bit more deeply and her voice became a bit quieter. She was unused to being this open with her feelings. "I'd rather neither of us was uncomfortable right now."

[Stygian]

The panther's clever train and ruse of thought almost worked out, but unfortunately the idea of what he was thinking was a bit too ridiculous for the woman to believe it at once, without already having thought it over enough to absorb it, and figuring it out. There was also a slight hint of apprehension to his thoughts, and the very particular feeling that a smart-ass gets when he does what he does best, which together helped tip her off. She only barely turned her head toward the bar a few degrees, before looking back down at the table, and putting her hand to her glass.
   The next thoughts that the woman overheard though revealed quite a bit. She might not have picked up on Piix's and Paladin's 'situation' if the door had been closed. As it were though, with her attention actively sweeping the place, a hole in the wall, the door still partly open as Cog entered and only thin glass in her way elsewhere, she could overhear them fairly easily. There wasn't an immediate reaction, but after about a second or just a little more, enough for certain ideas to process and develop, the dark-haired woman snorted, and sneered, lifting her glass and starting to kick back a gulp. Then, the next generation of thoughts gestated and turned out, and she shuddered, her glass slapping down on the table as she coughed loudly, clearing her windpipe of misplaced alcohol.

- -

Subtle movements and pupil dilations caught his attention, and Stygian quirked his head, leaning a bit with his arm on the back of the sofa. Sylvie's cheeks shifted in color, even though it was hard for him to pick up. The warmth was not lost on him though. And if there was anything that spoke, it was the way she gazed right back at him. She'd looked and turned her eyes down enough times already... She still kept on the topic, but she said so little and in such a way that it was obvious she was thinking of other things. He almost felt like grinning, or laughing a bit, and explaining. Perhaps she would laugh with him.
   Still, there was the ever-present element of caution to the man's thoughts. Not the same caution that every normal man would feel in the same situation, but of a sharper and more knowing kind. Sylvie had not struck him as a frivolous sort, or a planning and cunning either. She seemed more the average girl; well-meaning, gentle but trying to be strong at the same time, and friendly but just a little restrained. Neither jadedly cautious nor senselessly outgoing. And yet she still had no problem with opening up and being this frank and intimate with a man she had just met. A man who had frightened and shocked her, and who it would seem had almost been about to eat her not long before at all. Yet, if she saw something strange about that, she did not show it. It wasn't that he was uncomfortable. Or that he was wondering about the probable reasons for her behavior. He mostly enjoyed the sort of thing that was happening right at the moment. Yet still it tugged on his conscience somewhat.
   He was just about to speak, when he actually found himself short for words. He blinked, then almost shook his head, and leaned forward. Slowly, wary of any hesitance on her part, his hand carefully moving to her shoulder, he closed his eyes and pressed his lips to hers in a gentle kiss. With the same care, he moved his head back a couple of seconds later, and looked at her.
   'And how about now?'

[Cogidubnus]

 "Hnh."

Linos resumed tapping his fingers, only glancing at the woman once when she began to choke on her alcohol. He raised a single eyebrow, and half closing his eyes tilted his head. He seemed to be on pause for a moment, completely still, before his face split into a half-grin. He snerked, sitting forward.
"Looks like your friend might be occupied for a bit." he said, again forgetting to look at whom he was speaking to. "If you're going to 'mess him up', I'd wait about fifteen minutes, say. I imagine he might be somewhat distracted."

He paused for a moment, shaking his head. "But I'll guess you already knew that, eh?" 
If he had been looking at the woman, he probably would have done so carefully. As it was, his face seemed largely blank.

[Angel]

There was silence for a moment, and Sylvie wondered whether she'd said the wrong thing again, or seemed too awkward. Before she could force herself to calm down and figure out what she'd done wrong, Stygian placed his hand on her shoulder, leaned in, and kissed her.

The Green could only sit there, utterly stunned but not protesting. Though she'd never admit it, she could count the times she'd been kissed before on one hand. When Stygian backed away and asked if she was uncomfortable now, she didn't answer right away, but her breathing had changed a bit, and her eyes had grown thoughtful under the initial shock.

He probably hadn't planned on this, at least, not in an underhanded way. In spite of what experience had taught her about good-looking men, she hadn't felt any tension from him, nor had his actions struck her as 'fake'. There was no reason for her to doubt his intentions. She couldn't deny that what had just happened had been completely welcome, but her lack of experience, not to mention the anxiety every woman feels in this situation, was making her very nervous.

"...I don't know," she answered at last, putting one hand over Stygian's and looking back at him. "I'm not uncomfortable, but...this kind of thing..." She didn't want to finish the sentence, but she also didn't want her hesitation to be misconstrued as disinterest.

[Stygian]

Stygian looked at the elf, blinked once, and tilted his head the slightest bit to the side. He very nearly frowned, and for a short moment, Sylvie thought she could see something dark at his neck, moving just under his collar. The next second though, he drew a breath, closed his eyes, and nodded subtly. Removing his hand, he slid a few inches back and put his whole back to the sofa again. Friendly but just a little restrained, yes...
   'It's alright. Don't stress', he said, relaxing his voice and expression. At least I know a little more now. And she's starting to seem more pressured. If only I could read her smell better... His thoughts went on, but unlike Sylvie, he did not believe that she were as inexperienced as she was. 'I don't want to ruffle any feathers, or leaves for that matter.' He looked at her sideways, smiling with a hint of bitterness mixed in. 'I will admit that I only went up here to get you alone, but... Hm. As long as I can enjoy your company...'
   It was only when he thumbed the lighter in his pocket that he realized he had a cigarette in the corner of his mouth already, and frowning, Stygian scratched his chin, then thumbed his earring distraughtly. Finally, he slipped that cigarette between his fingers again, and reached for the bottle once more. He almost felt like humming, or picking up the guitar again.

- -

It seemed that the Panther's mind was set about what he thought, yet his most recent guess had been quite wrong, and covering her mouth with her hand, the dark-haired woman looked up at him, frowning. He did seem to have caught something that she had not, and though she had sensed the elf's thoughts briefly before, immediately figuring out what he was referring to, she picked up a smug, knowing feeling from his direction that was unmistakable. He thought he knew something that she did not. And under the circumstances, it was actually possible.
   Her throat feeling somewhat sore, and momentary irritation grasping her, the woman put her hand around her glass again and raised it, draining a few gulps. Well, she thought, let's just see how long that lasts...

- -

Leaving Dani with a confiding nod, and a neatly bandaged arm, Sahlena stood up and proceeded back out into the bar with only a glance over the extra parts that she had brought in with her. She, unlike the other woman, was quite confident that the wound would not hurt. The efficiency and effectiveness of the treatment meant that she would only feel any discomfort if she started poking it while it was still healing. And, in case there was any, any unexpected pain could always be treated with another small shot, or more likely, considering where they were, with drinks and distraction. Still, even though it had proven a good excuse to talk to the woman, the machine strangely found herself wishing that there were someone who could just magically whisk away wounds like that around. Probably out of a wish not to become the resident doctor...
   The moment she entered the bar again, the machine's train of thought processes stopped though, and rapidly changed direction and focus once she saw the woman sitting at a table, right next to the anthropomorphic panther with a guitar, obviously the one who must have been playing earlier. She refrained from showing any sort of alarm, an easy thing given who and what she was, yet those attentive could still notice that she did not go back to her former seat or strike up a new conversation, or get another drink, but silently moved herself to a table behind the woman, up against the wall, avoiding her attention.

[Cogidubnus]

Disappointed by the woman's lack of reaction, Linos shrugged, and sat back in his chair. His head tipped forward, as though the panther was going to take a nap, and he brought his guitar across his legs as he did so. His head tilted forward, he brought his hands to the strings, although he didn't so much as pluck one note, simply rubbing on the engraving of two crossed wings, right beneath the soundbox.
"No games, then. My name is Linos. I'm a musician. The pleasure of your acquaintance would be most appreciated." he said, his eyes closed.

[Sunblink]

...Keaton:

"That," Keaton said with playful arrogance, "Or I'm too fast for you."

Admittedly, there was a slight sting of guilt within her insides at Cog's joke, but that quickly faded to slight amusement, if only because Cog's perspective was slightly infectious. Admirable, the way he laughed at the idea of his imminent death. Other people she knew would have been furious with her. Ah well, she wasn't going to complain. As long as there weren't any complications, Keaton had no reason to protest. Leaning a little and shifting her feet in a way which wouldn't disturb her wounds, she tried to follow along, or make Cog's burden in carrying her slightly less cumbersome.

---

...Piix:

Piix stared in clear shock at Pal - but while she was clearly surprised, she was not abhorred. Not visibly, at least. For a moment she seemed thoughtful, as though she was entertaining the idea in her mind or pondering her options, until, at last, she remarked with a toothy smirk, "Hmmm... Sounds good."

Reaching up, Piix grabbed Pal's armored hand and started to tug him along with her, as though encouraging the wolf Incubus to follow her. Given his enormous height and the weight of the armor protecting his body, dragging him along was impossible, and obviously required his cooperation. Once they entered the bar, Piix stared in surprise as the psychic woman at her table promptly began choking on her drink. Raising her eyebrow, Piix wondered what on earth was wrong with the psychic, but paid her no more attention, being too preoccupied with leaning against Pal's arm and nuzzling him.

---

...Dekuyaketh:

Dekuyaketh stubbed out the remains of his current cigarette, then dug out his lighter again; an impressively sleek contraption, crafted out of silver and intricately engraved at the corner and along the cap, decorating its body in fringed vines. Subconsciously, Dekuyaketh started to toy with the lighter, using his thumb to flip up the cap and slap back down deftly, his mechanical arm scratching slightly at the back of his neck with the clever tips of its clawed fingers.

"It happens," Dekuyaketh finally answered, although he still seemed to be a little uncomfortable. Just as he started to realize the symptoms of his "condition" were beginning to show, he started to suppress them until they faded, although he cursed the fact he forgot his medication. "Though judging by your description of Demons, they're probably just mutually exclusive to my... well, my planet."

After a moment, Dekuyaketh arched his eyebrow, the third, bionic eye implanted above his right eye blinking inquisitively. "Where are you from, anyway, if you're not from Etakor?" With a flourishing movement of his occupied hand, Dekuyaketh pocketed the lighter, leaving his apparently-bottomless cigarette box half-open on the counter for Marya to use.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Angel]

When Stygian withdrew his hand and leaned back, Sylvie wasn't sure whether she should feel relief or embarrassment. Her hesitation had annoyed him slightly, she could tell from his movements and the pause he'd taken before he'd backed away. She was a little annoyed with herself, too; the fight they'd had aside, Stygian was likable. A guy who was smart, attractive, and liked her, who she liked back. It rarely ever happened. She knew she shouldn't be too nervous, and yet she was.

She smiled almost apologetically, her cheeks coloring themselves just a little. "Well, I came up here for the same reason... I just get nervous." She wasn't sure whether to apologize or not. Mostly to keep her hands busy, she reached over and picked up her wine-glass, dipping her fingers in it curiously. It didn't offer much nourishment, but at least through her skin, she couldn't taste the alcohol.

------

Sahlena left, and Dani was alone in the room with no-one around but an unconscious pyromancer. The fact that the latter hadn't recovered yet bothered her, but she couldn't get up to check on him, and doubted she could even get close enough to touch him without getting burned even worse. Besides, even if she was concerned about him, he had beaten her ass into the ground, and that would take a little more time to forgive. Not that the battle wasn't useful...

In the meantime, all she could do was rub a little extra salve into her legs (with only one arm) and wait for her legs to stop aching enough so that she could move them. The burns there weren't so bad she'd have to have the skin cut away. She'd run fast enough and dodged Giles's attacks well enough to avoid that. But they would still need a little time to heal.

She stared at the ceiling, listening detachedly to the people outside and wishing she was better at falling asleep at will.

[Stygian]

Watching Sylvie curiously from the corner of his eye, Stygian sipped his drink and took a deep breath, trying to relax and to stop obsessing about the elf's reactions. Humming to himself, he studied her hand, coming immediately to the conclusion that she must be absorbing the drink through her skin. He had no understanding for the reason though. Not that it mattered...
   'Nervosity isn't ever a good feeling. I'd opt for tension or caution instead', he said in a neutral tone. 'Especially around people like me, however skewed that might sound when I say it myself.' He gave her a meaningful, confiding look. 'But, if you really believe that you have reason to be anxious, then I can't advise you but to trust your instincts. Anything else would be self-serving. Of course, that again begs the question; am I just manipulating you into liking me more by supporting you, or am I honest in my intentions? And even that question can, and should have, a complex answer.' He leaned back, refraining from letting an amused smirk creep onto his face. 'And am I bringing this to your attention to illustrate the problem, or to keep from having to say something else that might be uncomfortable? Is it to highlight your anxiety? Or am I trying to make you tired of the conversation, the question and the problem itself? Then again, it might be that neither of us would really think of it as a "problem" if I didn't present it as such, and that's the reason.' He leaned forward just a little again. 'What do you think?'
   A part of him fumed and cursed at himself, but once he'd begun, there really had been no stopping. Looking at the elf again briefly, he reached over to the table and the hamper which had come with the bottle, picking a green grape from a cluster and popping it into his mouth.
   Alright. If she takes that seriously, she really is nervous, and I should move away and strike up something new... he thought, imagining a weary back and thinking about getting some sleep later.

- -

The woman's answer was short, clipped and completely neutral in tone, obviously one of conscious effort.
   'Yeah, I know. Linos Maurits', she said. Leaning on the table, she sighed, and then looked up at Piix and Paladin as they passed. Watching the cuteness of the Orin was somewhat offset by hearing what was going on in some people's heads. 'My name's Andrea. Pleased to meet you.' In a strange gesture, she stretched out her hand, not looking at the jaguar either.

[Angel]

For a few seconds, Sylvie sat there, a bit dumbfounded. Though a few statements and questions matched what she felt, she couldn't figure out why he'd said it like that. She put down her glass, wiping off the little wine that clung to her fingers on the palm of that hand. She thought for a minute, looking nowhere specific. Then, as when he'd made his 'firewood' comment, a spark came into her eyes. And she gave a small smirk.

"I think," she said, keeping any slight amusement out of her voice, but allowing slight tones of relief and carefulness, "that I should have explained a bit better." She felt like something hadn't quite been understood, and just in case she was right, it was a good idea to clear things up. "I didn't mean that you are making me nervous. I meant that situations like the one a few minutes ago make me nervous. No matter who is involved. It's just that for me, that kind of thing... doesn't happen very often."

She was looking him in the eyes again, a bit more confident even if she'd just admitted that which embarrassed her. "And there is no reason for me to be anxious, not right now. That's just my natural reaction. I guess I should have said that I get... cautious when that kind of thing happens." She turned a little bashful, realizing that there was no other way to summarize this feeling. "No matter how cliché it sounds, you're not the problem." She smirked a little wider here. "Of course, you did nearly confuse me so badly I might have thought you were..."

[Stygian]

Relief filled Stygian's mind, even though his usual conflicted thoughts still tugged at the edges of it. Her explanation though, still did not sit well with him, even if it was reasonable. Suppressing a slightly pressured feeling, he shifted where he sat, turning a bit against the elf, and leaning his head while he idly rubbed his temple with a pair of fingers for a moment. His look was amused but skeptical.
   'I'm not entirely sure that's believable, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt', he said, putting his hand down. 'Though everyone has their fears and anxieties, I guess.' He leaned back and sighed slowly. Then, not looking at her, he snerked. 'As much as a relief that it is to hear that I'm not a problem though, I can't help but feel a little worried that it's not me that you're nervous about.' He gave her a smirk and a rather sharp look.
   There it was again. He was beginning to skirt that issue again. But then again, some just needed saying. And if he could put it forth in a good way... Sighing again, he stretched, rolling his neck a little and thinking.
   'If that's what I did, then I'm sorry. But if it's that close between, it might be bad enough anyway', he said, his face more serious now and his black eyes almost cold. 'I'll admit that I'm not always a pleasant man. Not anything near, actually. And I do manipulate and toy with people, even unconsciously. It's not all something that I can control; if I'm right, you might just be affected by a certain part that I cannot right now.' He paused for a moment, letting his words sink in before he continued. 'So even if it causes you to become even more conflicted, I'll say it right now. Look at what's been said and done for the short time we've been here. And what it is that it might be that you see in me. And question it, and whether if you can look past it.' His eyes were cold now, and serious, his gaze awling into hers. 'Because if it's just the face and image that you like, if I may presume you like me, then those are very shallow.'
   Something moved up the inside of his shirt, and as it trailed up his neck, some slithering, sinuous thing stretched Stygian's skin. Another thing followed it, like a tendril shifting under his chin and moving under his jaw, like a centipede crawling up under his cheek and vanishing somewhere behind his ear, leaving his veins just a little blackened as it went before his skin assumed its regular color again. His gaze remained fixed on the elf.
   'It's what's on the inside that counts.'
   He might have ruined it all, for what he knew, but at this point he wasn't sure whether if there was much to ruin. He wasn't even sure what he was looking to do. But one thing he knew; if this sort of thing didn't put into perspective what to actually be nervous about...