"Keep the stuff behind the bar then for the next guy who needs them, or give them out as a door prize, as in the next guy through the door gets a prize."
Irv orders another Irish highball and goes from the bar back to the table where he'd been sitting when he first got here, and props the leg bothering him most into an empty chair.
He sipped his drink, for now content to be a man just learning how to relax.
"Thanks, Garble," she called after him.
"Hmph. Stupid humans."
However, the goblin reads his spellbook with a smile on his face.
Danae deftly wound her way through the crowd of patrons with her increasingly heavy tray as she collected the empty glasses. There was so much to see here. She hummed along with the music as she worked.
Making sure to find an out-of-the-way table, Devlyn orders some dinner for everyone, and they enjoy a nice meal and some drinks.
"I think she really likes it here," he says with a smile as Danae wheels her way around the opposite side of the club grounds.
"But I suppose it is getting late, and we do need to be able to get some work done before we open the shop tomorrow..."
Irv reaches into his seemingly endless bag of useful but harmless stuff, pulls out his art supplies and makes a new sign, complete with a drawing of an almost fully lit menorah.
OMNIPORTAL Closed for HANUKKAH
He puts the art stuff back into the bag and mutters, "I'm going to live to regret this."
He produces a wooden 4 sided top, a tube with small milk chocolate ball wrapped in foil with Christmas trees, Santas and other winter designs printed on them, he sticks his head into the bag, "You can stop guarding the bag now, I need you here," he calls. Then waits, and waits some more, finally a 4 foot tall rodent brandishing a 44. automag around, wearing an x brace of bandolier belts, a sombrero, and a belt holster jumps out of the bag, doing his best James Cagney, yelling "Where they at, Where they at?"
Irv looks at the creature, shaking his head. "I said I'd regret this, put that thing away and settle, you're scaring the children." and thought, "although, that's good work if you can get it."
"It's the holidays, I'm lonely and just wanted somebody to play dreidle with." Irv raised his empty glass, "another Irish highball for me, and a Corona for my friend here" before they started taking turns spinning the top and putting and taking the little foil covered balls back and forth into piles in front of them.
discreetly removes the sign as she cleans up the empties
The goblin scowls. "Who closing portals? Bah!"
Making sure to find an out-of-the-way table, Devlyn orders some dinner for everyone, and they enjoy a nice meal and some drinks.
"I think she really likes it here," he says with a smile as Danae wheels her way around the opposite side of the club grounds.
"But I suppose it is getting late, and we do need to be able to get some work done before we open the shop tomorrow..."
"Yes, she does seem to be fitting right in. And you're right, of course. A wine shop doesn't run itself, and I'm not as young as I used to be. I do need to indulge in some sleep occasionally," she added with a chuckle.
Having seen no traffic through it, in nor out over the last week, I figured it must still be closed, with the festival of lights as the reason, Which I thought was odd because the portal masters don't look Jewish, although I've been told neither do I.
You can try the portal if you wish, until future events prove it's open or closedness, I would not, this is a nice enough place to wait.
Sorry about leaving up signs after the holiday, but it could have been worse, far worse, imagine if you will, they'd have closed the thing for election day.
"Oh, they never close the omniportal, Irv. But sometimes there are lulls between parties. Times to go home, get changed, nurse a hangover, before the whole thing starts all over again." :)
"Yes, she does seem to be fitting right in. And you're right, of course. A wine shop doesn't run itself, and I'm not as young as I used to be. I do need to indulge in some sleep occasionally," she added with a chuckle.
Devlyn shakes his head and laughs.
"Well, you are such a fragile thing, love - you really must take better care of yourself," he gently teases.
"But it's totally up to you. Tonight is a special night, and I can take care of things when we get back if you want to sleep in. Either way, it's covered." ;D
Devlyn shakes his head and laughs.
"Well, you are such a fragile thing, love - you really must take better care of yourself," he gently teases.
"But it's totally up to you. Tonight is a special night, and I can take care of things when we get back if you want to sleep in. Either way, it's covered." ;D
She laughed outright at the thought of herself as a fragile thing.
"You do know how to turn a phrase, my dear. But I think that we've had our fun and we should get back home before one of us turns into a pumpkin," she said with a mischievous wink.
Speaking of turning into pumkins, I'm going to take that nice lady up on that offer of a suite, you can put the holiday stuff and yourself back in the bag there amigo, but before you close it on your end, hand me one of my spare smatchets, holstered, if you will.
Irv places the blade between the empty beer bottle and his highball glass, clearly leaving it as a tip before limping off the the comfort and quiet of the suite he'd been offered. Indeed, a nice enough place to rest.
Somehow the blade that Irv left by his empty bottles mysteriously disappeared into the pockets of a certain waitress. As tips went this was by far her favorite.
Devlyn shakes his head and laughs.
"Well, you are such a fragile thing, love - you really must take better care of yourself," he gently teases.
"But it's totally up to you. Tonight is a special night, and I can take care of things when we get back if you want to sleep in. Either way, it's covered." ;D
She laughed outright at the thought of herself as a fragile thing.
"You do know how to turn a phrase, my dear. But I think that we've had our fun and we should get back home before one of us turns into a pumpkin," she said with a mischievous wink.
"Sounds good to me," he says with a nod, almost hiding his smile as he waves over their waitress and settles up the tab.
Turning to Rowan as they get up, he says:
"Thanks again for the help tonight, my friend. Are you heading back as well, or are you going to party a little more before the sun comes up?"
"Oh, I think I'll stick around. Watch the sunrise on the beach. One of my favorite times of day. I'll see you guys next time."
"Oh, I think I'll stick around. Watch the sunrise on the beach. One of my favorite times of day. I'll see you guys next time."
"Alright - we'll see you later then!"
Devlyn and Allura make their way back to the Omniportal, and return to the Bazaar of the Bizarre.
Garble puts away the spellbook and casts a cleanse. Some of the stink vanishes. He then looks for something under the tables to eat, ignoring the surprised patrons.
The omniportal flashes and LK dashes out, looking triumphant. When he glances around though, his look changes to one of sadness. He even glances through the portal to check.
Disheartened for only a moment, LK uses this time to collect a certain few items and setting them up..
He then sits at the bar, making sure there is an empty sit next to him, and waits.
Nearly ten minutes later the omniportal flashes again and Arielle steps through. Spotting LK at the bar she walks toward him.
Catching the scent of ozone in the air, LK pulls a carefully hidden piece of rope and listens as several gallons of ice water pour down on to Arielle.. and the the rest of the crowd.
He spins around in the chair and acts shocked at what he sees.
[Blink, Blink]
(O.o)
Arielle splutters for a few seconds as the scent of ozone intensified. Heavy winds blew through the courtyard clearing the water away from Arielle before her lightning started to spark. She slammed her hammer into the ground and a rumble of sonic energy rushed forward, destroying LK's bar stool out from underneath him.
She tossed her hair back and took a deep breath, letting her summoned winds clean up the rest of the mess before walking over to LK.
"Was that really necessary?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about." LK says as he stands. "But if I did, do you really think I'd play such a crude prank? It's far below my level of expertise."
She raised an eyebrow. "After all this time, do you actually think you can lie to me? That I can't tell the difference?"
"Hmph. Fine, you want to play that way, I'll just give you a reason to go take a cold shower."
And with that she grabbed the front of his shirt, pulled him close and kissed him very thoroughly. Then she shoved him away and walked off.
"I'm not talking to you until you apologize," she tossed back over her shoulder.
"I'd give her time to cool down, but I think what she needs right now is to warm." LK says to no one in particular.
"Hm.." He thinks(to himself this time) as he sits on a new stool. "I think I know just how to apologize too.."
A large portal opens up suddenly. Rushing out of it at break-neck speed just before it snaps shut, Taron and Kamenwati manage to look both ecstatic and terrified at the same time.
They stumble over to an empty booth. Once they're sitting down, they look at eachotehr and burst out laughing.
Arielle stomped off, letting her temper cool a little until she stopped sparking lightning. She waved to Danae who was busy clearing tables, and her friend waved back. Danae looked happy. Well, that was good. She grabbed a drink from a passing tray and gulped it down.
She looked over and saw Taron and Kam laughing in one of the booths. She waved at them too.
A small tear in space-time opened up in a secluded area of the Club. A young girl stepped through and looked around.
"Nice choice, Tare," she muttered. "Now, where have you gotten to?"
Taron and Kam both wave at Arielle, but quickly bring their hands down when they spot Ephebe.
"I thought we'd have more time than this. We're not ready."
"Think the rest are following?"
"I don't know. Change the illusion and get started, just in case."
"Got it." Kam whispers as he suddenly becomes a half-orc, gets up, and gets to work on the stage.
Kam passes by Arielle and pauses a moment to talk to her.
"See that girl right there, with the brown hair?" He says as he nods toward Ephebe. "Do us a favor and distract her."
He moves off to continue preparations for the reast of Taron's family, if the decide to show.
She raised her eyebrows as she noticed the layers of illusion. She shook her head to clear it of the double vision.
"No problem. I could use a distraction myself. Stupid, inconsiderate, wolf," she growled.
She took a deep breath and walked over to the new girl a big smile on her face.
"Hey, how's it going? I'm Arielle. First time at the club?"
"Ummmm....yeah. I'm just looking for my brother. You seen him? About my height with purple eyes? And his boyfriend....who tends to stand out a little more....."
She looked around uncertainly trying to find her wayward relations in the crowd.
"Well, that's not a lot to go on....anything else you can tell me?" she asked innocently winking at Danae as she passed near before tripping her friend so that the tray of drinks spilled all over Ephebe.
"Oh, gosh, I am so sorry. That was so clumsy of me! Oh, you're drenched. Here, let me help," she said, dabbing ineffectively at Ephebe's soaked clothes with her towel. "I'm new," she added, apologetically.
"You know, it's okay. They have excellent amenities here. We can get you a room and a change of clothes, no problem. Why don't we just go do that now...No, don't bother arguing. I insist. After all, it was partly my fault for bumping into the waitress. I'd feel just awful if I didn't make it up to you somehow," she said, cheerfully, dragging the new girl along into the hotel suite, where she chattered away at her without letting her get a word in edgewise. Danae did her part by getting the room and a change of clothes. Finally they got the girl into a room with both of them waiting outside while she changed.
"Why are we running the spilled drink scam on this girl?" Danae whispered.
Arielle shrugged. "Favor for Kam," she whispered back.
The goblin watches Kam. His eyes shine with more than excitement. "What...uh...illusion? Oh, half-orc. What's under? Either kids, growns, dragons."
He seems torn. "Use..." he considers something. "Nah." Garble turns back to a drink he pilfered from an abandoned table. "And stop talking to youself. Bloody humans hate."
The instant Ephebe is out of sight, Taron gets up and helps Kamenwati getting the stage ready. If the others show up they were going to be ready, and if they didn't at least the could put on a show anyway. Once everything is done, he goes and leans next to the door of the room where Ephebe is being held.
"So sister, are you the ambassador or is the entire family on their way?"
Ephebe opened the door wearing what felt to her like a ridiculously small party dress.
"I should have known these two whirlwinds were helping you, Tare. They've been nothing but trouble since I got here."
"And this dress looks ridiculous," she muttered.
"We're good at being trouble," Danae volunteered. "But I really should get back to work now."
"And I think that's my cue to leave too. Maybe Canis will be ready to apologize now."
"And there's nothing wrong with the dress. It's an old one of my mom's. It looks good on you. Just stop second guessing yourself so much."
Ephebe made a face as the other girls walked away and stuck out her tongue at their retreating backs.
She sighed.
"To answer you question, brother dear, I'm the ambassador. Mom thought it would be less intimidating if just one of us showed up."
"Technically Phebes, only one of them is a whirlwind."
"Less intimidating, huh? Considering what I've been through in the past month or so, I doubt things would have been intimidating. Besides, we had a plan." He gestures to the stage. "A song prepared that we hoped would keep them off balance long enough for us to explain."
"What do they want?"
"And I think that's my cue to leave too. Maybe Canis will be ready to apologize now."
"Still not talking to me?" Canis says as he quickly folds up some paper and tucks it away in a pocket.
"Well, Mom says to tell you to stop being an idiot and that if you'd talked to her in the first place you could have saved yourself a lot of trouble. Jimmy wants you to know that your exit was quite possibly the coolest prank ever. Dad and Grandma are kinda coming around to the idea. And I'd like a chance to actually meet your bondmate since I seem to be the only one in the family who hasn't."
"But if you want them here for the performance I can always go fetch them..."
Garble's nose twitches. He heads outside.
Danae waves to Garble as she goes back to work.
"Honestly, I don't think Jiminy has either and Grandma already knew.. so yeah, it's just you. How you could have missed him is beyond me though, since he used to be rather popular. Ammy, go get Kam."
:Certainly:.The psicrystal thinks as it detaches from the chain around Taron's neck and scurries off.
"Mom should realize I was going through a lot more than bonding, and that this was the least boring way for me to go about telling everyone. Jimimny has my thanks, but it was a team effort."
"Dad was actually the one I was most worried about. The whole 'no grandkids' thing can be a big deal for some fathers. Talking Grandma out of trying to kill Kam was actually rather easy."