SoMac Christmas Fête [IC, Closed]

by **Socialist Macronesia** » Tue Apr 20, 2021 9:22 pm

Ross shrugged. "I've been... uh... getting into fishing recently. Wonderful hobby, fishing is. It's... very calming... but also a little stressful and exciting... you'll... never know what might come up. You should try it some time." Ross knew he needed to switch the conversation. Preferably to something he knew about, and that wasn't fishing. But how would Ross connect fishing to... literally anything? It wasn't like there was a readily available topic to bridge the gap between fishing and the M79 Thumper, was there? Unless...

"It's really helped me out when I get stressed out. Being a world leader, especially here, isn't all peachy, as I'm sure you know from your own experience. It's hard work, and sometimes you just need a break. Usually when I'm not fishing, I'm at the range getting some practice in. Say, you like to shoot, Furia? I'm personally not much of a disciplined shooter, I just like to blow shi-- stuff up. But I've got some friends who are into target shooting and that sort of thing. They say it's more fun that way. I'm not really inclined to believe them, though. I went to one of those completions, and they disqualified me! Apparently they didn't allow grenade launchers onto the firing line. A darn shame. I had trained on that thing for days!"

"Oh, I wanna dance with somebody! I wanna feel the heat with somebody! Yeah, I wanna dance with somebody! With somebody who loves me! Oh, I wanna dance with somebody! I wanna feel the heat with somebody! Yeah, I wanna dance with somebody! With somebody who looooooooves me!"

Nate pondered what time it was. He checked his watch. It doesn't matter. He had thought some more about the whole Paris and Patyu problem. The issue, Nate thought, inherently laid in this world. The problem, Nate had told himself, was that people didn't always get what they deserved. They didn't always get what they needed. It wasn't a problem with Paris and Patyu so much as it was a problem with each one of them individually. Paris and Patyu in a relationship together were tolerable. But the second they got apart, they became world-weary, aggravated, and bitter. But they yearned for each other's company still, despite hating each other. They were perfectly happy to mope around and talk about how bad their lives were and how shitty of a situation they were in when they were apart. Patyu complained about his dysphoria or whatever, and about being left by Paris, and Paris complained that his brother got all the attention and that he regretted his decision to leave Patyu. Nate then came to the conclusion that for one, Paris and Patyu together were insufferable, but Paris and Patyu were both insufferable, but since they were both insufferable, it was doubly insufferable, and two, that there was no way for Paris and Patyu to be brought together again without outside action. One was less than two. Of course, Nate had to consider the... that...

Nate suddenly felt a shiver go up his spine. He was alone. Alone. He was alone. There was nobody there for him. Not even Ross. He was merely delaying his inevitable decision to... to... die... to die at his own hands. Yes. That was what had to happen. The only way to end this situation was one of them dying. If Patyu died, Paris would move on and find a new fling or something, and Nate would finally be able to move over her... but Nate didn't want to move on. If Paris died, Patyu would finally be free of her mental prison, and Nate would be able to... no, that wouldn't work, because he had been stupid and blew his shot and tried to kill Patyu, so that wasn't going to happen.

And... if Nate died... Paris and Patyu would be able to work together to have a healthy and construction discussion about what had occurred between the two of them, uninterrupted by blood-soaked catgirls or attempted homicide. They would rekindle their friendship, uninterrupted by cheap, dirty romance; whatever non-platonic feelings they had would probably be mostly celibate. Most likely, Paris would help Patyu through her dysphoria and take her from Macronesia and put her down somewhere she could start a new life. Maybe she'd study culinary arts. She'd become a baker or something, maybe even start dating Paris again, they'd get married or something, they'd live happily ever after, and they'd forget everything. They didn't and wouldn't care. They couldn't care.

And Nate? Well, he would die. And that would be it for him. He'd be buried with a three-round volley and a military funeral and a nice tombstone, he'd be forgotten, and neither Patyu nor Paris would care about him ever again. Maybe they'd hear about his death. But they'd never come to the funeral. They'd just say "oh, he died! that's tragic!" and move on. That was how the world worked. Nate would die, and people would move on. Because that was unfair, and life was unfair. Nobody got that luxury, except for the men who'd been born into it. Nate would never get someone to love him. Nobody got someone... Nobody gets...

Nate closed his eyes and began to recite from memory. "I seen hundreds of men come by on the road an’ on the ranches, with their bindles on their back an’ that same damn thing in their heads . . . every damn one of ’em’s got a little piece of land in his head. An’ never a God damn one of ’em ever gets it. Just like heaven. Ever’body wants a little piece of lan’. I read plenty of books out here. Nobody never gets to heaven...

...and nobody gets no land."

Nobody ever gets to heaven, Nate thought. Nobody ever gets to heaven. Nobody ever gets to heaven, and nobody ever gets no land. Nobody ever gets to heaven, nobody ever gets no land, and nobody gets what they deserve. If they did, we'd all be damned to hell.

Why did this have to happen?

by **Brettenwald** » Wed Apr 21, 2021 9:02 pm

"Yech, gods- no, no, I'm so sorry, it's nothing to worry about, Patyu, even if it doesn't wash out it's just an off-the-rack piece, it'll be no problem to replace..." Paris slipped his coat off and handed it to Marco, who, being something of a germophobe, took it with the air of a dowager duchess whose butler had uncovered a serving dish and presented her with a fresh pile of horse shit. "Let's go inside, I should get this cleaned up and you'll need to brush your teeth and drink some water, vomiting and the resulting stomach acid plays hell with your teeth." Marco's laserlike sense of direction found them a dressing room (Oh, hi, you're Sarah, right? Don't mean to bother you, but these two need to get cleaned up) in short order before disappearing off to the kitchen for a minute or two, leaving Paris and Patyu alone for a minute or two as his brother handed the bedraggled catgirl a Dixie cup of water, a tube of toothpaste and a spare toothbrush from a drawer in the vanity. "There you go, get that down you and brush up," he said in a tired but kindly voice before undoing his tie, unbuttoning his shirt and taking it off to check for rolbarf penetration. "Ah, good, all clear. I'm sorry if this brings back any unpleasant memories," he continued, cranking the cold tap and briefly running his head under the shower more out of Nordic incompatibility with the Tropic of Cancer than the need to snap himself out of any impaired state. "Things were rather different the last time I disrobed around you, I know. Anyway," he started putting himself back together, "I hope that our little one-on-one outside at least started to clear things up between us. I can't change the past and I hope you can forgive me regardless, but please know that things are going to be different in the future. Nate's going to be difficult, but if you want to make up with Tori- Etor, pardon me, together I'd feel better having you with me when I do that."

The pair would have had something of a moment, big scared brown eyes looking up and locking with world-weary ice blue that seemed both reassuring and unfamiliar, if Marco hadn't chosen that exact second to muscle a shop vac through the door and plunk a spray bottle down on the vanity counter. "Old trick from the navy. Some of the lads from inland take a while to get their sea or air legs. Fifty-fifty water and vinegar plus a touch of dish soap, gets it right out." A scrape of the solids with a couple of his business cards, spraying and waiting a bit to let it penetrate, and then schlurping everything off the back and Paris' coat was almost good as new. "There you go, brother, all done. You'll need to get it drycleaned when we get back home, but it's fine for now. Listen, I have to put all this shit back and go find... Khensu, actually, not Ross right now, he's talking to what's his name, the tradcath Spanish guy. You two could probably use some space, so I'll just see you later." Paris looked almost awed as his brother left. "Huh. I was unaware he could clean anything. The more you know, I suppose. Anyway, milady, may I escort you to Etor so we can patch up our relationship with him at least?"

"Khensu, hey." Marco cracked open a Guinness and handed his- well, friend wasn't quite the right word but they seemed to make a good team when they needed to- another one. "In the name of honesty I won't pretend that your current, uhh, appearance wasn't the third biggest shock of my life, but I didn't want to embarrass you in front of everyone. And I'm sorry about earlier outside with Nate, it was incredibly stupid of me to put both of us in that situation. Should have known better. As the saying goes, the loser of a knife fight dies in the street and the winner dies in the hospital." A deep draught of Guinness. "I didn't expect Ross to have the good stuff here, but sometimes it's good to be wrong. So, tell me, what do you think of our little island paradise? Can't stand it myself, same goes for Ross. I don't know what Ari sees in him, I get the urge to punch him every time I see him. Maybe it's that smug, smartassed look on his face. Come to think of it, maybe that is his face. Speaking of faces, if it makes you feel any better you really don't look bad as a woman." Shit. Why the fuck did I have to say that?

by **Kiu Ghesik** » Sun Apr 25, 2021 8:18 pm

"Ugh, fuck me." Khensu chugged a frankly unhealthily-sized quantity of Guinness from his glass and slammed it down on the table. "I have no bloody idea. Haven't gotten to know him past 'rich, smarmy, and an insult to good taste.' I'd say I think she's in it just for the, uh, good times, but you don't live full-time with someone if that's all you care about. And, for what it's worth-" Another draught this time, just enough to steel his nerves. "-I didn't mind the comment. Didn't want this, obviously, but... the height is nice, at least. I am not going to think about the implications of that."

Khensu pushed back the barstool and stood, straightening out his back. The fatigues, he had to admit, moved quite well. And he was certainly more limber like this. "Anyways, uh, if you'd like to head outside again I think this has all more or less started to die down, thank God. It'd be better than this stuffy place."

Patyu would've answered Paris if it wasn't for two things.

Firstly was the fact that she was currently in something of a state of opportunistic letdown- she'd spent the past minute or so looking Paris over and trying desperately to feel something, anything about him approximating what she had two months ago. But no such luck, and she merely found herself scared, alone, and grasped by a desire to do what she could to help someone she rightly guessed shared that loneliness.

The second was that after coming to that realization she had wrapped him in her traditional gesture of sympathy, the rolhug. As Paris asked her how she felt about going to face Etor he was met with Patyu closing those scared eyes and pressing herself into him once more, gripping her arms around his waist and sighing.

After a moment of choking back tears and fighting the urge to break down into a blob-puddle-thing with a vocabulary consisting of "I'm sorry" and incoherent blubbering sounds she opened her eyes to see him looking sympathetically down at her. "I... yes, I... I w-would, he d-deserves to be h-happy." The unspoken and still-stuttered y-you... no, we do t-too hung in the air between them, and Patyu closed her eyes once more. She was distinctly aware of the ears capping her head drooping like the muffs of a sad little fur hat.

This... this needed to end. Somehow. But how? What was there left to do?

Something. There was something that had to be done. And the slightest idea of what it was had begun to form in her mind. But that could wait for later- for now, there was a President to make amends with.

Ari was laying in bed with Ross, locked in his arms with a blissful grin on her face. The sun was playing through the curtains over the window, casting dappled shadows over the two of them; her own head lay cradled in his arms, and the two of them seemed locked in something approximating an embrace. Her own warm oak-toned eyes stared up into his springwater blue, and her bronzed hand lay in his. The two were silent, their breath coming and their chests rising and falling in unison- content enough merely to stare into the other's eyes and bask in the peace. It was... serene.

At least, it was- until the room the two lay in shook like thunder, and a dash of plaster fell onto Ari's face. She tensed, her eyes wide now, darting about the room. "What- what- what was..?"

Ross next to her, though, seemed the model of serenity. He reached out and gripping her shoulder pulled her close. "Don't worry about that, babe, I'll be here for you. Always. Khiedrir, trust that." Ross ran one rough, work-toned hand through Ari's short-cropped hair, tears glistening in his eyes. "You're perfect, you know? No matter what you've done." The hand he cradled her head in brushed the plaster from her cheek, and she blushed.

Ari grinned and rolled over in his lap, wrapping her arms around him. There was something itching at the back of her brain- no, there wasn't. There was nothing. Just Ross, just this. The shaking was artillery. Just a normal day in Macronesia.

"I... I know what you've done, khiedrir. I still love you." The tone in Ross' voice, the warmth in his eyes, stayed the same loving flavor as they had before. But now each word struck home like a dagger in Ari's gut. "I love you even though I know what you've done. Even though I know you've never washed the soot from Khevisarash out of your hair." His voice... it... it was Ghesite. He was speaking Ghesite- despite the fact he'd only ever learned two words. This was... this was wrong. But it was right, it was so right- she was with Ross! Nothing could be wrong with Ross! And yet-

Ari wanted to reach up, to strangle him, to stop him, to keep the words he could never say from leaving his mouth. But all she could do was watch herself lie on the bed in his arms, staring lovingly up into his face. "Even though you've left your home without a leader for months just to be with me. Even though I know what you thought about me when I'd been shot by my own laser, how much you wanted me to stay that way. Even though I know how much of a disappointment you are to your father, how he wasted the blood he spilt for you. Even though I know you couldn't even give him the burial you asked him to, couldn't even fulfill his last wishes. Even though I know you're just his failed, degenerate spawn, living a life you don't deserve. I still love you, even though I see through every wall you throw up, and I don't even know you at all."

And as Ross came to a pause, the sugar-masked blades of his words finally coming to a close, he pulled a shaking Ari into his arms and kissed her. And from her place by the bedside Ari watched. She watched as Ross pushed her down into the sheets, as she fell underneath him, as she fell away from him, as she fell, fell, fell, fell so very far away, fell out of hard arms into a gurney, fell through the sickening dizziness of unconsciousness into the harsh white of a surgical bulb, and as her eyes blinked open and her mind snapped to awareness- just as the bindings snapped tight around her wrists.

Her eyes finally swam through the dreariness of chloroform, and she saw... Jane. Not Ross, not gentle sheets, not harsh words spoken in a tongue he didn't know- Jane. The damn intern. And she... couldn't move, she was... tied down. In a distinctly inhospitable way.

She was... captive? Impossible. And yet here she was.

Jane leaned down into her ear and spoke in a voice foreign and stern to the point of sounding almost metallic. "Hello Ari. Tell me, is the bed comfortable? I don't really feel the same as the people I bring here and I've always wondered how that bed felt from the detainee end." But the nomad heard nothing but that last word- detainee.

Her face contorted into a mask of wrath, and with iron arms she thrashed against her bonds- thrashed once, then twice, and then fell still. The straps were practically iron themselves. And so she turned to her next recourse- words. "Let me go, right now," Ari said, spittle flying through gritted teeth. "I am your commander's... confidante, dog, and I will- I will-"

That hesitancy, Ari knew, made her display less than intimidating. But regardless she forged on. "I'll have your head on a pike if you refuse, you treasonous whore, mark my words, I-" But Jane's stony face stilled Ari's own words, and she fell silent. But Jane would not remain still for long- her mouth grew into a killer's grin, and once more Ari began to thrash. Not to escape- she knew that now to be impossible. But still, something had to be done, and right now the only thing she could think of was to thrash her way free, even if the attempt would invariably fail. She was strong, she knew, and her strength, she hoped, would save her.

But of course it would not. No matter the caliber of warrior she was, she could do just as much to stop the malaise about to descend on her as some brave Zulu could keep a British conscript's Maxim from cutting his life from his breast. Her life was in someone else's hands.

by **Imperial-Octavia** » Sun Apr 25, 2021 8:59 pm

Acquiring new skin

Jane would just watch as Ari thrashed and struggled against the confines of the bed finding great satisfaction in watching an organic try to do the impossible. Escape. Jane could only smile as the Ghesite ranted and raved about the grave consequences waiting for Jane once she escaped. It was almost a little cute if it wasn't so pathetic. One particular threat was quite interesting. Ari still thought that Ou'Kanu worked for Ross and more importantly still thought that she was still Jane. She could almost imagine what Ari's face would look like once she tore off her false face and showed the synthetic glory underneath, but she would have to deny herself the satisfaction for the time being. First she had to build it up... "Commander? In what world are you m-... Oooooh wait you don't know yet do you?" Kanu's anticipation was audible as she stopped hiding her true feelings, it didn't matter right now as she could finally drop that stupid Jane persona. "You see Ari, I don't really work for Ross or anyone on this planet for that matter. Hell, I'm not even a human!" Jane made sure to position herself as close to Ari's face as possible for maximum effect. She would begin early by turning her eyes "off" as her eyes turned black and what remained of her pupils became red dots, "...I can see your confusion, I think would be far easier for me just to show you what I mean..." Jane jabbed her fingers where her vocal cords should be and dug them into the fake flesh before grabbing the inside of the neck before very slowly and intentionally pulling up as muscle and sinew snapped, revealing what was underneath. As Kanu finished pulling the mask off of her face she held what remained of Jane's face and showed it to Ari, waving it around her face before the holes in the neck began to stich themselves back together as she threw it to the side with a wet splat as artificial blood splattered on the wall . What was left was a replica of the human skull made of metal and wire. Kanu crawled onto the surgical bed and stuck her face right in front of Ari's while peering into Ari's soul with her red eyes. "Now tell me, what were you planning to do with my head and a pointy stick?"

And this was why Kanu loved her job.

by **Langenia** » Mon Apr 26, 2021 8:16 am

Furia looked at Ross and nodded. "I might try fishing, I have a summer residence right next to the Amazon river, but I don't know what I would fish for. Piranhas? Maybe I could make something out of their teeth and sell them to gullible American and European tourists." He waited while Ross continued to talk. He did noticed when Ross almost cussed, but decided to ignore it. Ross was his err...generous host after all. "Yeah, I do shooting sometimes, being a former military man." He continued to listen as Ross told his story. "A shame. A grenade launcher would've made a fun competition. I'm not really into target shooting myself, but I would recommend bringing an assault or sniper rifle next time."

Furia thought for a moment, wondering how to contribute to the conversation. At last, he looked at Ross again and said "Say, have you had any military service before your mercenary days? In a national army?" Meanwhile, behind Furia, Isabella had backed away. Whenever the conversation drifted over to military service, that meant that Furia was likely to go through the full 20 years of service, not sparing any detail. She knew his service was a matter of pride to him, and he could go blabber on for hours on end, talking about first being drafted into the army, then joining the Air Force Academy, then storytelling his combat missions, finally ending with his ascension to the presidency. No, she was not eager to hear the story again. Thus, she walked away, off to explore her surroundings and see what she found. Ross would soon discover a very talkative person in the President of Langenia.

by **Brettenwald** » Mon Apr 26, 2021 8:52 pm

Kiu Ghesik wrote:"Ugh, fuck me." Khensu chugged a frankly unhealthily-sized quantity of Guinness from his glass and slammed it down on the table. "I have no bloody idea. Haven't gotten to know him past 'rich, smarmy, and an insult to good taste.' I'd say I think she's in it just for the, uh, good times, but you don't live full-time with someone if that's all you care about. And, for what it's worth-" Another draught this time, just enough to steel his nerves. "-I didn't mind the comment. Didn't want this, obviously, but... the height is nice, at least. I am not going to think about the implications of that."

Khensu pushed back the barstool and stood, straightening out his back. The fatigues, he had to admit, moved quite well. And he was certainly more limber like this. "Anyways, uh, if you'd like to head outside again I think this has all more or less started to die down, thank God. It'd be better than this stuffy place."

Patyu would've answered Paris if it wasn't for two things.

Firstly was the fact that she was currently in something of a state of opportunistic letdown- she'd spent the past minute or so looking Paris over and trying desperately to feel something, anything about him approximating what she had two months ago. But no such luck, and she merely found herself scared, alone, and grasped by a desire to do what she could to help someone she rightly guessed shared that loneliness.

The second was that after coming to that realization she had wrapped him in her traditional gesture of sympathy, the rolhug. As Paris asked her how she felt about going to face Etor he was met with Patyu closing those scared eyes and pressing herself into him once more, gripping her arms around his waist and sighing.

After a moment of choking back tears and fighting the urge to break down into a blob-puddle-thing with a vocabulary consisting of "I'm sorry" and incoherent blubbering sounds she opened her eyes to see him looking sympathetically down at her. "I... yes, I... I w-would, he d-deserves to be h-happy." The unspoken and still-stuttered y-you... no, we do t-too hung in the air between them, and Patyu closed her eyes once more. She was distinctly aware of the ears capping her head drooping like the muffs of a sad little fur hat.

This... this needed to end. Somehow. But how? What was there left to do?

Something. There was something that had to be done. And the slightest idea of what it was had begun to form in her mind. But that could wait for later- for now, there was a President to make amends with.

"Rich, smarmy and an insult to good taste." Marco chuckled and knocked back the last of his beer. "Gods, the amount of guys I used to know who fit that description. Granted, most of them have matured by now, but what the hell. So, nomadic warlord shacks up with cartoonish dictator. Not the strangest living arrangement I've ever heard of. Good idea, I could go for some fresh air myself." Leaving his empty glass on the bar because he didn't care about making it Ross' problem, he followed Khensu out the front door and made a quick detour to the stricken Benz in the side lawn. It wasn't that bad out here now that the sun had gone down. "Stupid suit." Marco chucked his coat and tie in the back seat before unbuttoning his collar and rolling his sleeves up. "I was trying to lean into the 80s aesthetic, but it just makes me look like a gay estate agent." Dammit, he was out of cigarettes. "So, uhh, what brings you here? Are you Ari's bodyguard or something?"

Paris dutifully returned the rolhug and even threw in a bit of a headpat for good measure. Never a touchy-feely kind of person, he nevertheless knew that Patyu most definitely was. Unbeknownst to Patyu he'd been trying to find something to remind him of what he-she had seen in her two months ago as well, but there wasn't anything there. Well, there was some kind of love, of course, but that wasn't anything beyond an empathetic and inherently decent man wanting to alleviate the suffering of a smol emotional wreck of a catgirl whose current state was 100% his fault. "Well, then." He stood up and took her hand, and the pair eventually found Etor drinking a martini and chatting with a woman unfamiliar to the two. "Hello, Etor, it's good to see you again. Listen, Patyu and I need to talk to you about, er, the thing. Western Fardelshufflestein? That thing." Rather unexpectedly, it was Etor who led the pair into Ross' den, shut the door, and began to speak.

by **Voxija** » Tue Apr 27, 2021 3:19 pm

When Etor saw Paris walk up to him, he thought, Finally. The guy wants to talk. Etor said to Bixenta Agirre, "Here are some old friends. There's... been some trouble, and I want to talk to them about it." Bixenta nodded in understanding. All the adulteries, what Bixenta may have done with Ander Jasso, none of them were as disruptive as catgirl lasers or lesbian orgies.

Etor walked into Ross's den and began talking to Paris and Patyu.

"Listen. I've been waiting for this moment for so long, I have a lot of things to say. First off, what happened between us three at the Halloween party shouldn't matter anymore. Whoever Tori was, that isn't me anymore. You don't have to be sorry. None of you did anything wrong." Etor paused for a moment and took a breath.

"I hope you get my point. We should still be friends. Paris—" Etor turned to Paris— "You're cool. In a friend way. Perhaps we can visit each other's residences and talk sometime." A little thought snuck its way into Etor's head, that Paris was kind of hot and if Etor wasn't married and Paris wasn't straight, maybe... but no. Etor destroyed that thought.

"And Patyu... if that's what you're calling yourself right now... I'm not jealous. The person who was jealous earlier was Tori, not me. I think you could be a nice person to know. Now I just want all this relationship drama to be mended." Etor felt the urge to hug the hugger, but that might cause Patyu to become even more of an emotional wreck. But for now, Etor had done all he could.

Etor Gurraniz sighed in relief. He plopped down onto a couch with a red stain that was either blood, wine, or ketchup on it. "If any of you want to say anything else, now's the time."

by **Socialist Macronesia** » Tue Apr 27, 2021 8:53 pm

"Military service?" Ross had to fight back the urge to laugh. "Definitely not. If I fought for a national army, I'd probably either..." Isabella was gone. That was never a good sign. When someone's wife or husband left the conversation, that usually meant that that conversation was about to get long. "well, frankly, I'd probably fuck up or get killed, or both. Yeah, national service was never an option. Especially after the whole "killing fourteen senators" thing. And besides, then I'd never have made the amount of money I made as a mercenary. A six or seven figure salary just for shooting some people. Wish I'd known that was an option before I joined college." He took a swig of beer. And then Furia began to talk, and Ross could tell from the first few words that it wouldn't be a short story. This conversation was dragging on, Ross thought, and more importantly, it was holding up the entire roleplay, and Ross needed to clear his mind and go talk to Paris and Patyu before Nate went off and tore someone's esophagus out with his teeth.

"Excuse me, Furia. I just remembered I have to... do something." And then he walked away out of eyeshot and then sprinted to the patio. They were gone, but a quick glance at the floor and some tracking experience from his mercenary days that told him that someone had gotten some blood on their shoe and walked into the den. He could tell because of the big red streak leading towards the door of the den. He walked over to the door and jiggled the handle. The door came open, and Ross stepped in. There was Paris and Patyu... and that gay president. Whatever his name was. Etor.

"Excuse me, and I'd really like to apologize for interrupting this conversation about whatever you were talking about, but can one of you please uh... explain why the fuck Nate is so angsty and... with no more polite words to use, fucking murdered fourteen people? It's just... he said a lot of things about you all when I talked to him, and I'd really like to hear a sane group of people tell me what the hell is going on."

Nate rubbed his hands together. It was starting to get kind of cold, at least by Macronesian standards. It didn't help that he was still soaking wet and had forgotten to bring a proper jacket.

Someday, Nate thought, someday this will all be different.

Someday I will wake up in the morning, and I will wake up to the warmth of someone else. Maybe a catgirl, or maybe one of those new fox-girls... I wonder if they're more huggable? If we're being honest, it doesn't even really have to be a girl, per say... I'm an equal-opportunity provider of love and affection. And... I will be able to stay in bed until I want to get out, because I won't have to go to work at 7:00. And I can stay in bed under the covers with my fuzzy blanket for as long as I want. Because I won't have to work because I will have quit my current one because I hate it. And I will get up and make some delicious breakfast for me and my partner. Maybe some crepes... or some French toast, or some blueberry pancakes with little cat ears, and we'll eat together and I'm not going to be high on antidepressants and so I can actually think for myself and love for myself and I won't have to constantly be... not myself, something else... and then I'll cuddle with them on the couch or something for an hour. And we could watch television or we could just enjoy being together. And I'd be able to say "I love you." And they would look me in the eyes and say "I love you more!" And we'd laugh and hug and kiss and snuggle back up under the covers and... and then I could get up and they would be right next to me and... and I wouldn't have a worry in the world because I would have someone, and in the end, we all need someone-- and then I would go read a book and they would be nestled in the crook of my arm-- or would it be the other way around? Doesn't matter. And then I would begin to write about whatever I wanted and then I'd have lunch and we'd cuddle again and we'd cuddle whenever we wanted to, and then we'd go... we'd go watch Top Gun together! We'd watch... anything. It wouldn't matter because I'd... be with someone. And then we'd have supper, and then we'd cuddle again... He smiled and readjusted his balled up body to be further out of the wind. And I'd feel warm and comfy like I was in a nice sweater and then we'd go to bed at 8:00 because I'm tired and I had a long day... and then we'd snuggle up under the covers and I would be able to go to sleep in their... with them in my arms. And we'd wake up, and the same thing would happen the next day. No surprises, no risks, no loss, no pain, no more of that. I would be happy, and they would see me being happy and be happy themselves! And then we would both be happy together and we would know it!

"Yes... that's what I'll have one day. I don't know how, but that's what I'll have... but no! I don't need that, and I'm never going to get that, because nobody loves me, and I'm too scared to take risks on anyone, and I'm too scared of loss to take risks that might result in loss, and I'm going to be just fine by myself! I am independent! I'm independent now... I don't need anyone! I can be alone forever and I won't care! Yeah, I don't need anyone..."

"...right?"

by **Brettenwald** » Wed Apr 28, 2021 11:13 am

Socialist Macronesia wrote:"Excuse me, and I'd really like to apologize for interrupting this conversation about whatever you were talking about, but can one of you please uh... explain why the fuck Nate is so angsty and... with no more polite words to use, fucking murdered fourteen people? It's just... he said a lot of things about you all when I talked to him, and I'd really like to hear a sane group of people tell me what the hell is going on."

Paris groaned. For fuck's sake, Ross, we're having a moment here. "Fine. If you really want to know, I suppose I should start from the beginning. From what I understand, Nate got drunk on mimosas during the Fardelbrunch and hit on Patyu, definitely before she got lasered and most likely afterwards. The kicker here is that Nate seems to think that one, Patyu took him up on it, and two, that I knew about it and stole her out from under him. Which I can absolutely assure you, Ross, is complete bullshit. I was at the other end of the ballroom when Nate hit on him the first time and seated with my back to them, I couldn't have seen and barely could have heard what happened, and I swear to you that if I had known I would have stepped back and let Nate have her instead. I know you probably think I'm some stuck-up aristocratic soyboy or whatever, but I do have an ironclad set of morals. Anyway, I don't really know what happened next until I got lasered. That freak of nature, I'm not even going to call it a gun, did-" he grimaced and shook his head violently from side to side, trying to block out some extremely unpleasant memories "-did some unspeakable things to me, biologically, hormonally and mentally. I...gods. For some reason, Patyu was all I wanted, in-in every...oh gods, every way you could think of, and I did everything I could think of to achieve that end. And what an end it was. And when I woke up the next morning and the laser had worn off, I honestly considered killing myself for a mad moment because I was so horrified at what I'd done to her, ruined her life and her emotional state and broken her heart into little tiny bits that I didn't think I could live with the knowledge of what I'd done to her."

"Don't get me wrong, Patyu, I like you a lot as a friend and I think you're a wonderful lady, but I don't feel the way I did about you now and I know you feel the same way about me. I didn't come here to rub it in Nate's face. I was doing everything I could to try and explain my side of the story to him, tell him that I didn't know about his interest in Patyu and apologize for what I'd inadvertently done to ruin his life too, but he beat the shit out of me when I went to his house and would have put bullets through both of our heads if Sarah hadn't knocked him out and sedated the hell out of him. I don't know why you keep the mad fucker around, he belongs in a mental institution. And just when Patyu and I were starting to figure things out and put our relationship back together Nate shows up covered in blood and wanting to know why Patyu doesn't find him attractive, which I would have thought was obvious, she's gay. Etor's here just because he got lasered too and Patyu & I kind of made him the third wheel during our little fling, and I wanted to apologize for that. So, now you get to bust my balls about it, bring my idiot brother in here and laugh at me together, scream at me until you've gone blue in the face, whatever you want. I've said my piece, I'm done."

by **Free Ravensburg** » Thu Apr 29, 2021 6:47 am

AW: “Jakob, I must ask you about wha-“
Amadeus: “Long story, now I want you to show me your powers. My Stand can control fire, lava, and brimstone.”
AW: “I have the ability to produce light. Would you like me to demonstrate this for you?”
Amadeus: “Yes, please”

Aqua Wyvern scales and feathers start to rattle and shake, with yellow sparks coming out of the cracks. After a couple of moments passed, a bright light comes from her mouth, and she fires it to a tree. The light, shaped in a sphere, stops at the tree, brightening up the area as if it were daylight, and able to be seen from under the cracks of a closed door.

by **Langenia** » Thu Apr 29, 2021 12:23 pm

Ross had gone, leaving Furia alone. Suddenly, he realized WHY he was alone. Apparently, he had gotten waaay too immersed in storytelling his military service and Ross had decided to smoothly excuse himself. Smart guy. Isabella was gone too. He remembered a meme his son had shown him once, of a weird potato-faced guy on a stick body crying and saying forever alone. Great, thought the Langenian president. I'm the living embodiment of a meme now. He walked around, looking at the options as to what he could drink.

But he noticed some rays of light coming from beneath a door. Huh, he thought to himself. "What could that be?" he then murmured. He walked over to the door. Though he had military service, he'd been a fighter pilot, not an infantryman, so he really wasn't the type that would fear what would be on the other side of a door. He did expect something bright, though, and his hand went to protect his eyes in caution. However, the seconds seemed to pass by slowly and tensely, as his hand touched the doorknob and then, in one fluid motion, flipped it open, revealing...whatever was on the other side of la puerta.

by **Socialist Macronesia** » Thu Apr 29, 2021 10:04 pm

Ross rubbed his eyes. "I'm not mad, Paris, I'm just trying to figure out what the hell is going on. So... Nate hit on Patyu... and then..." And then Ross remembered that it was his arrest that had then dragged Nate away from Patyu... so that meant... no, it was all Nate's fault. He would say that to himself in his head until it became true. It's Nate's fault. It's Nate's fault. It's Nate's fault. It's Nate's fault. It's Nate's fault. Continuing, he said, "And then you actually got Patyu, and then you [REDACTED], and then he tried to shoot you for... supposedly stealing something that wasn't his to begin with?" He sighed. "You know, I had him around because he used to be sane and normal but ever since the Fardelshufflestein party he's just been... odd. He'd been reclusive, quiet, easily angered, and he always smelled like alcohol. I'd sent Sarah to help him... evidently she got there just in time." He stood. "Okay, well, I'm going to leave you to talk now. I'll close off this area for you. I hope you can get everything resolved between you three..." Nate would be a little harder. He stepped out of the room. Ross needed a minute away from the party. He stepped into the dres--

"Sarah?"

Sarah turned to Ross. "Ross..." The door fell shut. "What the hell is... this?" She pointed...

"Uhhhhhh... Well... Well, that's actually... It... That was... It was a joke... yes, it was a joke..."

"And I assume this picture of the New Carthaginian King is also a joke?"

"Sarah, if you bring this up ever again, I will personally beat your head in with a baseball bat."

She patted him on the shoulder. "Understandable. You've got a deal." She turned to leave the room, but then turned back. "You're... you're a lucky man, Ross."

Ross would've responded with homicide, but there had been enough deaths for the night.

Well, maybe not exactly.

Nate wondered whose fault this mess was.

He'd been the one to murder the people, but that was because he was having a conversation with Ross, because he'd killed someone, because he'd been angry at Patyu and Paris, because Paris had tried to get him alcohol as a gift, because he'd flipped out and tried to shoot them both, because they'd gone off and [REDACTED] because Nate had to go off and... what had happened there, exactly? Well, he'd had to leave to go... to bust Ross out of jail, because Ross had used that damn laser, because he wanted to cause havoc... so in a way, this was all...

But then Nate considered that... well, if he had never had to know Patyu, then none of this would've happened... so this all happened because he had to meet Patyu... because... Ross and Ari...

But... Ross was nice... somewhat... he couldn't have... no. It was all his own fault. Ross had just put the chain of events in action. Had he made better decisions, like confessing his love to Patyu when they'd first met, or not murdering fourteen people, then none of this would've happened. But at the same time, was there ever a chance of success? Had he asked Patyu, wouldn't she have said no anyway? So then was he just predetermined to have to stay in this hell of heartbreak, heatlessness, harm, and hatred?

If he'd said nothing, everything that had happened would've happened.

If he'd said something, she'd have said no. Then she would've met Paris... and it wouldn't have mattered. She wasn't just going to change her mind on a whim. Everything that had happened would've happened.

So the problem had... originated when he had met Patyu in the first place. It was doomed from the start, Nate had just wanted to delay the inevitable. But in the end, he'd done just that: delayed the inevitable. He'd started the conversation, but that was as a result of the van incident, which had been caused by... well, that had been thermodynamics. But the van incident itself had resulted from the whole wedding thing, and that had come from the war, and that had come from comments over Clue, and Clue had come from... maybe it had been extrapolated too much. Maybe the wedding crash had just... happened. It was just going to happen.

Nate concluded, therefore, that he had been damned by fate from the start, and therefore could not be blamed for any of this. No, it wasn't him. He was sure of that.

by **Free Ravensburg** » Fri Apr 30, 2021 5:40 am

Amadeus, being impressed by Aqua Wyvern's power, stood in awe, not noticing that a man had come out of a building. The man had came out of the building to check and see what the light was coming from, with his hand protecting his eyes. Not noticing Amadeus nor Jakob, the man set his eyes on Aqua Wyvern, as she was what caught his eyes first. She had heard him opening the door, and looked towards him, believing him to be a threat to Jakob.

AW[moving into a position to protect Jakob]: "Jakob, it seems that we have an onlooker."

It was at that moment that Amadeus and Jakob turned and saw the man, and they knew that he was not looking at them, but at Aqua Wyvern. Amadeus recognized the man as Nicholas Furia, the president of Langenia. He had previously seen him somewhere, but he could not remember exactly where. Amadeus walked up to Furia, and decided to strike up a conversation

by **Azur Deutschland** » Fri May 07, 2021 8:49 pm

Oblivious to all the madness that had occurred, three girls stood on a little stage having a ton of fun. Sylvia, Julienne, and Perfecti were in front of a screen with microphones in hand, singing various songs. They... might've been having a lot more fun than they thought they would. The three were getting real into it. Not only were they singing, but they were dancing as well. So full of energy, the twins and their friend let their worries and doubts loose.

Clearing their throats and swinging their arms a bit, they prepared themselves for the next song to play. As soon as the beat started and the lyrics started rolling, they let their energy shine and radiate out loud.

by **Kiu Ghesik** » Thu May 13, 2021 9:13 pm

Patyu watched silently, one hand in her pocket and the other fiddling with the shirt-sleeve hanging off her left shoulder, as first Etor and then Paris addressed her in turn. She wanted to say something, she really did, but... the words wouldn't come. She was so sure she had done something wrong, that she was here to be reproached for her selfishness and her gluttony and even her regret, but the people here- they were... sorrowful.

They were here to apologize.

They didn't need to apologize- Patyu was the one who needed to apologize, for... for everything. But... they were still talking, and she was too ashamed to try and force her own words into their midst. And so, as Etor flopped onto a couch, Patyu settled herself down next to him and taking a gentle hold of one hand in her own fixed his brown eyes in her own warm hazel.

"I, uh-" Patyu's tongue stuck to the roof of an arid mouth as she tried to speak. "I... t-thank you for not... not... not being, uh... mad, I... I k-know I hurt you and I r-regret it." She let Etor's hand go and wrapped her arms over her own chest, trying to hug the panic back inside her. It's fine, things are fine now, no one's going to hurt me...

"N... no one's going... going to hurt..." Patyu gulped and, in a gesture perhaps just a tad bit too reminiscent of a certain car ride for the avoidance of flashbacks on the part of the man sitting next to her, leaned over to give Etor a gentle hug. Her cheek pressed into his shoulder, and she sat silently, listening to his shallow, drained breathing. "...no one's going to hurt anyone anymore. At least, I w-won't."

Patyu let Etor go and scooted herself back on the couch, facing Ross and Paris as they continued their conversation. It was... unnerving to see Ross again, she knew, and she was certainly rather scared of him, but... Paris seemed comfortable enough around him, and Ari was of the same persuasion, apparently, so it was at least somewhat safe to tolerate him. Actually, Patyu thought, it would be interesting to talk to Ari later- get an idea about what Ross was like. All she knew of him was that mess with the castle, morning at the Fardelshufflesteiner hotel, and a strained conversation that same afternoon. He was probably just fine in person.

Still though... something about him raised her haunches.

But regardless how she felt about Ross, he seemed to be leaving nonetheless, as wrapping up his conversation with Paris he exited the den and shut the door behind him with a clack. As one Paris and Patyu turned to stare at each other.

What with all this sudden tension in the room, Etor was probably feeling incredibly uncomfortable.

"Paris, I..." Suddenly, an image entered into Patyu's mind. A picture of reconciliation, of peace. She stood from the couch and took Paris' hands in her old, a gesture that would have seemed incredibly romantic if the sentiments they had shared two months ago were not mortally wounded, if not dead and buried. Pulling him towards the couch, she wrapped her erstwhile comrades- both Etor and Paris- in as reassuring a hug as she could manage. If that was all she could do, if her body was stilled at the prospect of anything else, then she was going to do it as often as she could. Her head resting by Paris' ear, just as it had been by Etor's, she choked out what words she could through a swiftly-tightening throat:

"I've... h-hurt you. Both of you. C... could you forgive me?"

"Bodyguard, yes. I suppose I am." Khensu leaned into a non-mangled section of the railing ringing the patio, staring out across a well-maintained, tropical green lawn at the swaying palm treeline. "Well... not entirely. It's complicated, I'm... a friend, let's say. The word is khaiteghn, I'm not sure how it translates."

A pause, then, and something of a revelation: "I'm not entirely sure how I learned this language, anyways. More time-fuckery, I suppose."

"Anyways," Khensu started, pushing aside that particular existential crisis. "It could essentially mean 'comrade', except in a familial sense- a friend who works with and fights with close friends. I stand as Ari's second, and I go with her in raiding parties, so for all practical purposes I act as a bodyguard. I'm here to look after Patyu, though. He- she- uh, Patyu is, well... much more important to Ari than the rest of us."

At the somewhat stunned look on Marco's face, Khensu realized precisely what he had just said and found himself flushing a deep shade of beet. Goddammit, why does this body flush so easily? "I, ah, not like that. Ari hasn't... she hasn't had any consorts before now. Patyu, uh- well, they're very close friends. They've known each other since they were very small. We all have, khaiteghn are often raised together, but those two... Elder Meghuri- that's Ari's mother, by the way, her father's widow- she used to joke that if Ari were the man and Patyu the woman they'd make a perfect couple. She called him Patyadrisi once or twice, if I remember right; 'little Patyi.' Mother, I've never seen someone blush as deeply as that poor boy did. Odd to see Patyu now, he seems so happy to be in the same place."

Khensu blinked to see himself still gazing out at the treeline, his focus on a place thousands of miles away, and shaking his head turned his focus back to the sharp-dressed man beside him. "I, ah... sorry. I rambled."

by **Langenia** » Sat May 15, 2021 12:39 pm

Free Ravensburg wrote:
Langenia wrote:Ross had gone, leaving Furia alone. Suddenly, he realized WHY he was alone. Apparently, he had gotten waaay too immersed in storytelling his military service and Ross had decided to smoothly excuse himself. Smart guy. Isabella was gone too. He remembered a meme his son had shown him once, of a weird potato-faced guy on a stick body crying and saying forever alone. Great, thought the Langenian president. I'm the living embodiment of a meme now. He walked around, looking at the options as to what he could drink.

But he noticed some rays of light coming from beneath a door. Huh, he thought to himself. "What could that be?" he then murmured. He walked over to the door. Though he had military service, he'd been a fighter pilot, not an infantryman, so he really wasn't the type that would fear what would be on the other side of a door. He did expect something bright, though, and his hand went to protect his eyes in caution. However, the seconds seemed to pass by slowly and tensely, as his hand touched the doorknob and then, in one fluid motion, flipped it open, revealing...whatever was on the other side of la puerta.

Amadeus, being impressed by Aqua Wyvern's power, stood in awe, not noticing that a man had come out of a building. The man had came out of the building to check and see what the light was coming from, with his hand protecting his eyes. Not noticing Amadeus nor Jakob, the man set his eyes on Aqua Wyvern, as she was what caught his eyes first. She had heard him opening the door, and looked towards him, believing him to be a threat to Jakob.

AW[moving into a position to protect Jakob]: "Jakob, it seems that we have an onlooker."

It was at that moment that Amadeus and Jakob turned and saw the man, and they knew that he was not looking at them, but at Aqua Wyvern. Amadeus recognized the man as Nicholas Furia, the president of Langenia. He had previously seen him somewhere, but he could not remember exactly where. Amadeus walked up to Furia, and decided to strike up a conversation

Furia took notice of the man walking towards him. He looked kind of similar, except that he was European and on the other hand Furia was mestizo. There was also that fact that he had a different hairstyle. Furia held up his hand in a kind of wave, acknowledging the man approaching him. He took in his surroundings. He was outside, with a tree being nearby and a group of people in the area, all looking at him and Amadeus. He nodded in their direction, also acknowledging their presence. Unbeknownst to him, the man was Amadeus Freidrich, the President of Free Ravensburg. Furia then proceeded to walk in his direction and start the conversation with a "Good day, sir. I am Nicolas Furia, President of Langenia. Who are you?" It was at that moment he realized his wife hadn't attempted to find him after Ross had walked away. Drat. He really must've been boring when giving storytelling his military service.

As he waited for the response of Amadeus, behind him he began to hear singing coming from the ballroom. He quickly decided he wasn't a fan of the music and ran in the direction of the door. In one fluid motion, he slammed it shut. He ran back. "Sorry about that. I'm not a fan of the noise coming over from the ballroom. Anyway, you were saying?"

by **Voxija** » Sun May 16, 2021 2:24 pm

Kiu Ghesik wrote:Patyu watched silently, one hand in her pocket and the other fiddling with the shirt-sleeve hanging off her left shoulder, as first Etor and then Paris addressed her in turn. She wanted to say something, she really did, but... the words wouldn't come. She was so sure she had done something wrong, that she was here to be reproached for her selfishness and her gluttony and even her regret, but the people here- they were... sorrowful.

They were here to apologize.

They didn't need to apologize- Patyu was the one who needed to apologize, for... for everything. But... they were still talking, and she was too ashamed to try and force her own words into their midst. And so, as Etor flopped onto a couch, Patyu settled herself down next to him and taking a gentle hold of one hand in her own fixed his brown eyes in her own warm hazel.

"I, uh-" Patyu's tongue stuck to the roof of an arid mouth as she tried to speak. "I... t-thank you for not... not... not being, uh... mad, I... I k-know I hurt you and I r-regret it." She let Etor's hand go and wrapped her arms over her own chest, trying to hug the panic back inside her. It's fine, things are fine now, no one's going to hurt me...

"N... no one's going... going to hurt..." Patyu gulped and, in a gesture perhaps just a tad bit too reminiscent of a certain car ride for the avoidance of flashbacks on the part of the man sitting next to her, leaned over to give Etor a gentle hug. Her cheek pressed into his shoulder, and she sat silently, listening to his shallow, drained breathing. "...no one's going to hurt anyone anymore. At least, I w-won't."

Patyu let Etor go and scooted herself back on the couch, facing Ross and Paris as they continued their conversation. It was... unnerving to see Ross again, she knew, and she was certainly rather scared of him, but... Paris seemed comfortable enough around him, and Ari was of the same persuasion, apparently, so it was at least somewhat safe to tolerate him. Actually, Patyu thought, it would be interesting to talk to Ari later- get an idea about what Ross was like. All she knew of him was that mess with the castle, morning at the Fardelshufflesteiner hotel, and a strained conversation that same afternoon. He was probably just fine in person.

Still though... something about him raised her haunches.

But regardless how she felt about Ross, he seemed to be leaving nonetheless, as wrapping up his conversation with Paris he exited the den and shut the door behind him with a clack. As one Paris and Patyu turned to stare at each other.

What with all this sudden tension in the room, Etor was probably feeling incredibly uncomfortable.

"Paris, I..." Suddenly, an image entered into Patyu's mind. A picture of reconciliation, of peace. She stood from the couch and took Paris' hands in her old, a gesture that would have seemed incredibly romantic if the sentiments they had shared two months ago were not mortally wounded, if not dead and buried. Pulling him towards the couch, she wrapped her erstwhile comrades- both Etor and Paris- in as reassuring a hug as she could manage. If that was all she could do, if her body was stilled at the prospect of anything else, then she was going to do it as often as she could. Her head resting by Paris' ear, just as it had been by Etor's, she choked out what words she could through a swiftly-tightening throat:

"I've... h-hurt you. Both of you. C... could you forgive me?"

Etor Gurraniz cried for Patyu when she hugged him. The catgirl thought she had done something wrong. It was Paris and Etor, for letting themselves succumb to the horny catgirl-ness. At least Patyu's hugs were good, although Etor wondered if the catgirl needed hugs more than anyone else.

When Patyu let go of Etor, the president of Voxija felt that they were all repeating this same thing, going through the motions over and over again. Hurt and forgive, hurt and forgive.

It was pretty awkward having Ross around. A sudden image of catgirl Ross flooded into Etor's brain, but Etor blinked and it was gone. Good thing too, because any change in Etor's behavior might have made Patyu even more anxious.

Patyu hugged both Paris and Etor. Etor smiled wistfully at the catgirl. "Yes, I forgive you." Although you didn't hurt me. Etor had the urge to ruffle through Patyu's hair for some reason. All he did was hug the poor catgirl back.

by **Brettenwald** » Mon May 17, 2021 8:34 pm

Kiu Ghesik wrote:Patyu watched silently, one hand in her pocket and the other fiddling with the shirt-sleeve hanging off her left shoulder, as first Etor and then Paris addressed her in turn. She wanted to say something, she really did, but... the words wouldn't come. She was so sure she had done something wrong, that she was here to be reproached for her selfishness and her gluttony and even her regret, but the people here- they were... sorrowful.

They were here to apologize.

They didn't need to apologize- Patyu was the one who needed to apologize, for... for everything. But... they were still talking, and she was too ashamed to try and force her own words into their midst. And so, as Etor flopped onto a couch, Patyu settled herself down next to him and taking a gentle hold of one hand in her own fixed his brown eyes in her own warm hazel.

"I, uh-" Patyu's tongue stuck to the roof of an arid mouth as she tried to speak. "I... t-thank you for not... not... not being, uh... mad, I... I k-know I hurt you and I r-regret it." She let Etor's hand go and wrapped her arms over her own chest, trying to hug the panic back inside her. It's fine, things are fine now, no one's going to hurt me...

"N... no one's going... going to hurt..." Patyu gulped and, in a gesture perhaps just a tad bit too reminiscent of a certain car ride for the avoidance of flashbacks on the part of the man sitting next to her, leaned over to give Etor a gentle hug. Her cheek pressed into his shoulder, and she sat silently, listening to his shallow, drained breathing. "...no one's going to hurt anyone anymore. At least, I w-won't."

Patyu let Etor go and scooted herself back on the couch, facing Ross and Paris as they continued their conversation. It was... unnerving to see Ross again, she knew, and she was certainly rather scared of him, but... Paris seemed comfortable enough around him, and Ari was of the same persuasion, apparently, so it was at least somewhat safe to tolerate him. Actually, Patyu thought, it would be interesting to talk to Ari later- get an idea about what Ross was like. All she knew of him was that mess with the castle, morning at the Fardelshufflesteiner hotel, and a strained conversation that same afternoon. He was probably just fine in person.

Still though... something about him raised her haunches.

But regardless how she felt about Ross, he seemed to be leaving nonetheless, as wrapping up his conversation with Paris he exited the den and shut the door behind him with a clack. As one Paris and Patyu turned to stare at each other.

What with all this sudden tension in the room, Etor was probably feeling incredibly uncomfortable.

"Paris, I..." Suddenly, an image entered into Patyu's mind. A picture of reconciliation, of peace. She stood from the couch and took Paris' hands in her old, a gesture that would have seemed incredibly romantic if the sentiments they had shared two months ago were not mortally wounded, if not dead and buried. Pulling him towards the couch, she wrapped her erstwhile comrades- both Etor and Paris- in as reassuring a hug as she could manage. If that was all she could do, if her body was stilled at the prospect of anything else, then she was going to do it as often as she could. Her head resting by Paris' ear, just as it had been by Etor's, she choked out what words she could through a swiftly-tightening throat:

"I've... h-hurt you. Both of you. C... could you forgive me?"

"Of course I forgive you, Patyu, and you haven't hurt me," Paris said, gently returning the rolhug. "If there's anyone who's hurt anyone here, it's me. I wasn't in my right mind, I did and said things I shouldn't have, and now it's my mess and mine to clean up. You're truly not at fault here. You're right, too, nobody's going to hurt anybody anymore. We're in our own minds and bodies and we can sort this out like adults...well, except Nate, but his issues go much deeper than this and that's not a subject I'm really comfortable talking about right now. Wherever he is, I hope he's safe and that we can all talk this out with him someday when he's in his right mind. "

He sighed. "And Etor, I'm sorry for making you the third wheel while I let myself get carried away by [REDACTED] and all that, so I hope you can forgive me for that as well." There was another generally long and uncomfortable silence. "So, do we want to head back to the party or- ?"

Ah, right, other pocket. Marco fired up an expensive Turkish cigarette and inhaled. "Sounds familiar. We've got a word for something like that too, ausbrelir. It translates literally as "outer brother" but it means more of a blood brother or a really close male friend who you're not related to but might as well be. I had someone like that once. Or thought I did." He went silent then, blowing a contemplative smoke ring. Khensu might have noticed a sudden change in him then, with a sad and yet somehow hard & angry look on his face or in his eyes. "Haven't spoken in years, not that I care or anything. When I was 16 or 17, my memory's not the greatest, I told him something about myself that I wanted him to keep a secret. I mean, I made this guy swear on his honor, make a religious vow, you name it. And eventually it became apparent to me that he'd broken that trust that I'd put in him. This wasn't a matter of life or death, but my reputation would have suffered severely. Heavy is the head that wears the crown and all that. Thank the gods nobody he told actually believed it, but that's not the point, you know? Anyway, I confronted him about the matter, we both said some deeply hurtful shit to one another- I actually punched him in the face, something he called me- and I haven't heard from or seen him since."

"Sorry, now I'm rambling. I've just been in a contemplative mood. Anyway, huh. Patyu, yeah, Patyu seems different somehow. Not in a bad way or anything, just not the kind of person you meet every day. One of the more original characters in this great farce we call life, I suppose. Hey, about the whole gender thing. Maybe she's transgender? I'm not at all sure how it all works and I don't know any transgender people, but the way I understand it it's a mismatch between the sex the doctors put down on your birth certificate and who you actually are as a person. Maybe she has that going on, it'd certainly explain why she seems happier now... not to be rude or anything, but I think I'm going to head inside. These bugs are really pissing me off and I want to talk to Ross about something."

Marco ground his cigarette out under his heel in his host's driveway before going back in to where the action was, cracking the cap off another Guinness, and hunting down Ross ... who was nowhere to be found. Damn. Oh well, it wasn't anything that couldn't wait.

by **Kiu Ghesik** » Fri Jun 04, 2021 8:17 pm

Sighing, Patyu let her arms fall back to her sides and settled herself into the couch once more. There was... quite a lot to think about. These people here, they'd forgiven her, hadn't they? Yes, they had. But... why? Why would they forgive the g- the girl who'd ruined their lives? That was what she had done, hadn't she? She'd forced herself into their lives, trod where she shouldn't have, all for a moment's bliss. And even if that hadn't been her, if it had been just as much a spur of the moment sin as anything else, then wasn't what had happened before? She should've stopped Nate. She should've bodied him to the ground- never mind that he was a good six inches taller than her at the time. She should've, she should've, she should've- there was so much she should've done. Now, though...

In terms of fixing things, there was nothing more she could've done.

Gently, Patyu wrapped one slim finger around a bony wrist and sighed once more. She massaged the meat of her thumb, feeling the softness of the skin, and let the tracest sliver of a smile creep onto her face. This felt good. At least, it felt better. Better than the sickness that'd claimed her for the past two months. Odd, really, that here among foreigners- and foreigners she'd wronged, at that- she felt so much safer, so much more at home than she ever had among her own kind.

Did that mean something?

Yes. Of course it did. Everything under heaven meant something, just as everyone meant something to someone. Patyu meant something to the girl he- she'd grown up with, to the one who'd gone so much further in life than she ever would. And she meant- or hoped she meant- something to the man sitting next to her. But to whom did she mean more? She... was Ari's ateghn. That meant something. But Patyu was Ari's ateghn, and even if she still was Patyu, right now she looked like... like Vashadri. And she liked looking like that.

That... made her less than Patyu, didn't it?

She was Patyu. She was still Patyu. But she was the Patyu who'd ruined- no, she hadn't ruined Paris' life, and she certainly hadn't ruined Etor's. But she'd ruined her own. She'd pulled herself away from Ari. She'd encouraged Ross to go after Ari, for some ungodly reason. She'd thrown Khensu into the same hell she'd been locked in two months ago. She was ruining her friends, and more than that she was ruining her home. But... she couldn't live her old life anymore, could she? No, she couldn't. She'd end up a frozen corpse in a snowdrift if things went on the way they'd been going.

She felt a tear well in her eye, and then another in its twin. The tail jutting from her back, the symbol of her wrongness, was lazily waving its way back and forth, its tip drooped sadly towards the back of the sofa. Her eyes fell from Paris, and curling her legs closed she let her arm go and wrapped her knees in a hug. Patyu's red-rimmed eyes drifted back towards Paris, and then at Etor, taking in their weary smiles. They... they were here for her. They were here for her.

Even when no one else was. Even when she couldn't bring herself want any other near her, they were here. While Ari was off wrapping herself around some petty dictator's finger.

She groaned, felt her slim chest deflate into her knees, and nodded at Paris, taking a sleeve of her shirt and wiping a tear from her cheek. "Y-yeah, I... I could head back if you b-both want to."

"It's not like... like I h-have anywhere else to go, anyways.."

by **Brettenwald** » Sat Jun 05, 2021 12:30 pm

Paris, as was his custom during awkward situations, took his glasses off and wiped them with his tie.

And sighed. Again.

And readied himself to go back in to the party.

And was just about to get up off the couch and offer Patyu a hand up, since the couch was rather large & overstuffed and she might have had a hard time getting out.

And heard her say that she didn't have anywhere else to go.

The concept of home and having somewhere to take shelter from any literal or figurative storms mattered a great deal in Brettain culture. First it had been their modest wooden huts and roundhouses in what was now Baden-Württemberg, then it was whatever natural shelter they could find and what little they dared to build after the Roman bastards came to rape and pillage and conquer and they had to flee north to survive, then after a few hundred years of peace and larger wood & stone structures it was eventually Viking longhouses after another upheaval and migration north, and finally after they'd discovered the continent they'd had somewhere permanent to call theirs and theirs alone, building accordingly. Home was shelter, home was safety, home was a constant, unmoving rock in life's stream of uncertainty. For the royal trio, home was the Palace: a sprawling structure of stone nestled in four square kilometers of parkland that served as an oasis among Aurinel's inexorable expansion. It was then that Paris had an idea. It was going to be a little tricky to pull off on such short notice, but if everything and everyone went as smoothly as they needed it to... well, his conscience would never forgive him if he didn't at least float the idea to Patyu. If she said no, he'd have offered as he was obliged to and wouldn't have to feel bad if she refused. He'd feel bad anyway, of course, as he did now. All your damned fault, mate, the insidious little nagging voice in his head reminded him and spurred him into action.

"Patyu... if you don't know us enough to feel comfortable with this I certainly won't blame you for saying no, but I can tell you don't want to go back to your tribe the way you are now and since this place is a violent, lawless dump why not come stay with us for a while?"

This had two expected results and one unexpected one: the first result was Patyu crying again, the second was a rib-crackingly tight ~~glomp~~ rolhug, and the third, well, that came a minute or two later.

"Hey, Par- oh. I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" Marco was leaning against the doorframe, a faint smile on his face and the rest of his beer in his hand as he absentmindedly scratched the scar on his cheek. Meanwhile, Patyu had turned a shade of red strongly resembling the interior of Helena's Porsche and Paris cursed internally. "Not exactly. She's coming home with us."
Marco raised an eyebrow. "I see. Well, Patyu, better pack warm. If you'll excuse me, I have some phone calls to make." A grand total of two, actually.

"Helena? Hey, sis. Listen, we're going to be bringing Patyu back with us. No, I don't know why and I'm not going to ask. Seemed like she didn't have anywhere else to go. Yeah, yeah. I get it. I'm sorry for the short notice, but I know you're good with this kind of organizational stuff. It's just her, Khensu's not coming along. No, I don't know if she's cleared it with Ari. She's not her mother, gods' sake. I realize it's very last-minute. Yeah, thanks for doing all this. Give Maja a scratch behind the ears for me. Bye."
A quick scroll through his contact list, all the way down to the R section.
"Hey, love. Sorry to fill up your voicemail at this hour, the time difference is hell. Anyway, I need to push back to Monday night, some stuff's come up that I have to- well, it'll be a bit of a balancing act, that's all. It's nothing that relates to us, no need to worry that pretty head of yours about it. I hope your first rehearsal went well. No need to call me back. See you soon, my moon and stars."

by **Voxija** » Mon Jun 07, 2021 5:41 pm

Brettenwald wrote:[He sighed. "And Etor, I'm sorry for making you the third wheel while I let myself get carried away by [REDACTED] and all that, so I hope you can forgive me for that as well." There was another generally long and uncomfortable silence. "So, do we want to head back to the party or- ?"

After staring at Paris for a good long while, Etor Gurraniz shrugged. "It doesn't matter now. It wasn't your fault anyway. I think getting hit by a weeb laser would be equivalent to public intoxication in court. And going back to the party? I don't think that's a good idea. I hear they're killing people in there."

When Paris offered Patyu a place to go, Etor almost cried tears of joy. Finally, Patyu—whom Etor was beginning to think might have gender dysphoria—was going to have a place to be herself, because honestly, a marauding, rampaging nomad culture didn't seem like the place for Patyu.

"Do it," Etor said. "You should go to Brettenwald with Paris. Just my advice as a friend."

For you. · by **Black Raven Movement** » Tue Jun 08, 2021 6:33 pm

by **Socialist Macronesia** » Thu Jun 10, 2021 9:06 pm

Nate ran his hands through his hair as he considered his options. He hadn't exactly planned this all out, but now that he'd managed to calm down... somewhat, he knew that without a plan, things would go wrong at the first slightest chance of failure. What are my options here? I can just stay right here, but I'll die of hypothermia, dehydration, or starve to death within a few days. I can leave here, but then where would I go? It's not like I'm just gonna walk into the office tomorrow. Ross isn't going to let me take two steps into that office. He'll come to his senses tomorrow and he'll arrest me if I get caught. Maybe he'll even decide it tonight. He's certainly not going to let a crazy person near the most sensitive material in the government. Which means I need to get somewhere that he can't catch me easily. But it's not like there's anywhere to go or hide out here, now is there? I could try staying home, but if they don't find me in a raid, they'll put the place under surveillance and if I dare set foot back in that home, they'll get me then. He took a bite out of a granola bar from his bag. I need to consider, for a minute, that everyone is out to get me. Now, I can always turn myself in, but then I'll either be institutionalized or put in prison. If I go to prison, I'll either be there for the rest of my life or they'll put me in front of the firing squad. Chances are, considering the state of the Macronesian prison system, and my knowledge of classified information, it will be the former. So if I get caught, I'm gonna have to escape at any cost. If I'm institutionalized, they'll probably Epstein my ass, so that's not much different from being put in prison. I have to escape now. But where can I even go? The hell is there to hide? Ross will be sure to--

Ross.

Yes, Ross is the key part of my potential detainment. He's the only person who knows about the murders, apart from Patyu and Paris and Marco and Khensu, but they only know about the one. They can only suspect that more than one occurred tonight. Which means that if I get rid of Ross... at least for the night...

...but why should I stop there? Ross's inability to keep it in his pants on multiple occasions is the primary reason why my life is so fucked up. If I got rid of him... well, the resulting civil war could easily kill half a million people, but then Patyu and Paris and all of those uptight royal pricks would know that I mean fucking business. They'll be no question of that. Then... I could find a way back into the US... and all I'd have to do to get back into the real world would be to dig out some old passports that don't bear the name of one Nate Barton. I could go home... and then what? Maybe I'll turn myself into the FBI or CIA or whatever they call it and help prevent Macronesia and the hundreds of mercenaries around the world protecting Macronesian interests be sure to never hurt anyone again. Some might call it treasonous, but I shouldn't have to listen to my government if said government isn't taking care of my needs and wants, even if said wants include a catgirl succubus girlfriend... I don't expect the US to have those either, but maybe I'll find just a regular girlfriend. Sometimes we do have to settle, and it's stupid to expect that I won't have to settle at some point in my life. But there are more pressing matters at hand right now. What was I originally thinking about?

Oh yeah, killing Ross.

Nate opened his bag and withdrew several pieces of metal; some big, some small, some hollow, some blocky. After a lot of screwing, adjusting, and light taps, Nate picked the finished product up. Moving across the moonlit beach, feeling the gentle breeze, the wet sand gently sinking under his footsteps, and an overwhelming feeling of smugness, he came to an area where, further up the beach, a toppled log would provide the optimal vantage point for shooting straight into the mansion. Well, that is, if one had a weapon with a range that was long enough to reach the mainland. Which was precisely why Nate had brought the 15.5x105mm anti-material rifle. Readying an assortment of rounds, he peered through the long-range scope at the mansion. It would be tough, but an accurate shot would be possible at this distance. He was still sure he could make a shot at this distance, though. He set up the bipod of his Kennedy killer on the felled log and began to engage the most important part of his plan: waiting for a goddamn post.

by **Kiu Ghesik** » Mon Jun 28, 2021 2:48 pm

-this is not real this is not real this can't be real there is no way this is real I can't die like this please God someone help-

For the briefest of moments Ari was completely, utterly, entirely, senselessly terrified. And who wouldn’t be? After all, she was as of present strapped to a metal gurney and staring at something most closely resembling the antagonist of that odd moving picture Ross had insisted on showing her, the one called Terminationer or something like that, albeit clothed in the flesh of some sheepish intern and not the visage of an appreciably-attractive Arnold Schwarzenegger. More than that this thing seemed to be threatening to kill her, which would have dampened the brightest of moods at least somewhat.

But Ari was a nomad in more ways than one, cast adrift in time- she had already seen enough strange things in this evening alone to deaden her mind to all but the most stunning turns of events, and when taken together with the past week, let alone the past two months, it was no wonder that Ari only allowed the briefest moment of terror to creep onto her face. Kanu’s revelation was after a moment’s shock rationalized, compartmentalized, and shuffled off to the more instinctual parts of Ari’s brain to handle while the human component recovered from its inflicted fright.

Or, rather, thought of an arsenal of choice insults to sling at this insolent Terminator-knockoff. Ari was if nothing else a woman with her priorities in order.

Steadying herself, Ari felt the heaving of her breast and the racing of her heart slowly still, and forcing her eyes to meet the burning embers of the apparition before her she grinned. It likely did not seem a sincere grin- and indeed it was entirely affected, Ari hardly known for her poker-faces- but it was a show of resoluteness nonetheless. This thing would not hold power over her.

Said thing had currently clambered atop her, leering down at her with its gleaming skull-face in an expression Ari just knew was a smug grin. From her neck, still freshly parted from its fleshy mask, dripped and dribbled from the crevasses in the machine’s neck and onto the nomad, first her shoulder, then her cheek as Kanu brought her face close to the restrained Ari’s.

“Now tell me,” Kanu said, her hollow voice no longer bothering to approximate Jane’s, “what were you planning to do with my head and a pointy stick?”

She did not seemed intimidated in the least by Ari’s threats.

Well, that was fine. Her breath steadied, Ari let her limbs go slack, the pressure at her wrists and ankles receding. It took all her willpower to simply let her body relax- after all, death sat not two feet away. But there was nothing else to do. Threats were worthless, fighting was useless, and that simply left acceptance.

And rationalization.

This was, Ari knew, utterly absurd. There was no way that a monster taken from the stills of a 1984 thriller could have come from the stars to kill her, impersonating an intern she had never med. That was ridiculous. Thus, it simply did not exist. The more rational answer was that tonight had never happened, and that she was dreaming. She would have much preferred Ross to be in the dream, but... eh. One did not choose when nightmares took them.

But if this was a dream, then it would end. Eventually she would have to wake up. Perhaps she'd wake up back at the party. If she was lucky she'd be lying on a couch somewhere, Ross beside her, and when she woke up in a cold sweat he would ask her how she was, and if she was alright, and what she'd dreamed, and they'd laugh over the idea that some meek intern could've possibly been this... thing, and everything would be right again. In the meantime? Well, all there was to do was wait it out.

And so Ari brought her eyes to meet Kanu's once more, and smugly grinning, at last gave a reply: "I was going to cut your head from your body, impale it on a pike, and maybe turn it into a lawn ornament. I think it might be a bit too chrome, though. Doubt it'd comply with HOA guidelines, though I bet I could get John to lean on some people if I really took a fancy for it. Though... it is a bit much, on second thought. Think you'd look better on the hood of an APC, all things considered."

Contemplatively, she shifted back in her restraints and flashed Kanu with a quizzical eyebrow. "Thoughts? I mean, no one knows their own looks better than themselves, after all."

I'll add the other two after I finish editing them.

by **Main Nation Ministry** » Wed Jun 30, 2021 10:58 pm

A Coda: Nothing Can Be Brought Back

Everything was such a blur for Zlata and Jerald, as the chaos of the night was starting to fade, as they ended up back at the hotel. Zlata Kramermach was tired. So was Jerald. There was nothing left.

Well. Maybe someone returned. Zlata was sitting alone in the beach, as she was reflecting on everything that happened. It was all a cluster of madness. The skies were starting to lighten, as the sun was almost upon the horizon. Zlata heard some footsteps, as she looked over to her side. To her surprise, it was Kevin Cross. He was standing on the beach with an expression of having seen unknown horrors. Overall, he looked miserable. His clothes seemed to be drenched, where there was snow on his shoulders.

"...Hey." Kevin said in a calm voice. A far cry from his usual demeanor. "Hey." Zlata said, as Kevin walked over and sat down on the sand next to her. "What did I miss?" Kevin said, as Zlata noticed that Kevin felt cold to the touch, when she went to reach to touch his hand. "Where were you? Kevin..? What happened to you?" Zlata said, as Kevin just kept looking at the sunrise. "I pissed off Krampus and I got kidnapped by three ghosts." Kevin said, as Zlata listened to him. "Were you in the ocean this whole time?"
"I can't explain, can it? Did I miss Christmas and Krampus Day?"
"You missed a whole lot. It was...horrible." Zlata said, as Kevin listened in.

Zlata mentioned the crazed soldier who had killed some security guard, then ended up possibly killing more people. Both her and Jerald survived, but the mood of the party went sour. It wasn't even Kevin's fault, but he missed out of the worst of things. "...We wasted a day here, didn't we?" Kevin said, as Zlata was silent. "It was for our job, though."
"I fucked up that job." Kevin said, as his tone was melancholic. "Kevin? Are you ok?" Zlata said, as Kevin buried his face into his arms. "No, Zlata. I'm not ok. I'm sorry.."

"What?"
"I'm sorry for what I done. I been through hell and I had to be shown it to know how much of an asshole I had become.." Kevin said, as Zlata looked at him in surprise. "Kevin.. Please tell me what's wrong. What you had been doing was concerning me and Jerald both." Zlata said, as Kevin focused his eyes onto the sand. "What's wrong is that I burned too many bridges. No one is going to forgive me for what I had done. I'm going to get fired, but I know this will happen already." Kevin explained, as the calm ocean waves can be heard. "I still forgive you after how you treated me, thoug-"
"No, don't. There is nothing that could be brought back. You can't just time travel back. You seen how I treated that woman in the bus. She's going to kill me the next time I bump into her." Kevin said.

Zlata struggled to think of something that could help Kevin, but he was right. He already pissed off all of the island, so she didn't know that there could be any last-minute chances. "K-Kevin.." Zlata said, as she couldn't help but realize that she was feeling bad for him. He may had been an asshole, but he was still human in a sense. "Yeah?"
"I didn't do anything wrong to make you mad, right?"
"...You never did."

Zlata couldn't help, but stay silent, as they watched the sun loom over them.

DECEMBER 26

Kevin Cross, Zlata Kramermach, and Jerald Grubic all got their stuff, as they checked out of the hotel. They ended up back at the dock, where Johnny was waiting for them in his seaplane. "Took you guys long enough. How was Krampus Day? I'm sure you guys had fun." Johnny said, but all 3 of them weren't smiling. They weren't happy. They never could for the holiday. They all felt alone. They had their bags and suitcases be put into the cargo hold of Johnny's seaplane, as Kevin took a look back at the island. He didn't have his video camera out. The filming was a disaster. There was no point. All 3 of them were glad to be off of this island. They wanted to go home to mend what was severed. Johnny assumed that all of them were suffering from seasonal affective disorder.

Johnny had the plane fly through the rift of the multi-verse, as they ended up back at the docks. Things felt like a blur after that. The status of the filming was given, much to the disappointment of Fleck. Kevin was quick to take the blame and, of course, got fired. Kevin moved out from his place and stopped drinking, along with not presenting himself as an egoistical jackass. Fleck was already getting word of Kevin's self-destructive behavior, but Kevin was quick to tell him one thing.

"I need a therapist. I need help."

When asked if he was thinking of suicidal thoughts, Kevin nodded. Kevin was out of the public's eye. Kevin didn't return to his nephew or brother. He wanted to give them space. For all he knew, he rather ease his pain alone.

Jerald Grubic worked up some courage to start bar-hopping for dates. He was still lovesick, but he found a guy that he was starting to take interest in. He had green demonic-like eyes and a marking on his wrist. An obvious demon in his costume, but Jerald believed that things can work.

For Zlata, however... Things were a rollercoaster.

When Zlata went back to her house, she thought that Jonathan was going to yell at her or keep her kicked out of the house. What she did not expect was seeing several soldiers forcing Jonathan and Melissa against the hood of Jonathan's car. "W-what? WHAT?! Oh my goodness! What's going on!?" Zlata said, as both Jonathan and Melissa were yelling profanities at the soldiers. "I'm sorry, ma'am. You need to leave. Business of the Ministry.." a soldier prevented her from reaching them. "But that's my boyfriend! And his... lover?" Zlata said, as Jonathan noticed her. "ZLATA! GET OVER HERE AND HELP US!"

Zlata saw Melissa, however. Zlata figured what she thought was true. "Who's that, Johnathan? Tell me." Zlata felt some confidence be in her, after what happened in Socialist Micronesia. "IT'S NONE OF YOUR FUCKING BUSINESS, NOW GET THIS PIGS OFF ME!" Zlata didn't want to help him. She felt the courage to let the soldiers do their business. She didn't want to act cold, but she was now at the end of her rope. She watched as the two were shipped away. Probably to a prison.

Later that day, Zlata was told what happened. It turns out that Johnathan was embezzling from his workplace, while Melissa was responsible for running a car off the road and causing a disaster at a festival. Ironically, the same festival that Jerald was at, before he had to leave. Zlata was alone, but even with Johnathan gone, she felt lacking in something. She believed she lacked a purpose.

She wasn't as depressed as Kevin, but she started to believe what needed to be done. She started to pack up her stuff. More of it that she can carry. She felt more brave now. More free. She had an idea.

She was going to leave Main Nation Ministry.

Somewhere that doesn't have any chaos. Nor madness. Nor memories of pain. Nor alienation. She managed to find some help after she left home for the last time. Soon enough, she ended up with some others who thought the same as her. It was secretive, but surprising easy on escape can be managed. The moment that Zlata got out, she took one last look behind her, as she saw the wall of the border of Main Nation Ministry. It was still cold outside, but she had a friend who can relate to her.

For her, this wasn't the end of her story.

END

HOWEVER...

At his office during a quiet spring, the Leader was at his office, as he was pondering over last winter. It wasn't until Dorbi Truman, his Secretary of Foreign Relations showed up to his office, as Truman had gotten a report back from the Ministry of Tourism, along with the Ministry of Foreign Relations. "Sir, I got the latest report concerning our need for tourism. The statistics show that many nations from outside of Main Nation Ministry refuse to step foot inside of the country. This is extremely dangerous, since it's juxtaposes differently with our economy."

"And it's a bad thing because..?" the Leader didn't get the memo of what point Truman was trying to get across. "Leader, sir. Our economy is at a surplus. There is enough money being pumped to the Ministry of Science and the other Ministries, but there is money that will be put to waste that will decrease our moral support with the public."
"Well, we got to waste it on something. I say we can use it to make a battleship. That can come in handy."

"Uhhh.. About that. The Ministry of Tourism had already greenlit an idea."
"Greenlit?" the Leader said, as Truman knew that his lack of given approval would annoy and piss him off. "The Ministry of Tourism is proposing on making an event to attract visitors from all over the multi-verse."

"Well, tell them to get me onto the drawing board! They think they can start an event without my help!? Nonsense!" the Leader got off his chair, as he walked over to Truman. "Leader! I can send you over to the Ministry of Tourism right away!"
"Yes, of course! But... I have an idea!"

"An idea?"
"Yes.. I know what was drive in those tourists and foreign delegates. We will sugar coat our image! Sugar coat it, until there is nothing but bread and circuses! We will make this place appear as the utopia that was meant to be! While keeping the executions, of course, but that's another story."

"We shall steal the ideas of those who think they are smarter and more powerful than us, then we will make them better! We are going to show the whole multi-verse that we're still kicking, even if we stopped attending the sporting events, due to the death tolls! We shall have the streets be painted with blood and be given a pink dye!"

"But what should we call this event?" Truman said, as the Leader was overly excited. The Leader immediately went into thought, until..

"I know! We shall call it-"

SOLSTICE

COMING SOON!

SoMac Christmas Fête [IC, Closed]

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