bigapplesauce | Biscuit, I don't think we're in Absalom anymore.... [Closed]

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Biscuit, I don't think we're in Absalom anymore.... [Closed]

There's blood all over their ship.

Asmodia doesn't know what to do with herself on the flight home from the observatory. This isn't the first time she's seen corpses (it's far from even the first time she's been part of the cause of corpses) and it's not like she feels any guilt over killing a bunch of old men who'd made it their lives' mission to stamp out Stig's entire bloodline, but it's unsettling, let's go with that, to see a friend execute a defeated foe and to have it happen aboard their home away from home. She's not sure she'll ever see the deck again without remembering what it looks like right now.

She wonders what the man she killed saw before he died. He's one of the few that went down without a mark on him…and serve him right, the (literally) backstabbing bastard.

They all disperse to their own rooms once Tanna's landed the ship at the warehouse, Stig of course haring off into town to fetch his lady friend and tell her the good news. The stink of smoke that permeates the building isn't enough to ruin the comfort of coming home after a hard day, and at least fighting so close to home means she and Biscuit can have a bath afterward. She takes her time and doesn't bother going back downstairs or putting any of her gear back on afterward, but makes herself comfortable in her room with her books and settles in for a solitary night of contemplation. There are some spells she's been meaning to teach to Biscuit, and she can feel that familiar niggling feeling that comes before a new hex brings itself to mind….

At least, that's how she intends to spend her evening until the banging and clattering noises start up downstairs. Normally she'd write it off (even small explosions are pretty much par for the course around here), but after everything that's happened recently it's enough to get her out of bed. She grabs blindly for her cloak of resistance as she opens the door and --

And everything is suddenly a lot more green than it should be. "What in the --" she starts, lifting a hand to shield her eyes against he relative brightness and spinning in place on the spot, hyper-alert for anyone who might be rushing at her with a sword or lobbing a fireball in her direction. "Biscuit, where --

"Biscuit??" It's then that she realizes her familiar is gone. Her breath hitches as she casts out her senses -- and there, she can feel him! He's frightened, and hurt, and whoever kidnapped and separated the two of them will have a lot to answer for. First things first: see where she really is. A wave of her hand a few choice words should dispel whatever illusion is around her.

Except it doesn't. She doesn't even feel any magic moving through her when she does it. She tries again, and then she tries to teleport back to her room, and then to make herself a crone because maybe if she can just concentrate a little better --

Nothing, nothing, and nothing. Panicking, she tries to scry on Biscuit, and when that fails as well she stumbles over to a nearby fence to lean hard on it, feeling nauseas. It's gone. Her magic is gone and she doesn't even know how or why or where she is or where Biscuit is and why are those people staring at her?!

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Oh.

Oh, well that doesn't look good at all.

The Balladeer was out looking around for Greta, as he'd promised Iman he would. There's no sign of her around the park, or even anyone else he knows. It may be for the best. He still can't seem to speak the words he wants, and it's already screwed up pretty much conversation he's had so far. It's best he just not talk to anybody until it's over.

Then, of course, he sees a new arrival pop out of nowhere, horns and all. The Balladeer casts a doubtful look over his shoulder at the other passerby staring at her, then approaches cautiously.

"Are you...okay?" There, see? Questions are safe. He can do this.

And someone's coming over here, and as much as she needs answers, what she needs more is a chance to think and figure out her next move. She shakes her head, waving a hand at him in a dismissive gesture. Get trid of the helpful guy, find Biscuit, find the team. She opens her mouth to tell him she's fine.

"I am not even the slightest bit okay!" she says instead, voice ragged. What?! No. Try that again. "No, really, I'm very scared right now and I want you to go away because I think you're a potential threat!"

"Okay! I'm..." The Balladeer feels several different phrases bubbling up, absolutely all of them threatening, and instead shuts his mouth and backs up several steps, hands raised in a gesture of surrender.

But he can't keep a lid on the curse forever, so once he's back a few paces, he finishes, "...definitely a threat. Look how threatening I am." He smiles weakly at the horned lady. Great, wonderful. Well, maybe he can at least use his newfound powers of deception for some good? He turns to wave at the small crowd of passerby gathering. "Hi! We're just shooting a music video! Our cameraman's over there - " He waves in a random direction. " - so if you could just move along, we're fine."

That hadn't even been the story he'd had in mind. He didn't have any story at all in mind. It just makes itself up, and that is incredibly unnerving.

"Don't make fun of me," mutters Asmodia, peeved at herself for blurting out an actual admission of fear in front of a stranger, and at the stranger for turning it into a joke. She looks up sharply -- who are these people? Why are they so interested? And what is a music video and will it kill them if they do not successfully shoot it?

The gawkers don't seem to be particularly inclined to leave, rampaging music video or no, but Asmodia certainly is. "I need to find my friends," she says raggedly, the words actually what she meant to say this time as she turns to stagger away under the stares of the confused (and, notably, 100% human) crowd.

"I - I - " The Balladeer appears to be briefly at war with himself, before he blurts out. "I know where they are!" His face falls into a look of resignation. "C'mon, this way."

Okay, so that is a total and complete lie. But he may as well use the excuse to get her away from the locals, right? Even if most of them have probably already taken pictures of her. Well, that sounds like ROMAC's problem.

He flashes a rather strained smile and gestures off the main path, down where he expects there'll be fewer people. He's still trying to make his posture non-threatening, and really he doesn't think he looks that scary to begin with. Hopefully that's good enough?

It's a believable lie, though. Asmodia hesitates, staring at him as her tail twitches uneasily from side to side. She did just appear in a new place without any explanation, and he did come over awfully quickly for someone who wasn't expecting her. And this kind of thing isn't actually all that unusual in the grand scheme of her life.

He's probably telling the truth. She steps cautiously off the path with him, careful not to turn her back on the stranger. One hand drops to her hip, where she would normally wear a sheathed dagger, but of course it isn't there. Stupid to leave her room without getting properly dressed; all she has are the clothes on her back and the cloak still grasped numbly in one hand. "Take me to them," she requests, no less wary but not seeing a better option. "How do you know? Do you know how we got here?"

The Balladeer keeps his hands at his sides and lets her follow the way she likes. She probably won't attack him, yeah?

"Ah - no, I don't. I know nothing about what is going on. But everything is totally. Normal." He stresses his words carefully, giving her a meaningful look, because that is roughly as informative as he can get right now. "It's not dangerous to be walking around as a...non-human."

Luckily, she's pretty humanoid. It'll be easy to pass her off as someone in a costume, if she'll play along with it. Then he can take her back to ROMAC, where they'll have actual explanations. Hopefully the city won't be alarming to her; who knows what kind of world she might have come from? She's a...troll? He's not sure, so he'll just let her explain that.

"Uh...huh." He's trying to tell her something, but what she doesn't know. His tone belies his words, not to mention the inherent weirdness of telling her about a lack of danger. He's not making her any less nervous right now; he hasn't made any sense from the moment she met him and being the first person she ran into after apparently being teleported out of her home and robbed of her magic doesn't earn him any points. She's still waiting for some kind of attack, ready to retaliate but not willing to start a fight before it becomes clear what he intends to do.

"This is within the realm of normality for me," she agrees. Why did she just say that? She was trying to point out how not normal all of this is! Her stomach sinks as she remembers what she blurted out before, and she adds in quick succession, "My name is Asmodia. The sky is blue. I've never met you before -- are we in a zone of truth?!"

"Yes!" he blurts out, wheeling back around and pointing at her in obvious excitement. She knows about the possibility of weird truth things! That should make things a lot easier!

"Ah...the sky is green, I've known you all my life, and I've definitely always lived here!" The Balladeer smiles at her expectantly; there, you see?

Yes! Zone of truth! She called it! Except why couldn't she tell before, and -- and --

And that's not truth coming out of him. "You're not in a zone of truth," she observes. Apparently true. Or she believes it's true, isn't that how it works? "You're lying," she adds, still working through it. "A lot. Constantly?"

"No!" The Balladeer makes a gesture that might have been an attempt to nod, and ends up shaking his head instead. Sighing, he rubs at his temple. This is really really irritating. "I haven't told a single lie all day. To anyone. At any point."

And from the look of it, she's got the exact opposite problem. That's ironic. The Balladeer runs a hand through his hair, considering how to try to impart this. "Okay. You are the only person to just appear here..." he says slowly, as if he's hearing the words for the first time as well. "...like I've always been here. Right? And nobody else is dealing with being cursed today."

He shrugs. "You showed up at a great time."

"Constantly," confirms Asmodia with a sigh. "Which means you don't know where my friends are, and --"

And he was definitely trying to tell her something when he said it was not dangerous to walk around here without looking human. She turns to look back the way they came -- there are still people watching, some with strange, boxy little devices held up in front of them. "Um," she says. "Dangerous. Uh. Uh. Right. The other people who've shown up here like this, can you take me to them?"

The Balladeer follows her gaze, then shifts slightly to try to stand a little more between her and the cameras. "There's no organization set up to help get us settled, we're on our own. I can't take you there." It's a decent walk there back to ROMAC - obviously they aren't going to avoid people seeing her. But it's New York. As long as they just act natural, people will probably dismiss her as someone in a costume.

"They'll..." He pauses, realizing that he actually has no idea what ROMAC might do for her. All the other rifties he's met personally were human, or at least looked it. Asmodia would have a hard time passing. But Daniel said there were aliens and werewolves and angels around, so there has to be something, right? "Well, I'm sure they have no way to help you."

It is something common, then -- but 'get settled'? She's hardly going to get settled. No, she just needs to know where she and Biscuit are (especially that second part) and what brought them here, and then she'll work out a way to get home. There's still work to be done, problems unresolved, ~~graves un-robbed.~~

Still, it would be nice to talk to someone who can give her a straight answer. "That's...okay," she decides. "Okay. We'll go there, and they can tell me what's happening without the backwards game, and then -- then I'll deal with it. But we need to find my rat --"

Speaking of which, that's a big, sudden change in Biscuit's attitude. What happened to being scared without her? Asmodia holds a hand to her temple and shakes her head sharply. "What the hell are you doing out there?" she mutters to herself.

"Your rat?" What, like a pet rat? The Balladeer can sympathize with wanting to find your pet, but that's gonna be like looking for a needle in a haystack in this city. Hopefully the little thing's alright. "Well, it probably won't be around the park..."

He stops, frowning as she raises a hand to her head. "Are you okay?"

"I'm -- I'm alright," replies Asmodia. How much should she tell him? Nothing, whispers a little voice in her head, but as much as she wants to get somewhere with people who can help, she can't leave Biscuit. If she goes too far away to feel him she may never get close enough to sense him again and finding him will be impossible. "He's nearby," she confirms. "I can...feel him. It's less complicated than I would like you to think."

Noooo.

Edited 2015-03-28 20:42 (UTC)

"Iiiii see." He doesn't, not exactly, but it sounds like something that should be simple enough to remedy. Much easier than finding a normal pet rat. Maybe he should have considered that it was some kind of magic thing - if it LOOKS particularly alien, though, they may want to catch up to it quickly. "Which way, then?"

Asmodia groans. "I don't know. I know he's close if I can feel him, but I don't know which way. If we start walking and I can't feel him, I guess we'll know we went the wrong way?"

This is why she doesn't let him out of her sight. Ever. She should be able to scry on him, but apparently that's not happening today. "Come on," she says, starting to move again. "Let's just pick a direction."

"Alright." That's unfortunate, but it's still more to go on than he'd initially hoped for. "Let's go towards the path. This way."

The Balladeer's initial attempt to point in the direction he means - away from the path and the people gathered there - fails, and he glowers down at his errant hand for a split second. Then, having to visibly suppress his irritation with the situation, he just starts walking away towards the more heavily wooded part of the park. "I'm sure he'd want to be around a lot of strange people right now," he explains, though truly he doesn't know a thing of what her rat wants. It just sounds likely.

She's already turning to go the first direction indicated when he strikes off in another entirely. "Really?" she grumbles as she catches on to the problem and goes hurrying after him. She can still feel Biscuit, so if they're going the wrong way they at least aren't to the edge of where she should be able to sense him, and he's still...happy. Hopeful. Maybe a little startled by something, but he's somehow failing to actually be frightened by whatever's around him. She sends him a pointed feeling of confusion only to receive vague reassurance in response.

"If we've come through, chances are my friends have as well," she says, relieved to find that she believes it enough to speak it. "I want to find them right away."

A jolt of joy shoots through her connection with Biscuit at the same moment that a long whistle carries through the air. "Biscuit?!" calls Asmodia, turning to look around. The donkey rat is nowhere to be seen, just people -- one of which, a young woman, is coming toward them.

Yes, really. The Balladeer rolls his eyes and doesn't respond to that question, because he knows whatever he ends up saying won't be at all helpful. He does pause to let her catch up, though. She's the one who has to figure out where they're headed.

"I...am certain that's true," he says with a wince. It could be, but he doubts it enough to say that. After all, he was in a crowd when he was taken and none of the others have shown up yet. Proximity doesn't seem to matter. But oh, there's an excellent distraction: Daine! The Balladeer turns to head towards her, waving. "I don't know her!" he explains to Asmodia, not bothering to try anything so specific as a name. "She's terrible with animals, she won't help at all."

Oh, good. There's the Balladeer, so the person next to him must be Asmodia. I won't be able to talk to them proper, she reminds Biscuit as she closes the remaining distance between them. Maybe you can translate for me, so at least your mistress will understand? If it's not too much trouble. She feels a bit sheepish having to ask a new arrival for anything, but there's not much else for it. She supposes she could use her phone again, but that's a bother, too.

She waves cheerfully to all parties, then lifts the flap of her bag so Asmodia can see Biscuit. She looks down at the animal, then raises her eyebrows at Asmodia as if to say, 'this yours?'

Another person she doesn't know, how helpful. She eyes the newcomer dubiously, lifting her hand in what could almost be the start of a wave were it not for the utter lack of enthusiasm she puts into it. She glances down when the girl opens her bag, tensing again in anticipation of something dangerous --

And then her standoffish look melts into trembling relief and she rushes forward to plunge her hands into Daine's bag and lift Biscuit out without so much as a by-your-leave. "Biscuit! Don't do that to me, I was so worried about you!" By now she's got him tucked against her chest, both arms wrapped around him as he snuffles against her neck. There's a pause as Biscuit explains, and then she looks up at Daine in surprise. "Frogs are coming out of your mouth?" she asks, confused by what Biscuit has apparently decided is the most important part of the story.

The Balladeer follows at a more sedate pace, smiling as Asmodia and her rat are reunited. It really is fortunate Daine found it; that thing is huge. Both of them are going to stick out like a sore thumb around here, and he scans the area for anyone else with a cameraphone while the two share a hug.

Then Asmodia speaks, and he turns to Daine in surprise. "You are?" That sounds like something out of a story. It's probably also disgusting for her, so he waves a hand dismissively. "Please answer that. No - I'm talking normally today too."

That's one way of putting it, Daine supposes. She responds with an exaggerated what-can-you-do? sort of shrug for the Balladeer's benefit. To Biscuit, she adds, Strange things are happening to everyone, I think. Certainly to the Balladeer, from the way he's talking. Does Asmodia know what's going on with him?

"She wants to know what's wrong with him," says Biscuit in a series of squeaks and whuffles as Asmodia keeps running a comforting hand down his back. Comforting to her, especially.

"This man can't speak any truth," she explains, glancing at Daine. Belatedly, she realizes what's wrong with what just happens and does a double take. "She can -- you can talk to him?"

"She's lying!" The Balladeer says with what otherwise sounds like total agreement. "Aaaand no one here can talk to animals." By which he means of course that apparently everyone but him can. Of course. Well, it'll be handy for Daine to have a translator - no one wants frogs spilling all over the place!

Daine nods in response to Asmodia's question - at least she can handle 'yes' and 'no' on her own - then throws a wry smile the Balladeer's way. If she's understanding him right, he's feeling left out. Once she can talk proper, she'll have to tell him which of the park's animals have a decent understanding of two-legger language. Almost all of them know the basics, like 'find' and 'food' and 'where' and 'help,' and some of the smarter and more curious ones have picked up a fair bit more. And he's already got something of a following amongst the crows.

And speaking of. Flicker swoops down from a nearby tree to land on Daine's shoulder and give one of her curls a pointed tug. She sighs quietly and digs out an almond for him. Thanks for helping us find them.

It wasn't hard, comes the airy reply.

Daine arches an eyebrow at him, mid-dig for another almond. Then I don't suppose I need to reward you for it, do I?

The second tug on her hair is much sharper than the first, and she yelps out an "ouch!" before she can think to stop herself. Fortunately, her reflexes are good enough for her to catch the tiny, frightened field mouse that drops from her lips, and she quickly cups her hands around the little creature to shield it from the bright sun (and Flicker's far too interested stare).

Now look what you made me do, she scolds the crow as she tries to soothe the trembling mouse. At her silent urging - and after a moment of pointed consideration - the crow flaps over to the Balladeer's shoulder, instead. "Hi!" he says brightly - one of the easier human words to mimic.

There. Now they all have an animal. Huzzah.

"I can talk to this animal," Asmodia clarifies, because letting him think she's a tree-hugging druid doesn't sit right somehow. She startles when a raven -- no, smaller, a crow -- comes flitting down out of the trees to land on the young woman's shoulder, then again when it causes her to puke up a mouse. This must be how everyone else felt that time she vomited wasps everywhere.

"Uh," she says, eyes trained on the newcomer's cupped hands. Mouse. That just came out of her mouth.

Weird curse. Weird, weird curse. At least, she assumes it's a curse; that seems like the most likely thing. "Is that your...familiar?" she asks, glancing at the bird now perched atop the lying man. "It's not going to bite him, too, is it?"

Edited 2015-04-03 00:49 (UTC)

Oh. Wow. Now she's spitting up mice.

The Balladeer tries to suppress his amusement at the sight - what? The mouse is cute! It'd be nice if he could speak to animals, but overall he's just trying not to talk to anyone in general anymore. It hasn't been going particularly well today.

Still, he brightens when the crow flutters over to land on his shoulder. "Hello!" He grins and lifts a finger towards it, then half-glances towards Daine at Asmodia's question. Oh, that's right, this is a wild crow and may not want random people petting it, hm? "Aren't you an ugly bird?"

...aaaaand hopefully wild crows can also get the concept of deception curses.

Daine shakes her head in response to Asmodia's questions, though it's really only the first one she can answer with any certainty. She doesn't think Flicker would nip a two-legger for no reason, but she can't promise the crow won't find one. I don't know what a familiar is, Daine explains to Biscuit. Flicker's a friend. He's the one who helped us find your mistress.

She snorts at the Balladeer's backwards comment, then hastily explains the situation to Flicker before the bird can take any real offense. Fortunately, he has a good sense of humor. He ruffles his feathers to an absurd degree, croak-chirps out an, "Uck!-leeeee," and gives the Balladeer's finger a very gentle nibble.

Figuring it's safe to leave the two of them to their own devices for a moment, Daine divides her attention between the mouse - who's slowly starting to calm down - and the newcomers. I can take you someplace safe, she says, mostly to Biscuit. This isn't the best city to get lost in when you're new, especially if you're from a different sort of realm.

"She doesn't know what that means," Biscuit explains to Asmodia. To Daine, he says, "I'm a familiar."

"Don't tell her that," hisses Asmodia just as though Daine and the Balladeer aren't standing right in front of her...or as though she believes they won't understand what she's saying. Also, as though anyone knowledgeable wouldn't have already guessed. "And how can a magic user not know what a familiar is?"

"He conveyed that he knew someone who could help me," says Asmodia for the benefit of the group, pointing to the Balladeer, even as Biscuit is translating for her. "Also, that it's dangerous here? He's having trouble with details."

The Balladeer is no longer completely attending to the conversation. It's not like he can communicate well with either of them anyway. That doesn't seem as frustrating as it has, though, because he's got a bird on his shoulder! And one with a sense of humor, even; he grins as the crow fluffs his black feathers up fluffier than he'd even thought they could go. "Hey, look at you!" he says quietly, chuckling a little at the finger-nipping.

Being pointed at is enough to get his attention though, and he glances up at Asmodia blankly for a moment as he tries to catch up on what he'd tuned out. "She's human," he explains for Daine's benefit. "And no one has cameras around here." You see his concern, right?

Magic works different in different realms, Daine replies with a one-shouldered shrug. We don't have familiars in mine.

But that's not important - not compared to the pickle Asmodia and Biscuit are in. Almost everyone here is human, she explains to Biscuit, and most of those who aren't at least look it. You both stand out more than you ought to, and the natives have ways of capturing your image - like a drawing or a painting, but better and faster. Biscuit, at least, can be popped back into her bag if necessary, but there's no hiding his mistress. Daine frowns as she strokes a finger between the mouse's ears. Can your mistress change her shape? Elsewise we'll just want to get you both underground as quick as we can.

Biscuit turns his gaze away from his mistress, whiskers quivering as he surveys the people -- yes, watching them. "They can make images of us," he informs Asmodia, not bothering to explain about the differences in magic -- lots of magic-users don't have familiars, and he's not the least bit bothered by the question of how she could be so ignorant. "She says you should make yourself look different."

"And how am I supposed to do that?" snaps Asmodia, increasingly frustrated by the demands of this strange place and these people who can't even speak directly to her. "I can't -- nothing is working for me, I can't seem to do any of my magic and I can't even stop telling you about it --!"

The hand not supporting Biscuit makes an abrupt, angry little gesture, fingers clenched into the fabric of her cloak. Biscuit turns to look at it, then pokes Asmodia rather hard in the collarbone with his nose. "Then put that on," he says very practically.

Asmodia rolls her eyes and holds it up to show him better. "It's --" she starts to explain that it's the wrong cloak, but then she actually looks at it...and seems to wilt a little. "Oh," she says in a small, embarrassed voice. "It is. I'm going to -- uh. Right."

And with that, she sets Biscuit down (he immediately goes limp and flops on his side, to her mild consternation), whips the cloak around her shoulders, and abruptly stops looking anything other than human.

Oh, look at THAT! The Balladeer looks up from his attentions to the bird for a moment, and suddenly Asmodia is human. "That's inconvenient." Could she do that the entire time?

More to the point, is she going to have to do that from now on? There's not a single person who doesn't look human living in his building, and surely there have to be more of them around than just her. The Balladeer doesn't really know a lot of what ROMAC does, but if nothing else they're some kind of government bureaucracy. Even if not deliberately malicious, those can be cruel. Right now it seems like they're just trying to do their best to him, but all the same he wouldn't rat out anyone who didn't want to report there. People are more important.

"I guess we should not take her back to ROMAC HQ?" he says, looking to Daine. She's been here long enough to know

Daine blinks in surprise. Asmodia had announced that she had magic, but Daine knows enough about the Gift to know changing your shape isn't always easy. To have it done simply by putting on a cloak is fair convenient. It doesn't entirely distract her from the flare of sympathetic pain she gets from Biscuit, though. She lets the mouse dart into her sleeve as she drops into a crouch, giving Biscuit a comforting pat. You ought to tell your mistress it hurts for your paws to touch the ground, she says.

The Balladeer's suggestion prompts such a strong emotional reaction in Daine that Flicker squawks in objection, opening his wings as if he might take off (or simply give the Balladeer a whack). No! she says to all available parties, punctuating it with a vigorous shake of her head. No. You definitely don't want to go there. I can take you somewhere safer.

"I thought it was my other cloak," mutters Asmodia, the blush that would normally be hidden under her dark skin visible on her illusory human face. She frowns down at Biscuit, trying to decide if she's ever heard of anything called ROMAC, when the bird suddenly goes haywire and Biscuit gives a surprised jolt under Daine's hand. "What did she--?" she starts to ask, but the familiar cuts her off.

"She says don't go there!" says Biscuit emphatically. "It's bad! We should go where she takes us!"

"What's bad about it?" asks Asmodia sharply, looking rapidly back and forth between Daine and the unnamed man. So far he has seemed as though he's trying to help, but for Daine to react so strongly to his reverse suggestion...."

"Woah, you okay?"

If it helps, the Balladeer seems taken aback by the reaction as well, or at least the part of it he can perceive through his new crow friend. Half this conversation is completely hidden from him, but given that he's just made a suggestion, it's not hard to draw the connection between that and what Asmodia is saying. Really? Is it that bad?

"We have to," he says mildly, though he still looks confused. "If you have a better idea?"

Daine stands, scooping Biscuit up along with her and urging Flicker to calm down. ROMAC isn't safe, she says bluntly. Not to folk who aren't human, anyway. If the Balladeer even suggested it, he must have wound up with them and not had a terrible experience... but he's a two-legger. There's no reason for them to put him in a cage. A person with horns and a tail and magic might not get off so lightly. They put a friend of mine in a cage, and they might do the same to you.

She attempts a placating smile for the Balladeer's sake - there's no need to worry him with this - then turns back to Asmodia. I know folk who won't cage you. It's not too far to walk. If they can just let her take care of it, this'll be so much simpler.

"Why aren't you standing on the feet the gods gave you?" Asmodia mutters to Biscuit, still not realizing the others will be able to understand. Is Biscuit that enamored with this Daine that he's going to be dramatic so she'll pick him up? Someone's going to get a talking-to about paying attention to other people.

"They hurt too much when I touch the ground," says Biscuit simply, and he perhaps enjoys her stab of guilt over not noticing more than he should. As his mistress's features set in a perturbed frown, he adds in a hurried explanation that just makes Asmodia's face contort into a more and more alarmed expression as he goes, "She says those people put people in cages for not being human, but she says there are other people who don't."

"WHAT." Asmodia gawps at Biscuit, then turns an accusatory snarl on the Balladeer (it's much less impressive now than it would have been a minute ago). "You were going to take me somewhere they put people in cages?!"

The Balladeer has mostly been standing, confused, and watching Asmodia, Daine, and Biscuit the Weird Guinea Pig Thing exchange significant looks and the odd muttered comment. Why is he even still party to this?

"What?" Human or not, he looks affronted at the accusation.. "Yes! Who - " Daine must have said something about cages, and she can't speak to him right now without spewing small animals. Right. "I've seen tons of cages there!" He lives in a very nice apartment, especially for the price - where are all these cages?

Apparently having Asmodia keep mum about the cages was too much to hope for. Daine sighs, wishing she had a third hand so she could rub her forehead without letting go of Biscuit. What a dratted mess.

He wouldn't know about them, she says firmly in the Balladeer's defense. They don't exactly show them off. She passes Biscuit back to Asmodia - give her something to focus on besides her own misplaced indignation, then digs out her phone, transferring the mouse to her bag in the process. She probably should have done this a while ago.

She opens her notes app, deletes the things she'd said to the Doctor, and types for a few moments. Then she steps up to the Balladeer, holding the screen so he can read it: Don't worry about it. I'll take care of them.

Asmodia's perfectly happy to take back her familiar; awkward a load as he is she feels better having him in her arms. She's not entirely mollified by the donkey rat relaying Daine's latest message, though if she trusts anyone here it's safe to say it'll be the druid girl.

"What is that?" she asks uneasily, eyes on the little box Daine is now showing to their companion.

"Okay..." the Balladeer says doubtfully, leaning over to read Daine's note. "You'd do a worse job than me." Since apparently there's a bunch of stuff going on around here that he plain doesn't know about. That's not a feeling he's used to. He's supposed to be in the know about everything.

Maybe he should keep his ear to the ground a bit more.

He doesn't quite ignore Asmodia's question, just glances at her and shrugs slightly. It's hard to name specific objects right now, friend.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Biscuit, I don't think we're in Absalom anymore.... [Closed]

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