708/Completely Random Scene OF DESTINY

Completely Random Scene OF DESTINY
Date of Scene:	01 October 2014
Location:	Bar and Grill at the Edge of the Multiverse
Synopsis:	Fox Metroids, E-tanks, & Pinkie Pies. Also a Random MtG game breaks out.
Cast of Characters:	27, Staren, 269, Theo Morrison, 470, 513, 516, Inga, 569

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Ferham (516) has posed:
     Why is a big buxom and gorgeous femmebot like Ferham hanging out in a bar and grill? Well because she can, that's why. She's off at one of the tables relaxing with a drink in front of her, likely something alcoholic mixed with an E-can, because if you're gonna do something, you might as well do it properly and push it as far as you can go. so yes, glass with crushed ice, vodka, blue can sitting nearby (that she may or may not have been able to order on the spot and she rests one elbow against a knee and rests her chin in the palm, legs crossed. She seems to be enjoying the evening, more or less, her red wings folded behind her. Looks like she's enjoying some peace and time off after her little 'play-date' with the Blindside group.

Staren has posed:
    Staren has just sat down to dinner. Normally, he eats at home, or occasionally gets fast food in Lazlo. Sometimes he goes further afield, to try otherworldly food. But the Bar & Grill is a place where he can try food from all over the multiverse! Sometimes, he looks for weird things on the menu...

    A plate is set in front of him. Staren leans down to examine the patty between the buns. He raises it to his mouth and takes a bite, chewing thoughtfully. "...Cheese-u-balo, huh...?"

Bitter Medicine (569) has posed:
Thud, thud, thud, thud. For some people, the sound of that heavy gait is familiar. For others, it's the sound of one tough customer, if not inherently intimidating. A tall, dark individual--not handsome by any definition of the word--enters the bar, engrossed for just one moment in a clipboard. Well, he's engrossed in what's /on/ the clipboard. But it quickly dawns on him that something's wrong.

These are not the sounds of his beautiful Autochthonia. Where is that large terrestrial transport? These are not his beautiful living arrangements. He asks himself, "Well. How did I get here?"

Theo Morrison has posed:
Theo is sitting across from Staren. He's got a somewhat more normal-looking burger and a heap of fries. Both appear to be drowning at cheese and bacon, one in bits and one in slices. Kickotron is occupying another quarter of the table-space, currently sorting through a white cardboard box full of cards. It's long and narrow. He's diligent so Theo doesn't have to be.

"Is that even a thing? 'Chee-zoo-ba-low.'" He looks at a menu on his ecto. "Where do people come up with these things? Do they just invent them on the spot?" He shakes his head, picks up his own not-weird burger, and takes a big ol' bite. *chomp*

Inga has posed:
Inga comes through the door, one hand on the door and one hand on her staff. She looks up, her eyes going round. She'd been just moving into the kitchens, thinking about smoked herring...

Inga turns around to look through the door, but the place she'd been was gone. Feeling rather freaked out, Inga limps into the restaurant the rest of the way and stares around the room, jaw slightly slack.

She's a young woman dressed in a long red gown and underdress pinned with silver brooches, her white hair pulled her shoulder and loosely plaited. She carries an oak staff and many pouches at her belt. "By the gods..." she mutters. Perhaps this was a dream?

Then Inga spots Staren. She makes a bee line. "Staren," she greets, eyes still wide. "What is this place and how did I get here!?"

Jonothon Starsmore (27) has posed:
    "Heeeeeeeeeeey~!"

    That is not Jono. That, actually, is his tiny robot companion as she floats in through the door. It's a dark-skinned-- or maybe 'dark-painted'-- girl with white hair and a rather comically large head. She's only about six inches tall though, so she can pull it off. Obviously she's artificial, since she's got visible doll joins on her arms and legs. And behind her, one Jonothon Starsmore, with his fiery bits wrapped up properly.

    One could ask why Jono's even here, since he doesn't eat or drink. But with the tiny automaton heading right for the video games, that's probably answered without having to ask. Jono looks kind of awkward and uncertain.

Staren has posed:
    "I asked the waiter about that, actually, while you were in the restroom." Staren replies. "So you know how on Toph's world, the animals are all crosses between two Earth animals? Some worlds have even weirder things. Like taco plants, or hybrids between animal and fruit, like, grape-hippo and stuff. This," he jabs his index finger into the top half of the poppyseed bun, "is from one of those worlds, where they have a cheese-buffalo hybrid. Except, they also have high tech, and animal rights concerns, so it's actually /synthetic/ cheezubalo." He takes another bite. "Not bad, actually." he adds, through a mouthful of food.

    And then Inga is here, and confused! "Oh, Hi Inga!" he waves. "This is the Bar & Grill at the end of the Multiverse. Sometimes, when you're hungry and you step through a door, you end up here. I meant to figure out how it works, but stuff keeps coming up." He nudges a chair back from the table with his foot. "Wanna join us and try something? I love the seafood here, but I'm trying something different this time."

    Staren gives the shinki a curious look. Don't they only 'eat' jellycans?

No. 9 (269) has posed:
    It's Nine, in all his ugly glory. He appears to be... wearing, pajama pants. With metroids on them. OH THE HUMANITY. Pajama pants and big oversized grumpy looking bunny slippers. The Confederate gives a bit of a blearly blink around, peering dimly and suspiciously at the surroundings around him. His nostrils flare and with a slight soft hiss he grates out, "...Great. This s' whut happn's when I aint payin no goddamn attention. Fuck." But he shrugs, sort of slowly shuffling in and moving up to the counter, swinging his ponderous ass onto a seat with a huff and a thump.

Ferham (516) has posed:
     With all these different folks coming in, Ferham peers over them idly, her green eyes scanning about. Taking her glass daintily, she sips it, her glove's talons easy to see as she holds the glass like she's afraid she might break it, hint she is. However when Jonothan's shinki comes in with that big greeting she has to blink a little at his 'companion' there, which seemed to be... a 5 inch tall gynoid of some description. Clearly this gives Ferham some slight surprise and maybe just a bit of curiosity. What were people doing with androids that small?? Some part of her didn't kinda wanna know, but curiosity killed the cat and all that.

     Rising to her high heeled feet, Fer clicks her way a bit over to the automaton before getting distracted by hearing a familiar voice, one that's apparently feeding it's mouthhole along with Staren at the moment. "You must be in your glory here," she sidled up alongside Theo, her rolling feminine purr hopefully loud enough for him to hear.

Bitter Medicine (569) has posed:
Bitter Medicine looks over his shoulder as his ears are assaulted by excited Shinki. There's no need to shout--oh, hey, it's Jono. "Starsmore," grunts the Alchemical in his most polite tone. He'd tip his hat, if only he had one. Little does Jono know, his presence here has convinced Bitter Medicine that this /might/ not be a trap instead of 100 percent being one. "You just... show up here too?" He turns to face the mutant fully, clipboard still in hand.

Inga has posed:
As Staren pulls out a seat for her, Inga flops woodenly into it. She leans her staff against her knee, and stares at him. "The...end...of the mutliverse," she comments. She looks like she's trying to figure this all out, her brow furrowed in concentration. The exact moment that her mind goes 'well, fuck' and gives up trying is completely visible in her expression.

Inga lets out a long sigh. "Seafood," she says, then picks up the menu. She looks at it for a moment, then flops it back down on the table in exhasperation. "I just want some smoked herring," she grumbles.

Inga looks toward Theo. Blink. "Hail," she says, nodding to him in greeting. Then, a woman approaches. Another blink. Oooh gods, what a day this is turning out to be. "Mead. I need mead."

No. 9 (269) has posed:
    The golem is ugly, ugly and strange, and he... frankly, smells. Not like he hasn't showered, because there's water sparkling in his hair, he smells like, animals smell, like things that aren't human and don't smell human, a sort of slightly spicy mucky scent to him, clinging, hovering and close. Shaking some of the water out of his hair, he looks over the menu with a sort of dispirited slump, metallic back slouching, leathery shoulders, stamped with the big prominent silver G and the olem written over the G's strut hunched, half-metallic body curled in on itself.

    People. Nobody he knows, beyond Staren. Just a field of just, people, and him the foreigner here. The one nobody knows. The outsider. Pfeh.

Staren has posed:
    Staren blinks at Inga. "Err... well, that's the name. I'm not sure if it's /actually/ at the end of the Multiverse. I'm not sure what that would /mean/." Oh hey it's Nine. Staren's not sure if he should talk... well, Nine will brush him off if he shouldn't. "Hey, uh, Nine... how're you doing?" he asks, sounding like he half expects Nine to flip out and/or break down in response. It /is/ Nine, after all.

    Ferham gets a questioning look, but presumably Theo will introduce them?

Jonothon Starsmore (27) has posed:
    Answering Staren's question without a word, the Shinki's heading right for the video games. So that's what she's here for, not necessarily for food. Jono has the quarters, after all. It's easier for him to carry them than for her to try to.

    No. 9's rather monstrous and sudden appearance gets a double-take. It's rather timely, too. Always someone worse off. At least Jon's fully dressed! Luckily Jono's not able to smell the odd animal/musky scent, thanks to not having a sense of smell. He does tilt his head at the humched figure, curiously. He can't really judge the large man for being monstrous-looking, given his condition.

    Then he hears his name called, and looks up, at Bitter Medicine, nodding in greeting. As for just showing up here? "Yeah. It's weird. Yer can walk through a door just about anywhere in the Multiverse an' end up 'ere," he confirms. "Weird but not dangerous. They don't allow fightin' in 'ere, so no one's gonna attack yer."

Theo Morrison has posed:
Staren explains things. Theo just looks at him. "I don't know how I feel about that," he states. Then he takes another bite. Nomf, nomf, cheeseburger-that-isn't-made-in-a-tube.

Inga comes over and has a seat! Theo, who has spent enough time in Ravnica that being hailed isn't weird, goes, "Well met. I'm Theo, this is Kickotron." He gestures at the little myr. The little bird robot is not quite as little as a shinki -- call it three feet or so -- and only looks up, stares for about three seconds, and then goes back to sorting.

Theo looks up at Ferham, chewing. He takes his time about it. "It's convenient, but it's not the /best/ food in the Multiverse." He gestures at Ferham and Staren. "Ferham, Staren; Staren, Ferham. Fed, Union; Union, Fed. No fighty. You know. Rules." There's a sign somewhere.

Finna (513) has posed:
    Yet again, Bitter Medicine was being tailed from a distance. And this took Finna to the Bar and Grill. She's been here before, so Bitter Medicine's bewilderment at the place leaves her confused. How can you be here without meaning to be?

    She'd just saw it in the warp gate destination lists, after all.

    Slinking about as a white fox that seems unnaturally good at not drawing the attention of the plentiful people in the massive complex, she sniffs under tables, zigzags around feet, and eventually reaches the group Bitter Medicine's nearest.

    QUITE RANDOMLY, the fox leaps straight up in an ALMOST perfectly vertical ascent, comes down to land on Nine's head and leans forward.

    The end result is there is an upside-down fox face in Nine's vision, ears straight and alert and head canted in a vaguely questioning manner.

    The critter's nose very noticeably sniffs the air. Sniff, sniff, sniff!

No. 9 (269) has posed:
    The head turns. He looks a bit waxy, a touch wasted, the darkened sockets deeply richly stained, leaving his black-sclera'd eyes as floating pools of light in oily darkness. They shift, glancing behind him as he turns his head, ratty half-grown-out mullet-mop falling partially in front of that painfully ugly face.

    And he just, stares, at him, for a long moment. Stare. His eyes, though, eventually slide away, tracking on nothing, and his voice is that same wet, mucky chuckle, touched faintly with that brassy tone. "...I'm awake..." He says it like it's some sort of significant thing. Maybe to him it is. His eyes slide back, the white dimming to gold. "Ya look good, kid. How's things been?" Flashing those surprisingly nice white teeth, he tips his head up to the cat eared scientist. Looks like it's 'calmly talking Nine' instead of 'shrieking jibbering Nine' or 'Trying to bite pieces off Nine' or 'wailing mental breakdown Nine' so there is that. Though to Jono he sort of growls, "Yo, jawdrop, picture, lasts longer, seriously." A low snarling hiss.

Ferham (516) has posed:
     Ferham is leaning a bit away from Nine on her heels as she peered at the large mutated humanoid, perhaps being just a bit weirded out by the large black eyes. "Nice to meet you, no fighty? didn't think you wanted to fight exactly," Fer smiled a bit back at Theo before peering over at Staren. One of her taloned, gloved fingers rose up to try and stroke along one of Staren's cat ears, apparently the femme 'loid is unable to resist giving a pat. "Didn't know humans came in the 'cat' variety now, or at least with just the ears," she'd retract her hand quickly enough, before crossing her arms over her front. Maybe she's a tad disappointed her sudden presence didn't surprise Theo more? Maaaybe.

     When Finna leaps upon Nine all of a sudden, she steps back a bit, heels clicking.

Staren has posed:
    "Okaaay..." Staren replies to Nine, before he gets headfoxed. Theo introduces -- Staren nods to Ferham. Slightly wary of a strange Fed, but she seems to be friendly with Theo so maybe she's nice.

    Maybe a little /too/ friendly though. His ears flick. "I'm kind of a special case. So how do you know Theo?"

Inga has posed:
Inga nods to Theo. "A pleasure to meet you Theo and--" she looks down at Kickotron and starts, then shakes her head. "Kickotron..." she finishes.

There are others here, large others, and she isn't even sure she wants to look. She does look at Nine, and immediately wishes she hadn't.

Inga takes in Ferham's behavior and words and immediately comes to a conclusion. Is this a brothel? She looks around again, then shakes her head.

Bitter Medicine (569) has posed:
The place looks like a recreational and/or dining facility. Given that he was on his way to a cafeteria on Autochthonia, plus the information from Starsmore, he deduces that this place draws to it those who are hungry or... a look at the electronic games... bored. He opens his mouth only to note a snowfox leaping on top of some poor man's head. "Finna," he says with resignation.

The Alchemical approaches the bar and has a seat... somewhere. Just close enough to other people to hear their conversations without being too buddy-buddy with them. He pays the bartender a dour expression to match several of those already in the bar. There are... enemies here. But fighting isn't allowed. He's a man who can follow rules--he was built to enforce orthodoxy, after all. A respect for laws and regulations tends to come naturally with that. "Nutriment cubes. Water." If this place is somehow connected to the rest of the multiverse, it's connected to Autochthonia. That means he can have all the bland comforts of home, right here in the bar.

Social engagements aren't really his thing. It's not that he's unfriendly. It's that the jury's out on the risks of friends versus the reward. If he could have one without the other, he'd be sold! Anyway, since he's here, among other people, who are bound to talk, he might as well A) be sociable and B) get something useful out of it. Names, affiliations, that kind of thing. "Don't mind the Lunar," he says to Ferham. His soulgem catches the light as he turns. "She's been following me a while now."

No. 9 (269) has posed:
    Nine got hedfoxed. How does Nine react to getting headfoxed? Well-

    "AAAAAAAUGH GET IT OFF GET IT OFFGETITIOFFGETITOFF!!" DX DX DX

    And there was much crashing and running back and forth and the like.

Jonothon Starsmore (27) has posed:
    Nine's words get his attention, and he replies, "I'm not jaw-droppin', trust me." He speaks with a thick Cockney accent. And if Nine listens very closely he'll discover... he's not hearing 'Jawdrop'. Not with his ears, anyway. That's a telepathic voice that tickles the audio receptors of the brain! On the brighter side, he doesn't sound confrontational towards Nine at all. In fact, "Sorry 'bout that. Still in the 'see somethin' different, commit it ter memory' phase o' adjustin' ter the Multiverse."

    Suddenly the big guy seems to go nuts with the fox on his head, and Jono moves to try to catch Finna, in case she's dislodged by the wild flailing.

Theo Morrison has posed:
"He doesn't really talk much," Theo asides to Inga. "But he's pretty much harmless, too. Carries things, fixes stuff." She must not be used to myr. Or... maybe robots. Probably not birds; most people don't freak when they see flightless birds.

"People come in all kinds," he replies vaguely to Ferham. He keeps eating his meal, allowing her to field that one, part so he can see what it is she says on the matter. There's a whole bunch of ways he can picture /that/ question getting answered. He /also/ watches the fox-flailing, because it's friggin' hilarious. Thank you, crazy Lunar girl.

Ferham (516) has posed:
     "He tried to send a man with a huge cauldron of soup after me once," Ferham replied to Staren, explaining how she knew Theo Morrison. Upon seeing Bitter Medicine she gives him a little waggle of her taloned, gloved fingers and smiled just a bit. She was friendly at least, not really too 'ice-queen' it would appear, though one might say different if they saw her weapon systems perhaps. "Sure, I don't mind her," she replies to Bitter. "I'm Ferham by the way," she nodded, leaning against one of the stools nearby Theo and Staren still.

     When the Fox-metroid latches onto No. 9 however, Ferham is sure to get the heck out of the way of the clambering mutant as he runs around, Finna likely clinging to his head. "Oh god, someone help him, it's got a hold of him!" Fer eek's and points toward Nine with one finger.

Theo Morrison has posed:
"True fact," Theo says, around half a mouthful of food.

Kickotron does not look particularly proud. It probably wasn't him.

Finna (513) has posed:
    A few seconds after Nine starts flailing wildly, the fox decides to vacate its new position in favor of Bitter Medicine's head instead. Or rather, shoulders. Except when she lands, she's not a fox anymore. Finna lands sitting on Bitter Medicine's shoulders, slouching forward and holding tightly. She's shivering a bit. "Y-yeeesh!"

    As before, she's wearing the 'cutesified adventuress' version of the huntress attire, and her tail's wagging swiftly against Bitter Medicine's back despite the somewhat frightened expression she's wearing. It is posible to be cheerily surprised, after all!

Staren has posed:
    Staren frowns slightly at Finna, and is about to say something when she finally vacates Nine's head. He sighs and looks back to Ferham. "I see. Well, you seem friendly enough despite that. Was it good soup?"

Bitter Medicine (569) has posed:
Bitter Medicine calmly sips his glass of water. Last sane man, right here. He bears the weight of the Lunar easily--in a physical sense, that is. An exasperated grunt belies his mood. "Is this some kind of Creation greeting?" Pause, sip, chew on his nutriment cubes. Sniff. The Alchemical pays No. 9 a look, then gives the poor fellow a nod.

There's a voice he recognizes at the bar. Coming from the cat creature. He goes through a mental list of everyone he's spoken to on the radio. A moment, and then it hits him. "Staren?" he asks.

Ferham (516) has posed:
     "Kind of too hot," Ferham replied to Staren's question distractedly, her hands up as if defensively as she backed down against the bar to try and avoid flying fox girl. Well, not the bat sort of flying fox, but an actual fox flying through the air and then turning into a girl. A bat girl /would/ be cute, though, all things considered. "Don't talk with your mouth full Theo, it's impolite," Fer snorted a little, though she was smiling and quite clearly kidding there. "I see Theo is quite busy with his food, as usual," she seems to be teasing the card user just a bit there.

No. 9 (269) has posed:
    He looks offended. "I aint THAT different! I got a face, four limbs, I got hair! I aint two steps removed frum human!" He seems to have taken offense to this, for some reason, though it's more of a nasty sort of defensiveness then anything genuinely aggressive. You'd think he'd be used to being stared at, what with being kinda, well, fugly and all. "Yeh well you should watch where yer eyes go Jawdrop b'fore someone punches ya in th' snoot." Which he's still got. To be fair he's not being pissy at Jono's own shortcomings. Beyond the, nickname anyway.

    He stabs a finger at the fox. "Bad. BAD."

Inga has posed:
Much to her surprise, what she wanted to eat actually shows up. Though, she must say whatever Theo is eating smells delicious.

Inga looks toward Bitter, blinking again. Alriiiight...

Oh, hey, it's Finna! "Hail Finna," she says, waving as the fox makes the scary man's life very interesting for a moment. Fox spirit, this is to be expected.

Staren has posed:
    "So, why're you two so friendly after this soup incident?" Staren asks. Then he looks to Bitter Medicine. "Huh?" But now Nine is making a huge fuss. "Hold on, Nine, what's going on?"

Jonothon Starsmore (27) has posed:
    With his usefulness seemingly past-- and on the verge of starting a fight with the big guy over God only knows what, apparently-- Jono just shrugs, and heads away from where everyone else is conversing. Suits him, means he doesn't have to think up anything witty or clever to say.

    He does however, pause long eoungh to aim in Nine's direction, quietly, "Be glad yer still got a face. I don't." His telepathic 'voice' is soft, almost wistful. Then he heads into the arcade, where he can hear his Shinki merrily enjoying a shooting game. The co-op on that game is pretty good, so he'll play a few rounds with her himself.

Finna (513) has posed:
    "Noooooope, only you get to be this special!" Finna announces cheerily down at her mount, before sliding off and down his back. He's still getting tailwag-brushed, now over the rump, but that lasts only a moment while she adjusts her clothes... and waves at Staren and - .. well, at Jono, but then off he goes.

    Nine? Gets a good look at her tongue as she playfully sticks it out at him. "Hello to you too!"

    Lastly, she smiles at Inga. "Heeyy... Inga, been keeping out of trouble, I hope?"

No. 9 (269) has posed:
    Nine levels a finger at Jono, and his voice is heavy with petulance and a churlish bitter touchiness. "He was staring at me!" You really would think he'd be used to it by now, but as he turns back the guy left. "And then he left! Just like that! And..." Okay he just looks, fucking stupid now and he knows it. He curls down over himself, his ugly face twisting into a grimace, eyes winching halfway closed.

Ferham (516) has posed:
     "I dunno, I just don't hold grudges too easily, I guess," Ferham smiled and shook her head lightly, keeping her arms folded over her front. "These more friends of yours?" she asked Staren and Theo, gesturing to Bitter and Inga. "Nice to meet you," she bowed her head politely before putting a leg up and clicked a heel against one of the bottom rung of the stool, directing her attention back to Staren. "So non-standard you say? Some kidn of exotic body-mod?" apparently her time in cyberpunk Detroit has exposed Ferham to a great many different things of that nature.

     "I think a fox was attached to his head just now," she yawned lightly, pointing back towards Finna and Nine.

Theo Morrison has posed:
Theo seems pretty content with his food. He rolls his eyes at Ferham's jabs, continuing to eat and making a 'yeah yeah' sound in 'mmm's. There's a moment where he glances at Inga, then waves a hand in her general direction to get her attention, and points at the mound of cheesy bacon fries on his plate inquisitively. It's a pretty clear 'want some'?

He's a little disappointed there's no more headfoxing.

Bitter Medicine (569) has posed:
Bitter Medicine says, "Finna Lunared him, yes." 'Lunar' is a verb now, and a very versatile one. How many new faces? One, two, three, four... technically five, given he's never met Staren in person. Anyway, that warrants the formal introduction. With resignation befitting a jaded airline pilot or tour guide, he introduces himself formally. "Hail, comrades. I am Bitter Medicine, Chosen of the Machine God, Champion of the state of Gulak." He sips his water and then promptly goes back to chewing on nutriment cubes."

Staren has posed:
    Staren gives Nine a concerned look. "Are you that really worried about people staring at you?" He looks back to Ferham. "This is Inga, I've worked with her on the Kingsmouth crisis, and this is, uh, who are you anyway?" Bitter Medicine explains. Staren holds out a hand to shake.

    Staren shakes his head to Ferham's other question. "My father was altered in a lab accident, and my mother's a shapeshifting alien. So I'm one-of-a-kind."

    Then he double-takes to bitter medicine. "Uh... eating cubes, huh? Are they any good?"

Inga has posed:
Inga looks up and toward Theo, then at his plate..."Well, alright," she says, and takes a piece. She puts it in her mouth and chews, her eyes widening. She makes a sound of pleasure deep in her throat. "By the gods, that's amazing," she says. "What is it?"

Inga's eyes turn toward Bitter as introductions are made. Chosen of the Machine God? Well, this is a god she doesn't know, but Chosen of a God is something she understands. "A pleasure to meet you, Bitter Medicine. I am Inga Freyjasdottir, as Staren says... a chosen of Freyja--and the Buzzing, messengers of the gods," she replies, bowing her head formally. Tch, so complicated!

Ferham (516) has posed:
     "So I saw," Fer smiled to Bitter, at his description of what just happened to Nine. "Fairly accurate I think," she nodded her head again to the exalted. Ferham is still relaxing and leaning into the bar, one leg up on the stool rung beneath her as she chatted with Staren and Morrison. She gestures for Inga and Nine to perhaps join them at the bar and have a beer, she appears to have forgotten her vodka and E-can at her table, but a quick whip-crack later and she has the half-finished can, idly nursing at it. It sorta does look like a beer, though the can is a bit over-sized than most, maybe it'd be mistaken as one of those fancy german types?

     A gloved hand is extended to Inga, if she deigns to come near to shake with Fer, either way she gets a bow of her head. "You two have lots of friends, eh?"

Theo Morrison has posed:
"Cheesy bacon fries," Theo replies. "Cheese, bacon, potatoes. They're pretty much the best." He polishes off his burger, picking up a napkin and wiping his hands down pretty thoroughly, glancing between all the people. He's a little uncomfortable with the bigger group, lapsing into momentary silence, but pretty much passes it off as settling after eating maybe a touch too fast. "We've got quite the crowd, now," he remarks. "In any other company, I'd ask for a few games."

Kickotron continues to sort placidly. He's got a little left.

Inga has posed:
Inga repeats her introduction, much abbreviated, to Ferham. She takes the offered hand and gives it a shake. "A pleasure to meet you," she says. As to the comment of a lot of friends, Inga raises a brow. Is she talking taling Theo and Staren? Are she and Staren friends? They know each other, certainly...Inga has fairly few friends.

She looks to Theo, blinking. "Games? Do you play tafl?" she asks.

Finna (513) has posed:
    "His people eat very boringly! Flavored mush." Finna comments, regarding Bitter Medicine a little critically. Well, okay, it's not QUITE mush. But it is definitely boring by her standards. "Far too boringly for Finna, Changing Moon Caste of the Moon Goddess' Exalted. I have to go out and hunt for real meat... or come here." wait, she's staying with them? Well, yes, yes she is.

    Now that she's paying lots of attention though, she notices someone being pretty quiet, who apparently is friends with Staren.

    No reason to bother asking permission. It wouldn't be as fun that way. She slinks over next to Theo and plops herself down. "Games?!"

    Yup, he's grabbed her interest!

Bitter Medicine (569) has posed:
Bitter Medicine pauses--another Exalted? He pays Inga the same measure of respect as he's shown, bowing her head to match hers. He doesn't know her gods either, but he's used to that--Creation seems to have a lot of them, and things only get more complicated in his world. "Inga," he says amiably. That there should be a Chosen of multiple things isn't as surprising to him as perhaps it once might have been.

And now there's Staren, looking for a handshake! Sure. The Alchemical extends a gloved hand--black leather, of course--and gives Science Cat a firm handshake. "No," he says. "But that's intentional." Intentionally bland food! The Machine God's wonders are many.

Ferham gets a distressingly blunt interjection from the Alchemical. "Not my friends. Don't have any. Except maybe her." Bitter Medicine now pays the Lunar a... look. He then makes, in her direction, a grunt--specifically, a meddlesome grunt. It says, <I'd like to know at some point why you're following me.> It's a very expressive grunt.

Staren has posed:
    "Man, you're making me hungrier just describing it." Staren comments, re: Theo's food. His face brightens further at the mention of a game. "You want to?" He reaches under his coat, for the deck box he put on his belt before meeting Theo today, opening it and pulling out a deck of cards and shuffling them by pulling the top half of the deck, holding both halves loosely, and dropping it into the bottom half. An Island is visible on the bottom, then a Riddle of Lightning, and then he shifts the angle so Theo can't see the bottom as he continues shuffling. "What's tafl?" He stares into space for a second. "Oh. Hmm, I've never heard of this. I'd be up for trying it, sure."

    Bitter Medicine gets a slightly confused look. "You're in a /restaurant/. Order something that tastes good. I reccomend the shrimp, or the salmon. Ooh, or maybe you'd like this cheezubalow. It's synthetically grown meat with cheese flavoring."

Theo Morrison has posed:
"Only tablut," Theo replies. "I don't think there are a lot of records of how the other variants are supposed to be played, except what people have picked up from old poems and things. It's been pretty much supplanted by chess, anyway, but chess is kind of lame." He has maybe figured out by her speech and dress that Inga is not from a modern Earth.

He jerks to the side when Finna plops down next to him. "Er -- yes? I, uh, mostly meant a pretty specific card game --" He jerks his head towards the neat piles Kickotron is sorting through "-- since that's what I usually play with people, but, I mean, I know all kinds..." He trails off. Staren gets it, see? Theo opens and fishes through his backpack, stuck under his chair. "Yeah, sure."

Inga has posed:
Inga looks between Finna and Bitter, her eyes alight. "I would like very much to hear about your gods. I have had little opportunity to hear about other gods since...since...things," she says, robbed of eloquence for a moment.

Anyway, games. "Well, I could teach you to play if I had a board and some pieces... chess? Never heard of it," she comments, looking toward the cards they begin to shuffle, brows rising.

Ferham (516) has posed:
     "I think you might need to take better care of your diet there, Theo," Fer teasingly scolded Morrison a bit, god knows he loved his food. "Sorry if I didn't hear your introduction earlier, miss, it got a bit... hectic in here," Fer cast her eyes back over to Nine, then back to Inga, if the former hadn't left yet. The femmebot grins as she watches Finna plop herself down with Morrison. "Uh oh, got a new friend there," she blinked, then blinked some more when Bitter's reply came. "I see, no offense taken I hope?" she sipped at her E-can. She does step back as the card game starts to take place though, mainly because she rather recalls what Theo's cards can do.

Theo Morrison has posed:
"You've only ever seen me eat out," Theo replies pointedly to Ferham, "which is probably good, since I've never invited you over." He looks over at Inga again. "It's kind of like tafl, but with two equally-matched sides with pieces that move in different patterns." He pulls a box similar to Staren's out, dropping cards into his hand. They're in plastic sleeves, matte black on one side and transparent on the other. He mimics the shuffling and cutting.

Staren has posed:
    Staren finishes shuffling his deck, placing it down near the center of the table. "Cut?" By this he means for Theo to lift his deck up at a random point, and then place the bottom portion atop the top. He'll do the same for Theo's deck. He then moves his deck back to his side of the table

    Then Staren pulls out a coin, shows both sides to people, then removes his silver-and-opal amulet and places it on the table. "Just so that noone can say any foul play is afoot. Heads." He flips the coin, catches it, then uncovers it, showing heads. "I'll play first."

    He draws seven cards, and frowns. "Mulligan."

    After another shuffling ritual is complete, he draws seven cards again, and /sighs/. "Mulligan."

    After /another/ shuffle and draw is complete, he sighs in relief. "Finally, more than one land." He looks over his cards for a moment, frowns slightly at the lack of 1-cost permanents. "I play a mountain. Your turn." As he speaks, he places a card down on the table, close to him.

Finna (513) has posed:
    Picking up on Bitter's grunt, Finna turns her head and gazes his way. When she has a moment where he's looking at her, she twists her lips about perplexedly, ears twitching a bit. Though she breaks into a big grin a few moments later. The whole thing carries a meaning that he'll pick up on someone. It's not words, exactly! But he gets the feeling - the very uncanny feeling - that she's following him because he's far more interesting than he believes himself to be.

    Not quite an answer, huh?

    "Oooh... card games! That's different. I thought it would be stuff like arm wrestling. I've never seen card games before. ...not cards like these..."

    With a small wave, she answers Inga, "Of course! But if you want great detail you'll need to ask a shaman. I know plenty of things though."

Theo Morrison has posed:
Theo does about the same. He examines his hand, frowns at it, and puts it back. "Mulligan." There's shuffling. He scoops seven again. The frown gets a little deeper. "Mulligan..." Six this time. "Sheesh. Hurts me in my soul. I might need to mess with the mana base... I'll keep."

He draws one off the top when Staren gives him the go, dropping a different but similar card on the table. "Plains. Go. --oh, right." Theo fishes a couple of twenty-sided dice out of his pocket. He rolls one across the table to Staren and sets his on '20.'

"Yeah. It's pretty complicated, but it's easily my favorite game. For, you know, reasons." He shuffles the cards in his hand around, reorganizing them with a nearly blank look on his face.

Bitter Medicine (569) has posed:
Bitter Medicine says, "Some other time, Staren. Don't /always/ choose nutriment cubes. Just have them often to make good food taste better when I do have it." The Great Feast days are made that much better, when you've been depriving yourself up to that point! Besides, he thinks--if you can have good food all the time, what's so good about it? Probably distracts you from work.

"Sure," he replies to Inga. "You can /meet/ my god if you want. Stand on his world-body, breathe the air his factories recycle. Long time ago, could have even spoken to him." The Alchemical's face hardens. "He's asleep, now." He turns a nutriment cube around and around, holding it between two fingers. "I'll take you sometime," he resolves. "Best behavior," he warns.

"No," he says truthfully to Ferham. "None taken." Honestly, he can't remember the last time he was /offended./ Scowling at cults and gremlins, sure, but that's a fight. It's different than just having your toes stepped on. Does he /get/ offended? No, he gets even. "Not a sticking point," he elucidates. "Just a fact." One which he often takes steps to enforce, sadly.

But now, there's a game going on. He does enjoy competition. Maybe one of his former lives was from Claslat. He finishes up his last few cubes and rests his elbow on the counter to get a better vantage point. From that point, he can see Finna, and make a note of her expression. "Hrn," he says in Stoic."

Staren has posed:
    Staren shrugs to Bitter Medicine. "I don't see why you'd not eat regular food now..." He watches Theo, wondering what the other man could be planning. He draws a card, adds it to his hand, then pulls another card from his ahnd and sets it on the table, next to the Mountain. "Island. Go."

Inga has posed:
Inga nodded to Bitter. "Of course, I would be honored," she replies. Such a world...

Inga then watches the game, otherwise lost in thought and idly stealing cheesy bacon fries from Theo's plate.

Theo Morrison has posed:
Theo waits for the turn to pass. He glances at Bitter Medicine, nodding slightly, and then looks back at the board -- insofar as there's a board, when there's really just an open space with a couple of cards put down. He draws, playing another land next to the Plains. "Windswept Heath. Tap, sac, pay one life --" He turns the card sideways, then moves it into a space next to his face-down deck. Theo reaches over, dropping his count to '19.' "-- fish for a Forest, pass turn."

He picks up the deck, rooting through it until he finds the card in question, then shows it to Staren and puts it on the table. He shoots a glance at Inga. "I'll get more," he asides, absolving her of guilt.

Staren has posed:
    Staren watches Theo. He leans over to look at the card. "There are cards that do that? That's handy... wait, no, why not just put in a forest or plains? Or rather, a duel land? You said those were a thing, right?" He sits back, draws a card, shakes his head. "Pass."

Theo Morrison has posed:
"Well, there are Guildgates from Ravnica that tap for the kinds you'd expect: Izzet for Red or Blue, Azorius for Blue or White, that sorta thing. They come in tapped, though. The old-school dual lands, ones that would count as both types and /don't/ come in tapped, go for crazy money per card." Theo shows Staren the card in question for a minute, then replaces it in his graveyard. "This doesn't come in tapped, so I could use it right then if I wanted to, making it a little faster. I really just wanted the shuffle."

He picks up his next card and plays another land. "Plains. Tap three..." Theo reaches out and rotates them like the other, then plays another. "I'll cast Gideon's Avenger. Your go." He makes a gesture and leans back in his seat.

Finna (513) has posed:
    "this... is a game?" Finna's been watching the whole matter curiously. She's even peeked curiously at a few cards for a closer look. "Cast?" The term for sorcerous work.... used very oddly here.

    She makes a very odd face, whilst trying to puzzle this matter out!

Staren has posed:
    Staren watches as Theo is the first to get a creature out. "Aww man..." He leans over to look at it. "Wait, what?! That's stupid, it's gonna happen every time I attack!" He sighs.

    Staren sits back and draws another card. "Well, the joke's on you, without another land, I can't /play/ any creatures." He looks over his hand, and a bit reluctantly, places a Gluttonous Cyclops in his discard pile, face-up next to his deck. "Heh. I like the flavor text on that one." After a moment, he remembers to add, "Go."

Bitter Medicine (569) has posed:
Bitter Medicine says, "Very technical game." He nods to Finna. "Lot of mechanical abstractions for fictional concepts. Apparently, each deck is unique." He gestures to Staren as Theo's card draws his ire. "Emphasis on collection, building coherent decks...""

Theo Morrison has posed:
"Sure," Theo replies to Finna. "The object of the game is to reduce your opponent's life total to zero." He points at the twenty-siders they've got next to them. "'Cast' is the term for playing any non-land card in your hand. The story behind the game is that the players are supposed to be powerful wizards fighting for control over and travelling between a bunch of different worlds. I mean, it's /called/ 'Magic.'" He actually looks a little embarassed to explain all that.

Then, he smiles at Staren in a very predatory fashion. "Yeah, it will, won't it? Hope you've got a bolt in there." He untaps his cards, righting them all, and pulls one off the top. He plays another creature card. "Phalanx Leader. Go to Combat, annnd --" He taps the Avenger. "Swing in for two damage at you. Responses? Pass turn."

Ferham (516) has posed:
     Ferham is hanging out at the bar still, mainly just relaxing and watching the game along with everyone else. "Glad these things are confined to their cards, last time Theo used them one came alive and tried to kill me," Ferham teased a little. Sure, it did come alive and come after her and Miss Clokwerk, but it hadn't caused more than just collateral damage. "Well, maybe kill is a harsh word for trying to give us soup," she shrugged a little, nodding to Bitter Medicine at the mention of the game. "Theo is the frightening reminder of what happens when you give a comic book store nerd supernatural powers, I suppose."

Staren has posed:
    Staren looks at the Phalanx Leader. "And that last set was /full/ of enchantments... great." He sighs, looks at his cards but only briefly, and shakes his head before picking up his life die, finding the 18, and setting it back down.

Pinkie (470) has posed:
    Pinkie Pie is suddenly watching the game looming over Staren's shoulder. She was not there a second ago. She is there now. How? She just kind of is. With no warning, nor seeming transitional movement.
    Just a smiling porcelain mask hovering over the cat-boy's shoulder and peering at his hand.
    "HI WHATCHA DOIN'?!"

Theo Morrison has posed:
"Yeahhh. Heroic's a cool keyword, but it's hard to make it consistAAH!!" He jerks backwards, hand clutched protectively for a second when Pinkie up and /materialized/ behind Staren. He stares at her for a few seconds, and then, thinking that she /probably/ isn't malicious, relaxes.

He /does/ shoot a dirty look at Ferham. "Your turn," he prompts.

Finna (513) has posed:
    Finna's lips twist about the other way after hearing that explanation. And her expression goes a bit sour. "Stick around Creation long enough, you might find two sorcerers doing that kind of thing for real. Summoning demons and spirits to war against each other. ...wait, what? these cards can do that?!" She blurts out in alarm, now staring at Ferham!

    Who, on a closer inspection, is worth a sharper peering. "..." No she's not sure WHAT to make of her at all.

Bitter Medicine (569) has posed:
What... is THAT? Whatever it is, it didn't set off his Wits Augmentation. Troubling--he's entirely unaware of the Pink One's powers. What is it, though? Definitely not insectoid... so it's not a roach. Not a plague rat, either. That completes the list of animals he's familiar with--well, two out of three. Not a /fox/ either. "Who...?"

Staren has posed:
    Staren jumps a bit in his seat, nearly dropping his cards. He looks back at Pinkie and leans away from her slightly. "Personal space, Pinkie! Don't sneak up on me like that." He sighs and looks back to his cards. Pinkie can see that they all have red or blue borders, and depict some sort of scene on the top half. "We're playing a game where we pretend to be dimension-hopping wizards having a magic duel. So far, I haven't managed to remember any useful spells, and he's summoned two creatures to attack me." He looks at Finna. "No, /he/ can do that, because /he's/ an /actual/ dimension-hopping wizard. Sort of."

    Staren looks back to the cards. He draws one, and makes a wordless growl of annoyance, which sounds something like. "Fuhhhr." He looks at his cards again, shakes his head, and places Cyclops of Eternal Fury face up on the discard pile. "That's really cool, but I'll probably never get the mana to cast it. Your turn."

Theo Morrison has posed:
"Yyyeah, that's... a thing that I kind of am," Theo admits a touch awkwardly, looking at Finna again. "It's not a property of the game itself, but it apparently has something to do with it. Go figure."

Theo looks sympathetic for just a moment to Staren's plight. "You probably should have mulligan'd again. It's looking like you've got a bunch of high-cost cards," Theo says, untapping, drawing, and playing another Plains, "but nothing you can do right now to stop me from kicking you around. Like so." He taps both the Phalanx Leader and Gideon's Avenger. "Attacking. Responses?" He waits a few seconds, and then reaches for his land.

Tap goes the forest. "Burst of Strength on the Phalanx Leader. Untap him, put a plus one-plus one counter on him. That triggers Heroic, which puts another one on him, and one on the Avenger." He taps two more. "Then we'll drop a Feat of Resistance, give him Protection from Blue in case you're sitting on an Unsummon, and do the same." He fishes out some dice and puts them on the cards.

"Take nine." Theo sits back again, and reaches for a drink.

Finna (513) has posed:
    Finna was so occupied with Ferham she almost didn't notice Pinkie, but... "GAH!" Now on high Alert, Finna's whole body tenses up and attention fixes on Pixie... ".... How did you...?!" Sneak up on a Lunar. That is NOT EASY TO DO.

Pinkie (470) has posed:
    Tongue sticking right through the mouth hole of her mask, Pinkie flashes a grin. Even though it's near impossible to see, the *~squee~* should announce it well enough.
    "Oh so kinda like all that stuff Twilight blathers about Star Swirl, except with more blood, guts, glory, and booster packs." the jester pony muses before leaning back. Still favoring one of her hindlegs a bit, she scuffs at the floor with a hoof.
    "ARE YOU WINNING?!"
    She's probably noy helping at all. But no, she's no roach nor rat. A swivel of her attention turns that porcelain mask towards the Exalt. The hard to swallow one, that is.
    "What? You've never seen a pony before? HI I'M A PONY." And then to Finna: "SECRET PONY MAGIC."

Staren has posed:
    Staren blinks. "Ohhhh. I see now, so /that's/ why you'd give up a card intentionally."

    Theo plays a land. "You and your land. You just keep drawing them, huh?" He sighs.

    At the request for a response, Staren just sighs again and turns his life die to 15.

    Then Theo starts tapping mana. "/More/ stuff??" He looks at the burst of strength, and drops the die to 14.

    Then, comprehension dawns as Theo reminds him about heroic and his cards are full of tokens. "...Oh, right. So, what's the total there?"

    With an especially dramatic sigh, he drops the life die to 9.

    Staren shakes his head. "I'm not winning, Pinkie."

    Then he draws a card. "HA!" dramatically, he SLAMS another Mountain down on the table. "Okay, let's see..." he looks over his hand again. "Hmm, that'd be useful... wait, no, something else first." He looks between some cards, nods to himself... then looks at Theo's creatures. "Your creatures are too big. Well, guess I'd better start with this then!" He pulls a card from his hand and, with a flourish, places a War-Wing Siren on the table opposite Theo's monsters.

    As an afterthought, he remembers to tap all his mana. "Your turn."

Bitter Medicine (569) has posed:
Bitter Medicine says, "Never seen most animals the multiverse takes for granted. Hi." He waves a gloved hand at the jester--it doesn't occur to him that 'animal' might not be the most polite word, but then, he's always been one to crash through social encounters like the Kool-Aid Man in Extreme Home Makeover.

"Don't think Finna likes pony magic." His pallid lips curl into a smirk."

Theo Morrison has posed:
"Victory may only be attained with sufficient mana," Theo says, sagaciously. He goes through the start-of-turn motions, nodding a little at the Siren. "Cool. I think I'm at a lack for fliers in this deck." He doesn't do anything particularly special; the creatures turn sideways again, and he spares Pinky a glance. Exuberance.

"Swing for nine again. You're probably blocking the five. Your go." Another gesture.

Ferham (516) has posed:
     "Pony magic, huh? How does that differ from Theo's magic?" Ferham asks as she sips back some of that E-can of hers, getting down to the dregs of it likely, planting it back down on the side of the bar. "Nice mask, I like it, reminds me something I've seen before," has Ferham been through Super Mario Bros. 2 territory and seen a Phanto before? Because that's totally what it looks like.

Staren has posed:
    Theo attacks. Staren picks up his life die, then hiss elation completely deflates as he realizes he needs to turn it to zero. "You win... wait!" He moves the Siren in front of the Phalanx Leader. "I throw the siren under the bus, so I only take four!" He smiles at his cleverness, then deflates again. "So much for establishing any kind of army..."

    He draws a card sullenly, then his eyes widen a bit, then he relaxes grumpily as he realizes the cost is too high. Cleverness and realization that he's losing flicker across his face as he thinks of and discards plans. Finally, he settles for putting down a Pensive Minotaur. Staren arguably looks more pensive than it does. He taps all his mana and sits back.

Staren has posed:
    And then Staren remembers to pick up the Siren and put it in his discard pile.

Finna (513) has posed:
    Indeed Finna is not liking this pony magic at all. There's someone who can sneak up on her when she's distracted. That's not good, not good at all. Only VERY FEW PEOPLE would have such a skillset.... as there are very few things one could possibly use it for. After all, her specialties go beyond the self-proclaimed reconaissance.

    She's stuck a few knives in unsuspecting assholes from time to time. Finding out what your enemies do when their leader's throat is slit is totally recon!

    Which is why she's sourly glaring at Pinkie.

Theo Morrison has posed:
"Well, Ferham, I'm pretty sure I'm not a pony, so there's that at least," Theo asides, rolling his eyes.

Back to the game. He untaps and draws, glancing at Staren's side of the field. Theo winces very slightly. He taps a few land, and puts it down. "Abzan Falconer. Each creature I control with a plus one-plus one counter on it has flying." He taps the other two. "Swing for lethal. Gee gee?" He sounds vaguely apologetic.

Staren has posed:
    Staren also remembers to actually turn his life die down to 5.

    He leans over to look at the creature Theo just played. "Aww, that's bull." He sits up straight again. "Yeah, you win. Gee gee." He extends a hand to shake, smiling. "I got... 'mana screwed' is the term, right? I shoulda mulliganed."

Staren has posed:
    Staren puts down his hand for Theo to see. Curiously, he starts drawing cards to see what he would have gotten. "Oh hey, /there/ are my lands." The next two are a mountain and an island.

Pinkie (470) has posed:
    A little prance and jingle of the bells on her jester hat, and Pinkie circles the gaming table, hooves clop-clop-clopping. She doesn't seem to take offense to being called an animal, but that sour look, wow. "Huh! Looks like she doesn't!" Chirruped to reply to Bitter Medicine. But then pauses. Staren losing? She's watching that die roll down... And down... And down...
    "Wow you're getting killed."
    Captain obvious yes.
    "Well Pony Magic is..." Up come her hooves, spreading them apart in an arc. It actually forms a rainbow with the word 'Magic' in it out of sparkles. "Magical." But now to address that killer look Finna's firing her way. How to lighten the air? A compliment maybe.
    "I like your tattoos!"
    So smooth.

Theo Morrison has posed:
Theo takes it and shakes once, firmly. "I sort of did, too. I had a whole third color I didn't get to play." He puts the four cards in his hand down on the table, face up, fanned out: Reiterate, Reverberate, Falkenrath Exterminator and Ajani, Mentor of Heroes. The first three are obviously red. "But sometimes you have to figure out what you can do without access to a whole color. It turns out I can beat faces without it."

He looks over at Staren's revelation. "Yeah, that's how it always is."

Bitter Medicine (569) has posed:
Bitter Medicine peers at the Lunar. Jealous at being upstaged? Maybe. Or maybe that's a smokescreen for something else that bothers her about the pony. She seems to do that a lot--clever, if he's right about that assessment. His glass of water clinks against the bar after a long drag. Empty now. Now, it's /his/ turn to be interested in /Finna./ His mind turns and turns, trying to figure out what's going on behind the curtain.

And then the game is over. "No ree," he finishes for Staren and Theo almost absent-mindedly.

Staren has posed:
    Staren doesn't seem put off by Pinkie's comment. He /did/ get wrecked there.

    Staren looks at the revealed cards. "Ugh, that's /stupid/ with Heroic. Can you copy it onto the same card?" He sits up and shrugs. "Same as in real life. Sometimes you can't use your favorite tool or weapon for some reason."

    He looks curiously at Bitter Medicine. "Huh?"

Ferham (516) has posed:
     Ferham seemed a bit surprised by the sudden rainbow indoors, as well as the word 'MAGIC' right in the middle of it. "Holograms..? no," she raised a brow, peering closer at it, definitely wasn't any sort of emitter like that. Robots did tend to get a little put off by magic suddenly happening, especially the sort which had no readily explainable source or cause. "So it's something inexplicable like what Theo does, I can get behind that," Fer watched the pony clip-clop around, an amused expression on her face.

Finna (513) has posed:
    Finna balks, and gapes. HOW?! "What do you WANT?" She blurts, manner no less hostile than before towards Pinkie and ears flattening down. Gone is her playful manner.

    She seems a bit SPOOKED, really. And has to force herself to settle down. No fighting in here. That should go for everyone...

    Yet this 'pony' is really, really unnerving her.

    "...You don't see... err, say."

Pinkie (470) has posed:
    Maybe not so smooth. "What? Whaaaaaat?" Oh Finna didn't seem to like that did she? A shrug before letting herself set back on all fours, and the jester chuffs before shaking her head.
    "Oh no! It's not inexplicable! Unicorns do it all the time! I'm just not a unicorn." Added as an after thought. "So I guess in my case it IS kind of inexplicable! Or maybe it's because I'm a spooooooooky ghooooost!" Pinkie fakes a haunted moan and rattles imaginary chains at that one.

Bitter Medicine (569) has posed:
Bitter Medicine says, "Gee gee, no ree. Good game, no rematch." Where an Exalted picked up on gaming slang is anyone's guess.

"Inexplicable?" He seems almost surprised. "Magic?" He ponders this curiosity for a moment. His people don't discriminate between that and technology--it's taken them far, though his society is not without its ills. "Eh." The Alchemical shrugs. He's not the best guy to give a technical explanation of anything.

"Finna," he says sternly.

The pony wears a mask. It matches whatever getup she's got going on--the concept of a jester is lost to both he and his culture. Why a mask in a public place? Staren referred to her as Pinkie. Is 'Pinkie' her real name? Maybe she's like Armsmaster... concealing her identity for the safety of others. He grunts. "Hrn." Or her /own/ safety. Who would she need to be safe from? Skillset of stealth and magic... "Thief. Or subversive," he mutters to himself."

Staren has posed:
    Staren looks at Ferham. "Magic is not inexplicable. Like technology, it is a way of imposing your will on the world."

Ferham (516) has posed:
     "It's inexplicable to /me/, sure, I can rapidly decelerate molecules to create ice out of thin air, but I have a grounded explanation in science as to how that works," Fer explained to Staren, then looked back over to Pinkie. She blinked and sort of leaned a bit backwards away from Pinkie at her mock moaning, perhaps at first realizing that Pinkie is a little... special. "Uh huh, somehow I'm not buying the ghost bit, honey," she smiled and waved it off. "I apologize if I sounded intolerant or something, just not used to seeing things just... magically appear," she snerked.

Staren has posed:
    Staren stares blankly at Ferham, occasionally blinking. "Different worlds, different rules. I have often been accused of making the mistake of insisting that all worlds follow the same rules, but in the way they mean it, I have never made that mistake. The rules /behind/ the rules, though, how they all work together... /that/, I hope to find out someday." He smiles a bit, then realizes he's talking to an enemy he doesn't really know very well, and becomes a bit more guarded.

Pinkie (470) has posed:
    Loppy ears twitch and prick, flitting briefly before perking straight up. "Excuse me sir, but I am -not= a thief! Nor am I a submersible." Pinkie announces. That hearing must be pretty good, but at the same time she doesn't sound -offended-. Because...
    "I'm a clown~."
    She says that like it should explain everything, especially as she hops up onto one hoof and starts juggling playing cards. Each and every one of them is a Joker. "Well I COULD be a ghost!" She does then add. "I guess not so spooky though huh." But she did forget one thing. Her introduction.
    "I'm Pinkie Pie, by the way!"

Bitter Medicine (569) has posed:
Bitter Medicine activates a Charm. It's not a combat Charm, of course. That would be against the rules. But it /is/ a very useful charm. He sniffs the air faintly as his Deception Recognition System activates.

"No, you're not. Don't know what a clown is, but." His eyes look up from the Magic cards, straight at Pinkie Pie. "You're limping, disguising it as acrobatics. Nursing heavy wounds? Secondly... faint smell of formaldehyde suggests presence near cadavers. /Thirdly/... biochemical emissions spiked when you mentioned profession. Grave-robber, criminal with hideout in a morgue, perhaps. But not clown."

"Method of operation--distract with parlor tricks, amuse, endear. Then strike." He raps his fingers on the table.

Staren has posed:
    Staren's ears perk up to listen, wondering what Bitter Medicine's going on about.

    He freezes as Bitter Medicine begins his litany of accusations.

    It's not that he immediately assumes the worst of Pinkie, but he /is/ put on his guard. He reaches for his belt buckle, then remembers the no-fighting rule. Well... if Pinkie breaks it, he has other measures. Slowly, he turns to look at Pinkie and see her reaction.

Finna (513) has posed:
    "Hrrrrrmmmm... I wasn't going to up and say it and disrupt the game." Finna's regaining some courage. That and she didn't want to actually aggravate this person. "Hah... clown. Clowns don't know how to sneak up on my sort of profession. If you can sneak up on me, distracted, well, that speaks of dedication. Boundless dedication. Not many things to put that sort of sneakery towards! ..." Finna claps her hands together, ears regaining their fervor as she tries to regain her nerves. "Come on, let's not ruin the game here!"

Pinkie (470) has posed:
    Twitch-a-twitcha.
    It starts with one loppy ear flapping. When a sudden shiver that runs visibly down the pink pony's spine. Her tail FRIZZES OUT IN A BIG POOF. And then that lame leg gives a JERK.
    "Fwwwuuaah?!"
    But the Pinkie Sense reacts a mite too slow when the Exalt wields his Charm and catches her completely off guard.
    "Wh- wha?"
    Freezing utterly like a doe caught in the lights of an onrushing Mack truck, green eyes can do little more than stare at the Alchemical when he calls her out on apparent lie after lie after lie.
    All of those cards she was juggling a moment ago go forgotten, falling to the floor in a stunned and flabbergasted change from skilled sleight of hand to a game of Fifty-Two Pick Up, with all Jokers.
    But then UP comes one cloven hoof, pointing right at Bitter Medicine. "Okay so there's all that, and maybe I DID take Cranky Doodle's bow tie when he wasn't looking, but I AM a clown, that's no lie!"
    So there you have it. She admits to the crime red-hooved. She's a horrible sneak thief. but how does that explain the injuries she's sporting when flaunted in her face. "Funny thing about that-- I was at this place and the were seriously keen on keeping Earth Ponies out! So they flung me up a flight of punches!" The blathering comes fast, incessant, a mile a minute. Complete with a sudden puppet act of small marionettes that she seems to pull out of nowhere, of a bunch of little wooden ponies beating up on another little wooden pony.
    "Just like that, see?! SEE?!"

Ferham (516) has posed:
     "Well... that happened," Ferham blinked as she leaned back from Bitter Medicine's analysis, peering at Pinkie Pie and then to the Alchemical, as if she fears that something might break out here. "Is... is she alright?" she asks at first, tilting her head before peering just a bit closer to the strange jester pony. The femmebot just has a look on her face of utter surprise, almost like she's mortified. "So you were beaten up?" she calms a little, her voice a bit small as she tried to not excite Pinkie Pie any further. "I'm... sorry to hear that," she finished that E-canister, man, this night.

Staren has posed:
    Staren relaxes, /slightly/, when he sees this isn't going to become a violent confrontation. He listens to Pinkie's explanation. He nods... that's a concrete story he can check with the Archmagister. He pushes his chair back, and stands. The table's clear now -- he packed up his cards and finished his meal while the others talked, earlier. He turns towards Pinkie. "And the smell of formaldehyde?" He'll grant that she's a bizarrely stealthy clown. She /is/ Pinkie. Supposedly. His eyes widen slightly. Wait, could she be a /zombie/? Pinkie's reanimated bod-- wait, no, the Archmagister would know about that. He narrows his eyes again, awaiting a reply.

Bitter Medicine (569) has posed:
Half-truths. Clever. Part of her story is false--but he can't tell which part that is. It's a setback, but it does give Bitter Medicine the opportunity to do something he's been waiting to do for a long, long time. "A likely story," he says. He's always wanted to say that!

Even if she's cleverly deflected his Charm, he's still gained some information about her, confirmed he should indeed be suspicious of her, and hopefully assuaged some of Finna's stress.

Finna (513) has posed:
    "Hrmnngh... whatever, you. Just stay away." Finna doesn't trust Pinkie, but doesn't really see any reason to start super analyzing her - that's not quite her specialty!

    Even so, she remains on guard, folding her arms despite all the antics. Well, the theatrics DO earn a wider-eyed stare just from the skill involved!

    "Well... you still haven't answered MY question... what do you want with us?"

Bitter Medicine (569) has posed:
Bitter Medicine says, "Elementary." All that's missing is the pipe. "My dear Lunar."

The Alchemical stands, points a finger at the ground. "She came here to have fun. Can't commit a crime with witnesses, bar is neutral ground as I understand it.""

Pinkie (470) has posed:
    It IS a likely story, isn't it? Though CORNERED as she is, the premiere party pony of Divided Equestria HUFFS. "They nearly killed me!" She bleats dramatically to Ferham, one foreleg rising to her forehead so she can feign fainting backwards. But with a flump, she lands on her tummy and looks mildly sour, even with that smiling mask on. "Hmph!"
    Some epic pouting passes, and while looking straight at the Soulsteel Alchemical as she answers Staren about the formaldehyde: "The dead always laugh la--"
    The Medicine Man answers Finna for her. So she moves RIGHT ALONG WITH THAT.
    "YEP! Well, you caught me red hooved~. I followed Staren to nag him, and when he came here I thought I'd try putting a smile on everyone's face~."
    Look how she's gone back to playing with the marionettes. See? See?

Staren has posed:
    Staren watches Pinkie dispassionately. Her antics are ignored. Her lack of an actual explanation is not. Something seems /very/ wrong here. His eyes narrow just slightly more. "No dodging the question. If you're afraid the truth would /look/ bad and you'd be misunderstood, you can tell me privately later, and I promise I will listen to you and give you a chance to explain. Otherwise, let's hear it."

Theo Morrison has posed:
Theo, sitting silently in his seat, drinks his emptying shake from a straw.

slrrrrrrrrrrrrp

Ferham (516) has posed:
     "Well I'm sorry you were hurt," Ferham apparently shares the feeling of having been beaten before, so she sympathizes. "But what's this about formaldehyde? I don't understand," she looks down at her E-tank can which has gotten pretty empty by now, then glances at the clock. She might not even be here still if it wasn't for the card game going on, and the atmosphere.

Finna (513) has posed:
    "Staren, that naivete'll get you killed, especially if it annoys this person! Juggling cards isn't so different from juggling knives. It's great training for catching things by their edges. Oh, and she praises cheers and smiles, but reeks of death. You won't see me lowering my guard anytime soon again. Nobody in the world would spend as much time as she has learning to keep hidden without a reason. Now I'm pretty good at the trick, myself! Even better at spotting when others do it. Sooooo why would you need to be so good at sneaking even I don't spot it? Where, ever, is security the tightest? Military leaders. Rulers.... put two and two together, kitty!"

    Finna flatly announces, arms still crossed and heckles still raised. He's being a moron in her eyes, and that's really pissing her off.

    ... Which is a twisted way of showing she's worried, and does indeed care.

Pinkie (470) has posed:
    Slowly Pinkie Pie stands up... And then...
    GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASP!!!!!!!
    Drawing in an excessively dramatic breath she points a hoof off in a direction.
    "LOOK OVER THERE! A DISTRACTION!" She yells.
    There is, in fact, a bright balloon over where she's pointed, with the word 'Distraction here!' written on it in sharpie.
    And then wheeling around she goes sprinting for the bar door. And out of it, too.

Bitter Medicine (569) has posed:
Bitter Medicine does fall for it. He can't believe he fell for it.

"Well."

The Alchemical cracks his knuckles. He doesn't need to chase after the pony--this isn't Autochthonia, and strictly speaking she hasn't even broken any laws, except perhaps whatever laws her own world has about hiding in morgues.

"Subversive," he mutters under his breath as if it were an insult. He /very nearly/ says 'submersible.' Bitter Medicine grunts at Finna--a respectful grunt.

Finna (513) has posed:
    "What?!" Didn't she just say she WOULDN'T let her guard down? But the sheer suddenness... argh, she does half-glance and... that's apparently enough. Her instincts would've flashed up into full alert in an emergency, but still. .. damn so stupid.

    "....Rgh...."

    Finna fwumps face-down onto the table and grunts once.

    "Weeeeeel, Bitter Medicine? See why I followed you yet? You're more interesting than yo give yourself credit for." She announces in a somewhat defeated, frustrated tone.

Theo Morrison has posed:
Theo, who is still slurping his shake and who has, in fact, used that /exact/ shout before, just watches her bail.

"Huh," Theo mutters. He needs a refill.

Staren has posed:
    Staren does look, but at the pointing, not because of the words. An eyebrow lifts slightly as he sees the balloon. How /did/ she do that? Then his ears turn and he looks at the door and sighs, shaking his head.

    He turns to Finna with that same, dispassionate gaze. "Things can look bad. She has been helpful every time I've met her. And she's always been good at clown stuff and sneaking around. The death smell is new though. At any rate, this situation is more complex than simply, 'She's secretly a ninja that hangs out in a morgue'. I will be on my guard, but I will not assume the worst." He leans forward slightly towards Finna. "Something terrible has happened to her and her friends. I can't /imagine/ how they must feel without eachother. Or at least, I don't want to. Maybe they are too evil to redeem. I hope not. But I will certainly not push any of them over that edge myself by deciding that they have no chance before even hearing them out. ...That does not mean that I will be careless or reckless, however."

Ferham (516) has posed:
     Ferham just sort of frowns as she hears that explanation. "Ninja that hangs out in a morgue...? Wouldn't that make them an assassin of some kind?" the femmebot doesn't seem exactly pleased to hear something like that. "Doesn't exactly inspire trust, though..." she looked off to the side. "I guess as a confederate I'm not the sort who should be talking there, eh?" she shrugged, tossing her E-tank can into somewhere that was meant for refuse, looking like she's turning and moving to head out.

Finna (513) has posed:
    ".... Uuuurgh.... are you STILL holding that against me, kitty?" Finna blurts after spotting the catboy's expression. "Is an apology not enough? I'm seriously worried about you here." Her shoulders slump sadly...

Bitter Medicine (569) has posed:
Bitter Medicine grunts affirmatively to Ferham. She said it so he doesn't have to--although she really doesn't seem that bad for a Fed, a bar's hardly the place to get to know the facets of someone's character.

"I don't trust Finna. Or anyone. It's earned with me, if you get it at all. My job means I have to love my nation, because trusting an individual is impossible. Anyone could be a spy, a saboteur, or Great Maker forbid, a heretic looking to sow the seeds of some new and blasphemous cult. That's the price of free speech--shadows for corruption to hide in." He holds up a finger, as if to say, 'there's a point to this, I promise.' "In the time Finna's spent with my people, she's been a model citizen. And in the admittedly short time I've known her, she's never reacted to /anything/ like that before--not even confronting an entirely alien civilization that basically invited itself into her world and started using her resources. If you want to help that pony, you're a kinder man than I am. She's made her bed and she can sleep in it, as far as I'm concerned. See you around, Staren."

Staren has posed:
    Staren's brow furrows at the mention of the word 'Assassin'. She wears a mask and has pink hair too, but... Things still aren't quite adding up. Still, an angle to look into. He turns to Ferham. "I do what I think is right, not what looks good to my allies. You can ask your allies about Beautiful Rose Petal." He looks back at Finna, "/There's/ someone who had plenty of reason to be afraid of going to the 'good guys'" he makes air quotes with his fingers, "for help. I hope that one day I can change that perception, so that people like her will not be driven to the Confederacy." he shrugs. "No offense."

    Staren looks back to Finna. "It's not that. This is a seperate issue. I have information and experiences that you don't. I..." his expressions softens a bit. "I'm sorry for coming across so harsh. But I don't know how to bridge that inferential distance quickly."

    Staren looks to Bitter Medicine. "Mmm. If you trust noone, then you'll understand that I barely know you, and I'm not close to Finna." He tilts his head. "I don't think I know just where that bed is yet, metaphorically. When I find out, I will decide whether to help her or not. ...See you, Bitter Medicine."

Finna (513) has posed:
    "... Well, it's my principle to not let my guard down near anyone who can beat me at my own game.... I'm not sure what she acts against, but it's that uncertainty that makes ME worry. There are some people who stick to the shadows to fight the other things that hide there." Like herself, of course! Finna nods once, arms folded.

    "....But boy..." She makes a softer gaze, shrugging at Staren. "....Whaaaaaat? You're the only one making a distance here... I apologized for that outburst, remember?"

    Which is apparently good enough for her, because she doesn't hold grudges!

Staren has posed:
    Staren blinks at Finna, confused. "I just said, it's not that. This disagreement is for a different reason. And /this/ time, I'm not thinking less of you for it, because I understand where you're coming from. But I am coming from somewhere else, with different information." He tilts his head. "Are you upset that we disagree on this?"

Finna (513) has posed:
    Finna returns the blinking, then claps a hand to her forehead. ".... Noooo... just tremendously frustrated at how frequently we misunderstand each other."

Staren has posed:
    Staren gives her a half-lidded stare. "Then maybe /you/ can understand how I feel when /I/ try to talk to /everyone else/." he says, dryly.