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Something about the way Crystal said it makes Blaze reconsider. But perhaps that addition was just what it took to tip the scales of fate... "Look, think about it this way. There was an attempted robbery on us just yesterday. Do you really think we *wouldn't* have a short line to the gendarmes tonight? Face it. This is a really bad idea."
"What, you think we *wouldn't* have a short line to them after that attack yesterday?" Blaze sees a version of him add, playing along. Unfortunately, that does not seem to go over well, so he shuts up and leaves it to Crystal. 'T was clear these gents only spoke the language of violence.
Blaze reaches under the table and grabs the wand of mage armor, and, looking away from the bandits (?, casts it on himself before answering. He points at the wheel with it, attempting to disguise it as part of the Ghoulette game.
Afterwards, unless immediately attacked, he diverts his attention to the troublemakers. "Gentlemen! Why these base assumptions? Saul runs an entirely above the table establishment. Why, just yesterday, one particularly lucky contestant won in excess of two hundred gold!" He deliberately doesn't look at River, who was now working for Saul. "Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. That's simply a fact of life, and a risk for playing in a gambling hall. Surely you were aware of this before placing any bets? No one made you do it, for one. Why don't you have a drink and leave this behind you? The last person who tried to rob us e handed over to the gendarmes less than an hour later - along with their boss."
'Guess I'll sell the lot, buy these two wands and keep this other one for myself. Shocking people might be useful in a pinch."
After doing his purchases, Blaze leaves the store and heads towards the church to discuss the sponsorship deal, then he returns to the bar to see if he could help River.
Blaze, who'd been an awkward third wheel during this shopping trip, frowns at Crystal's last remark and throws a worried look at Gale. "...Is that right? ...Well, seeing as you both seem to have fun, I'll go and sell the pauper's stuff for things that'll be more useful to us in a fight. If either of you is against buying that armor wand or one with lots of healing magic, now would be a good time to speak." Not really expecting a response when Crystal was busy picking expensive jewelry with River's gift, he still lingers at the side for a while just in case, then heads for the closest Ye Olde Magic Shoppe he knew.
Blaze nods and rejoins his friends. "Right. So the boss agreed to sponsor the church. He's leaving it to us to work out the details. And it seems River has a plan for Tamar as well." He leans back in his chair and regards the railing of the hall above. "If what the boss suspects is true, there could be another fight tonight. Probably a good idea to go shopping and make sure we're ready in case we're dragged in anyway."
"Glad you agree, boss. Will you contact the Father yourself or should we do it? I think River mentioned the operating costs for the church are around five gold per week."
"So you see, Lar just tasked us with finding good business opportunities for the hall and I was thinking..."
"Sure. I could do that."
Blaze chuckles at the trick. "Not bad. Could always have you serve flashy drinks if you get tired of manning the gambling tables." At the mention of business opportunities, he sits back and thinks. "What about sponsoring that Sarenrite church the Pauper was in? Think the only reason they allowed the pauper in was because the Father had no choice. At the very least, it's good PR, might draw in a few clients, and we could hang a sign somewhere that says a portion of the profits go to good causes. Might make people spend more?"
He looks back at the bar where Tamar works. "Don't think he'll be seeing that crew of his again soon. That island has some pretty vicious monsters. Though somehow, people keep going there, convinced there's lots of treasure... 'suppose rumors can kill if they're enticing enough."
Blaze doesn't deign Gale's quip worthy of a verbal response and sighs in tandem with River. After eating, he nods at Crystal's inquiry. "Good question." He leans back to see if he can spot Larur somewhere. "Hey Lar!" he calls out. "Anything around the place we can help with? Do the craftmen think we can open tonight, or are we free for today?"
"Not making yourself useful, for one." Blaze answers Gale, rolling his eyes with the weight of a full century of putting up with this. "And not half the man your sister is." He briefly grins at River and sits down. "Still, touche. The two of you did get us. Now let's eat and see if we can help out around here, hm? Don't want the boss thinking all we think about is sex."
Blaze quickly steps forward. "Okay Lar, listen, I know this looks pretty bad. But you see... Crystal has a this exotic skin disease and Gale is just applying some ointment to it. It's like really, REALLY ichy. And disfiguring, the kind of stuff no mortal should ever see. The guy deserves a medal, all right. let's just let him work in peace?"
He glances down at the food. "Actually, you hungry Lar? We have some great..." Heart-shaped eggs "...Sandwiches I'm sure you'd like!"
"Yeah. And here I was pretending not to notice when I took a shower yesterday..." He facepalms. "So do you think we could look any less professional to the boss right now?"
"All right, guess I'll go with the ancient wyrm disaster! Never underestimate Crystal, I'd say." He continues to make some of the heart shaped eggs, toast and a few sandwiches before returning with River.
After taking one look at the situation, he simply turns to River. "So, about that bet..."
Once there he has no compunctions about getting the ifrit to heat the water for him until its just right for coffee. Blaze doesn't even blink and just takes the kettle in both hands, slowly warming it. However, there were places to go and people to tease, so cheating was in order. All he needed was some way to increase his body temperature a bit. Usually embarassing thoughts did the trick but there was also that one time of River in her swimwear on the beach and- He looks down as the water was boiled in a matter of seconds. "So, now that they're sort of a thing *again*, are you up for that old game we used to do? You know, betting on the awkwardness we're going to walk in on, from a scale of one to 'ancient wyrm disaster'? I kinda miss that. Care to place a bet?" Smiling wistfully, perhaps slightly theatrically, he reaches up the shelf for a heart-shaped baking form. "Though we could also add to things by 'accidentally' making heart-shaped sunny-side ups. If you're feeling evil enough today." He nods towards her, mischief abound on his features.
"Define 'proper' food, Crys. We have a chef for the nights, but he tends in come in somewhere mid-afternoon to begin his prep work. Disadvantage of a nighttime job." Blaze explains, taking a sup from his tea. "Think we might be on our own, but I wouldn't be against making you all something myself. Gotta eat too, you know. Could whip up some fruity pancakes, or some sandwitches. And maybe Alorea here can fix you some hot coffee?" He throws Gale a teasing grin and lazily gets up to head to the kitchen.
"I'm sure he'll be happy to see you. Or die in fright." Blaze's smirk turns to a half-smile. "We could always go to some other gambling hall if you miss the other side, Riv. Just don't get us thrown out too quickly, would you? 'least not before my Vision earns me enough for the next spell." He throws the water elementalkin a conspiritual wink.
"'Morning you two," Blaze's voice cuts in, just as he sets himself down at the breakfast table. He throws a tentative look at Alorea and smirks. "So, no fallout yet? Congratulations! And now we're all colleagues too. Was a pretty eventful first day at work, no?"
As they walk through the dark (for humans) streets, River squeezes Blaze a little tighter. "Thank you Blaze." He doesn't elaborate but the moment is full of significance none-the-less. "Hm? For what?" When there is no response, he shrugs but holds River a bit closer. "You too." When Crystal and Gale straight into Crystal's room Blaze and River linger awkwardly in the corridor for a few moments. "Well... goodnight." River says eventually, turning to Blaze and pressing a gentle kiss to his cheek. "You can have the furthest room. It'll be quieter for your preparations in the morning." "Right. That works. Night." Blaze seems slightly dazed. Then he looks him/her in the eye and begins to lean in... only to stop. "I... don't want to hurt you. It's just... I have trouble doing this when you're a guy. And there's my Vision too. I'm sorry." He gives her a final hug and retreats. "Sleep well, River." Back in his room, he quickly locks the door and leans back against the frame. "Sertse, go to your post. I need a long, LONG and cold shower."
"There's some upsides but... I feel like we miss out on so much more... we're probably going to end up together in some island in the middle of the ocean or something." He tries for a smile, but Blaze can see the glimmer in the corner of his deep blue eyes. "You'd come and visit right?" "Hey now, don't cry. Think I'd ever let the two of suffer through some lonely existence? Hah! I tried that, and can't say I'd recommend it to anyone," Initially joking, he quickly sobers up. "And... you know I would right? I'd just... um, get better at magic and fly over there. Or teleport. I'd get it down eventually. Supposedly, there's magic that can solve any problem." He gives River a one-armed hug just as Gale and Crystal start making out to the side, and he can't help but notice. "Huh. Maybe they'll end up together anyway? Though I hope the fallout is less bad this time if they don't. Think we should do something? Could just be the alcohol making them do things they wouldn't..." Blaze asks River, watching the proceedings with her.
"Umm... who got us into said assault on a crime lords base?" River counters, apparently without concern at Blaze addressing him as the wrong gender. "And besides, nothing was going to go wrong for me last night. The stars were right, the tide was flowing, I was just lucky. It was perfect. Everything about it was perfect." "And here I thought it was my job as the token 'impulsive Ifrit' to do so?" Blaze grins back. "But I'll grant you that. Today had some... shall we say, really good and rather public moments?" His hair goes back to blue and Sertse yelps up from his nestled position. Blaze only chuckles and pats the annoyed bird on the back. "Sorry boy. Can't control it." Just as the bird huffs and the cooler orange glow returns, he locks eyes with River and swallows once. "You know how confusing that gender swap thing is that you and your brother have going on? It's enough to drive any straight guy insane..."
Blaze's eyes glide down to their links arms. His hair briefly flared blue as he remembered bygone days, of walking/being dragged down the beach by River in his 'teenage' era, thirty or forty years ago. He'd never really liked that much water in one place, but he couldn't deny her anything either, which tended to lead to awkward compromises. But... those days had their charm. Simpler times when wondering how the other would take what you said were your largest worries. For now, he settled for huffing theatrically, and a flake of ash exits with his breath. "Hey, in my defense, there weren't that many people who wouldn't burn! Though..." His eyes meet River's and he looks away awkwardly. "I... guess I just figured I was setting a poor example for all of you somewhere along the way. Suppose that's just an 'older brother thing', even if it doesn't make that much sense on our timescale. Also had a lot of time to think on the road. I'll tell you about it someday." He suddenly stops. "Hey, wait a minute! What about you , miss gambling champion? What did I miss for you to suddenly be some kind of high roller in a seedy Casino, when I remember you being pretty timid? Heck, you went with all of us on a frontal assault of a crimelord's base without so much as a blink! That's pretty much the most impulsive thing out there!"
"Oh, it's just a little something yours truly has on offer..." Lavender offers an enigmatic shrug and smirk. After Crystal's dismissal of the woman, Blaze stays behind with River. He glances between his friend and Lavender, seemingly in doubt, but eventually sighs. "Can't today, I'm afraid. I do appreciate finding others resistant to my heat, however, as that's been... 'problematic' for such acts in the past. Though I'm sure being a Tiefling has more prevalent upsides in your line of work!" Glancing to the bar where it seemed Crystal and Gale were having fun, a hint of a smile forms on his features. "Besides, someone has to take care of the ladies we're already with. Don't think I'd forgive myself if something bad were to happen to 'em while I was out 'having fun'. Maybe some other time?" He looks at River to see if he/she agreed.
With his mind having mostly been on the gambling tournament and the reunion with his friends, Blaze has no clue what the fiery prostitute in front of them was talking about. "'Special'? Guess I must have missed something. What special?"
"It's Crystal's birthday." River replies. "I've had a good run and the tables so we came out to get some food afterwards." "Yeah, suppose the stew here is a guilty pleasure of mine. Name's Blaze. Nice meeting you, Miss Lavender. You look like someone who does good business here." Blaze grins and inclines his head in greeting, which coincidentally also allows him to give her figure a brief but appreciative look. "Can't say the place is dull, either. Wish I'd gotten to threaten the guy with an eternal pignose, but my friend here can be pretty scary when she wants to be." He winks at Alorea, then pauses to scratch his chin. "Actually, why do you say that, Lavender? Does this place have some reputation we're not aware off?"
Blaze frowns and his eyes slide to his crossbow. "Don't you think her usual clients around here will interfere on her behalf, too? At this time of night, she's probably here for a reason."
"Hm...?" Blaze follows the direction of the noise. Not knowing what it's about, he makes a basic assessment. "So whatever's happening there obviously isn't about us, and we could just leave it be. We've been in enough trouble today I'd reckon. Though if this escalates into a brawl we might end up in trouble anyway." He sighs. "What do you guys wanna do? For the record, I'm out of spells and my Vision hurts. Used too much of both today, I think."
Blaze nods along at the Crystal's explanation. That sounded like her, all right - nothing ever seemed good enough for her tastes, though the first person to admit that was probably a dead man. It certainly wouldn't be him! In a way, this 'flightly' aspect of her reminded him of Gale, though the first man to point that out'd problaly die twice . He did miss the theatrics, of the two of them trying to outdo the other in spinning the most incredulous tales. Unfortunately, it had gotten to a point that both of them were so good at lying that it was hard to tell exactly where the line of reality was crossed. Instead, he simply adds more hot sauce to his mystery stew. "Ah, good old Molly. Was always so doting over the younger kids that i'm surprised it took her so long to settle down. Wonder what caused that? Her pie was delicious, and she wasn't that bad of a looker too." He takes another swig of his ale, which partly combusts on the way in.
"Haha. Classy as ever. And we come from the same backwater village?" Blaze grins and shakes his head. "Let's say tonight's food is on the pauper. As is the rest of the next year or so, if this here dagger's really worth a thousand gold." He wistles as he gives the thing a few experimental twirls, only to quickly lose control and drop it on the floor planks. "Maybe I'll... ah, be better at this after I've had a few ales." His hair changes to a brief shade of blue as he attempts to joke it off, then reverts to yellow.
Wizard 2 Bab +1, +1 will, + 7 hp, +8 skill points (FCB), +1 level 0 spell, +1 level 1 spell. Skills: -Missing knowledges: 1 SP each (4/8)
"Sounds like a plan! Let's see if Crys is open to the idea. I know a few taverns around here, some of which even serve a good bite. ...So long as you like 'mystery stew', that is." He grins and leaves to grab his coat for the drinking trip.
"No! No, it's okay," Gale says quickly. "I think we should all have our own space. For prudence's sake." "So it's 'more prudent' if it's easier for you to sneak off to Crys' room alone? Got it! I'll have to remember that one." Blaze smirks from the doorway. "Anyway, nice for all of you to stick around - without even asking about the pay! Did you all miss me that much?"
"Piece of cake," Blaze says, grinning. "This guy is the Splithog Pauper - the mastermind who wanted to make a name for himself. Was actually holed up in the church his flunkies could direct us to. Not exactly the smartest thing to do, if I'm honest. Crys here knocked him out clean, and we got a lot of his letters too, if you care for a read." He pushes, then kicks the bound and unconscious body of the Pauper forward over the floor. "This other guy here is Angvar, also known as the arsonist who set fire to the hall. He claims to have done it 'accidentally' due to a scroll malfunction and that he was forced to do it because of some debt to Pauper McBigbrains." He rolls his eyes to show his opinion on it as he pushes the caster to the front. Then he smiles and motions to their muscled new 'friend'. "And this guy is Reg. He helped us deal with the Pauper in exchange for some money. Seems like a decent guy to have around. He's, ah, 'very straightforward', really strong, and possibly resistant to magic. Came with us afterwards since he's looking for more work, so maybe you want to give him a shot, Boss." Finished with his report, he looks to see if his companions had anything to add, then simply asks: "So what are you going to do with them now?"
"I'm sure he would. Just wanted to ask you again about that impressive 'drowning while standing on dry land trick' you can do to people. Just so he knows what'll happen if he causes trouble. Because it seems as though he's got nothing to offer that Saul wouldn't take from him anyway," Blaze replies, as he loads his crossbow for dramatic effect. He looks to the side. "Crys, would you do the honors of tying him up? We'll bring him to Saul and let him decide what to do. If this guy's lucky, he'll be pressed into service or something. I seem to recall we lost a lot of succibi who need replacing..."
He grins, clearly amused at the idea.
Blaze just blinks at the guy, then gently takes hold of Sertse and places him on his hand. "Get River for me, will you? He's downstairs somewhere." As the reptilian bird flies off, he sighs and turns to his other two companions to see if they had any opinions or input. Noticing Alorea watching silently, he continues. "So this genius claims to have torched the place accidentally . There were over a dozen people injured and my friend here's 100th birthday celerbration also got ruined because of you. Newsflash: You're not doing a good job dissuading us from dragging you to Saul. Not yet, at least. How are you going to make up for this?"
"Hmmm... not sure about this wand. Something with electricity? I'll need to study it some more later. For now, let's take all this stuff. I think Saul will want to be aware. Maybe other gangs were in on this attack, or maybe-" He breaks off as the group notices the missing Angvar cowering in the corner. Rising and standing next to the pauper's unconscious and bound body, Blaze simply crosses his arms. "Okay - explain away. First, Saul's got your girlfriend Thuvalia and your... maybe friends back at the gambling hall. Second - they talked. Third - a lot of innocent people got injured as a result of your pyromania. So please explain why we shouldn't take you to him right now?"
"Good to see you up, Crys. That was a nasty hit, and you've got quite a crack in your skin there. Need any help moving about?" Blaze asks, coming over to Gale and her. "If not, let's tie this guy up and search the floor. Maybe we'll find something useful. That arsonist might still be here somewhere, too." On the way out the door, resolving to give this room only a quick glance and search it thoroughly later, he lingers. "You know, if the two of you want a room together, I'm sure Saul can provide. Just ah, throwing that out there." He winks and exits the room with the Pauper's stuff in his backpack for temporary safekeeping, half-dragging the unconscious body of the man himself after him from beneath the shoulders.
"Well, here's the gold I promised, at least. I've known Saul to be a man of his word. Worked for him for a while now." Blaze hands Reg the fist full of gold. "Say, Reg, before you go visit the father, do you happen to know where Angvar is? He's the one who set fire to the gambling hall. I'm sure Saul will be pleased if you could point us to him, too."
Blaze looks at his money bundle and visibly takes out what has to be most, if not all of it. "Twenty gold. It's pretty much all I have. Gotta eat." He looks the orc up and down for a moment. "Or, if you'd prefer, I could do a good word in with Saul vankeskerkin for you. It's his casino that got burned, and he'll probably want to invest in added security. He can probably provide you with decent work."
"You know your boss just had a crew torch a place full of innocent people, right? If not us, lots of others will come for him. Is he really worth risking your life for, over and over?" Blaze asks the orc, backing up River as he casts a worried glance at the pronce form of Crystal. "Why don't we make a deal. We give you some gold and you walk away. Your boss in uncoscious, so he won't ever know what happened."
Blaze casts Daze on the orc! ...It's effectiveness remains to be seen!
"Sh*t! River, the Bell's about to fall! Cover me!" Making use of the orc being temporarily occupied fighting Crystal and missing, Blaze slips around River's back and does his very best to stall the disentangling rope! By a stroke of insane luck, the same vision that showed him the Bell crashing and undoubtedly doing massive damage to the church *also* showed him how to tie a knot!
Blaze, not one to hold much of a grudge against the orc - fair was fair, and that was QUITE an amazing scorpion throw! - sees an opportunity in the immediate future! "Cover your ears!" he shouts, then slams his foot down on the ground! What results is a shockwave that reverbs towards the pauper, attempting to knock him flat on his ass! ...He does his best to ignore the no doubt resulting cacophany of noise resulting from using a quake-like spell in the church's bell room.
Unfortunately, there were times when Blaze's foresight just conveniently shut itself off, as if it liked to mess with him on purpose. Fortunately, Blaze wasn't by himself! Seeing his habitat threatened by the sudden invasion of a predator, Sertse rises himself on Blaze's shoulder to his full, majestic length of about seven inches! He screeches in the most adoringly intimidating way possible and attempts to kick the scorpion straight from his master/ his slave's face with his taloned leg!
Whether or not he breaks free, he then walks back towards the back of the group. "The things I do for my friends..." he says with a grin trying to act all cool about it.
"He's stalling. We can't let him get away!" Blaze says, then starts heading down the hall.
Blaze continues to mess with the guy's mind. When your future was uncertain, you tended to stumble!
Blaze casts another daze at the new closest target, and lets out an odd sigh of relief.
In his immediate glimpse into the future, Blaze sees himself shoot a crossbow and hit Crystal in the back. Yeah, the oncoming melee would make things difficult. Fortunately he had River to... The same glimpse into the future has River dropping to the floor and splashing around a puddle of water like a fish. He quickly ends the vision. 'Ok Blaze, that was an inaccurate one! Yes, VERY inaccurate. Let's NEVER remember this one again.' Instead, he casts a spell on the splithog pauper.
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