Winding down

[wants_the_phd]

WHO: Roses and ?
WHERE: Rose barn
WHEN: Post-ritual evening 54 through morning 55

[Whew.





Whew.]

Comments

[finalbows]

[ re-crosses his legs. lowers his opera glasses minutely. ]

Mm?

[wants_the_phd]

Why'd you send me blood that one time?

[finalbows]

[ with diction so crisp it could snap in your fingers, ]

I prefer to clean up after I play.


Oh, my. One of them's kept the presence of mind to summon a cube.

[wants_the_phd]

Oh? Can you make out who it's calling?

1/2

[finalbows]

[ squinting and pressing the glasses close to his face ]

There's a bunch. ...That's Minuet... Ananke...? The cube making the call is covered in feathers, so it's sort of hard to--

2/2

[finalbows]

--Eyebrows.

Snakey is the Lilylord!

[wants_the_phd]

Hot diggety. He had feathers on his dragon form too, now that you mention it.

[finalbows]

_{Like my darling Ginryu...}

Final bet on the other one before more start running over?

[wants_the_phd]

Well, Ananke and Charon are out by default, and the goopy black cat thing doesn't strike me as Perci...

I have no idea what Styx's dragon looked like, and I don't know any other Lilies. So I'm guessing Lethe.

[finalbows]

There'ssss.... recent new girl Lily, Styx, Lilylord, Perci, Ananke, A-- no, he's pink now, ah... Lethe... _{am I missing one? I feel like I'm--}

[ this is the face he makes when minuet just punches the cat right in the snout ]

My goodness. Watch out for Minuet's left hook.

[wants_the_phd]

[She can't see from here, damn]

Oh yeah, I think I met the girl in passing once. They have a blond guy now, too. Acheron, I think?

[finalbows]

Wonder what they're going to do when they run out of rivers.

[wants_the_phd]

Every new person brings a whole new world's worth of rivers.

...Unless they're more teen wizard boys from one extremely cursed learning institution. In which case it's the same set.

[finalbows]

I think Blossom has to have a trade deal with one of the staff, or something...

[wants_the_phd]

That or an open pit trap in a hallway that ejects them straight into a barn.



...If there were anyone here from your world, would you know?

[finalbows]

Depends on the world.
Gaia had a population in the hundreds of millions and immense biodiversity.


_{...When I was about ten, anyway.}

If they're Gaian, I might have to wait and see if anyone starts pointing and saying "You! You're the man responsible for the death of my people!" or something. If they're Terran...

...
With a Terran, it would be immediately obvious.

And... with where I was before I came here... it would also be obvious. We numbered less than the conversant populace of the pasture.

[wants_the_phd]

Where were you before you came here?

[She thought you were dead?]

[finalbows]

Seeing as you didn't believe in the soul when we met, I supposed I'm not surprised your mind doesn't immediately jump to the idea of eternal torment for the wicked and deceased, but where I really happened to be was--

Oh, the kitty-cat's turning back! My goodness. Over and done with. I wonder what Minuet force-fed it.

...

You don't think it was...

[wants_the_phd]

Honeysuckle? Wolfsbane? Drugs? Who can say.

So? Who was it?

[finalbows]

Hold on, they're still in the middle of resuming their previous skeletal structure.

[wants_the_phd]

The suspense...

Anyway, you were saying?

[finalbows]

[ smiles softly without looking up. ]

You know... too much gratification makes for a numbed audience.

[wants_the_phd]

I remember you saying something like that once before.

[finalbows]

...and, I've decided since then...

[ his eyes aren't on her. his attention is feigned completely to be on the Lily Situation. but his words do anything but match that. ]

You get your tan-talizing new secrets... when I get to have real fun. Because I did so like how your irrepressible curiosity tended to keep you invested.

[wants_the_phd]

A ha ha. We all have our weaknesses, don't we.

[Her voice is casual and honey-sweet]

Very well. If that's a new rule in our game, I'll make one, too:

If you don't want me to tear you apart, then don't let me.