The Honor Circle Returns! (IC)

[Lisky]

"But of course, milady.  There is a shortage of pretty women in this world, and ones who're as skilled as yer' self should be treasured...  That and i was rather unsure of how closely the circle would follow the rules i set down."

Giving a shrug, the demon's slur had died down a bit, still there, but nearly as bad as before he'd ingested the serum.  He continued, "As i'd said in th' ring, I would sooner burn a famous painting than kill you, and as such, restrained myself, lest the circle not follow my directions of ending -before- a kill shot was delivered.  It would have been a bit too tragic for my liking.  That and i was a bit over-confident in my own ability to soak up your hits... Didn't expect such a -delicate- lady, such as yourself to be able to swing a sword like that."

The demon's eyes grew a bit sleepy as he was talking, his words extended a bit.  He yawned as he finished, having to prop his head up with a hand to attempt to stay awake.

[Angel]

Sylvie thought about responding to Corgatha's challenge, if only because it seemed he wasn't fully comfortable with his new location and situation yet. But she had had enough of fighting for now, and simply wanted to watch and wait. When he revoked his challenge, the book responded. Sylvie looked up sharply at that, and watched as Corgatha moved to touch it...

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," she said hastily. "We're not supposed to look at that book unless we're in a circle. Barkeep's rules." Her smile was nervous now. "My friend fought one of the creatures in there, and, well, she survived, but not without quite the struggle." She turned to see if Dani was around to confirm this, but the Red was outside with the wolf-woman and zombie.

---

Though she raised one scarlet brow at Azshanas's shift in topics from her past to the circles, she decided not to bring it up just then. The wolf seemed not to want to discuss it further anyway. Then why bring it up? voiced part of the Red's mind. The rest of it answered To explain things, and that was that.

"Near as I can tell, the moment the challenged enters, the scenery changes. The challenged gets to decide where they fight and how. The rules keep people from dying, or allow them to. I don't know how the circle enforces it, but it seems to be that when the terms of the fight have been met, the fight ends." She shrugged. "Can't give a more technical explanation than that. My magic knowledge is limited to that which I can do myself, and even then the only thing I know is that it's there, and powerful." And will kill me in 20 years or so. And caused me and everyone like me to look like this. And was started by a formerly hot guy named Tobias – shut UP, me.

[Boog]

"I don't really think it's magic," Richard rasped, looking over the circles. "I mean, I've only stepped into 'em once, but it seems too... RELIABLE to be magic." He shrugged, "Magic tends to have a nasty sense of humor. I've only seen these fail once, and even then it was pretty easily contained." He figured he wouldn't push the matter about the wolf girl's past. If it was important to her, or she wanted attention, she'd go on about it later. If it wasn't or she didn't, then it probably wasn't that interesting.

[Corgatha Taldorthar]

Corgatha kept his eyes on Slyvia's face, trying to probe for more information. Something in her words...... Or maybe it was just her odd, ageless look that he could not bring himself to trust. Green, green, everywhere. And yet her skin had too smooth a look to remind one of overlapping leaves, or blades of grass. He felt a hard pulse in his wrists.

"So, we enter these circles to start up our fights. How exactly does this happen? And who sets the terms and conditions for these battles? If I'm going up against a book, how can I negotiate with it?"


This place made him more than uneasy. No purpose, no structure, just fighting for the sake of fighting, as far as he could tell. They all needed a good Blight Border, keep them sharp. Focused. Better. Still, he needed more data. 

[SpottedKitty]

Andrace's whiskers spread wide as she watched Bas rapidly sinking into the final stage of the truth drug's effects. She wouldn't get anything more out of him, at this rate the Demon would be fast asleep in seconds. She reached for his free hand and gave it a reassuring pat. "It's sweet o' y' t' say so, Bas," she said with a mostly genuine smile. "Time f'r y' t' have a litle nap now, an' when y' wake up, y' won't r'memb'r anythin' o' what we b'n talkin' 'bout."

As she spoke, the lioness glanced towards Despina to make sure her sister was watching. She curled her tail upwards a little, and flipped the tuft idly back and forth, as if she was just exercising her tail muscles. It was another signal in their family sign language, one that only made sense following the instructions she'd given earlier — all clear, immediate danger over, but be careful.

[Lisky]

A couple of incomprehensible grunt noises were all that escaped the demon's lips as he slumped over, and to the side, all but flopping on top of the lioness adventurer, as she pulled his hand off the table and began whispering her little bit.  His head found a resting place on something warm, soft and squishy.  His mind started getting foggy, as he his left ear,  or at least... it felt like his left ear, picked up a strange, rhythmic sound.   like a deep drum-beat. 

Ever so slowly, his eyelids slid shut as the demon passed out. No longer completely on the bar, he was half draped over the counter-top, half draped over Andrace.  The drug having worked it's effect as it completely shut down all conscious activity for Bas, his mind went blank, silently erasing all  that had happened in the last few minutes.

[SpottedKitty]

Andrace loooked down at Bas, one ear cocked and a quirky smile on her muzzle, as the Demon settled into his soft, comfortable resting place. She quietly murmured something that might have included the word "marshmallow", then louder, she laughed and said, "Heh, who'd have thought a big tough Demon 'd be such a cheap date?"

A short distance along the bar, Despina had almost succeeded in almost stifling a thoroughly dirty laugh at her sister's predicament. With a sweeping gesture, the younger lioness conjured a stack of small scoreboards on the bar at her side. Still grinning toothily, she walked along the bar handing one scoreboard to each person. The boards had the numbers one to ten on flip-over cards, then there was one showing "ELEVEN!!1!!!" and several more with a variety of encouraging phrases — some of which were merely suggestive, rather than outright illegal, immoral and fattening. Despina almost skipped cheerfully back to her barstool and sat down, ignoring her older sister making faces and sticking her tongue out at her.

[Dekari]

The look was there, curiosity, or at least that was what Azshanas perceived it as.  The fact that she could hear their thoughts as clear as spoken words only added to that perception.  "I'm not sure how it all works where you two are from, but the way I've seen it always work is that magic is only as reliable as the mind and body of the one who is using it.  So, it could actually be magic, though the one who is controlling it or setup it up must be very powerful if it is as reliable as you say it is.  Definitely not someone to make an enemy out of."  She tried to distract herself from Dani's and Richard's curiosity.  No matter how little of it there was, it was still one of the emotions that empowered her before the corruption.  And now was not the time to go burning though energy, not yet at least.

Unfortunately, her self-distraction was too late.  On top of that, Dani's last thoughts had peaked her own curiosity a bit too much.  Azshanas walked into one of the rings.  "Nothing explains how something works than to see it first hand.  But do to a 'condition' of mine, I'm only good for about five minutes before I need a 'recharge'."  She said with her back to them and gesturing quotation marks with her fingers.  "So, lets say we make this fun.  Outlast me in here and I'll let you in on some mysteries of mine, if you want.  If you don't outlast me, then you tell me where you would like to be in..."  She paused and turned to Dani with a smirk on her face.  "Twenty years or so."

[Lisky]

a little while later, difficult to tell just how long, given the big black hole in his memory.  Baseel's sense returned.  His head was against a soft, yet supportive pillow.  It felt as if he were laying on a couch, or perhaps rolled sideways into a chair.  He was against something warm, he felt a deep drum-like rhythm in his head.  The splitting headache seemed to cause his pulse to pound in his ears.

Slowly focusing his sense, he tentatively opened an eyelid.  He saw the fuzzy outline of his own body.  He heard noises, conversations.  Blinking his eyes a bit wider, he realized he was still in the bar.  He felt like he'd just downed several gallons of ale, which, judging by how he felt, very well could have happened.  The hole in his memory, still being at the bar.  How long had he been out? how much of a fool of himself had he made?  These were the major questions that swirled in his head as he slowly lifted himself off the warm, comfy, chair.  Only to find his "Chair" was in fact the one person he'd been looking for.

Pulling a hand over his muzzle in the best facsimile of a facepalm that a canine could manage, Bas groaned as he lifted himself into a proper sitting position, and cast the healing spell, lowering the swollen blood-vessels in his head, while cleansing the worst of the remnants of alcohol from his system.  He said in a shy voice, almost squeaking with embarrassment, "Ugghhh.... i'm... i'm sorry for that... awkward position, Miss Kithara...  I hate to ask, but, is there anything i should know i did while i was out?  I think i had just a bit too much to drink, and probably made a fool of myself..."

His sense were still returning, vision still a bit hazy, hearing fuzzy, and feelings dulled... but at least the headache was gone.

[Cogidubnus]

Laertes's neck strained to the side to avoid Ed's claws reaching for his muzzle, the Angel trying to buy a few more seconds with which to keep his song going. The giant wings flapped again, pulling them both a little higher into the air.
The Angel smiled.

The ambient temperature rose just slightly, the edge taken off the chill. From where he was, so far below the Angel, Ed probably couldn't see the barest hint of blue fog drift from between his teeth.
With a weary-sounding, breathy sigh, the priest breathed softly on the Cubi's grasping tentacles. Cold like liquid nitrogen enveloped the grasping claws.

Neither did he cease with enveloping himself more and more in the tentacles that the Cubi had provided, rotating and spinning like a fork in spaghetti in an attempt to bring him closer and closer. The blue that covered his formarms sizzled where it touched flesh, leaving cold gashes and wounds. His diamond skin did not sparkle in the gray of the snowstorm, but rather gleamed dully, like ice.

[SpottedKitty]

Andrace's whiskers twitched as she raised one eyebrow and pouted back at Bas. "Aww, y' don't r'memb'r? Y' promised y'd tell me how y' did that stunt wi' th' Mow, th' Cubi an' th' two-headed Mythos, wi'out duct tape, an' wi'out gettin' y' fur all sticky." The lioness slowly rolled her shoulders, causing interesting undulations elsewhere on her anatomy and smoothing the rumpled material of her shirt where the Demon's head had been resting.

Judging from her tone of voice Andrace seemed to be completely serious, although a slight gleam in her eyes and a certain curve of her tail hinted otherwise. She also seemed to be nowhere near as drunk as she'd acted, if Bas were in any fit state to remember.

[Lisky]

Ed felt the stinging, felt the frost, and shifted the claws away from the angel's mouth.  He adjusted the claws slighty, he still had the angel pretty well wrapped up, and therefore, he could exert force... though at a quickly draining pace, he'd have to make his move, or surrender.

Mustering up a force of will, he reformed those clawed hands around Laerte's head, and drove those sharpened points towards his eyes, ears and throat.  Fleshy spots, where even the slightest damage would be felt.  He -had- to break the Angel's concentration, since it seemed what little shadow magic he knew had turned out to be worthless.


***********

Bas's mouth stood agape in horror.  When, how... what?! he couldn't say the words.  Just the thoughts flooded his mind.  He'd clearly done something foolish, hopefully nothing he'd regret.  As if to punctuate the horror, it just then dawned on him that he'd never recovered his tunic from the collapseable dimension he used to store items or objects of value.

His silver fur shown several shades redder across his muzzle, and around the base of his ears.  He was glad that he had much more deep black on his body, for the red didn't show through there.  Oh god, what did i do... what did i get myself into... please be joking PLEeeeeeaaasssseeee be joking


*ahem* coughing into a hand while trying to avoid eye contact, "i'm normally not that susceptible to getting that drunk... Hopefully things didn't get too... awkward..."  Diverting his gaze to the floor, he idly wished he had a glass of water, and just about anything else to take his mind off the race-track his thoughts were running around.

[Angel]

Sylvie looked at the book and shook her head. "I honestly don't know," she replied. "My friend fought the book, not me. And I was talking to someone else when she was learning about it, so I missed parts of it. I think only the bartender knows what's really going on with that book." A flash of unpleasantness crossed her face when she said that, but it just as soon disappeared, and by the time she'd taken a sip of cider, she seemed to have forgotten it completely. "But when and if she gets back in, or if the bartender finishes his fight, you can ask them." She smiled at him briefly, then turned to look outside to see what Dani was doing. The white wolf was gesturing at a circle and eyeing Richard and Dani, so she guessed it was a challenge of some kind. Well, as long as she doesn't doze off during the fight.

----

Dani had had her usual smirk on before, even when she was neutral about what she was saying. Now, it was gone. She didn't look at Azshanas at first, only looked at the ground she'd been spacing out to before and blinked. But she was clearly bothered by what the wolf said. She even used the exact phrase I thought...

She made eye contact with her, and that sideways smirk appeared again – but seemed a little darker. "Heh. So now fights are 'getting-to-know-you' games? Better than a deathmatch, I guess." She glanced at Richard, waiting to see if he would accept before she made her decision. She wasn't about to go up against someone who could potentially read her mind

[Corgatha Taldorthar]

Corgatha wished he hadn't finished his Caf up, as it would give him more chance to stall. He kept glancing back between Sylvie, and the book, twin lures of interest and duty prying at his attention. No, not duty. He had no obligation to any of these people, was sworn to none. Why fight? There was no Blightborder to hold back here. Why did he feel a need to fight this odd picture book? The present company was far more pleasant.


But he had opened this challenge, and while the mode of speech was definitely odd, this book was definitely an acceptance. He pushed off from his stool, siezed the Power, reveled in the enhanced sense, struggled against the current, as barely noticed sensations of heat and cold coursing through his body. He wanted to have weapons ready, in case this thing attacked suddenly. 

Standing over the tattered little book, he gravelled out of his throat "I know you can hear, and understand me. Come on, let's get to a circle. You and I have a fight. I do not know my way around here, as of yet."

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Witt looked at the card he'd been handed. It appeared to have an encouraging phrase on it, or at least a phrase that appeared on the surface to be encouraging. Reading a little closer, there were several suggestive subtexts.

He fished in a pocket for a writing implement of some kind, and adjusted the text to be a little more blatant. He then surveyed his work, put the pen away, and held it up for the horned (or possibly horny, depending) demon to see.

The now edited text appeared to be exhorting Basilisk to use carpet. Or possibly to vault something. Either way, it wouldn't be something you'd do in public, since a room seemed to be involved.


... along with possibly several other beings, some rope, and a surprising number of handcuffs. And several actions illegal in many states, particularly sobriety.



Always interesting seeing how much you can fit in a few short sentences, Witt mused to himself.

[Cogidubnus]

 Laertes snarled, his spellcasting broken for the moment, and continued twisting his head in order to avoid the writhing tentacles from pushing into his eyes and ears. He wasn't sure if his eyes were as solid as the rest of him was, or if his eardrums could be as solid as diamond and still transmit sound, but he wasn't going to take the chance. He eyes gleamed with rage as he looked at the Cubi dangling beneath him.
The spells that he had in place - the giant wings, the ambient cold, and the strange, razor-cold that surrounded his arms were still in place, but the brief pause in his chant would prevent him from spellcasting nearly as easily.

For such things were contingencies made. A hand scythed through a mass of tentacles, and the fingers snapped.
The scythe, suspended in midair, spun, and suddenly spun violently at the suspended Cubi. Laertes continued dragging him closer - not so long now, and he'd be close enough to touch Ed, and not just the myriad tentacles.

[SpottedKitty]

Andrace cocked one ear and looked Bas over from toes to horn-tips with a speculative expression on her face. "Awkward?" she said, "Didn't look awkward t' me, are y' double-jointed 'r somethin'? Anyway, I don't think I c'd pull that off m'self, I got too much muscle now t' be that... ah... flexible." The grinning lioness smacked her clenched fist into her stomach as proof, with enough force to knock any smaller Being or Creature clean off their feet. "M' baby sister Eugenia, now, she might like t' give it a try if y' show 'er it'll tickle 'er fancy — or anythin' else."

The lioness kept a close eye on Bas as she spoke, noting his reactions and expressions. The Demon's air of mortified embarrassment seemed just about right. She wasn't usually this cruel... often... but she wanted to make sure he was thoroughly distracted from thinking about what she'd said or done by worrying about what he might have said or done while "drunk".

[Lisky]

Attempting to feign a playful smile, Bas failed to look innocent in the slightest.  It didn't sound like too much of a stretch of his own imagination of what he'd be capable of while drunk.  How long had it been, how long had he been blacked out.  His head was still spinning, and pounding... a far worse hangover than last time... but not as bad as that one time...

"I'm going to be blunt, and honest, Ms. Kithra... i have no idea what happened, nor any recollection of those events.  If there were promises made, then they must be upheld, though given the circumstances... i think i'll need some help filling in the blanks"

Giving a sheepish grin, Bas reached over the counter, and got himself a glass of water... perhaps that would help end the pounding pain, searing through his demonic skull.

[Dekari]

Azshanas's eyes widened slightly in a sort of realization before narrowing into a look of frustration and anger as she gave a sigh and shifted to one side.  However the look was not meant for either Dani or Richard, it was meant for herself.  She turned away from the two with her arms crossed.  "Let me know which one of you two wants to go first, or if either of you are even excepting the challenge."  Azshanas said half-heartedly walking to the center of the ring muttering something about 'repeating the same mistakes' and 'falling for the same temptations'.

[SpottedKitty]

Andrace appeared to be radiating pure amusement, most likely at the sight of the Demon's obvious embarrassment — a rarity in any circumstances. The smirk on her muzzle held more than a hint of triumph as the lioness realised her distraction ploy seemed to have worked perfectly.

Gotcha! she thought. All right, one more tug o' y' tail, then it's time t' ease up on y'... y' poor schlub. She didn't know if Demons could suffer an aneurism from emotional shock, but (unlike her sister Zoe) she wasn't in the mood to experiment and find out for sure.

"Oh, y' need fillin' in, do y'?" she purred, "Well, here's how it happ'n'd." She leaned closer to Bas and started whispering into his nearside ear. She spoke quietly enough to be inaudible more than a tail's length away, but her gestures and hand-waving were eloquent... and not in the least bit suggestive, their meaning was perfectly clear. The lioness' performance was almost as good as a puppet show, although perhaps not one suitable for a younger audience.

[Lisky]

The demon's first thought was not about what'd he'd done with the lioness... his head started to refocus on the other lass he'd been talking with earlier.  The yellow and black jackal who'd been sitting in the corner.  Was she still around? Did his tomfoolery chase her off?  Almost as a gut reaction, his head swung around to look for her, and attempt to offer an apology.

"I'm terribly sorry to just leave you like this... but, i think i need to find my friend again, and try and offer an explanation... assuming she's still around."

Standing up, he started looking for Keaton, starting his search in the back corner where they'd met


*******

Ed started thrashing more desperately now, when he saw the flash of teeth, he drove a small cluster towards his teeth, some to try and pry the jaw open further, the others, trying to shove themselves down his throat, either to suffocate or at least immobilize the angel.

He was drawn closer still, saw what Laertes was doing, yet dismissed the action as he pressed his assault... he only had enough strength for a few more moments of this... after that, it'd be all one sided.

[Boog]

The book's reaction to Corgatha's speech was dramatic, to say the least. Two long, spindly legs sprouted from the seam between two pages, like black chicken's feet, and the book hopped up onto them. Whirling on one talonned toe like MC Escher's private ballerina, it turned and ducked out the door. Following it would find it standing in a circle. Spinning, dancing... Waiting.

--

Richard thought about Azshana's offer carefully, before finally stepping forward.
"Yeah, I'll do it."
He took the fire axe out of his belt loop and weighed it in his hands thoughtfully. He was... Well, curious. If he could learn more about this strange woman fighting her, then he would.
Plus, it would make Marya furious.

[Corgatha Taldorthar]

Maybe he was just numb, with all the other impossibilities in this bar, the book sprouting legs and walking away just seemed a reasonable continuation of the day's events. He strode after the odd object, drawing an obsidian dagger into his right hand, and seizing the Power, although only holding a trickle, and not channeling it for anything. Combat lessons that he only half paid attention to at the time flitted through his head, as even when he was recruited, he was being groomed for a command of the Legion, not being in a direct human weapon in the mix of things. Still, he was stronger than most, and not wholly distanced from combat.

He arrived at the circle, a moment behind the book. "I am ready whenever you are." he stated, trying to hold on to calm before the brawl.

[Dekari]

To Richard his curiosity was probably nothing more than a thought, a feeling, an emotion.  But to Azshanas it was more than that, it was an actual tangible object, and a part of her wanted it, needed it, craved it.  A shudder ran down Azshana's body.  Weather it was of excitement, fear, or something else entirely would be left to the observers.  She kept her back to Richard and Dani and made an effort to show no signs of emotion.  "Guess it's a little more difficult than I thought it would be.  Ok, let's just remember our training, it's just an emotion, you don't need.  You can use it as a power boost, but don't rely on it or else it becomes a crutch."  She said to herself not thinking about how loud she may have said it.

Azshanas took her right arm out of the sleeve of her jacket and proceeded to attach the stopwatch to her wrist.  In the process of doing this, her jacket slipped off her shoulder pulling aside her long white hair and exposing her back.  Over the top of the halter corset she was wearing could be seen the top part of her large white 'clan' mark .  Based on the visible part it could be assumed the mark covered her entire back.  She took her jacket the rest of the way off and tossed it aside and turned to her two onlookers with a slight grin.  "Just remember, five minutes.  And try to not hold back, I could use a workout."  She said holding up her right arm as to show off the stopwatch.  However something slightly more curious started to happen.  From just behind her ears could be seen a small amount of black mist rising up from under her hair.

[Cogidubnus]

 The tentacles clawing at his eyes found purchase, and in an instant Laertes found himself blind and bleeding. He felt the tentacle down his throat straining against the inherent armor of his race, and he felt something crack, and a wetness flow down his throat.

Laertes did three things.

The spells on his arms, and the large, ethereal wings behind him faded, and he was again instantly covered in that molten golden light. It hissed where it met the tentacles, and the Angel plummeted to the ground. The surrounding atmosphere grew warmer, and the golden light intensified as the spells he had working converted themselves into pure, holy light.

The scythe, spinning end over end, flew down and up and then into Ed's back, stabbing deep into his lower torso and continuing onwards - the magic animating it not ceasing. It cut itself free, and arced upwards viciously, aiming for the Cubi's face.

[Lisky]

He felt purchase, a sense of success flooded his body, just before pain, deep, gut searing pain.  Heat spilled down his back, flowing down into his clothing.  He released the angel, pulling the tentacles back into his wings, even going so far as to push off.  The realization came none-too-late, as the blade arched back, attempting to swing where his face had just been.  The moment brought out a momentary lapse in the feline's silence. "FUCK, BLADE!"

The ground rushed up to greet the feline, deep, white snow.  He tried to brace himself for the landing, creating many tenatacles in a net like structure.  His side flared with pain as he attempted the landing. Half the tentacles started to fail, reforming a partial wing, he half collapsed into the snow, before catching himself on a knee, sinking a little ways into the snow as he started feeling the pain from both himself and the angel feed his own dwindling power... or perhaps that was the adrenaline.  Taking a moment to find cover by the statue, Ed took a few moment to try and restructure his body, reforming the parted muscle groups, and making a best effort to use some of his wing to patch the worst of the gash in his side... it didn't work perfectly, blood was still seeping through, and it'd give away his camouflage... but perhaps it'd slow the drain.

Shouting up at Laertes, Ed asked, "Shall we call this a draw before someone gets something a bit more permanent?"  He let the words hang in the air, just long enough for the angel to recognize and consider them, before he moved, adjusting his patterns to match the snow again.

[Angel]

Sylvie had been watching Corgatha curiously, but when he directly challenged the Book, the curiosity turned into attention so rapt that she felt her eyes might snap off. Dani had carried the Book out to a circle first; would it accept such a direct challenge?

If the fact that it sprouted legs and walked outside was any indication, that was just fine.

At first, Sylvie could only stare in shock and confusion. Then, without warning, a giggle escaped her throat, and she planted her head in her arms on the table to muffle what soon grew into her first real laugh since waking up.

-----

When Richard accepted, Dani moved out of her relaxed position and propped her blade against her shoulder. She wasn't really sure whether she was looking forward to this or not. She was about to fight a woman who had brought her mortality up to the front of her thoughts, and possibly had much greater power than chaos magic on her side. But if a man who had looked death in the eye could face her without fear, why couldn't she? But it looked as though the fight was about to start. And something was still unanswered for her.

"So, is this a tag team battle, or do we both attack you at once, or what?" she asked the wolf, walking towards the circle without stepping in just yet. "I have only one ground rule for any fight regardless, but I'd like to know all of yours first."

[Paladin Sheppard]

Paladin slowly drained the dregs of the beer bottle in his hand and slowly as not to make a muff of it, gently placed his 20th beer atop the pyramid he'd build out of the other empties.

Sadly far from drunk the Brown/Black wolf cast his gaze around the bar looking for something stronger maybe..."Maybe not my recycling systems can't hold much more o' this..." He muttered as he looked around for the restrooms, rather than using an 'emergency' sub system of his armor.

Pausing at the door he mentally triggered the release systems, opening the back of the armor, and stepped out revealing the black bodysuit he wore under the armor. Pulling his pistol off the armor the Wolf  'cubi slipped it into a holster on his thigh, and headed in to relieve himself.

After a while he reappeared and went through the suiting up possess, and sauntered back to the bar.

[Dekari]

There was momentary look of excitement on Azshanas's face upon hearing the words of fighting more than one person.  However as she lowered her arm, the stopwatch caught her eyes as it passed and the look changed to one of concern mixed with worry.  "I think for the safety of all parties that would be involved we should probably stick to one on one for now."  She said, her gaze lowering as her arm came to a rest by her side.

By now the black mist had amassed to a noticeable yet shapeless amount and there was now an black mist creeping up from behind her shoulders increasing in amount rapidly.  "As for rules, I hadn't given it much thought.  But I have a feeling that the one you have is the same as one I would lay down too."  She paused, the black mist atop her head and behind her started to take on a shape as she reached into one of her pants pocket and pulled out a metal guitar pick on a silver chain.  "I've just started to enjoy living after all I've been through, so I don't really have much interest in dieing...again.  And besides if I were to kill someone in a manner that was clearly something other than self-defense, no matter how much I may have changed, I don't think he would be able to forgive me."  She paused again, held the guitar pick tight in her fist, brought her fist up to her chest, and closed her eyes.  The mist had taken of the shape of two sets of black feathered wings, a smaller pair atop her head the sprouted up from behind her ears and a larger set on her back that seemed as they would have a span of at least seven feet fully stretched .  "Not for killing someone now or anything that I have done in the past.  I would have no reason to live if that were to happen."  As Azshanas finished she clearly looked upset by her own words.

[Sunblink]

Keaton was nowhere to be found. There was little evidence of her ever being there other than a chair that had been left vacant and abandoned out in the open, yet another obstacle for a drunken patron to stumble over, and an empty glass sitting, untouched, on the table. Further investigation proved to be even less enlightening. It was as though the mercenary had vanished without a trace.

Of course, the truth was less supernatural than it seemed. An airy, ephemeral voice piped up from behind Bas, murmuring just loudly enough to ensnare his attention. "If you're looking for mistress," Xianxi's voice intoned, "She's in the restroom. She told me to let you know once you returned from..."

The impish creature - having compacted his size into something relatively squirrel-like in proportion - was using a chandelier hanging from the ceiling as his perch, gently curling his tail around one of the elaborate golden ornaments to provide leverage. He huddled amongst the candles like a spooked feline, trying to turn the act of stroking his wounded pride into a dignified motion. Xianxi's muzzle wrinkled in distaste as he struggled to unearth a suitable adjective to describe Bas's drunken misadventures. He gave up in the middle of rummaging through his vocabulary. "Your business."

Satisfied with that euphemism, Xianxi sighed and returned to nursing his crooked tail. Little pinkish-blue bruises bloomed where Stygian's fingers had fastened around the length, garish and ugly against his velveteen, alabaster skin. They would fade soon, but the cramps still bothered him. Xianxi muttered a vengeful curse under his breath as he fanned out his tail, admiring it with an edge of narcissism that seemed completely uncharacteristic for the subservient imp - like a vain peacock mourning the feathers that had been stripped from its extravagant plumage. His earlier encounter with the man had not ended pleasantly. The protocol that protected the Honor Circle from erupting into a constant bonanza of drunken brawls and spontaneous challenges had sucker-punched Xianxi into a stalemate. He would have loved to retaliate against that gross invasion of his personal space with violence, but without permission to do so, he was at a loss. With no other option, he slithered under a table and weathered the chaos. It was around that same time that Bas was distracted from his conversation with Keaton, and she learned from experience that moving around when suffering from the effects of inebriation was a terrible idea.

Xianxi let out a long-suffering sigh. "She should return in a moment, if you feel like waiting. If it makes you feel better, she was too busy vomiting to worry about you." Unfurling his tail from one of the branches that made up the chandelier, he drifted down so he could float in front of Bas's face. Alone and without his mistress to provide some sense of support in an ocean of degenerate strangers, he was in desperate need of conversation. There had be something worthwhile about this man, otherwise Keaton wouldn't have bothered with him, right?