2680/Breaking the Ice

Breaking the Ice
Date of Scene:	25 July 2015
Location:	Bar and Grill at the Edge of the Multiverse
Synopsis:	Raine, Fragarach and Vanessa meet up again.
Cast of Characters:	323, 604

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Vanessa Selby (323) has posed:
Vanessa's drinking alone at the Bar and Grill as usual. She doesn't really know a lot of people in the Multiverse and it's more to take her mind off things then to be social. She's already a bit tipsy at this point as her tails are wrapped the stool she's sitting on in order to stay balanced.

Raine Arland (604) has posed:
     Vanessa is left to her own devices for the most part.

     ...At least she was. But then suddenly two people barrel in and come sitting on either side of her. "Well, look who it is!" A younger male's voice sounded cheerfully. "It's...Van....Va....Vandeselca! Yeah! That was your name, right?" He asked, grinning in a teasing manner.

     It was Raine.

     On Vanessa's other side, a girl in white floated onto the stool, her considerably long tail wrapping around the legs to keep it out of the way of others. "No, no, you fool! Her name was....Va....Ve.....Rip Van Winkle!" And then she smiled broadly at Vanessa. "Aren't I right? Aren't I?"

     It was Fragarach.

     Seems like they just stopped in. Likely from some sort of job previously. What terrible timing!

Vanessa Selby (323) has posed:
"Just my luck, that you two show up again. Then again I suppose it would have happened sooner or later. My name's Vanessa, I don't think it's that hard to remember. Then again you two likely think your act is funny." She doesn't seemed to be too amused by the comedy as her attention is mainly on her drink. She's not going to let Raine and Fragarach ruin things for her.

Raine Arland (604) has posed:
     "Haaaaah? Whoa there lady, I'll have you know that this is no comedy act! This is one hundred percent genuine from the soul!" Raine proclaimed dramatically, one arm outstretched. An 'ahem' from the barkeep roused him back to reality. "Oh right. I'll have two tall ones and a plate of wings! Extra spicy! Hold the celery! Extra carrots!"

     Fragarach laughed at Vanessa's response, way too easily amused. "Hehehe~ It has been a while, hasn't it, Vanessa?" She leaned an elbow onto the counter and rested her chin in her palm, staring at the unfortunate fox girl. "So tell me, why have I barely seen you about? Are you literally cooped up in that frozen house day in and day out? Surely not, right?"

     Pause.

     "...Right?"

Vanessa Selby (323) has posed:
"I get out...once in a while." Vanessa yawns as she say that. "When I have the energy. Why do you care if I get out or not?" She's not sure why Fragarach is concerned about her social life. "And how can you stand extra spicy food? It feels like I stuck a torch in my mouth when I try to eat it." She cringes a bit at the very though.

Raine Arland (604) has posed:
     Raine immediately whirled around to face Vanessa, aghast. "TREACHERY! The spicier it is, the closer to heaven! I-I can't believe I'm being asked this question!" Sounding almost convincingly betrayed, Raine clenched a fist and stared up at the ceiling. "I.......I........One day....ONE DAY! One day, all the people in the multiverse will appreciate the glorious majesty of spicy food... Wait for me, god of gourmet. Wait for me..."

     The barkeep clonked down two mugs of beer, one in front of Raine, and another in front of Fragarach. And then he was off again to attend to others.

     Fragarach meanwhile, reeled back dramatically at Vanessa's cold response. "Once in a while? Once in a while!? Is once in a while, ohh.....about once a month!? Have you been sleeping all this time?" The inhuman of the pair peered closely at Vanessa, as if scrutinizing her.

     "........."

     After a moment, she spoke up.

     "And I care because knowing that someone out there, that I know, is locked up in their home doing nothing at all...it pains my heart!" She grasped where her heart would be with an arm, covered by a sleeve. "It's too sad! You need to get out! Have some fun! Shoot things! Plunder treasure! Live out the springtime of your youth!"

     The beer arrived at that moment. "Ooh, there it is." Fragarach grabbed the mug in front of her and immediately began chugging in an unlady-like fashion.

     These two were perfect for each other.

Vanessa Selby (323) has posed:
"Do you even have a heart?" Vanessa's a bit curious about that, she figured Fragarach was some type of spirit or ghost. Then again she was drinking beer which would be rather hard without a physical form. "Well, I've been busy trying to figure out how to get back to normal. Do I look like a pirate to you? Besides, I rather that things go back to the way they were before without having to worry about people wanting revenge." She does have her reasons for acting the way she does. "Besides using my powers takes a lot of energy."

Raine Arland (604) has posed:
     Welp, it looked like the girls were talking. Raine ceased commenting and just drank his beer at a casual pace. Before long, the rest of his order came and he proceeded to occupy his time eating. Oh yes, it was spicy. But it was so good. He continued on, letting the two chat away.

     "Ehhhhh!? How dare you, I totally have a heart! ...Maybe it's not the same as yours, but I have a heart!" Fragarach pouted, giving Vanessa a stare for a few seconds, then she rolled her eyes and leaned back, setting her empty mug down. It didn't seem like the beer did anything at all.

     "Tsk, tsk. No ambition at all." The girl in white chided in a pitying tone. "If someone wants revenge on you, then that means you're doing something right!" She pat the fox girl's shoulder playfully. "Success can be measured proportionately by the amount of people that hate you as well as those who love you!"

     Really? Sounded more like mean spirited fake advice.

     "Anyway! You say using your powers takes a lot of energy? Weak!" She threw an arm around Vanessa's shoulder. "It sounds like someone needs to train!"

Vanessa Selby (323) has posed:
"That and I rather not be awoke from my sleep by people trying to kill me." Vanessa adds to that, "I do train, otherwise I would be a mentally wreck right now. Why do you think I'm so tired?" She tries to pull away from Fragarach, "I have ambition, I want things to be back to the way they used to be." The fox-girl does have goals just limited energy to achieve them. "I just don't have the ability to make things that way."

Raine Arland (604) has posed:
     "Reaaaaaaally? That sounds fairly unambitious to me." Fragarach quipped, leaning back in her seat. ...Since it was a stool, she inevitably fell back, but instead of hitting the ground, she just began to lazily float in the air.

     "So then..." The tailed woman gave Vanessa a sidelong glance, her humor having vanished for a moment under her piercing, inhuman gaze. "You seem to be...what's the human analogy for it..'Stuck between a rock, and a hard place.'" She smirked and the cheerful playfulness gradually returned.

     "You have goals, but something is keeping you from achieving them. Your power tires you out constantly, leaving you with no energy to actually do the things you need to do." Repeating the assumed reality of her situation back to her in an even, observant tone, Fragarach's gaze turned to the ceiling.

     "How exactly do you plan to address this problem? Steps need to be taken, else you will stay exactly where you are. What will it be?"

Vanessa Selby (323) has posed:
"Well, if you were changed against your will would you want to stay that way?" Vanessa wonders how Fragarach would feel about the subject. "It's not like I can turn back on my own, I don't have any magic. I just can read about what might work." She kind of is stuck in a way. "Why do you care anyways?" She's not quite sure why the ghost woman is even interested in the subject to begin with.

Raine Arland (604) has posed:
     "Hmm...well, that depends. Is it beneficial? Have I become stronger, and more capable? ...Or am I just feeling tired all the time and looking like a monster?" Fragarach answered, and then returned the question with some of her own. "There may be an upside, as well as a downside. But I suppose that depends on how you look at it."

     She smirked after "You don't have any magic? But do you have the capacity to learn? Or are you completely inept in matters of the arcane nature?" She was curious now. Vanessa didn't outright say what she was going through, but she was piecing it together slowly. Suppose alcohol really did loosen people's lips.

     And then she shrugged. "As for me, why do you care that I care? Hm?"

     Raine had been listening to all of this casually, and glanced aside at the two, lowering his mug back to the bar counter. "Sheesh! So let me get this straight; you were magiked into that form you have now by someone else? Is that it?" And then he grinned. "Hah! Ahahahaha! Really? That of all things!? Whoever it was, they must have some kinda weird ass fetish! Hahaha!"

     And there was Raine's poignant commentary.

     "But like...I'm not a huge magic guy. Can't cast a proper spell to save my life. But...is transformation magic /that/ complicated? I mean, we've got magicians, sages, wizards, witches, and sorcerers across the multiverse that could probably do something. You have anyone take a look at it at all?"

Vanessa Selby (323) has posed:
"The mental fatigue is completely separate from the transformation." Vanessa's quick to point out. "Well, I can hear better than before, but even that's more of annoyance than anything. She glares at Raine and her ears go back as she hears the fetish comment. "I think it was her idea of a joke more than anything. And as much as I've been able to figure out is it's chaos magic. So it was unpredictable to begin with. So letting just anyone do something could be a problem." She's a bit more open then before, maybe because she's a bit drunk. Still, she's fairly defensive.

Raine Arland (604) has posed:
     "Oh? So what causes the mental fatigue then? Have you been doubly cursed?" The tailed woman asked, though sounding mildly amused nonetheless. Sounds like this girl's had it rough. Transformed into something totally not human and left to figure it out in some way. Fun, fun.

     Raine grinned wider, ever the entertained one in all of this. "A joke, huh?" He mumbles, a hand brought to his chin. "Well, I have no idea what Chaos Magic is, but if it's that unpredictable, having someone mess with it would be kinda bad." He rubbed his chin a bit, and then added. "So what then? If you can't do it yourself, and you won't let anyone else look at it, what are you gonna do?"

     He brought his mug to his lips, having a sip of his beer before biting into another wing. "Want one?" He offered, knowing full well Vanessa hated spicy foods. A thought hit him after. "This is gonna seem really obvious, but...have you found the person who did this?"

Vanessa Selby (323) has posed:
"Trying to track her down is a pain, she doesn't seem to stay in one place very long. And even if I did then what? She would likely just laugh at me again and vanish." Vanessa knows if she could find Kari-Shaba it wouldn't do much good. "Well, would you just let anyone tamper with unpredictable magic that could make your life even worse?" She's heistant to let just anyone try. "My cryokinesis, and no I certainly don't want any of those." She cringes a bit just at the thought of eating one of the extra spicy wings.

Raine Arland (604) has posed:
     Fragarach sighed and palmed her face through her sleeve at Vanessa's response. "So, what are you going to do then? Go home, sleep, and read another couple of books ineffectually? Is that it?"

     Raine just chuckled and shrugged his shoulders. "She's right though. You've got to do something a little more proactive. You do some book research, but...what else? You gotta do a little more, don't you think? You want out of this-" He gestured towards the whole of Vanessa momentarily. "-this fetish fuel form, don't you?" Now he was totally making fun of her.

     Fragarach reached over suddenly and proceeded to start teasing the poor girl's ears. "Or maybe you want to stay in this form forever, eating tofu everything and having your ears played with, hm?"

Vanessa Selby (323) has posed:
"Don't touch my ears! And what am I suppose to do get on my knees and beg for help?" Vanessa doesn't sound too pleased at this point as ice covers her ears. She's not going to start a fight in here since she doesn't want to get kicked out and it's too much effort. "I don't know anyone with that kind of ability...and being a pink elf lizard ghost thing is so much better?" She's getting rather defensive at this point.

Raine Arland (604) has posed:
     "Boooo! Cheapskate!" Fragarach pouted and withdrew her hands. "Fiiiiiiiine." She stopped at that point and went back to waiting for Raine to finish.

     "Right. Well..." He shrugged. "It doesn't look like you actually have an answer yourself." He wiped his mouth with a napkin and dropped some credits onto the bar counter. "You're just coasting along with this whole thing, aren't you?"

     He stood up, stretching his arms above his head. "You've got a goal, but where your motivation? Where's your drive to get out there and do the do?" He shook his head, hands slipping into his pockets. "I don't feel it."

     At that point, Raine turned around and proceeded to plod off towards the entrance. "We can't tell you what to do in the end. You've got to find an answer for yourself." And then he was off. Fragarach wasn't too far behind, floating on after him. She turned around in mid-air and waved a sleeve. "See you around~" And then she vanished from sight.

     ...Looks like that was it from them.