"I'm not flirting, that would require me to actually go up to Sam and tell her that I want to cuddle together in a book nook sharing snacks and a blanket. Or to tell Johnny I want to ride with him on a motorcycle in the Italian countryside. It's really complicated with Chloe, and she had to work." Chroknight tells Andromeda.
CORVIS lets out a caw, flapping up to Chroknight's shoulder. "...CORVIS says I should avoid saying stuff that might lead to paradox. I agree with him, he's such a good bird."
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"I'm like, 70% certain they're magic. Hey. Hey, Indarius! Indarius!" Chroknight shouts and waves at the dragon. "These potions, are they magic? He'll probably know. "
Indy lets go of his horn and gives a huh gesture with his now free hand, not like he's near Chro or has his hands on whatever's turning folks into animals. Though he does suddenly have a ping of worry about Wyvern.
"Those are antlers," Andromeda reflexively corrects Indy before turning to the suddenly fascinating Eliana.
"Missing the forest for the trees Andromeda! Let me have this." he replies raising his voice a bit to reach her.
"Those are antlers," Andromeda reflexively corrects Indy before turning to the suddenly fascinating Eliana.
"Why is being green connected to elves? They aren't real, but even if they were they don't have green skin. Is our connection that we're both going to look strangely at others?"
Eliana waves her hand to hover over Andromeda's skin, causing the green to pulse softly. "Elf? The proper term for what I am would be closer to 'dryad.' And you are closer to 'plant.'"
She smiles enigmatically. "We should watch the sun rise together."
Gwen does sample Indy's peach hard seltzer and makes a face. "That's almost no different from the orange!" she complains.
As more of the students try out the potions, she looks around the room and back to Indy. "Are you going to try one? Or are you changed enough?"
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Indy chuckles at Gwen's complaint, "Gotta be something that tastes good, maybe the next one'll be the winner huh." He lets out an uneasy warble at her question about the potions. "I-i think I'll stick to just the drinks for now. But it depends on how the night goes." He sips down some more of his drink. He catches Eliana chatting with Andromeda and takes another drink prepares to speak then nervously drains the rest of the can.
"Hey Gwen, can I ask you about Eliana? I'm not like interested in her to be clear, but I think I messed up and owe her an appology but, I'm not sure what she's like now that she's... well fae. Like do you think she'd try and rope me into some grand deal if I asked how I could make it up to her?"
Ne'veah looks Gui up and down as her tail flicks back and forth behind her. "You probably don't want to find out. I've fought Whippoorwill, you know."
"For sure not prey, den," Gui chuckles, reaching for another pair of beers from a passing Archie-Butler. He offers one to Ne'veah and opens his own, once more removing the ring pull and putting it inside his pocket. He feels the other one there. Two.
"Fighting you is kind of de opposite of what I have in mind, but what about you, Ne'veah? What do you want me to be?" He asks directly. "E normal girl looking at me de way you are, up and down, sizing me up... I know what dey have in mind." He comes a bit closer still. "But you are far from e normal girl, yes?"
"Sam! You've got a nice rack!" Chroknight calls out to her. "I want to curl up with you on a couch and read manga together!" They give her a thumbs up, before looking at Beebee.
Her Matrix isn't up to date on her physical alterations so it informs Sam of the meaning of Rack as slang, so the red head looks down at her chest, then back up at Chroknight.
"Thank you" there is the faintest hint of color on her cheeks. "And reading..." there is a long pause "... would be enjoyable" Sam breaths in, the scents of the place assaulting her, but not in a bad way. She leans into Chroknight taking a deeper sniff. "You smell of old paper and ink. It is also enjoyable."
Sam then blinks and straightens. There is a combination of mind altering smoke in the air and liquid fire spreading through her system. She is not sure the combination will be good for her.
Indarius then yells out Horn Buddies to her, and she autocorrects quietly "they are antlers." she doesn't see any alterations on his body, so her threads collect a potion. "I'll be right back" she tells her friends (that she does not know is her teammate yet).
She weaves through the crowd, her new equipment causing spatial situations, but she makes it. "I apologize for my dismissal at the bowling alley. I was angry so was ignoring my matrix suggestions on social norms." her threads raise up the potion she has carried her "A peace offering." her matrix suggested that phrase.
Devil Diva is fashionably late to the party, wearing a red crop top and tight black jeans. Despite her smile, there's a odd look in her yellow eyes, and she glances around at everybody with a hint of apprehension as she takes in the scene.
"Hey, party people. What are we doing, drinking magic potions? I'll have one."
She grabs a vial at random and knocks back its contents.
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Indarius then yells out Horn Buddies to her, and she autocorrects quietly "they are antlers." she doesn't see any alterations on his body, so her threads collect a potion. "I'll be right back" she tells her friends (that she does not know is her teammate yet).She weaves through the crowd, her new equipment causing spatial situations, but she makes it. "I apologize for my dismissal at the bowling alley. I was angry so was ignoring my matrix suggestions on social norms." her threads raise up the potion she has carried her "A peace offering." her matrix suggested that phrase.
"Oh, Sam uh.." He raises a hand at the potion, "No thanks I think I'm weird enough as is, no telling what a potion like that would do to someone already loaded to the proverbial gills with magic." There was already a bit of magic happening in his mind already, as the two relatively quickly consumed beverages started to take hold and even though he was denying it for now the prospect of seeing just what might happen did sound intriguing.
Sam blinks, then looks at the glass with a tilted head, obviously contemplating what rejection of a peace offering means. " Okay " she responds simple and turns to go.
As Sam turns from Indy, Archie rushes up to her looking like he's about to panic. Or that he has to pee really bad. "Sam! It's me!! I'm-- I'm a boy!!"
As that scene is unfolding, Gwen seems ready to tell Indy about Eliana. "I can't really say. She seems fairly happy most of the time. I'd never seen her really mad, except for that time in class. She hasn't told me why she doesn't like you, so I don't know what it would take. I guess just ask?"
Outside the expanded dorm room, Ne'veah folds her arms and cocks her hip. Her tail swishes harder as she looks at Gui. "Uh, yeah. What part of me says, 'normal'?" She tosses her head to make her large mane of glossy black hair bounce. "I'm just trying to get a feel for you. You're cute, for a white boy. But are you, like, serious? Or just, you know, into the fur?"
Max feels the magic hit her stomach and spread throughout her being. It tingles like she had just drained someone of their energy, coursing through her and bubbling up to the surface and exuding through her pores!
Max downs her random potion and in moments she seems to glow. The light of the room takes on a soft, diffused radiance when it falls on her skin, causing sparkling highlights and emphasizing her best features. Her doe-like eyes seem even larger, glistening beneath long, fluttering lashes.
Tim barks out a sharp, ironic laugh. "What are the odds that the magically sexy girl here gets the 'glow up' potion?" He saunters up to Max and offers to kiss the back of her hand. "Though I must say, it looks good on you my dear. Tim Mathers, at your service."
Max gasps softly as she feels the magic take effect. It’s a heady, dreamlike sensation. Her purple cheeks flush a beautiful shade of pink and she inadvertently bats her eyelashes as Tim kisses her hand. ”Charmed, I’m sure,” she says. ”Glow up? I do seem to be glowing.” She looks down at her gleaming skin in a daze.
Chroknight goes over to Indarius and waves their hand in his face.
"Sam is the most literal minded person ever. If she says something is a peace offering and you reject it, you're telling her you did'nt want peace. Grow a pair and down that shot if you want to salvage that relationship."
CORVIS caws, flutters to snag the potion from Sam and bring it back to Indarius. "Now drink!"
Archie looks down at his skirt and fuzzy sweater. "what the actual f@$k. I'm a girl." He exclaims in disbelief.
He grows even more wide-eyed as his own body approaches, not unusual considering his abilities, but that's the real him. That's never happened before.
This might be the weirdest thing that's ever happened to him. He is in a woman's body. Very strange, what should he do? He doesn't want to be weird or gross, it's very easy to be weird while trapped in someone else's body. "Jessie don't do anything weird with my body." He tells her. trying to sound lighthearted.
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Sam blinks, then looks at the glass with a tilted head, obviously contemplating what rejection of a peace offering means. " Okay " she responds simple and turns to go.
"Wait hey.. I accept your apology, but like I should probably apologize too. I ruined the teams hangout time because of my own hangups about how the team operates and... well I shouldn't expect you all to be like or better than my old team just cause I'm in the leader seat."
He squints, "I don't want to be the leader of the team anymore, but if you'll have me as a member still well, that'd be pretty cool."
Chroknight goes over to Indarius and waves their hand in his face.
"Sam is the most literal minded person ever. If she says something is a peace offering and you reject it, you're telling her you did'nt want peace. Grow a pair and down that shot if you want to salvage that relationship."
CORVIS caws, flutters to snag the potion from Sam and bring it back to Indarius. "Now drink!"
[Dice=Provoke Indarius (CORVIS assisted)]2d6+1
Indy looks at the potion and Chroknight feels like they're closing in, and he feels eyes on him pressuring him to do it, not to mention the fuzzy feeling building between his eyes, oh and Gwen was saying something too, did it feel hot in here he hadn't felt hot since he had skin.
"I-if drinking this is what it takes to earn your respect back then t-to hell with it yeah?" He swipes it from Chro and gulps, "B-bottoms up ey?" He pops the cork and chugs it down, what's the worst that could happen?
Jessie-in-Archie's-body turns to the sound of her voice saying her name. She forces herself to stop fidgeting but it's clear she's uncomfortable. "I'm trying, but your body's weird! I feel-- nevermind. Oh! What if I have to pee?!? What if you have to pee?"
The bodyswapped couple snags Tim's attention briefly, causing him to snicker, but he quickly refocuses on Max. "I should be hating you right now 'cause you're distracting me from the magical mayhem, but I can hardly look away. I know you by reputation, obvs, but I'd love to get to know you."
You feel the magic of the potion fighting against your draconic body. It's far weaker than the magic powering your body. You would have to make a conscious effort to allow it to do anything, and even then the magic would burn off in an hour or so.
What do you do?
Gwen accepts a potion as the ratio of partygoers who have taken the potion becomes more and more lopsided. While Indy's potion seems to be taking a while to affect him, she gulps hers down.
It takes only a few seconds before her ears suddenly elongate to stand high above her head and become covered in downy fur like a rabbit's. Long whiskers sprout from her upper lip and her front two teeth become more pronounced. "Ah! Loud!" Gwen winces as she tries to block the party's noise from assaulting her newly sensitive ears.
Outside the expanded dorm room, Ne'veah folds her arms and cocks her hip. Her tail swishes harder as she looks at Gui. "Uh, yeah. What part of me says, 'normal'?" She tosses her head to make her large mane of glossy black hair bounce. "I'm just trying to get a feel for you. You're cute, for a white boy. But are you, like, serious? Or just, you know, into the fur?"
"I am no boyfriend material." Gui says, pausing a bit to give it weight. "One day I will be, but not now. I am not ready for it and I am not going to lie to you." He shrugs.
"You are beautiful, different, and I would really like to kiss you. Perhaps more, if you want to... but I am promising noting more dan dat." He explains to her, keeping his eyes on hers. "I will not tink less of you, or more, if you want dis as well or if you do not."
"I want to share with you e nice moment, noting more, but I completely understand if dis is someting against your beliefs."
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"YES that's is great! I had a phase in grade school where all I wanted was a dragon friend and now you're my friend and I don't want you sad all of the time because we're not as structured as your old team, high five!" Chroknight says, before giving Indarius a high five. "Also I can't seem to lie and oh hey it's Max!"
Chroknight goes and retrieves Beebee to bring her over to the devilish Star. "Max, you have to help with tail fashion, because she's got a great tail but I have no idea how to help. Also you look like a Disney Princess if they did a movie about Hell. Have you met my bird?"
CORVIS caws at Max, hopping about on Chroknight's shoulder.
Max returns Tim's smile, her perfect teeth white and dazzling. "I'd love to get you to know you, too."
Of course, Max already began the process of learning about Tim earlier in the day, cyberstalking his socials...
She turns to Chroknight and Beebee as they approach. "Oh! Yes, you seem to have grown rather cute tails!" she says with a giggle. Her own tail wags back and forth behind her, seeming to leave a trail of glowing glitter with each movement. "And, uh, you made a crow friend? Hello, CORVIS."
As Indy drinks, Sam smiles. Not one of her small ones, but a real one with dimples. "Thank you" she says to both of them, before she is accosted by Phalanx, no Jessie "Interesting" Sam-Deer leans in and smells her/him, "Hmmm" the drink and smoke is getting to her. Her slightly glassy eyes look up at her teammate with her friend trapped inside "If amicable, you both should consider experimentation, given the short amount of time this will probably last, though only with the others permission." her head tilts thinking and catches a passing person's arm on the straighten, making their drink shoot into the air.
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Indy shakes the now empty bottle and curses at himself, too many liquids not enough solid food. He feels the magic roiling within him, but it's so pitiful in comparison to his own natural state.
"Well I am a dragon and I am your buddy so, two for two?" He returns the highfive from Chro, looks behind them and Sam to see Archie, "Hey Arch you got food too right?"
Whatever magic was within the potion seems stifled for now, but with Indy's slowly deteriorating inhibitions he starts to lose focus on keeping it at bay.
Andromeda was not having a great time. The jalapeno seltzer was probably good, but it didn't have enough heat to taste, she wasn't sure if she'd caught enough of the smoke, but she felt fuzzy anyways. And now Gui was leaning in close to a sexy cat, and the tin can wouldn't stop being weird, and now even Sam was talking about experiments that didn't sound like the kind of experiments Sam was supposed to talk about, which made whatever was happening with Archie and the bug girl even weirder.
I need to go; I can't bother any of them while they're having fun though. Ava just got here...
"Eliana, the sun's not up, but can you take me outside? I feel weird."
"Not 'Arch', but 'Jess'" Sam tells Indy, grasping his arm to pull him toward her and out of the way of the spilled drink. Sam's reflexes have increased thanks to the Flight portion surging through her blood. "My roommate" she looks back to Indy but her antlers smack against Jessie's arm, letting only her eyes track all the way back. "Assumptions and observations point toward magical body swapping due to consumption."
Archie laughs at Sam's suggestion. "Knock yourself out, I ain't ashamed of what I've got going on." He flashes a sly smile, then moves to find another drink and begins sipping. "It is a party after all. Hey Ryan! Look I'm a girl, and Jessie's me. Isn't that crazaay." He calls over.
As Indy inquires about the food situation, he turns to him. "Well, I had dupes on a pizza run, but I'm no longer in control of them." He laughs like this is all so fun and not in the least bit concerning.
Ne'veah takes a moment to consider Gui's offer, then says, "F#~& it." She grabs him by the shirt and pulls him forward to kiss him full on the mouth! Gui finds her tongue rough as it plays with his own, coaxing him to feel her sharp canines in her mouth. She lets go of his shirt and runs her fingers through his hair, the tips of her claws lightly scratching his scalp and keeping him locked into the kiss until she finally lets go to come up for air.
"Well?" she asks, studying his reaction.
Eliana, meanwhile, nods once to Andromeda. "Yes. The earth will be cool and nourishing." She crooks a finger and bids her to follow, taking a direct route outside.
The outside air is crisp and refreshing compared to the smoke-haze of Archie's room. Eliana continues walking, guiding Andromeda towards the manicured gardens. "I was once an elf, you know. In another life, another world. One of magic and wonder, but it contained dangers. I died to a savage wolf creature. My sister, Kyana, failed to avenge my death, but she brought me back. As the being you now see before you."
She stops in a clear patch of soft grass and damp soil. "This will be a good spot for you. The sun will rise in a few hours, right over those treetops" she points off to the east.
Indarius finally shifts as the magic takes effect. His normally whitish gray scales turn to bright and vibrant colors like reds and yellows! His wings turn rigid and split down the middle while similar bright colors pool into swirls along the membranes, morphing into colorful butterfly's wings!
"Oh!" Gwen exclaims. "You're beautiful! Like a faerie dragon!"
Tim glances over at Indy's transformation while Max is occupied with Chroknight. "Huh. Surprised that had any effect on him," he says to himself.
A fair amount of attention has been paid to the Mathers' kids after their father's notoriety became a thing. Septimus, or Tim, is the youngest of the seven children and the topic of much speculation in cape watch circles. It's generally known that he was expelled from his private school in the upstate after a mysterious incident that was described by the authorities as "most assuredly NOT demonic possession."
A few former classmates have provided some comments on the message boards claiming that he was always talking about making deals and arrangements with powerful entities. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, it seems. Playing up Max's demonic side would likely be too much for Tim to resist.
Jessie blinks heavily at Sam and her own body. "Experiment? Like, you mean, experiment?" She tugs at the shirt Archie chose to wear and looks down at her masculine chest. "This is so weird. And am I, like, high?"
Ryan is fighting with his floor-length hair when Archie calls out to him. He looks up. "Cool dude! I mean, Babe! Too bad you're not wearing something hotter! You should, like, change into some lingerie or something! You could be a total babe!"
Jessie gasps at the suggestion. She looks her body up and down while her face gets red. Then it gets even redder. She rushes over to Tim. "How long is this going to last!?!"
He shrugs nonchalantly. "Depends. The less magic potential you have, the longer it'll last. But probably not more than a day or two."
Max lowers her voice and leans closer to Tim. ”So, what’s a demon got to do to get a real drink around here? I’d sell my soul for some tequila if I hadn’t already.” Her breath is warm on his cheek, and her tail idly brushes against his leg.
At Jessie's use of inflection, Sam looks back at her and tilts her head "experiment? Yes, unique experiences allow for data collection that you can retain for the rest of your life." her head tilt straightens, and she breaths in again deeply, the various herbs in the air entering her again making her eyes glass even more. They blink slowly as her threads grabs a passing drink, something clear like water, but as sip burns hard as it goes down.
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CORVUS caws at Sam, before Chroknight is there next to her. "Real quick, drink one of these between the fun stuff," They tell Sam, putting a bottle of water in her threads. "You're gonna be extra dehydrated without it. Also if you're taking any psych meds, probably should stop drinking anything but water to be safe."
They pat Sam on her head. "I actually finding difficult to get intoxicated since I got my powers...when I... d... j... f...."
Chroknight gets quiet suddenly. "...I can't lie."
Jessie-in-Archie's-body lets out a surprisingly feminine shriek.
Tim just laughs in her face. "Yeah, it's all kinds of fun. Ta-ta," he says with a dismissive wave. He turns back to Max who draws him in with a sultry question about finding some tequila.
"Hell to the yeah! You are hot as f%+#!" Tim says, leaning in to feel Max's breath. He looks forlornly to the remainder of his potions and the few remaining partiers who haven't taken one yet, including Johnny (who is engaged in a deep discussion with Beebee), Matt, Carlos, Liam, Gui and Ne'veah.
"Fine, whatever. I'll hear about it later. Tequila, you say? Have you ever had Mezcal? Or Soulveza?" He tugs her toward the exit. "Say, you're not one of those transactional demons, right? I mean, I could probably come up with a few favors..."
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Sam drinks the water, chugging the bottle, blub blub blub, as she listens to Chronknight. Curiosity flares bright in her green eyes as they speak that last sentence. Sam opens her mouth to ask about everything!! wanting information on everything all the time.
Her matrix even stronger (behind muffles of intoxication), playing a video she herself recorded when she joined this team.
"You want to be a good person, Sa-man-tha Murphy" she recites from herself telling herself, with a little slur "Good people do not pry into teee-mates pri-va-rate? lives." that second glass is hitting her hard. "Unless... you want to tell me?" she blinks at the time master, deciding asking that makes prying okay.
Andromeda steps outside, the brisk air doing nothing to make her feel less fuzzy and prickly, and the stars above not telling her a single thing she should do.
She follows Eliana's instructions and gets set in the soil. "Have you attended many parties like this? On either world?"
"Let's save talk of favors for somewhere more private," Max purrs as she allows Tim to lead her away. "I do enjoy some mezcal, though."
Ne'veah takes a moment to consider Gui's offer, then says, "F+!! it." She grabs him by the shirt and pulls him forward to kiss him full on the mouth! Gui finds her tongue rough as it plays with his own, coaxing him to feel her sharp canines in her mouth. She lets go of his shirt and runs her fingers through his hair, the tips of her claws lightly scratching his scalp and keeping him locked into the kiss until she finally lets go to come up for air.
"Well?" she asks, studying his reaction.
There was no way for Gui to pretend not to be as surprised as he was. It was a lot of new things, all at once. The canines he did expect, but he had not thought about the tongue, even if he does have a cat. He was aware of the claws, but even so they surprised him. "Dat was... wild, in every way."
"I tink..." He starts, pressing himself closer to her and slipping a hand on the small of her back, close to her tail. In just about every cat he had ever pet, that was one of the magical spots, so he thought it might be a good idea. Felt, actually, since thinking was a bit of a stretch. "... tink I have not formed an opinion yet. I need to try once more."
Back in the party room, the illusions on the wall become more catlike and a bit more provocative.
Sam sees the other person struggling, making her brow furrow and her chest tighten, so she reaches out and touches their arm. "Its okay" the matrix says that is the proper thing to say even though Sam does not know what thing is okay.
"...CORVIS, keep your eye on Beebee, please," Chroknight requests. The bird caws in response and flutters closer to their best friend. It also gave them time to consider the request.
"...I'll tell you one thing we have in common. My mother died," Chroknight says to her, unloading some stress. "So yeah, when it comes to mother issues at least, I'm in your corner."
They struggle with the next part. "...I think Shard might be responsible for her death. It's why I went after him so hard when he showed up. I don't have any proof, just conjecture. I...can't say more without getting into my identity."
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Surprise lit Sam's very being. The grief she keeps safely filed away in a very secure cabinet shudders to get out, to share something she never thought to seek.
Mutual misery, she assumes would be it, but still she yearns for it.
But the grief stays in place. She does know when she was so utterly broken one thing her father did helped more than anything.
So Sam steps into the armored person, slipping her softly Doe-ed arms around their waste, and simply hugs them. Tight.
After enough time, she whispers "thank you... and next time, I will help you, I promise."
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"Not 'Arch', but 'Jess'" Sam tells Indy, grasping his arm to pull him toward her and out of the way of the spilled drink. Sam's reflexes have increased thanks to the Flight portion surging through her blood. "My roommate" she looks back to Indy but her antlers smack against Jessie's arm, letting only her eyes track all the way back. "Assumptions and observations point toward magical body swapping due to consumption."
Indy was dense but caught off guard even he could be moved by someone as petite as Sam. He turns his head to see the other drink clatter to the ground, thankfully aluminum and not glass. In doing so he catches Sam's antler with his own horn for a moment stopping her momentum. "Sorry. Do you still feel Archie's -urp- extras Jess? Oh also that's really cool that there was a body swap potion. Could be useful outside of the party trick scene."
Indarius finally shifts as the magic takes effect. His normally whitish gray scales turn to bright and vibrant colors like reds and yellows! His wings turn rigid and split down the middle while similar bright colors pool into swirls along the membranes, morphing into colorful butterfly's wings!"Oh!" Gwen exclaims. "You're beautiful! Like a faerie dragon!"
"Yeah a.. thanks, Faerie dragon?Yourprettytoo" He cocks his head back to see the delicate split wings, and makes a face. He then reaches back and grabs his tail which seems to have curled up tightly. "Woah that's.. weird." His mind seems to gloss over the implication that fae stuff might actually be involved in these for now.
CORVUS caws at Sam, before Chroknight is there next to her. "Real quick, drink one of these between the fun stuff," They tell Sam, putting a bottle of water in her threads. "You're gonna be extra dehydrated without it. Also if you're taking any psych meds, probably should stop drinking anything but water to be safe."
They pat Sam on her head. "I actually finding difficult to get intoxicated since I got my powers...when I... d... j... f...."
Chroknight gets quiet suddenly. "...I can't lie."
After finishing his self-examination Indy looks to Chro, "Pretty dangerous situation to be in while wearing a mask. Maybe we should go help the Archie clones with the Zaa's cause we are 'all' gonna nee'some food." He gently nudges Sam, "Get her some air, me too, you three. Smokes getten to me."
Eliana gets a far-off look in her eyes that reflect the starlight. "When our quests were over, my companions and I would celebrate in a mighty feast hall. We ate, we drank, we would often pair up according to our preferences. So yes, I have experienced similar revelries." She spins and twirls as if she could still hear the music, her feet bare against the dew-laden grass. "The fae magic the warlock brought was a new twist, I must say."
She stops her impromptu dance and stares into Andromeda's eyes. "How are you feeling, my lovely willow?"
Outside Archie's room, Gui continues to make out with the catgirl. "So, how many times are you going to need before you've made up your mind?" Ne'veah whispers, then kisses Gui again. She grabs his hands from the small of her back and guides them to her ass. "I don't have all night, especially if you want to move on to other things." Slipping her hands underneath Gui's shirt, she runs them up and down his chest.
* * *
Inside Archie's dorm room, CORVIS hops over to watch Beebee moon over Johnny while playing with her gigantic fuzzy tail. She's in the process of showing off her scar where she had been shot when the crow begins observation mode.
* * *
"A day or two of experiments," Jessie mutters to herself. She stares blankly into space for a few minutes, then looks over to Archie in her body. "Ground rules. We need to set some ground rules."
* * *
Tim leads Max up a flight of stairs to reach his dorm room. He makes a few gestures that remind Max of Connie before she would enter her room back at Hal-Prep. "Gotta take down some wards, otherwise you'll be left out in the hallway. Can't have that," he says, then flings open his door.
The walls of his single-person room is covered in arcane runes and sigils, while candles are arranged in intricate patterns on the floor. "Don't worry; the summoning circle's not active right now," Tim says as he kicks several of the candles out of the way. He moves to an iron-bound chest shoved up against the far wall and knocks on it three times. He listens for a moment, then unlatches the heavy locks and opens it. A red swirling mist starts to pour out and he hastily slams it back shut again. He raps on it again three more times, and this time when he opens it the chest is full of bottles of booze!
"Let's see... Mezcal, where you at? Aha!" He stands up holding a bottle triumphantly. His mission complete, Tim is once again drawn into Max's beauty. "So," he begins with a smile as he uncorks the bottle and takes a swig, "shall we discuss favors?"
"You're an eager one," Max says with a smirk. She glances around the room, taking in its arcane accoutrements. "You seem to be well versed in magic. Are your interests solely focused on things devilish and demonic, or do they expand to broader areas? Alien beings from other worlds, maybe?"
She holds a hand out for the mezcal bottle.
"Yeah. Good. This would be much more comfortable if I wasn't wearing a quarter-inch of future tech," Chroknight tells Sam, hugging her back before letting go. "Now let's keep enjoying ourselves but maybe also no more alcohol until your head is clear again, okay?"
They gesture to Indarius. "You give her some air, and clear the air between you two for real. I'm going to keep an eye on things and make sure everyone's being safe." They flex their fingers, briefly tuggin on the left ring finger. "Nothing brings a party down like someone taking too much to handle."
They settle in for now, feeling calmer, but still anxious. Keeping their eye on Beebee and pondering how one might expedite the removal of a fuzzy tail. They were also a little bit still concerned about Darren's suspicion. Maybe CORVIS could sense things they couldn't?
"CORVIS, analysis mode. Subject: Johnny," They request, trying to figure out his deal.
"Yes, you are amazing." Gui says immediately as Ne'veah guides his hands to her ass, which he does explore. It takes him some effort move move a hand away from her and reach for the door knob of his room, which was just across from Archie's.
As he pulls her into his room and is about to close the door, he glimpses back at the party and sees his illusions on the walls. Nothing but a miracle, for sure. He wills them to vanish.
The door closed, Gui releases his illusions once more, now turning his room into a jungle clearing. The moon is bright and the sky full of stairs. There is a nearby river and waterfall and the sound of birds and insects fill the room.
Gui playfully pushes her to his bed and takes of his shirt, revealing a small fur on his body. His hair was now a bit longer and clearly resembling the mane of a lion. "You are still de queen of de pride... unless you would prefer for me to be de king."
Sam might be feeling the party a little much, but she still has a mind that is brilliant beyond sense. Chronknight's advice correlates to millions of hours of social media videos showing just what happens when someone feels it too much.
So she turns to her leader... adjusting her mindset... former leader, which makes frown. "I've never been to a party, so I do not have the litmus test parameters needed to understand when it is 'too much to handle'" she looks up at Inarius. "Are we at that point already?"
Tim passes the mezcal while chuckling. "Pfft. Demons, devils, fey, things-that-shall-not-be-named, I've dealt with all kinds. None as hot as you, though. Now when you say 'aliens,' you mean the Outer Entities, or just, like, dudes from other planets like Ordnance?"
Ne'veah lets her be pulled into the adjacent dorm room. While he's closing the door, she pulls off her top revealing a sleek and muscled torso covered in fine, soft fur. She marvels at the illusions transforming the room into a jungle paradise and looks back at him. "What the f%**?!?" she reacts when he's given himself a bit of fur and a lion's mane.
"Is this what you think I want? That I need you to be Jungle Lion Man or something? I grew up in North Halcyon!" She gets off the bed and picks up her shirt. As she starts to put it back on, Ne'veah points to herself. "And this? Panther, not lion. F@~+ing idiot."
"... losing a lot of blood, but I didn't realize it at the time. If it wasn't for Chroknight--" Beebee turns away from Johnny to look around the room and waves quickly at the armored hero -- "I'd be dead! You know Chroknight, right?"
"Oh, uh, yeah. Fought Shard together. I nearly died too! But, I'm good as new. Not even a scar." He follows Beebee's eyes and gives Chroknight a nod.
Beebee grabs her tail and runs the tuft of it under her chin. "This tail is super soft. You want to feel it? I'm super stoked for being here. Chroknight invited me, and would've also brought my friend Chloe except she had to work. She's going to be super jealous. But in a good friend way, not, like, in a mean way. I'm saying 'super' a lot." She turns to the side so her tail can wave in front of Johnny.
He pets it gently, then holds it up against his cheek. "Yeah, 'super' soft. Feels nice. You know, you're pretty cool. No powers, and you're still like, 'hey, I'll come to a super party and not be intimidated.'"
Beebee giggles. "Well, I have super tail powers right now."
"Powers don't define a person." Johnny replies. "You can still be super." Beebee appears to melt.
Surprised, Gui takes a step back, raises his hands in apology and dismisses the illusions on himself. "You call yourself Panter Pride. I know you are no lioness and I am not assuming you want or need anything." He pauses. "I did not think it trough."
"I am sorry if I heve offended you. I for sure did not want dat... We were having e good time. I'm not stupid to trow it away for noting." He then points to his illusions. "My illusions are an extension of my mind. It is... complicated, but many times if I do not have dem actively doing someting, dere is de risk of dem doing someting on deir own."
He sighs. "No, dat is not de only reason... I was showing off e bit. Dis place is full of amazing people and I wanted to feel de seme. I know I have f$@!ed up."
"I really do not want to ruin your night. Is dere anyting I can do to compensate for dis f@#! up?"
Peace fills Andromeda - from the stars, the earth, the girl?
It's everywhere within her, spreading from the ends of her fingers, her toes, her ears, her nose into a feeling of more tranquility than she can almost remember.
The tension and strain in her body ebbs. Her headache stops for the first time since she joined the team, and the silence of her pain receptors almost leaves a ringing in her brain like a mental tinnitus.
"... They used to freeze me to calm me down like this. There's a hypothermic sweetspot where I can control myself better. Eventually they decided that more nerve damage wasn't worth the experiments since I still didn't have finesse. I knew how much it was going to hurt later, but the peace was nice."
She turns to look at Eliana. "That's what this feels like; are you going to hurt me?"
Ne'veah glares at Gui as he apologizes, scowling. She stays silent a long time while she thinks about what he said.
"Okay. I'll give you one chance. Get rid of this jungle s@+%. Do you have a mirror? A big one?"
She digs out her phone and pulls up a photo gallery. She shows a picture of a cute black girl in a volleyball uniform. She swipes to show several other photos, all of the same girl. "That's me before the change. You can put an illusion over me, right? I want you to make out with me like this." She taps the image on the phone with a claw.
"Think you can handle that? This is your chance to 'show off.'"
The otherworldly light in Eliana's eyes dims, making her look more human. It flickers for a moment and then the fey light returns. "I would never hurt you. I know the ways of mankind; I know how they would hurt. How simply being was torment. Well, I sacrificed that life for this one. My queen does not demand much in return."
Her voice is musical. "You can sleep in my care. I will tend to you, help you grow and flourish. No pain, ever. 'They' cannot reach you here."
The jungle vanishes. Usually Gui takes care with the ways his illusions disappear, as if making they do so organically, but not now. In the blink of an eye there was nothing else but his bare simple room, which is somewhat messy.
"I have one behind my door." He points out to a full body mirror and gently pulls her towards it. "But it is also very easy to meke one for you."
He takes a look at her phone and with almost no effort he covers her with an illusory layer of her old self. "You were also pretty hot before de change."
The copy is perfect, at least about what he could see in the photos. Her cat-ears were covered by her hair, her claws turned into long nails, and her tail was gone. "I can only hide your tail if you keep it close to your legs," Gui explains, "and I can only replikete what I can see." As he moves between photos, he makes a small correction to her navel.
Once the image is complete, he moves her in front of the mirror so she can see it for herself. "I can only trick our eyes, so to de touch you will still feel your fur... oh, and unless you also have nudes of yourself or you guide me through it, you'll need to settle for whatever my unconscious mind considers to be e nice shepe." At this point, it was a wild guess if he'd be able to see her naked, but still he thought it better to open the game and not have her freak out later because her nipples weren't like they used to be or whatever.
He then shuts up. Not sure how important this was to her, even if he had an inkling that it was actually something significant.
Since her teammate doesn't answer right away, Sam's threads snatch two bottles of beer and raises one to him. "Analysis requires data. Data requires actions to stimulate flow." data tells her clinking bottles is the norm. Which she does "To the cessation of order and the saturation of chaos." her matrix was queried to find how to congratulate him on retiring from leadership even though she found the act worrisome at best, and this is what it gave her. "My fictional entities created to control the masses have mercy on our souls, also fictional."
Then she drinks, long pull, making her threads weave around almost like a dance.
"I mean, Johnny, I actually kind of do believe that powers help to define us," Chroknight interjects. "I mean, not just your flying brick powers or anything else people here do that got them enrolled, but having money or authority or privilege. How we use that defines who we are, and that's usually how we can tell the difference between the bad guys and the good guys."
Having fully soured the moment in a fit of getting on a truth soapbox, Chroknight continues. "Anyways, you're super hot Johnny, so use your hotness wisely lest you end up on the dark side. Beebee, let me know when you're ready to go," They tell her, leaving CORVIS to keep an eye on Beebee while taking a lap of the rest of the party.
They end up close to Gui's room, noting the illusory effects happening that make Ne'veah looks like she did when Chloe knew her from cross-church picnics. They wondered how it might be simpler or harder for Chloe if time powers came with freaky fins or fangs.
"...Gui, you are...also very hot. It's honestly a struggle believing that it's all natural and not in some way enhanced with your powers like Photoshop."
Tim passes the mezcal while chuckling. "Pfft. Demons, devils, fey, things-that-shall-not-be-named, I've dealt with all kinds. None as hot as you, though. Now when you say 'aliens,' you mean the Outer Entities, or just, like, dudes from other planets like Ordnance?"
"Bigger than Ordnance," Max says. Her heart starts to beat faster as she remembers what happened in the museum, and she quickly knocks back a swig of the mezcal, wincing as it burns down her throat. "Ever heard of Akhenaten the Star Pharoah? I've been hearing some rumors that he might be turning his attention to this world again. If you've got any intel on him, I'd certainly appreciate learning what you know. Perhaps we can come to a mutually beneficial exchange. You scratch my back, and..."
She raises an eyebrow and lets Tim's imagination fill in the rest.
Beebee initially looks shocked at Chroknight's intrusion, then her face twists as the Janus disputes Johnny's sentiment. Her tail fluffs out wide as her face registers irritation mixed with an effort to hold her tongue.
"You got me there," Johnny concedes to Chroknight. He turns back to Beebee. "You got to go soon?"
"Nope!" she replies pointedly. She immediately resumes flirting with Johnny when they leave.
Ne'veah stares at her reflection with the illusion of her old self overlaid on her current form for a long time. She growls slightly at his mention of nudes, glancing at him with venom in her eyes, and keeps her top on. He doesn't have to guess much, since a couple pics are selfies of Ne'veah in exercise wear exposing her taut midriff.
Chroknight's sudden interruption is met with a warning hiss. "Heard of knocking?" she snaps. Her voice drops low and threatening. "You tell anyone about this and I will end you."
"... and you'll leave it open ended? I like the sound of that." He smirks while lacing his fingers behind his head.
"Star Pharoah, huh? It rings a bell. You want a full dossier, or just the basics?"