The Unsettling City (under new management)

[Roaven]

"Yes, Ivory, tell us the story." Roaven agreed, perfectly content to hand off the reigns to the Dealbound. She wasn't sure how well she'd be portrayed in the story, but if she wanted to take the credit, more power to her. The important thing was that she could just kick back and listen in rather than having to tell it herself. Much as she enjoyed storytime with the kids, it was nice to be able to pass the buck sometimes. "I hear from people who were there that it's quite the tale." She noted, looking for a place to sit down and settle in, preferably facing the door so she could know if anyone came or went. Hm, eidolon, eidolon. She was vaguely familiar with the term, but it didn't strike any remembrance at the moment, so she made a note of it in her mind to look into it later. She was hardly surprised that the cops hadn't fared too well, and that was part of why she was reluctant to see the justice system improve to counter the supernaturals. It would make what she did harder, and she had no intention of going legit.

[Ixor Firebadger]

"YEAH!!! STORY!!!!!" Tai jumps up and down, joining Aleria in the demand and initiating a chant.

"What's going on?" Rudy asked, coming out of the room and rubbing his eyes. He'd slipped in to take a nap and the kids cheering had woken him.

"Hm. Maybe." She takes a look at her phone. Wouldn't Terrence be showing up soon? She hoped so. She wanted to see him something fierce right now, after witnessing the shambles of their counterparts' relationship.

[AnCatDubh]

"It's apparently storytime," Ivory replied to Rudy with a chuckle, "Sorry they woke you up. Alright, settled own, or there won't be any storytime," she threatened the noisy duo.

"Mkies," Aleria said, finding a comfy spot to sit down on.

Eve quietly found a spot to sit as well. Geist would end up sitting right next to her, so she scritched the hounds ears absently as Ivory went into the story.

Ivory gave credit where it was due. Roaven was the one who had done most of the work on not-Gallows, so she made sure to give ample detail to the Hunter Lord's exploits. Of course, that isn't to say she slighted herself in the recounting. After all, she had her own role in helping take down the Abyssal, and Roaven was able to concentrate on him because Ivory kept the minions in check. She'd finish up the retelling by picking up the arm and manipulating it into a victory sign, saying, "So, that's the story of how we got this arm."

As it so happened, it was only moments after Kat put her phone away that Terrence rounded a corner ahead of them. He had his riding leathers on, though the jacket was open to show that he was still wearing his EMT uniform. He looked a little tired, but that didn't keep him from smiling at Kat when he saw her.

Terra just stared. Tall, handsome...and the warmth of that look he flashed at Kat. It left her feeling even more keenly aware of what would never be. She unconsciously wrapped her arms around herself in symbolic protection against that feeling.

"Hello, Kat," Terrence said, restraining from going up and hugging her right away when there was such a...distinguished...visitor there as well. "And you must be Terra...?"

"Yeah..." she answered, managing to look him in the eye. She glanced between him and Kat, then said, "Look...why don't you two catch up. I'll...just go grab some food..."

Looking between Terra and Kat, Terrence said, "Uh...I'm taking it something's happened that I don't know about yet?"

[Roaven]

"Ivory is explaining the origin of her battle trophy. It needs a backstory otherwise it can't be a magical artifact." Roaven explained wryly, with the sort of logic that a child might use, but hey, every good artifact had a story, didn't it? That was important. She settled in and listened, nodding appreciatively when her parts were mentioned, glad that she wasn't being denied credit, but certainly not going to deny Ivory her rightful place as an important character in the story. "We could have just gone around, but Ivory was having none of that." She complained afterwards, shooting a grin at the Dealbound. "So I figured that I might as well make sure she did it right. I gave her time to show off later, at least.' Aleria might just appreciate the idea of tagging along to keep things going right. That seemed to be her role in her little group, as well as the tactician of sorts.

[Ixor Firebadger]

Tai also finds a chair and quiets down.

Rudy blinks when he realizes Ivory and his Roaven were there. "You guys were caught up, too, huh?' he asks, rhetorically. His eyes linger a little longer on Ivory. She had done for him, the same that Steel had done for Ruby before the Mantle and Rudy had a few more feelings for the Dealbound than he did for most. But they'd never been strong enough for him to do much with. To be honest, women made him nervous. He wasn't attracted to men, granted, he'd had his curiosities. But he suspected that he might have a definite preference for women if he hadn't had the experiences with them that he had. As it was, he had no idea which way he swung, though he wished he could figure it out. He was awfully lonely...

"Cooooool...." Tai says, when the story was done.

Kat shoots an apologetic look at Terra. "We'll catch up," she promises, taking Terrence's arm and leading him off to fill him in on everything she knew, including the news about the Overdraft, Kevin's deplorable demeanor, and the rift between their counterparts. She finishes by giving him a big hug. "I'm so sorry for how I always treated you. Thanks for not giving up on me..." There was more she wanted to say, but the words wouldn't come.

[AnCatDubh]

Aleria snickered at Auntie Roavin' Hand's commentary after Ghost Lady finished the tale. Myup, she could appreciate that, alright. "Nya, can I hold the arm?" she asked Ivory.

"You can, but leave it on the table. It's heavier than you think," Ivory said. Her face turned toward Rudy as she then said, "You look about ready to pass out on your feet, you know that?"

With a grateful but brittle smile, Terra took off at as fast a walk she could manage without looking like she was running away.

Terrence listened to everything Kat said somberly. That was a lot to have happened in a relatively short period of time. He smiled at her when she made her apology though, returning the hug and said humbly, "You're welcome." Given the trouble that Kat had given him that she just apologized for, he truly sympathized for his poor counterpart.

[Roaven]

"Makes a good backscratcher." Roaven noted when Aleria requested that she could hold the arm, turning her attention back over to Rudy. Hm, she wondered if Haven had the facilities to work with Soulsteel. Maybe the dwarven forge she had given Rocknose? "Make a wicked blade." She murmured, more to herself than the others, though with the astute hearing of everyone in the room, it would probably be picked up on. She admittedly wasn't overly familiar with Rudy, though she knew that he and Ivory had a relationship of some kind, though whether that was just a friendship or more, she couldn't say. "Yeah. Was in the middle of something, too." She muttered, rather crossly. "Yeah. We can keep it down if you want to get some rest."

[Ixor Firebadger]

"Well, it's been a long day and I am only mortal," Rudy points out, in a teasing manner.

Tai races Aleria over to the table to play with the arm.

Meeko seems perfectly content to just sit in a chair close to Ivory and not touch the creepy thing.

__________________________________________________________________

Part of Kat wonders if she'd ever made Terrence cry, the way Kevin had just done to Terra, but she really wasn't sure she wanted to know. It was bad enough just seeing what she had of the same sort of behavior she had left behind. Well, tried to. "Maybe I should sit this out and let you talk to her for a bit?" she asks.

[AnCatDubh]

"Sleep sounds even better than a beer," Tatyana said. She rose, hefting Sammy in her arms. "Alright Brutishka, back to bed we go, and hopefully no getting teleported away again, da?" She carried him off to one of the rooms.

Eve just remained where she was as well, her eyes drooping shut. She felt tired, maybe sleep would be good. She wondered if Aleria and Tai would be able to fall asleep given how excited they were.

"You can play with that for a little bit, but after that you need to get some sleep. It's late," Ivory told them.

______________________________

"Perhaps," Terrence said after thinking on it a moment, "I'm not sure if I'd do much good, though." He'd definitely been driven to intense frustration by Kat in the past, certainly, but not quite to the point that Terra seemed to have been pushed into. He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck and asked, "I suppose the thing is whether I try and help now or let her get some sleep in. From what you said, it's been a long and rough night for her, some rest should help her regain her mental footing."

[Roaven]

Well, it seemed that everyone was heading off to bed. That wasn't really Roaven's style, and as much as she wouldn't mind some rest, she knew that she would be far too restless for even her habit of sleep to catch up with her now. With that in mind, she figured she could set out and play spot the differences and prowl the night. Maybe do some light stealing while she was at it. Just a little. "You going to bed, Ivory? Think I'm gonna head out. Take a long walk. Prowl the night." She doubted the Dealbound would be inclined to tag along, but she figured she could make the offer and then she would have no reason to feel bad if it was declined. "Also, Rudy, rest assured that being a non-mortal isn't all it's cracked up to be."

[Ixor Firebadger]

Sammy just lets herself get scooped up and spirited away to bed.

Meeko started to yawn, herself, also ready for some shut-eye.

Tai's energy goes on for a little while longer, but it isn't too long before he's only staying up to try and outlast Aleria.

Rudy just shrugs at that.

"Well, I figure, if nothing else, it could be interesting for you two to get to know each other. You don't have o talk to her about that. And I don't know if we both should go right now. Seeing us together would probably make her more uncomfortable. If you don't want to go, I will. Otherwise, I'm just going to teleport home and come back for my bike tomorrow."

[AnCatDubh]

"I think...I'll stay long enough to make sure the kidlets get to bed, and then prowling the city sounds good," she answered Roaven. She chuckled when Aleria protested being labeled with that term.

As it stood, the little felid was going fine, going fine, then just the energy wall and crashed. Much to her annoyance, Tai outlasted her, but trying to fight her sudden lassitude wasn't worth the Pride Points to overcome. She'd just show him up later at something, mya.

Even had no compunctions about going to bed and would assist in getting the other three to bed. Technically she was much, much younger than they, but she acted more mature. Between her and Geist, they'd get Aleria and Tai herded to bed.

___________________

Terrence considered that, then nodded, "Alright, I'll talk with her then. Probably not for too long though, it's been a long day for both of us, though perhaps not as long for me as for her."

[Roaven]

"Well, I won't stray too far. Need some air, though." Roaven murmured, raising a hand in farewell, much the same as she had done for a greeting to Tayana and Sammy. After making sure all of her gear was in place and her catsuit was zipped up all the way against the encroaching cold, she would set out, wandering a bit but staying relatively nearby. She had no doubt that Ivory would have been able to find her, but there was no sense in making it....well, actually....the sneak would set about to do some sneaking, finding a nearby hiding place. She knew, thanks to Ivory's sight, it would be tough, but if the Dealbound didn't look in her direction, she should be fine. Just an added challenge.

[Ixor Firebadger]

"If you two want to go, I can handle the kids," Rudy offers. Whether or not that offer was taken up, he would help, unless Ivory saw fit to herd him off, too.

"Ok, I'll see you at..." Kat grunts, remembering one thing. "The Overdraft. Maybe we should report into the lab and make sure we're not infected and maybe we should crash here until we know the house is safe..." So there was one more thing to see to before they head off for the night. It was just as well that neither of them had been affected as of yet. And by the time Terrence had gone through the process, she would have a room secured for them.

[Lady Lai]

"That's not good. I can't even think of a reason why I'd say anything bad to you. Yet. Just to be on the safe side. But you're a really great guy." She responded, smiled at his grin, smiling back and wishing she had her tail and decided to indulge him on that thought too. "My tail would be wiggling so much right now, truth be told." She finished and smirked on him and listened to him go on about the truth about luck. she didn't want to interrupt him and so didn't, playing in the water and Mishka was being good in drying herself off.

"I'm sure you know what I meant. I was trying to be nice and say I like you being around...that I feel lucky. That good things happen when you're here." She replied looking at him now instead of her beloved companion who was silly as all hell. Darren was certainly being cute, rubbing his neck a bit nervously. She wanted to add on to it, but that was to be saved for lunch. "So are we going to wait for food for you to tell the troubles of your comrade now?" She asks, for they seem to deter from around the original subject. It was less crowded out here then it would be in the dining area.