Personification Life, the Universe, & Everything [IC]

[Fvaarniimar]

Kuati Dreams
Ji rikknit, Corellian Sector Fusion Restaurant, The Spire

Smelling the nearby entrees, Nick nodded to Maghrl. “Thanks!” Extending a claw, he carefully hooked the top sausage by the bacon and brought it to his mouth. Noticing red juices smeared onto his whiskers and fur, he licked his lips. “The nicest thing about cooked meat is its warmth on your tongue, but raw flesh...its flavor is incomparable.” Said tongue rasped at a stray bit of meat, then at the stick. An entire piece of the stuff, already gone...Wow! I was that hungry?

“Does Corellia offer take-out boxes?” If not, he feared that his appetite would be quite thoroughly spoiled - a shame. His entree sounded delicious - and was that it arriving? It was! Nudging his appetizers aside, he crunched a crustacean.

(This was not merely a casual dinner. Maghrl likely would notice any problems long before Nick could, but the feline still kept his ears perked and his eyes peeled.)

[Monfrox]

Frozen Rain

"That's fantastic." Heartling looked relieved. "We'll have to-"

She stopped and both her and Gutierrez perked up. In their silence, both Willow and Sterling could hear it too. An engine.

"Shit...Captain Meinard's back." Heartling cursed.

"Corporal, take them into town. The barracks. Quick. I'll keep the Captain occupied until you leave."

"Right. Come on, guys."

Heartling sat up and kicked the fire out before leading the two out to the jeep they had just rode in on. Not wanting to waste time in a situation like this, the medic quickly shifted into gear as soon as the engine turned over and headed out. The drive was short but twisted all through the ruined town until they came to what used to be a hotel near the center. As Heartling put the shifter into park and turned around, she spoke to Willow.

"This is the Officer's barracks where they bunk down when they're not out on the line. Nicholson's room is on the second floor, 2J. I don't know where she hid it but she gave me this note about the key." She told him as she handed it over. "Alright, now what was this about shrapnel?" She turned then to Sterling.

The note itself wasn't too much help at all at first glance.

Bring your heart outside and the key won't be far behind

- B.N.

[Northwest Slobovia]

Kuati Dreams
Ji rikknit, Corellian Sector Fusion Restaurant, The Spire

Amanda snapped photos her entrée and Sandy's before diving into it, coming up for air only long enough to exclaim in excited terms how wonderful she thought it was. She washed most of it down with brandy, switching only to water when she was out.

Sandy considered his steak as it was served, cocking his head from side to side. "Oh, boy. I knew it was on the large size when I ordered it, but this..." He attacked it methodically, whittling it down thin slice by thin slice, alternating mouthfuls with the taters and greens. He did "mmm" and nod as he ate, though his pace was far more measured than Amanda's.

When she asked, he gave her a slice of steak and spoonfuls of potatoes and greens. Amanda enjoyed those as much as she did her own dinner, and cheerfully took the tastes Mertari and Maghrl offered. Sandy took tastes of everything as well, chewing them thoughtfully and cleansing his palate with water between dishes. He turned to the Jedi, grinning. "I'm pleasantly surprised that not only can I eat something you can, I like it! This... is differently tasty."

Amanda gradually slowed to Sandy's pace as she ate; her eyes were bigger than her stomach, but she wanted to try -- and enjoy! -- everything. Sandy did raise an eyebrow when her 'taste' of his wine turned out to be a half-glass. "To keep the brandy company?"

She sighed. "I'm eating like a certain mythical horse, Sandy. That will slow down the alcohol more than enough."

Sandy gave an unconvinced "hmmm", so Amanda switched to whispered French. "What's wrong with a little liquid courage? It's not every day I get a chance to add a new grand felony to my list."

Sandy opened his mouth to speak, shut it, paused, and then quietly said, "We should talk later", before returning to his dinner as though nothing had happened.

As everybody finished up -- or was reduced to picking at their food, as the case may have been -- Amanda polished off her dinner and asked if people were up for dessert. Sandy looked up from his nearly-done plate. "Perhaps something light. Pastry puffs, ummm, macaroons..." He raised a finger and looked around for a waiter.

His summons was answered almost immediately by F-3PO, bearing dessert menus, slimmer versions of the menu tablets. He handed those out, then stood off to the side.

Amanda scanned her menu for a moment. "Oh! Death by Chocolate! 'With five sweet sauces and three mildly spicy ones.' Feeling up to sharing that, Sandy?"

He shook his head. "Berries and cream seems like the lightest they have. That's more what I had in mind. We're ... definitely not going to get berries like those at home."

After a long silence, Amanda agreed.

Maghrl ordered a dessert he'd heard of, but had never had the chance to try: meat prepared two different ways, each from its own planet. The first was deep-fried, heavily marbled Marrovian pork, and the other was bites of nerf, marinated in a spicy yogurt until they were falling-apart tender.

Sandy added a small glass of a sweet, pale blue wine to his order. F-3PO took the orders with programmed grace and departed with the menus. Dessert showed up shortly, with enough silverware by each dish for everybody to try them.

The wine steward returned as the group finished the last crumbs of dessert, and delicately began, "How would you like to--" before Amanda cut in with "I'll take it, thank you."

She took the bill -- on another holographic tablet -- read through it, and silently passed it to Sandy. After running his eyes down it, he snorted. He did something with his ID chip, before asking the wine steward to get boxes for leftovers. Then, to Amanda: "Go ahead and pay, dear." Amanda paid, and the hostess departed.

Sandy switched to quiet Greek, talking to everybody at the table, "That cost most of what we earned today. I spotted Amanda a few hundred so she could pay without a fuss.

"The price was about what I'd expect for a restaurant with Michelin stars; if my currency estimates are right, there are places in Philly that charge like what we paid. But it-- We should be living in this style, and the right sort of people have seen us here, so it's fine: we've established bona fides."

In a speaking volume, he added in English: "Shall we?" before rising from the table. Then back in whispered Greek, "Don't worry about the left-overs; once they realize what else we've left behind, they'll send those with it."

As the group left, Sandy noted that the restaurant was just as crowded as when they arrived. "They probably serve whatever meal you ask for whenever you want it." He gathered up Plutarch from his perch, and set him on his shoulder. Amanda led the group to the nearest turbolift at a casual pace: they need to clear out before somebody could flag them down and return Meritari's bracelet, but not so fast as to make it obvious.

Maghrl took over as soon as the elevator door closed, punching buttons for the right floor, and then leading the group to his chosen landing bay. It was, as he'd expected, empty and unguarded. He cycled the forcefield and the airlock, filling the bay with air. Other than the view of Corellia and deep space through the forcefield, the landing bay was identical to the one the group had arrived in hours ago: sterile and cavernous.

Amanda peeked out from the airlock and looked around before ducking back in. "There's a camera in the upper left front corner. I didn't see any others.

"There's no cover in here, which means the only spot for an ambush is by the door." She drew her stunner, verified that it was still set for stun, and reholstered it. "What's everybody else going to do?"

Sandy turned to the group. "A little something to sharpen your reflexes and hearing?" Amanda nodded, so he cast the Wolf's Ears and Adonis' Boon on the both her and himself, then waited for the others' answers.

[Giovenith]

The frustration clumped in Willow's throat as he held his tongue over Heartling's misplaced enthusiasm. Despite what the illusions of this place suggested, the two of them were not soldiers, especially not human soldiers. They weren't in shape. They couldn't use weapons. They didn't have any strategies. They didn't have their powers. They could barely even walk or hold things in these new forms. How the hell were they supposed to expect to back from this circus alive let alone with a liberated Brit? As hard as he imagined, and Willow would allow himself to admit he had quite a bit of an imagination, he couldn't foresee any sort of thread of hope for him and Sterling to grasp. He had to do something, or they were going to die.

It was the sound of the arriving engine that stopped Willow seconds from breaking down and spilling the whole truth right then and there. It wouldn't have been the smartest plan, but it was seeming like it was nonetheless their best. At least being crazy meant they had an excuse not to touch the boomsticks. Whatever would have resulted was pushed aside though as the two friends were hurried out into a vehicle once again and launched into their misadventure.

I wish Pansy was here, he found himself thinking as he wrung his gloved hands next to his face anxiously, captivated once again by the desolation of the town outside their window. He knew she wouldn't have fared that much better than they in terms of blending in and dealing with a foreign style of warfare, but Willow had survived the last ordeal largely through the kinship he'd forged with the young soldier's own passivity and caution. It would have been nice to have her to guide him and Sterling, even just morally, but that wasn't a luxury they could have. She was dead now, returned to her rightful place among the dusty history books, and all he could do now was remember her encouraging nature and stay true to it. She'd want them to try their best, with or without her.

With this in mind, Willow sighed deeply while straightening his back, slowly purging the jitters from his new towering body and pushing his still ponyish mind into action. He forced his hands to stay still in his lap while scouring the world around him for some clue of what to do. Maybe if they had a map, they could find some way to go behind the enemy's camps, hide in the hills and bust Brit out at night? Maybe if he and Sterling combined their full strengths and found some really big sticks, they could have a 30% chance of taking down some wandering member of the enemy and exchanging hostages? No, that was stupid-

The former pegasus was snapped out of his desperate planning by Heartling giving him a note and turning attention to Sterling about some shrapnel. Both with important, but the latter caught his attention more, so he carefully (and rather slowly, as he hadn't yet figured out how to control his fingers individually and could only pinch things with crab-like stiffness) folded the note and safely tucked it into one of his pockets before turning to Sterling with wide eyes.

"Did you get cut or something out there?" he asked, alarm entering his voice. "Can you walk? You can't march out there if you're hurt!" The last thing he wanted was yet another one of his friend's lives in danger because of a snowy war-hell. If Sterling got infected or something out there, and Willow wouldn't be strong enough to carry him...

[Holy Lykos]

Frozen Rain

Sterling still couldn't believe he seemed to be handling this better than Willow! Willow was always the rock between the two of them, but losing his ponyness must have been quite a big shock to rattle him. Sterling could tell he was struggling, even as the Pegasus tried to hide it. What were friends for, anyway, if not trying to support people in rough times. Sterling rested his hand on Willow's shoulder, giving it a soft squeeze to silently remind his friend that he would always be there for him.

Though, Sterling now realized he really could have chosen his wording better a moment ago, when he brought up the worry of shrapnel. He truly needed to improve his elocution at times. The unicorn gave a concerned, sheepish look to the two.

"Nonono! I am fine." A momentary pause, "I'm pretty sure, at least. I felt some pain in my side earlier, but it was momentary and I don't really feel anything now..." He drifted off his sentence for a moment, before his eyes focused on Heartling. He waved his hand over a spot about at the bottom of the right side of his ribcage, "Somewhere around here. But anyway, I just wondered how likely it might be that we might have gotten nicked and not really noticed. We were running around out of the holes during part of the bombardment after all."

---

Kuati Dreams

Maghrl wiped a bit of remnant food off the fur of his mouth, before licking it off of the wrist it ended up on. Damn fur, tended to mean food clung on anywhere. Not that Maghrl totally minded, his fur was a bit of an olfactory and taste organ anyway.

The squib hummed, reaching up towards the camera and gesturing. A few wires flipped around, the plastic trembled, and metal scraped metal, and the squib nodded. "Video loop. Video stored local and relayed to guard post, bit of messing-force goes long way." He neglected to mention how exactly it might work, but the squib always exuded infectious confidence. Part of being a Jedi, perhaps?

"Maghrl confuse droid with Force when he arrive. Force can..." He searched for a word for a moment, "scramble droid senses. Other friends grab things, knock off restraint. Then group reason with Droid, yup yup." The squib nodded, looking as pleased as any predatory animal might with a clever trap set.

[Monfrox]

Frozen Rain

Heartling stared hard between the both of them, before she turned the jeep's engine off and hunched over the driver's seat. She ran her hands over Sterling's overcoat, until she felt small holes in it. Her face was like stone as she looked up to him. Without asking, she started to unbotton his overcoat and pulled it apart. There were small blood spots around holes in his uniform blouse where he had indicated. Once again, she didn't ask as she unbuttoned the shirt and pulled that apart too. The last layer was an OD green t-shirt that she untucked and rolled up to his armpits to expose his chest. There was some visible pieces of metal. She pulled her medical bag in front of her from around her shoulder and dug through it until she pulled out a pair of tweezers.

"You'll be fine, I've seen worse." Heartling said as she took her helmet off and set it next to him. "This'll hurt, but looks like most of the shrapnel was slowed by the heavy layers you're wearing. I can't do anything about the pain but you'll be fine."

She leaned in and started gingerly plucking out the visible pieces of metal and putting them in her helmet.

"Stay still. It's not that bad."

[Giovenith]

It's okay to depend on friends, Willow reminded himself as he sighed and settled back into the seat of the Jeep. His fingertips gingerly rested on his temple as he looked ahead and tried to absorb the mantra. It's okay to depend on friends.

Don't let it be said that when you identify your feelings you'll automatically be able to confront and control them. You would be able to see them and all their grand illogic in greater clearness, yes, but if anything, that could make them only more frustrating when you saw firsthand just how determined they could be to not listen to your wishes. For Willow, the wisdom and support of his friends and the churning poison the Umbrum had drilled from the deep recesses of his psyche were locked at an impasse, futilely banging at each other inside of him like two sides of a torture chamber designed to squeeze the life out of silly pretentious ponies. He was fully aware of why what his friends said was correct and the healthier attitude to take, he knew they meant everything they said—and yet there was always a strong pull on him, whispers encouraging him to doubt what he knew and look to the pit within for answers instead.

At the very least, he didn't have to put up with Sterling did at the moment. He cringed from between his fingers as the metal bits were plucked out one by one, and his heart raced at the idea that something could stop only a few layers of tissue from killing you. Thankfully, Sterling seemed to be taking it remarkably well, which meant he didn't get much use out of Willow sitting around here and fussing over him like a nanny. Careful so as not to shake the car, Willow climbed out and took a moment to collect his bipedal balance before taking out Brit's note from his pocket.

"Bring your heart outside and the key won't be far behind"

A riddle. Why though? Brit had never exactly been the poetic type. Maybe she was trying to hide something from someone, maybe that had something to do with her being captured? Whatever the answer, he wasn't going to find it standing around here and thinking about it.

"I'm going on ahead," Willow turned and told the others. "To look for clues, okay? Don't worry, I'll stick close."

Meticulously, he began to wander around the building, eyes focused on the ground, bushes, and nooks and crannies for any kind of hint as to what they were getting themselves into. 'Your heart'? That could mean anything. He doubted the key was hidden behind some magical barrier activated by love though (not Brit's style), so he assumed it must have been a practical metaphor. Maybe it was their very own Heartling herself? But then Heartling didn't seem to know where the key was either, and Willow didn't see how she could have any more luck of finding it than them.

"Miss Heartling?" he called back, looking up at the hotel building. "Is this whole place locked, or just Nicholson's room?" Maybe inside would have more clues.

[Holy Lykos]

Frozen Rain

Sterling shivered each time he felt the shards of metal leave his person. He'd stopped feeling the pain a good bit ago, but now it was bleeding back into his side with each one removed. He knew he was hellishly lucky it was only skin deep damage. So the former-unicorn grit his teeth and took the cold and spikes of pain in stride. Well, sitting down would be a more accurate descriptor.

"Thanks, Heartling. I'll make sure to wash it the next time I get the opportunity, and refresh bandages." Sterling nodded, beaming gratefully at the soldier. He knew the basics of first aid enough, but left the bandaging job to Heartling.

Once the job was done, he took it on himself to re-dress himself, favoring the injured side like it was mosquito-bitten. But it didn't take long to dress, save the bit of fumbling with unfamiliar limbs. He soon hopped out of the jeep himself to help Willow. "Find anything, Willow?"

[Monfrox]

Frozen Rain

When the last piece was out, Heartling dug into her medical bag and pulled out some gauze and a bandage. She held the cloth in place on the wounds, and then wrapped it around Sterling's chest before tying it off.

"That should keep the blood in you. Not that you'll die from blood loss, though. It'll be a bit sore for a while, but just try not to do anything too strenuous." She patted him on the side after pulling his shirt back down and letting him button up again. The medic sat back around in the jeep and then looked at Willow. "Just the Lieutenant's. 2J. Can't miss it." She huddled in the driver's seat, her breath showing in the cold winter air.

[Tiltjuice]

"But there's just no way that dress can be black and blue, Devine...unless it's for fringe fashion. By a gothic designer, or anything like that. No one would make lace with those colors put together for everyday wear. It has to be white and gold!"

Calani turned to look at her roomie on the other side of the room from where she lay on the sectional. He'd plunked himself down on the beanbag chair that looked like it was carved out of stone. Even from this distance, though, he was very visibly turning red and sweating. And the scent of tuberose, jasmine and tonka bean got stronger the more sweat she could see coming off him as he jumped up and began striding toward her.

Was he sweating Good Girl?

"Are you all right? Did you try to mess around with that vending machine? Why are you sweating my favorite perfume?" She sat up and dropped her legs to the floor.

And then somehow she was on the wood panels, staring up at a now-unscented Devine who was crouched over her, very very close.

"Ahh!" she yelped, and her hands scrabbled at the cool wood panels. She'd slid half a foot away before she realized:

1) The cool wood panels meant she hadn't been there long.
2) She'd probably fallen off the couch while sleeping.
3) She probably had some explanation to give Devine.

So of course, she began it at a completely unrelated point.

"Why are we here, Devine?" she sighed.

[Mincaldenteans]

The sheen of sweat was beginning to shimmer under the soft light illuminating their apartment, threatening the make up he had so carefully applied earlier in the morning. Devine saw differently on the dress and the dark eyeliner only enhanced the gravity of his stare. But just for clarity's sake, or rather, to emphasize his own argument, "Gurl, that shit is black and blue."

Thick heels firmly set on the floor, Devine helped her up, taking Calani's delicate hands and pulled up gently, careful not to bend their nails in the process. His roomie only finished it last night and neither would be in a good mood if they were suddenly chipped or ripped out. Well, he wouldn't, Calani had more patience and resolve. He flicked strands of his too-straight flat ironed hair from his face, the mohawk was sitting on his dresser, and continued, "One thing is for sure, look at this," the drag queen waved furiously over the image on the device he held. Something called a PADD - he liked it, but it was borrowed. "Whomever 'designed' this shit clearly has no taste: if you're gonna make it striped, the least they could do is make it appealing - shit looks exceedingly boring. Like some desperate pregnant woman dress out to find her man before she pops. Ain't not Fringe on this, hunty, someone was high when they made this crap."

Devine would have continued were it not for that calm and poised look Calani gave when she was expecting her inquiry to be addressed. It was subtle and not many caught on, one had to be bffs to spot that sort of thing. "Anyway," he huffed, clearly registering it, "We're here cause we're gonna get down to the bottom of this. You say white and gold, I say black and blue, but I know we can say this is one fugly piece of clothing. So," he clapped his hands, "I'm thinking this is some kind of elaborate prank, or hoax, or we're dealing with some serious fuckery that's got the net buzzing. We should go find out. Lord knows there ain't shit to do around here and don't get me started on being cut of from our own group. Lovely lot at these folks are, I'm almost starting to miss our preacher."

[Tiltjuice]

Calani blinked twice, before chuckling softly. Devine always had an explanation for everything, and it was all rather reassuring. And he never did pry into what she was doing or thinking - which he knew she hated, especially when it led to blatant moralizing about said doing or thinking. Again, a bff thing.

"No," she agreed, "I haven't seduced anyone in ages and I think, if your guns could rust, they would have started to by now. And oh, the preacher, wasn't he just wonderful? And the surgeon, and the twins. So outrageous. So full of delights."

She batted her eyes lightly, mocking herself as much as some clients' tastes, and led them out the door.

"It's still white and gold, you know," she opined, looking at the drag queen over her shoulder and flipping her long, coppery braid over to the other side, and glancing back at the PADD. "Anyway, like you were saying... I think the first step is probably to get out of this gin joint and head into town. We could see if some of the merchants in the Market District know anything about where to find this, what this does, perhaps even if there's something causing all this buzz that could help us with...with, whatever we were sent here from Rigel to do."

[Mincaldenteans]

"No, shit is blue and black and hideous as a foundation on a crying queen," Devine retorted, making a grimacing face as he looked at the image again. The lines of the dress, the cut, it all stood out as fucking ugly and nothing and no one was gonna change his mind on that. At least their debate was on color, or they wouldn't be going anywhere.

"This hem haw they call a dress simply cannot be as important as to send us both out here. It's beneath us," he sniffed, turning off the PADD and entering the elevator with her, "Can you imagine if I was in that get up? Promise you'll slap me, or failing that, shoot me. No, no," he quickly retracted that, "find the designer and shoot him/her/it. They deserve to be punished to for putting that filth on the clothes line. I suppose even ugly needs a face lift. Ugh."

His griping likely amused her, but Calani made no indication of it, and her suggestion to the Market District didn't go unnoticed, "Think we can shop for more makeup while we're out on the town? I lost my mascara during the transit."

Of course, that mean he lost her mascara, but y'know, semantics.

[Tiltjuice]

Calani smiled at the endless stream of Devine's retorts.

"I promise to shoot the designer if you ever wear that. The lace, now, that wasn't so bad. But the colors and the way the dress flows isn't very good, is it?"

The Building's front garden was in full foliage and bloom, the green giving her hair brilliant contrast, with shrubs, Spanish daggers, a few trees lining the walkway. It was all very peaceful, and Calani began to muse out loud as the pair walked through the Burrows, waving absentmindedly at some of the villagers.

"I'm always game for shopping. I think I need some more massage oils, too. I don't think my perfume can't be replenished unless we get sent on a mission back to Rigel, unfortunately. You know, I was just dreaming about that before you woke me up...you were sweating it."

Her subconscious was clearly much more on the ball than her waking mind. Or maybe she was just in denial about the reason her perfume bottles kept turning up empty.

Then again, of course, a teleporting magical daemonbunny could have been responsible for it too.

Conversation continued between the two as they strolled down to the bridge that led straight into the Market district. A pair of ogres challenged them at the city gates.

[Mincaldenteans]

The unsightly beasts were as repugnant as the last time and smelled even worse, if that were actually possible. Devine made a face and restrained to hold his nose. "Hook face, why in the hell do you think we're here?"

He felt Calani's hand touch his arm, although she played it off as a casual slide, the message was clear and Devine had to pinch the bridge of his nose - it served a dual purpose to take some of the stench from reaching his nasal cavity. "We come to trade and purchase," Devine said with barely veiled contempt. How the Burrow's and its wannabe security force suddenly becoming paranoid wasn't his concern. He thought the Mayor had an understanding between them, the fae, kinda like a triple agreement. The Ogre stood, unimpressed and not at all perturbed by Devine's attitude. Likely found it amusing that a squishy human had the wherewithal to challenge them.

"You may pass," the ogre said finally, nodding to his partner as the gigantic... pike? Spear? Whatever, it was as imposing as the ogre wielding it, lowered. A large hand came up from their gatekeeper, "Do not attempt anything, or you'll find the letter of our agreement carried out, human."

"And they say chivalry is dead," Devine replied sweetly, puckering up to blow a kiss and moved past the guards with Calani in tow. "What's got their nickers in a twist?"

[Tiltjuice]

"Not me. That's just not fun, or good business...and rather pointless, all things considered." Calani buried her nose discreetly in the billowing sleeves of the loose robe she'd chosen to wear today, and sniffed at the splashes of fragrance on her wrist. Rather different from the stark black uniform they'd all been handed, for their work as Demens' Chosen, it was instead a smooth, deep green with a lighter, brighter mint green trim on its edge. She'd chosen it in the spirit of impishness, with a tinge of rebellion on top. One had to remember where one came from, naturally!

The Market District was already bustling, and further off in the distance, so was Downtown, with residents from the neighborhoods on either sides. Nothing looked out of the ordinary as yet.

"Should we check the Events Hall first, or go directly to Lumba's to see if we can get any clues and makeup there? Or maybe the textiles section..."

[Mincaldenteans]

"A woman that knows my heart, you're such a smooth talker, you," Devine said, twitching his lips into a smile. Clothes it was, as Devine lead the walk in a leisurely pace to take in the shops that dotted on both sides of the street. What they wore and how they looked didn't seem to catch anyone's attention. He liked that, given Rigel was a bucket full of psychos with tolerance at the end of a happy trigger finger.

They stopped at a tailors, the display of dresses were certainly... unique. Designs that were meant to appeal to the mixed races in the town; one even look specifically designed for a midget - oh, excuse Devine, dwarves.

His eyes perked up some at the sigh of the dresses, "If this place played a part in making that nasty ass dress, I can see why we were given the assignment."

[Tiltjuice]

The observation was so smoothly done, and so unlike the Devine that Calani was used to, that she herself tripped and stumbled, clomping awkwardly along in her high heels. And she smiled.

"You know, of course, that this place is softening you up, and I'm never going to stop reminding you of it."

Yes, this particular redhead chose to live dangerously. Within limits, of course; she understood they weren't on Rigel anymore, and something had to be done to liven the pace up a little. But then, the Lodge hadn't spent years preparing her for the plain, unadorned life either...

She turned to look, following Devine's cue and dismissive gesture at the shop. "Hostile takeover, my dear Devine? Or should that be friendly takeover?"

But alas, indeed, the attire in the establishment was a good few years out of date. Even the ones designed specifically for midgets and/or dwarves, as the case might have been. The earthy, dull colors might have been appealing to them; who knew? But in the eyes of the hooker and the drag queen, all of the fashion wrongs lay in plain sight, as they entered. In front, on either side, and behind them.

A tinny trumpet signaled their entrance, much like a bell might have. A perky-yet-oversized minotaur clerk glanced up, waved a hand and his tail, and rushed over to them. Unlike the crowds out on the street, the clerk apparently clearly recognized them as a cut above the usual customer.

"Good morning, good morning, sir and madam! What can I do for you? How can this humble establishment meet your needs today?"

[Mincaldenteans]

"Don't you go spreading such slander across Galli," Devine chided, gesturing to move on the top of him and brave the store before them.

"If we can burn it down, I'll call it a day," the drag queen griped as they entered. As though his feet had a mind of it's own, Devine stopped in his tracks, unable to move forward, his eyes were bombarded by the most unattractive pieces of clothes across the store. It was too much and the drag queen even hitched his breath, clearly struck with disgust at the various displays.

Apparently, their mere presence spurred the shop's... cashier? Tailor? A minotaur that looked as though he ought to have destroyed the shop rather than design. Well, Devine thought darkly, the shopkeeper was efficiently destroying both industries without realizing it. Devine tilted his head, smirk playing upon his lips and slowly shook his head, "Oh, honey..."

[Northwest Slobovia]

Kuati Dreams
Cheap-ass Landing Bay #1, The Spire, Corellia

Amanda watched as Nick undid the big buttons on his finery and slip out of it. It was more odd than anything else: an animal dressed like a person changed back into an animal... person. Nick slunk off to hide, and Amanda turned to her husband. "You gonna give me a better show later, Big Boy?"

"Work before pleasure." He snorted, before motioning towards the bay's expanse with an outstretched finger. "Go do your job." Amanda hesitated: right side or left? She muttered to herself: "He'll be carrying a tray, probably with is right hand." A few quick steps later, she was pressed against the landing bay's near wall just to the right of the airlock, gun held at the ready.

Sandy sauntered out into landing bay, doing his best to look like he was wondering where his ship was. Without turning around, he said, "The rabbit's ready. Now all we need is the fox."

Meanwhile, Maghrl had padded further out into the room, then turned to Meritari. "Maghrl show you how popremove restraining bolt."

He reached into one pocket and pulled out a slim, flat tool, then patted his pockets until he found the right one. He dug out a restraining bolt, or most of one at least, and pressed it to the left side of his chest. "Bolt here on 3PO droid, yesyes. Seekfind slot near base, then prypop. Easypeasy." He demonstrated; fortunately, the slot was on a complete part of the restraining bolt. He then held the tool and the restraining bolt out to Meritari. "You show Maghrl. Learn by doing, yesyes! Become techkoovy!"

Maghrl and Sandy heard a familiar voice in their heads. "I'm in the lounge, under a couch." Sandy repeated that for the women.

[OOC: By the power vested in me by Reddish Squirrel Productions, I godmod thee!]

[Giovenith]

White buffs billowed as Willow sighed thoughtfully, still taking in the environment around him. He walked back to the Jeep.

"See if you can make something of this," he said, handing the note to Sterling. "It seems like we're supposed to do something outside first, but I'm not sure. I'm going to look inside a little..." He turned attention to Heartling. "Before that though, how close were you with the Lieutenant? Do you think she might be talking about you?" He pointed to the note.

[Tiltjuice]

The minotaur was delightfully oblivious to Devine's predatory prance; he continued burbling as much as a sophont with a bass voice could be said to "burble". "Right this way, right this way...we don't see very many humans in here, mostly dwarves and dryads, with the odd troll and werehyena. A novelty to be honored with your presence, and a challenge! Come, let us see what we can find for you both."

A less refined hooker might have facepalmed at that moment. Calani simply contented herself with letting her breath whoosh out silently; not even an ounce of credit for recognizing Devine as equipped with dangly bits! But seeing as how he'd decided to take the lead on this, she left him to it for the time being.

After all, there wasn't any danger of bloodletting quite yet, and so no deal to be made. Besides which, she couldn't predict which way this encounter might end up - and that, above all, was something every Consort knew by heart and would never forget, even in old age. Even Devine knew it, since she'd quoted it to him a fair few times way back when they'd first met and were beginning to gel...unless he'd secretly always known it, information gatherer that he was with his ear to the ground.

Begin with the end in mind, for that is your trade and your reason.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Kuati Dreams

---

Standing on the landing bay and watching as everyone around her immediately understood their roles and took their positions, Meritari began feeling more out of place than usual. Sure, someone from old Kemet like her was already quite out of place, but this was making her doubt if it had even been a good idea to accompany Mag and the Belas of this adventure. She wanted to help, but it wasn't looking like she'd be able to do a lot.

"Hush, you. You've been a valuable companion so far." She told herself, insisting that she had left behind the bait that would bring them the translator droid and that it was thanks to her that the droid had even appeared, accidental as that might have been.

Fortunately for her, Maghrl soon approached with a solution to her issue, offering to show her how to remove the droid's restraining bolt, that device they had mentioned earlier which removed the thrall's ability to decide for itself. At first, she had her doubts about being picked for the job; sure, everyone else had their hands full with something, literally or figuratively speaking, but she expected it to be a complex procedure and doubted she'd be able to carry it out.

As it turned out, it was the simplest thing ever! Put the tool on the slot, apply a little force, and out it comes. In a way, it was a little scary how such an apparently simple device could inhibit an entity's free will, but at least it was easy to remove. Hearing Mag's request for her to attempt it herself, she nodded, watching him re-attach the bolt before taking the tool from him. Pressing it against the slot, she repeated the same procedure she had been shown, the bolt easily coming out much like before.

"It's simple, I'll handle it." She told the Squib with a resolute nod, keeping her hands on the tool. Hearing Sandy's comment about Nick's location, she turned and nodded at him as well before discreetly moving to another position, where she could see the doorway but couldn't be seen, and close enough that she could quickly move in and deal with the droid's restraining bolt while it was stunned.

[Holy Lykos]

Frozen Rain

Sterling carefully read over the riddle handed to him by Willow, forehead creasing in thought. The former-unicorn looked up and at the building. Then back down at the paper. His warm breath blew frosted puffs of cloud into the air as the winter cold surrounded them. Once he felt he had the words down, Sterling handed off the paper to Heartling. There wasn't much more he needed from it.

"Honestly, I'm a bit stumped. I don't see anything relating to a heart, or a lock aside from the one to her room. Heartling might have found it by now if it was related to her... Did Brit have any trinkets important to her? Childhood items, mementos of home?"

[Holy Lykos]

Kuati Dreams: Concern and Commerce

With their plan settled, Maghrl, once he confirmed the hangar was properly sealed, pulled open the bulkhead using the adjacent terminal then jammed it open with the same force scrambling that spread to affect the local surveillance grid. He ushered everyone inside with a few words and the waving of arms. It proved easy for everyone to find their places, as the dim light of the hangar stacked with ship maintenance equipment created numerous shadows and spots to vanish into.

With the party of faux-rich finding their hiding places in the sparsely furnished hanger, and Nick’s nose barely poking out from under the ratty couch in the lounge before the emergency bulkhead, they had nothing left to do save wait. Upper atmospheric winds could faintly be heard through metal walls, alongside the staggered but incessant electronic beeping and whirring from wall panels and the lone terminal between the landing zone and door.

Suddenly, Nick’s ears swiveled, catching a faint noise. “I hear clanging,and scraping noises! This is likely it!”

In the lounge, Sandy whispered, “Nick thinks he’s close. Ready...” Amanda nodded, glanced at Sandy for a height estimate, and aimed her stunner at where the droid’s head should appear.

The sound approached, with the occasional mechanical whirr. “Oh dear. Who turned out the lights?” in a familiar, robotic voice was easily heard by Nick from his position under the lounge couch. A moment later, a vaguely humanoid, blue, green, and gold colored android turned the corner into the lounge.

Involuntarily, the cat tensed in readiness to pounce upon his “prey.” “Confirmed! It's him!”

“Miss? Are you still present?” he asked, one hand holding up a platter stacked with food containers and Mertari’s ‘missing’ jewelry. “Miss?”

(All non-squirrelish characters provided by their owners.)