Seth [King Cheetah] - elfgurl1234

[Seth_Avi]

~Celebration~

[ORP] Jasper's Coming of Age Party

Summary: Jasper's reached adulthood, and in honor of this Dacj and Kamiko throw him a Japanese styled Coming of Age party. Lots of fun to be had.

 

[elfgurl1234]

~Private Celebration~

[Hytech PRP] re-ACT! panic at the simulation room!

Summary: During Jasper's party, Seth and Dacj decide to slip away for a bit to try out the simulation room. One thing leads to another and the cheetah Hyte wins yet another round of Twister. Also, Eli faints. Again.

 

[Seth_Avi]

[PM RP] Detox and Discussions
1/31/11 - 2/2/11

Quote:

It was interesting how timing worked out sometimes. Just as Seth had been about to call Mena earlier to ask to speak with her, the feline Hyte called him over herself on a matter to do with the magic pills. He agreed to come straight over of course, as it would be easy to kill two birds with one stone this way. After all, he had promised Dacj that he would be the one to tell her.

He made his way inside the Cottage easily enough, and after tapping the statue he found himself down in the lab's mini bedroom. "Hello, Mena," he called out as he padded into the lab proper. "Sorry to keep you waiting. There was a bit of traffic along the way." The cheetah Hyte glanced about to see where the other might be. Hopefully within hearing range...

"Not a problem~" the cat woman replied cheerily, glancing over from her wall of monitors, showing various camera feeds, where she'd been making herself comfortable during the wait, feet crossed at the ankle and propped up on a desk as she leaned back in her chair. At Seth's arrival, she moved to get up, setting aside what looked suspiciously like a bowl of popcorn. Clearly she'd been having a bit of relaxation... "Excited to purge genetic virus alterations? Get rid of those awful sugar cravings?" she asked, rubbing her paws together with a grin.

"Ecstatic," he replied with an amused smile. Of course, he actually was glad to be getting rid of those things, but detoxes were not particularly fun from what he had heard. The regular antidote pills were bad enough after all. "I take it the non-Phage version of the pill is fully ready then?" He doubted she'd have called him over if it wasn't, but he thought he'd ask anyway. He brought the old pills along with him in case she needed to find some special means of disposing of them.

"Entirely ready to go, yes," Mena confirmed with a nod, her continued smile suggesting that might in fact be the reason for her cheery mood. "Depending on what this actually does to your system, I should be able to at least send you home with the first dosages of the new stuff--but it's going to be a little more taxing on your system at first, and when you start the new regime, you'll have around-the-clock magic for a bit there, about three days, give or take. But after that, it'll be like using this version, an on-pill and an off-pill, except this time the ones to take the magic away ought to be much, much milder." Really he shouldn't be able to tell much at all, but that might be setting the bar too high. She had high hopes though, especially with both Aikatyrine and Shimy collaborating on the second formulation.

"So you actually won't be rid of the sugar cravings quite yet, but I think the long-term benefits are going to be far more preferable," she added, offering a bit of wry humor.

"A few days of sugar is better than a lifetime's worth," he replied. Now sleeping might be a bit of an issue, but as long as he found a nice secluded place to camp out... "So, where are we going to do this exactly?" He figured he'd likely need to sit at the very least. He would bring up recent developments with Dacj after the fact.

"You might want to actually lie down," Mena said, tilting her head to indicate the excuse-for-a-bedroom Seth had passed through to get into the lab. She retrieved a rather sizeable syringe from tray on one of the lab counters; it was filled with a slightly greyish looking liquid that seemed almost metallic. "It's probably not going to be remotely pleasant."

"Noted," he replied, eying the large syringe briefly before returning to the other room. "Hm, should I get a bucket ready?" he asked, only half joking. Seth wasn't sure how similar or dissimilar this would feel to the antidote pill, but if it was even remotely similar then having a bucket on hand may be wise. If not, then... Well, he'd find out what he was in for soon enough anyway.

Mena ducked out of the room briefly before she returned with one, raising an eyebrow. "It's fairly likely," she said seriously, handing him the bucket. "If you're ready?" She waited for his assent, and then, with a method well-practiced by many a blood draw, inserted the needle, pushed in the concoction, and let the detox-formula/nanobots run their course. She also stepped back...just in case.

Blood circulated quite fast through the body, but the bots and antibodies'd be making a few laps. It could take awhile...

Seth felt a curious tingling sensation in his arm the moment Mena first started the injection, and it only proceeded up further and faster as she emptied the syringe. The tingling was quick to spread through his body, and soon he began to feel rather... ill. Not nauseous, as he had been anticipating, but rather as if he was suddenly coming down with a bad case of the flu. He was glad that he was laying down, for the effects were coming strong and fast. It was seeming to get a bit colder in here... and yet he was sweating? That probably wasn't good.

So far, everything seemed to be going as the test simulations had suggested...it'd start off somewhat mild, but it would definitely get worse. Until then, she might as well do something besides eye him, waiting for him to vomit or do something else he'd likely find terribly embarrassing. "So what was it you were trying to call me about when I called you?" she prompted. And she was vaguely curious; "nothing bad" was still very nonspecific...

"Hm? Ah, just had some news to share," he replied, peeking an eye back open at Mena. "Though, I'm not sure whether or not that should wait until after this." Not that he exactly had anything to do right now other than slowly feel worse and worse, but that was beside the point. Of course, if this continued in the progression of flu-like symptoms that it seemed to be going in, he may not actually be very coherent after a bit. Would that be good or bad for him? Tough to say. On the one hand he'd probably be less aware, but on the other he'd be worse off. Hm...

"News, huh? Whether or not it should wait I guess depends on how important it is," she said, shrugging, though he was doing a pretty good job of making her more curious. "Let me know if there's something I can get you," she added. More it was an offer of an excuse to leave when the worst happened along; she had little desire to witness it unless he'd prefer to have her there in case of terrible emergency. That was a pretty unlikely happenstance, in the cat woman's opinion.

"Important meaning I should say it sooner, or wait until I can sit up again?" he asked with a faint smile. "But I'm ok for now, thank you." Well, except that he was starting to feel nauseous now. Question was, how bad would it get before the bucket became more than a lovely prop. Also, how was his head starting to spin while he was lying still? Stupid antidotes...

"Depends," Mena said, with a light chuckle. "Is timing just as important as the news itself?" Mostly she was bantering, to keep an eye on how far gone he was, though conversation wasn't her only ability to track the progression.

"Mm. Not sure," he replied, a bit less willing to talk at the moment. Ugh, he felt so incredibly ill right now-- in both meanings of the word. "Perhaps... just a bit later."

It wasn't long after that point that Seth slipped out of range of coherency for a good bit. His fever was raging high, and the nausea and dizziness and chills and cold sweats and a lovely other host of symptoms stayed with him. Amazingly, in spite of all of this, he actually managed to keep his breakfast... for about the first thirty-five minutes. Still, it was a good while longer than he'd have thought. Of course, so were the effects of the detox. It wasn't until about forty-five minutes in that the symptoms began to slowly wear off, and at about fifty minutes he was coherent enough again for conversation. "Missy's going to hate you, you know," he murmured, holding on tight to the bucket still, despite the nausea slowly fading away by this point. He didn't trust it not to return out of nowhere.

"That would be why I used you as the first guinea pig subject," Mena said, half-apologetic, looking up from the magazine she'd taken to perusing while waiting for him to ride the worst of it out. "Though I can always make sure I give her a sedative in addition to the main cocktail..." It sounded very appealing, especially because Missy hated vulnerability probably far, far more than Seth did. Missy tended to be a lot more violent about showing her hatred, too. "Coming off it all right?"

Sedative would have been lovely. Why didn't he get sedative? ... Guinea pig, right. "Mm," he replied, not quite feeling up to saying 'yes'. "I think it's starting to wear off." He paused for a brief moment or so before asking: "How long has it been?" It felt like eternity to him, so he wasn't exactly the best judge of time at the moment.

"A little less than an hour," Mena said, with a shrug. "That was about as long as I'd expected--I did run some sims, I do try and avoid just giving drugs to people willy-nilly," she added wryly.

Only an hour? It had felt like so much longer... Then again, he was in and out for most of it, and and hour was still a pretty long time all things considered. "Good idea," he replied, slowly opening his eyes. He was still a bit dizzy, but it was definitely better now. First thing he'd be doing when he got home was take a nice long shower; being drenched in sweat wasn't exactly much more pleasant after all. "So am I officially a dud again?" Shame that wouldn't be lasting for very long.

"There's a really easy way to find out," Mena said, setting aside her magazine and brandishing a pink meter that looked a bit more like a children's toy than something serviceable. She waved it over Seth, keeping an eye on the meter, and gave him a thumb's up. "Sparkleogen meter says you're clean. No, I did not make this." She wouldn't ask where some of the stuff Shimy handed her came from...

"I'm imagining you'd like to wait a bit to start the next phase," she added wryly.

"Just a bit, yes." After that little hell experience he'd like to give his body just a bit of recovery time before doing yet another genetic re-write. Also, wouldn't the nanobots need to clear out of his system first? "How have you been lately?" He hadn't really seen much her since New Year's day. She certainly seemed better, which was definitely a good thing.

"Better," she said, with a smile. And really, it had been much easier, between Eli, and finally making progress on Phanes... "Actually, I wanted to get going on this because we've gotten word Zephyr's narrowed down the estates we're looking for. So once you and Missy are comfortable on the new formulation, I think you'll be going back." On the one hand, it was hard not to be excited as they moved closer to finally finding Colton and Zane but...on the other hand, there was danger inherent to these missions. That strange apparition of sorts from their first excursion...Mena hoped it was a one-time oddity.

"Ah? Excellent." That certainly did give good motivation for them to hurry with this process then. Hopefully they would be a bit luckier this next time around and find them very quickly. And there wouldn't be anymore deaths involved. That whole encounter hadn't been entirely pleasant. He certainly hoped that the Mau'vri girl had made it to safety...

Seth slowly and carefully pushed himself up into a sitting position, arms shaking a little as he did. He was still a bit weak from the detox, but he was recovering more quickly now that it seemed the nanobots had nothing left to correct or combat. "I don't imagine it'll take too long to get used to the new formula." After all, magic was still magic, right? Maybe? Well, close enough probably.

"Aikatyrine says the changes in actual usage ought to be fairly minimal," Mena confirmed with a nod. She moved to stow the meter away safely, then returned to lean against the wall. "Still, it's a good idea to make sure before doing fieldwork." The term might be almost literal; she wasn't sure how Zephyr planned to get them onto the estates...posing as a fieldhand was a distinct possibility (one that Missy would surely whine about).

"True enough. Though I doubt 'testing' will take that long," Seth replied. One afternoon out in the meadow or on the town oughta do it really. The real trick would probably be keeping Dacj from noticing their absence if they happened to be gone for longer than a day. His mother's off-handed remarks hadn't helped any, he was sure. Ah, speaking of which... "Ah, by the way, Dacj and I are together now."

"Mmm," Mena agreed on the testing; Seth was certainly motivated enough to figure out quickly if there were any changes, and Missy could probably be spurred on as some sort of silent competition. It'd be easy enough...

She blinked at his offhand last statement, and turned back to eye the cheetah carefully. "Are you now." It didn't make for much of a question. She supposed she shouldn't be surprised that Dacj seemed to have accomplished her goal, and, really, when the news of Seth's broken engagement had hit, it had been her half-thought--though of course Seth could do whatever he liked, Dacj would still be fighting for him, so chances were he wasn't going anywhere "away" from the family... "How's that going?" she asked mildly. She wasn't sure if Dacj'd told him exactly how many times Mena had warned her daughter to be more discreet or even try to give up on him, though that had been a long time before everything with Noelani...

And Mena still needed to write to Noelani. Somehow, she didn't think this news was going to make it in the first letter.

"Rather well so far," he replied, not quite able to gauge Mena's thoughts on the matter from her response. She seemed rather cool on the matter, so... Unfavorable? Mixed? He supposed there'd be a bit of an awkward factor in there as well since Noe was her daughter... Of course, so was Dacj, even if adopted. "It's still fairly recent." In the grand scheme of things anyway.

"I'd hope somebody got around to telling me before the sixth-month-a'versary rolls around," Mena said, with a light smile. She was actually a little surprised--was it very recent, or had Dacj just had the restraint not to go shouting around in public? Her little kraken was maybe growing up after all.

Still, Seth's changed feelings were somewhat a matter of curiosity for the cat woman. "If I can be nosy--and I am being nosy, I assure you--what changed your mind?" Not that they didn't make for a good match, in their own way--they had been close friends for much of Dacj's life, and she'd been there for him...well, when Noe hadn't, to be quite blunt. Mena was not looking forward at all to picking up the Noe-pieces but really...Noe'd chosen her path, as hard to comprehend for Mena as that was. She and her biological daughter were very different from each other, and it'd always been harder for Mena to understand daddy's-girl-Noelani, who ran hot and cold and capricious to boot. She was a lot more analytical, cool, calculating...a lot like the claims often leveled at her own adoptive mother, Shimy. Dacj was the calculating type too, though hers usually only extended so far as her next amusement.

She knew Dacj would be very happy with this new arrangement, and Seth seemed pleased enough with it as well. She certainly didn't begrudge them their happiness; with everything going on, and the kinds of danger she'd asked Seth to face in order to help bring her family back to her...well, his family too, in a way. If Dacj had anything to say about it, Seth would never "leave" the family again.

What changed his mind? He wasn't completely sure himself really. "I don't think it was any one particular thing," he replied, tail swishing slowly beside him. "Just... did a lot of thinking. Things sort of fell a bit more in place this month." Of course, the drinking game had probably helped things along a bit, but he wasn't about to admit that. really, he couldn't think of much more to add to that-- or rather, he couldn't think of anything more to add to it that he would actually say aloud. The past was the past, and... perhaps it was time to move on.

"Mmm," Mena said, smiling. Was it all that dissimilar at the core from how she'd chased Colton? Sure, the individual circumstances weren't the same, but the heart of things...well, actually, she'd gotten Colton to come to her. It almost sounded like Dacj had been able to do the same, with "things falling into place."

It did, however, bring up something of a quandary. "Do you think she should know? About the missions." Her going was almost completely out of the question, given her connection to Eltimion, and thus, to Eli. But that didn't mean she didn't have the right to be aware Seth was off doing dangerous things...at Dacj's own mother's behest, no less. Melisande didn't have anyone she was particularly attached to, thus, there was little problem there...

Seth's ears perked slightly at the inquiry. Crap, he hadn't quite thought about that. At least not from that angle. "I'm not entirely sure," he admitted. On the one hand, it seemed only fair that she should know. If anything happened while they were gone... On the other hand-- well, he couldn't really think of a good other hand. Sure, she might want to tag along, but that wouldn't be possible for the same reason that Mena couldn't go. As for worry that wasn't a legitimate excuse to hide such a thing either. "I suppose we should probably tell her." After all, he didn't think she would do anything like let it slip to Eli. Possibly Sorcha though...

"She does hate secrets," Mena said wryly, though she was rather relieved at his conclusion. She was also sure Dacj was going to be a bit of a pain about not being able to be involved in "the exciting parts" but better that than something horrible happening and having to explain after the fact... "Would you rather, or should I?" She tended to actually listen to him, but she might be less likely to question her mother's rigid stance on not allowing her to participate? Or even...

Elti?

She won't do anything to harm Eli, was the quick reply, barely a whisper in Mena's mind.

"Either or is fine by me," the cheetah Hyte replied. "Perhaps together even." That way she couldn't blame one or the other for not telling her. ... Not that they still wouldn't be blamed for not having done it sooner, but that bit was inevitable.

"Together works," Mena agreed. "How about now? Or, rather, after you get a chance to clean up," she amended, eyeing the bucket. That'd need to be taken care of as well... "The guest room shower ought to be stocked with towels and everything." It would take some time to get Dacj home as well, Mena'd noticed her leaving on the Cottage surveillance cameras earlier.

"Now is fine," Seth agreed. "Ah, and thank you. Um, I'll head up by the stairs then." He'd need to have a change of clothes for after the shower after all. Now if only he knew which floor would be best to look on... The cheetah Hyte stood up carefully, carrying the bucket along with him. That'd be easy enough to clean in the bathroom, and it was his mess after all. "I'll be back down in a bit then."

"I'll get ahold of Dacj," Mena said, keeping an eye on him as he moved to leave. He looked a little cautious on his feet, but hopefully he'd make it up the stairs all right... And now for the really fun part. Preparing herself to admit to yet another person her longheld secret...

Oh, and Dacj'd think it was funny. It'd be nearly as bad as telling Eli (which she was still vaguely hoping she'd never have to do). Philomena Sabina, a magical girl...of sorts. The things she did for her children, honestly.

The trip upstairs took Seth a bit longer than he'd have hoped, both because he had to go a bit slowly on the stairs as well as the fact that he had no idea where to look for normal guys clothes that would fit him. When he hit eventual success he was quick to grab the clothes off the rack and take them upstairs with him.

Never had a shower felt so nice. ... Well, maybe not never, but the occasions in which he even partially enjoyed a bath were very few and far between. It was a small bit before he remembered that Mena was calling Dacj over, and he finished up quickly before drying, dressing, and heading back downstairs. Fortunately, the statue on the first floor minimized the travel time greatly. "Ah, hello," he greeted with a smile, seeing that Dacj had beat him down to her mother's lab. "Hope you haven't been waiting long."

"Not at all," Dacj said, glancing over to her mother. Mena had refused to tell her much of anything once she got down to the lab, just that they were waiting for Seth. The kraken had tried to figure out what exactly she'd been called over for, and had been imagining everything from some kind of vague lecture on dating (though, to her knowledge, Mena had never had a sitdown talk with Eli and Kamiko or anything...) to her mother announcing something surprising, like she was going on some long vacation (though that wouldn't explain why Seth was there...? Unless she was running away with him or something, but that would just be ridiculous...) Basically, she was rather stumped.

"Once Seth shared your news with me...Dacj, we think there's something you should know." Mena paused, making a face. "Well, at least two somethings, really..." She'd run through practice explanations in her head, but even mental preparation was only so helpful. "The reason for the sparklevirus--Dacj, your father Colton, and your brother Zane, we think they're in Neo-Sovreem right now. Not held by Nevreso, but... At any rate, I've been sending Melisande and Seth to Imperial Phanes undercover, with the sparklevirus, to try and find out where those two are, and bring them home."

Dacj blinked. What was--this was the task Seth had been so focused on training for? The pieces definitely fit--Seth was old enough to know Colton and Zane fairly well, so he'd have more than enough reason to want to help. Melisande, too... And that would explain why Seth wasn't any better dressed from Missy--when they were together, it was a cover for training, probably? There was only one part that didn't make sense...well, one major, glaring omission. "Why not you? Why aren't you going there as well?"

Mena couldn't bring herself to be the one to say it, and looked to Seth, almost pleading, to explain why for her.

Seth caught the pleading look and continued on for her. "Your mother can't go," he began. "At least not without potential for dire consequences. You see..." the cheetah Hyte glanced at Mena one last time before continuing, "Mena is a Blossom of Eltimion. If Nevreso sensed her there and captured her, she'd have a link to Eli." And that wasn't a risk that any of them could afford to take.

Wait, what?! Her mother was--since when?! "But that time, with the airborne sparklevirus you--you were faking!" Dacj said, whirling to look at her mother. Why wouldn't she...?

Oh. Maybe for the same reason Dacj had resisted being a magical girl tentacle monster. She didn't want anyone to know because she didn't intend to use her magic either? But why wouldn't she have told Dacj when Dacj was struggling with her magic? Clearly she was good enough to keep what Blossom magic she had under control...

Actually, Dacj might not have listened much back then anyway. And now she could control her magic, probably roughly on par with her mother's control, enough to keep it hidden most of the time and used sparingly when necessary. The real question was, how had Seth known? Did Mena feel obligated to tell them why she couldn't go herself? Obviously Eli had no idea their mother was a blossom, he couldn't hide something that big--

And then it sunk in why Mena's secret had been shared with her. Mena was connected to Eltimion, a link that could be traced to Eli, a link Nevreso could exploit. And Mena was just a regular, run of the mill Blossom. Dacj...the kraken and the Ti'ama were so closely tied that Dacj's first life had apparently been solely for the purpose of waking Elti up. If Mena was tied through Elti to Eli, how much more was Dacj a clear channel to him? She even still woke up calling his name sometimes.

If Mena was too much of a risk to go, they definitely didn't want Dacj to go. Even if, as the sibyl, Neo-Sovreem had been her home, and her people were still there. And even if Seth was being sent into dangerous situations in order to rescue the father and brother she'd never known, that she wanted dearly to meet. She couldn't go. It wasn't fair. Life never was.

"I'm sorry, Dacj," Mena said, recognizing all too well the look on her daughter's face. She was somewhat relieved Dacj had taken the news more seriously than she'd expected, and except for that first outburst, seemed to adjust to Mena's Blossomdom fairly matter-of-factly. But being told that she was a liability...no, Dacj wasn't very happy about it.

Seth remained silent as Dacj took in the news of her mother's Blossomdom. After her initial outburst it seemed that a lot of other pieces were beginning to fall into place as well, including what had to be the realization of her own position in things. She too would always have to stay behind, just as Mena did. But, hopefully after the next mission it wouldn't be an issue anymore. He placed a paw-hand on her shoulder to express his own condolences for the situation.

She hated staying behind. She couldn't do anything--she was just some remnant of the sibyl that'd been brought back for who knew what reason, and it seemed all she was in the end was a liability, to Eli, to Elti... But Seth's hand on her shoulder provided a modicum of comfort, and it reminded her, in a roundabout way, that she shouldn't be so selfish. It pretty much sucked for her, yeah, but how much worse was it for Mena? Seth may have been, be going to Neo-Sovreem, but he had trained and prepared and chances were he'd be coming back, every time. Mena didn't have that guarantee with Colton or Zane, and she still couldn't go...

Dacj squeezed the edge of Seth's hand and then let go, moving forward towards her mother to give her the biggest hug the kraken could manage. "You should've told me sooner," she said, lightly scolding Mena. "You shouldn't have to be sitting and waiting for news alone." Because she knew her mother, and that was exactly what the cat woman did--sat in front of those screens, and waited. She remembered her childhood, and what it had been like when Eli and Seth and Hunter and Haevan and Kamiko all went offworld to bring back Noelani. She remembered sitting in front of those screens, holding her mother's hand while they waited together. It seemed very likely the scene might repeat itself again in the future, now.

"If I'd know you'd be rational..." Mena murmured, feeling her eyes sting with tears that threatened to make this a very weepy sort of hug. Whatever she'd expected, it hadn't been this. She'd forgotten how Dacj could be like this sometimes--wise and comforting and far more grownup than she usually gave the impression of. Whether it was some remnant of having a past life, or simply Dacj's own personality, it didn't much matter. Nature or nurture, sometimes her children saw fit to give exactly what she needed.

Seth hadn't been worried about rationality so much as about spreading the news too far. If too may people found out... well, it only took one careless slip of the tongue in front of Eli and things would become very complicated very quickly. He trusted Dacj though, and given their current circumstances it was good for her to know.

Dacj withdrew from the hug just enough to turn it into more of a half-hug so she could glance from her mother to Seth, reaching the next conclusion very quickly. "So Elti definitely knows, and no one's telling Eli." Because if Dacj was inclined to rush in, how much more so would Eli be, for his own father, his own twin... And nobody was ready to let him even have the possibility of facing Nevreso yet. Though, if he had to do it eventually, he really ought to be prepared at least a little, instead of always being left in the dark... Not that she wasn't guilty of keeping him in the dark, trying not to tell him about her training (though he'd figured it out anyway).

"That's right," Mena agreed, with a sigh. It wasn't like she liked lying to Eli either, but--she'd already lost Colton and Zane and was trying to get them back, and then Noelani was gone as well...speaking of Noelani. Though perhaps not while Dacj was here, lest things get complicated. Or...had Dacj's maturity extended to a more compassionate treatment of her elder sister? (Well, in spite of breaking what Mena was fairly sure was one of those "unspoken sisterhood" rules where one typically didn't date one's sister's ex-fiancé, but these rather were extenuating circumstances...) There was really only one way to find out... "And speaking of keeping people out of loops--Seth, I've been meaning to ask, can I borrow one of the firelizards you used for message-sending?"

Dacj had to chuckle in spite of herself. "Mirth won't share, will she."

"Not at all," Mena said wryly. "Anyway...I figured one way to keep Eli busy might be to see if Noelani needs any help." And she was a lot more confident about her son possibly going offworld in the sort of situation Noe seemed to be in than sending him into the Empire.

Dacj quirked an eyebrow at Mena's idea, but, honestly, if anyone needed an empath, it was probably Noelani...no, no, it was definitely Noelani, now that Mena was doing better precisely because Eli had helped her out. "Though, you're not gonna--"

"Dacj, sweetie, I do have tact," Mena said, rolling her eyes. "I'd like to make sure that eventually everyone in this family will be marginally okay with meeting up once or twice a year at the holidays." And Noelani was the trickiest of the bunch to handle...and, well, she had a right to be upset. Mena just hoped she wouldn't feel like she was being alienated afterward.

Seth blinked initially at the request from Mena. Why not just use..? Ah, so Mirth didn't want to loan out Kirel, eh? He supposed it couldn't be helped then. "Certainly," the cheetah Hyte replied with a nod. "Ruby knows the way. And if you need to send multiple messages close together let me know and I'll send over Drakell." He didn't trust any of his mother's greens with attempting to ferry messages between worlds, so Ruby and Drakell were really the only choices for the task. Kirel as a gold would be best at it, but it seemed she wouldn't be leaving the Cottage any time soon. It was a good idea trying to get Eli and his sister to meet up, though he couldn't help but wonder how such a meeting would go... Best not to think about it.

"Thank you," Mena said with a slightly relieved smile. She didn't expect to be sending many letters in quick succession, but she supposed that was partially up to Noelani as well. Ah, the trials and tribulations of being a mother...of six, if you counted Melisande. Somehow it didn't usually feel so overwhelming, but now, thinking about it carefully...

"So what were you doing before you called me over?" Dacj prompted, curious. She supposed if it was Mena coordinating the missions...but Melisande wasn't here, and Seth wouldn't go to Phanes alone (right?) and so that left...

"A detox of sorts," Seth replied, running his fingers through his still-damp hair. "And then I told her about us. That's about it so far." 'So far' being the keyword. Truth be told he was somewhat iffy about the thought of permanent magic, even if it was 'turned off' most of the time, but it was the best way to go about saving them, so...

"Detox?" Dacj asked, looking to Mena, who looked a little sheepish.

"The first sparklevirus formula was...ah, the kind of virus that gets in and rewrites DNA. But the antidote wasn't always getting everything, and cells were mutating, and basically it was acting far more like the Phage virus I based it on than I actually wanted it to," Mena admitted. "But Aikatyrine and Shimy helped me finish a different formulation...in prep for that, we had to make sure we reversed any changes still lingering from the first virus."

Dacj nodded; that sounded pretty matter of fact. Though Seth couldn't have liked the idea of the virus affecting him all the time--he hated sugar, for one... "So does the second kind work like the first in practice? I mean, obviously it's going to be different somehow, but..."

"There'll be about a three day period wherein certain genetic markers common to the bloodline magic of Aikatyrine's people have to be sort of added in...and then, yes, an 'on pill' and an 'off pill,'" Mena explained. Really, the genetic switch thing was absolutely fascinating; how the Threadinians' magic had come out of, essentially, genetic tinkering...

"So, while they're being 'added in'...wait, you're saying it's permanent magic that's just going to be dormant when Seth's not needing it?" Dacj asked, a little surprised that it seemed to be the conclusion.

"Basically," Seth replied, not quite meeting Dacj's eyes. Dormant magic wouldn't be too bad, right? If it couldn't be activated without the 'on pill' anyway then there was nothing to worry about... theoretically speaking. But it really didn't matter. Once they got Colton and Zane back he wouldn't need it anymore anyway, so all would be good. Forever dormant and not an issue.

"Huh," Dacj said, looking thoughtful. Well, if he was okay with it...and it wasn't exactly like swearing a Contract or anything. Worst came to worst, even if he did end up with permanent magic, it would be something he could control on his own terms...and surely bloodline magic wasn't as reliant on sweets, was it? "Well, I can see how dormant magic is better than virusy magic that forces you into permanent magic." And Melisande would be using the same, wouldn't she? The kraken wondered how the pig Hyte felt about it. "And the three days when it's being written in..."

"He'll have fulltime magic," Mena finished for her. "Do be nice, he's doing me a huge favor," she added, warning Dacj not to tease.

The kraken actually had not even intended to do such a thing. "What're you going to do at night?" Dacj asked, turning to Seth, a vague idea brewing. Eli could maybe shield rooms, but it'd be too much of a tipoff that something was up if they asked him, right? He knew Seth was taking magic pills, but he probably didn't need to know Seth was switching kinds. And it was way too cold to camp out, even with portable fireplaces...

"Probably just going to set up camp in the forest," Seth replied with a light shrug. Yes, it was freezing outside, but if he prepared himself first with plenty of very warm clothes, lots of blankets, and his new portable fireplace, he should be alright. And it would only be for while he slept anyway, so...

"I've got a better idea. I'll talk Eli into shielding my treehouse against everything--" and the confidence she spoke with seemed to make it clear she had no doubt she could accomplish that task, "--and you come stay there at nights. It's a lot more comfortable than camping." And it wasn't like he hadn't stayed over before, and she'd slept over at his house...

Mena raised a brow but decided not to comment. If anything, Dacj probably could get Eli to do such a thing pretty easily...

"And I can make sure he doesn't suspect anything. I still have enough of a reputation about being paranoid about my magic he shouldn't ask questions," Dacj added smugly. "Besides, I'm not worried about dream sharing that much, though if you'd rather not, I could stay at the Cottage."

Seth was a bit surprised by Dacj's offer. She would actually have her house shielded for such a thing? Well, it wasn't like having the shields there would hurt anything considering they were meant for blocking out magic, but still. It was a nice offer. "Are you sure? You wouldn't be able to get as much sleep if you were forced to watch my dreams," he replied, concerned more for the kraken than for himself. After having survived that one night of the whole household's dreams, dealing with only one other person's(especially one whom he was rather familiar with as it was) would be quite easy.

"Because I'm not used to surviving on a lack of sleep or anything," Dacj said with a wry grin, referring to the dream-memory-messages that still occasionally contributed to a sleepless night, but for the most part had subsided after Seth's digging into her subconscious. "Besides, you know me. Curious and all~ If I hate it the first night, I'll just move to the Cottage for the others." She assumed some of his dreams might be pretty weird--she'd even seen a nightmare of his before--but she figured she could handle it.

Mena let the two hash the details out, though she remained somewhat amused that they were both so easygoing about presumably sleeping together--or was she just reading too far into it? She supposed he'd project anywhere inside the shields, so they could be sleeping apart... Well, Dacj was sort of the cuddly type, maybe that was why both parties seemed perfectly fine with that kind of thing even though, according to Seth earlier, the relationship was fairly recent. Well, and being friends for so long, it probably made relationship transitions a little different... Now she was just being nosy, speculating on their love lives.

He felt bad about the prospect of possibly taking over her home at night, but unless he dreamed something especially odd or terrible he doubted she would actually leave for the Cottage. "If you're positive then you may want to start calling Eli. I believe we were starting the first dose today, right?" he asked, looking to the other feline Hyte. The cheetah was feeling much better from earlier, but whether or not his body was actually ready for the next transition yet he would let Mena be the judge of.

"If you feel up to it, I think we could," Mena agreed. She'd corral Melisande for the detox later in the evening probably, get her started not too long after Seth, so they'd both be ready at roughly the same time. And Melisande's magic should be easy enough to hide for a few days again.

"Then I'll call Eli," Dacj said, ducking forward give Seth a quick kiss before heading for the portal for upstairs, since she'd left her phone up there. Besides, it was best if the kuppy never realized Seth was there at all, really...

"See you later then," Seth replied with a smile, watching Dacj go before turning back to Mena. "Ah, by the way, I brought the old pills with me," he remarked, fishing the bottles out of his pockets and handing them over to Mena. "I figured it probably wouldn't be safe to just throw them in the trash." Who knew what would happen if anyone of anything else got a hold of those. No, best to dispose of them properly.

"Oh, good. Yes, they do need to be disposed of very cautiously," Mena said with a brisk nod. And by "cautiously" she meant her mother getting to nullify them into nonexistence...which was a pretty cautious move, she supposed. She moved to place them in one of her desk drawers for the moment, and then to a beaker over a turned-off bunsen burner. She removed the beaker from the clamp, swirled the liquid around, and then grabbed a larger test tube offhandedly, offering it to Seth to hold as she poured out about half of the concoction in the beaker. "I'd sit down for that, though I'm told it shouldn't be anything like dizzying."

"Good to know," Seth replied, looking down at the liquid in the test tube he now held. Really, he'd had quite enough of dizzying reactions to last him a lifetime by now. He sat down on a nearby bench and looked down at the glass in his hand again. He supposed... this was it then. For Colton and Zane, he reminded himself. Without any further hesitance, the cheetah Hyte downed the liquid in the tube-- though he nearly choked from the taste. That was rather disgusting. "And now we wait, I suppose," he replied, setting the empty tube down. He half wondered whether having an empty stomach would help or hurt the absorption of this stuff...

"Always waiting," Mena agreed dryly, moving to put the beaker back where it had been in preparation for Melisande, later on. The cat rather hoped neither Seth nor Missy chose to inquire too much about the ingredients of that liquid... "Let me know if you think something's going horribly wrong?" she offered, though she was pretty sure the symptoms should be mild enough.

"If I turn into a sparkling clone of Aikatyrine, does that count as horribly wrong?" the cheetah replied wryly. It wasn't until a few minutes later that Seth began to feel some effects from the liquid. The only thing he felt though was a mild tingling, which wasn't entirely different from what he had felt initially with the sparklevirus. Short of getting a sudden and strong sugar craving, he wasn't anticipating any particularly annoying symptoms from this formula. Other than, you know, semi-permanent magic, but that was the whole point behind it to begin with. "So, when will Missy be starting her detox?" he asked, mostly for the sake of generating conversation.

"Yes, I think it would be safe to say that would qualify as horribly wrong. I bet Dacj'd get mad at me, too," Mena said with a grin. "I should be able to get to Missy tonight. Hopefully you won't be able to hear the outrage from thirteen floors up and then some over in the treehouse...I'm sort of counting on her not being able to karate chop me due to the disorientation," Mena continued, turning wry herself. "Though I would appreciate if you or Dacj could check on me tomorrow morning to make sure I'm not horribly maimed or murdered." Both were distinct possibilities, in spite of Missy's being a volunteer...

"Well, if Eli's shielding works as it should then I won't be able to hear a thing from the treehouse," he replied, not realizing that she hadn't meant with his telepathy. "However, if you would like, one or both of us could probably stick around while Missy has her turn-- just in case." Although he highly doubted Missy would actually do anything to Mena. For one, she wouldn't be able to. Secondly, she'd be too sick to be outraged likely. (Which wasn't all too different from point one really, but whatever. The point still stood.) "I recommend using the sedative as well." For both her sake and Missy's.

"Mm, I was definitely thinking of going with the sedative," Mena said, nodding. For one thing, she could get Missy basically to sleep through the night after the detox, and by the time she woke up, she'd hopefully have put the experience entirely behind her. Missy was oddly selective about grudge-holding. "And I wouldn't be that much of a bother. I'm sure Dacj's tentative plans for the evening do not include dealing with belligerent s--Missy," Mena corrected, realizing her original choice of words might have been somewhat unfortunate, circumstances considering.

He gave a faint smile in reply to her near 'slip'. "No, I don't imagine that's in her plans for the evening either." He wasn't sure what they'd do actually. well, aside from sleep. More cuddling, likely, and maybe a movie of some sort... "What are your plans for the evening after Missy is out?"

"Plans? I get to have plans? I thought I gave up my right to such things when I had kids," Mena said lightly. "No, I think Phoebe's wanting me to watch her beat one of her many rpg games." She really needed to make sure the jellyfish girl got outside or played with other people her age or something...actually, should she call Seth's mother? She thought she recalled some residents of elf's place being perma-children, surely there'd be somebody willing for a playdate sort of thing...? "I imagine we'll go through a couple resets of the final battle before Phoebe finally emerges victorious."

Ah, video games. It seemed ages ago that he had last had time for those. "Sounds exciting," he replied. "Perhaps after a couple of resets she might let you try the fight yourself. Button mashing can work wonders you know." Seriously, it did amaze him sometimes how people doing random button mashing could actually end up fighting quite well.

"I suppose I do have thicker fingers, the better to mash multiple buttons," Mena said with a grin. "Phoebe won't play fighting games any more with Dacj because Dacj has elevated button mashing to an art form." Well, she had entire limbs with which to mash, it was sort of inevitable. "How's it feeling?" she added, wondering if or when he'd feel the telepathy start to come on.

"Rather tingly still," he admitted, glancing down at himself. He had been distracted enough by the conversation that he hadn't been paying much attention to the effects of the new formula. He didn't have any telepathy just yet, but considering that had been the last thing to manifest the first time around, that may still take a little while yet.

"Tingly's good, that means it's working," Mena said encouragingly. It could be awhile yet...conversation, conversation. "So, who else knows so far? About you and Dacj. I mean, I'd guess Sorcha, but..." She left it open-ended, so Seth could fill in the blanks as he liked. It was mostly pure nosiness on her part, but if he chose to elucidate it could prove interesting--she really doubted she was that high on the priority list. Seth's mom was about as sneaky as Shimy, she might know...Eli was an empath, he could've figured it out...

"Thus far, only you, Eli, Sorcha, and my mom," he replied. "Sorcha we planned to notify first, but Eli sort of, um, 'discovered' us beforehand. My mom I have no idea how or when she found out, but she knows as well." Seriously, he never would figure out how his mother spied on all that she did. It wasn't like she had a security camera network like Mena did.

"Well, I'm sure your mother has her ways," Mena said wisely. Especially as elf rather reminded her of Shimy at times, at least in the knows-all department... She was fairly certain elf wasn't a reincarnated Ti'ama like Shimy, but then again, you never quite knew. And there were plenty of beings besides Ti'ama that could get pretty omniscient...

Eli's "discovery" amused her greatly though, if only because the way Seth worded it suggested something a little more than Eli noticing lovey-dovey vibes. Witnessing them, however...oh, poor Eli. Dacj'd scored two first kisses and he was still working on his own first... "And I hope you two didn't traumatize Eli too much," she said, with a wicked little grin.

"Um, well, maybe," he admitted sheepishly. "He kinda passed out actually. But after we got him awake again he was a bit better." Of course, it wasn't strictly the kissing itself that had cause Eli to react that way, even if that was still a small element of the surprise. The kuppy really had terrible timing...

"Passed out? Things must be going well between you two~" she said brightly, trying not to laugh, though she couldn't suppress a wide grin. And she was sure it likely wasn't quite as dramatic as it sounded, after all, Dacj was involved, and even close embraces involving tentacles was probably enough to send Eli over the edge...

"Timing is everything." And if there was one thing that Eli had, it was timing. Eerily impeccable timing really. Speaking of timing... the cheetah Hyte paused for a moment. Most of the tingling seemed to be concentrating on his head right now, which could only mean that his mind was being prepped for telepathy. Well, hopefully the tingling would wear off soon-- though that didn’t mean the next three days would be much better.

"Absolutely." And whether it was Eli himself or some force that conspired to make his life really difficult, his ability to endanger his own well-being was pretty high. Sometimes he had good timing on matters where it came in handy for him to be there, too. He just needed to figure out the difference between good timing and horribly good timing.

"Speaking of timing, I suppose it may be best for me to avoid Eli for the next couple of days?" he asked. He knew the kuppy didn't use mage-sight all the time, but would he be able to smell a difference in the magic as well? It was tough to say.

"That would likely be best, yes," Mena said, not sure if Eli would immediately notice differences--but there was no reason to take the risk when it could easily be avoided. "I'm sure Dacj would be all too happy to keep you to herself but you should be all right to do whatever you need to, as long as your magic itself isn't going to hamper you." Though he had enough control now that she figured managing it wasn't going to be a problem, except for the one Dacj was now upstairs taking care of, shielding dream sharing.

"Don't really see how it would." He'd probably spend a good amount of the next few days working at his mom's, though he may stop by his apartment for the healing and medical books. Ah, right, he'd have to tell Dacj about that. Probably should tell her about T'gillan now too, thinking about it...

The cheetah Hyte felt a small rush and had to pause again, the tingling in his head reaching an annoying peak. And then... yes, he felt it. His telepathy was beginning to come into place now. Why did it seem so weak though? It didn't feel quite like it had before, but it was still similar enough to be workable. "Telepathy's working," he remarked, stretching out the range and testing it a bit without actually really listening to any incoming thoughts. "Though not very well at the moment." He hoped it would get better than this with time, else they were going to be in a bit of trouble with the missions.

"It'll take almost the full three days to reach full strength, and the final result may actually be stronger than what you're used to with the first virus," Mena explained. It was why it was best to start sooner rather than later, at least as far as sending him and Melisande back to Phanes went. "In the end, it'll be much more like Reira's brand of magic, Aikatyrine said." In fact, the mer-transformations were apparently part of what had inspired some of Shimy's contributions to this second formulation...

"Ah, I see," Seth replied. That was a bit comforting at least. Hm, of course that also meant Missy's pheromones would be stronger... Well, as long as they didn't have any misfires, they should be good. "At least there's an adjustment period of sorts." Or rather a built-in one so to speak. Throwing the full magic at them in one false swoop might have made adaption a touch harder. Not that they wouldn't have been alright regardless considering how much they had trained already, but still.

"Not like the first time, eh?" Mena said wryly. "I'm sure it won't be much trouble for you, or Missy, in the end." They were both very capable, and they'd trained hard. She'd even daresay she was proud of them both, even if Seth wasn't "hers" to be proud of and Melisande had enough pride for...well, several people put together. "Thank you...for putting up with this."

'Putting up with this'? Seemed an odd choice of words for what they were doing, but he could understand what she meant nonetheless. The cheetah Hyte shook his head. "It's nothing." They were pretty much family too him after all. "... We will get them back."

 

[elfgurl1234]

~Sleepless in the Treehouse~

[Hytech PRP] Who needs movies when you have Dreams?

Summary: Seth comes over to Dacj's house to spend the evenings with her while going through a period of temporary "permanent" magic. Many interesting dreams and conversations are shared between them.

 

[Seth_Avi]

~Happy Valentine's Day~

[Hytech PRP] The Dragonfruit RP

Summary: Dacj surprises Seth by visiting him at his mom's place much earlier than planned. Things quickly take a very sharp turn toward the unexpected, resulting in a drastic change for them both. Also, T'gillan, what?

 

[elfgurl1234]

A New Light
3/25/11
(Takes place February 15th, 2011)

One Day. That was all it took to have your entire life change. Sure, there were usually plenty of events and factors leading up to said changes, but the change itself was almost always unexpected and quite sudden. One day back in October he and Noelani had split off their engagement of nearly a year. One day back in January he and Dacj had gotten together. And then there was yesterday...

Admittedly, the cheetah Hyte was still in quite a good mood, even as he vacuumed the floor of his apartment. Ruby sat perched on his shoulder, chattering away as she shared images with him of her latest adventures at his mother’s house. He wasn’t particularly paying her much attention, however, thoughts too absorbed by the previous day’s experiences.

It had been a huge mess in so many ways. First off... the dragon thing was definitely not supposed to have happened. Then the episode with Eli hadn’t been very pleasant—for any of the parties involved. And what was supposed to have started out as a romantic morning for Dacj ended up turning into a huge argument with her girlfriend. Then later on, of course, there had been T’gillan. Very minor compared to everything else, true, but still a bit of an annoyance. In spite of all of that, however, the end results of the day had been undoubtly good. True, it was likely to cause quite a bit of trouble with Sorcha, but... he didn’t regret it.

Ruby tugged on his hair to get his attention, and Seth came back to reality. “Sorry girl,” he said, patting her lightly with his free hand before turning off the vacuum. The firelizard chirped questioningly at him, seeming for all the world perplexed that he wasn’t as fully enthralled by her stories as she was. “Just distracted is all.” Good distracted though... Mostly. Because, despite how wonderful it had been, he couldn’t help but wonder of the repercussions of it for both of them. Perhaps he was more of a pessimist than he realized, or perhaps he had just seen life make a down turn too many times, but good things like this were never without their consequences. Would Dacj be able to reconcile with Sorcha alright? The argument itself had been bad enough, but then to add this to it... The same day at that. Twice, technically. Considering how much longer the cow Hyte had been dating Dacj for, that would definitely sting quite a bit. And then on his end there was Noelani... True, they were split up now and he didn’t technically hold any loyalties to her, but it seemed rather odd and awkward to have gotten so intimate so quickly with her adoptive little sister when they themselves had been together nearly two years without... going that far. Granted, the circumstances hadn’t exactly made it their choice, but he doubted Noe would quite see it that way. If she ever even found out. He hadn’t seen or written to her since the end of November, and quite frankly he wasn’t sure if he wanted to. How would she take the news? Would she really be alright with him dating another already, and her sister at that?

A sharp pain on his ear brought him out of his thoughts. “Ow!” he complained, carefully trying to displace Ruby from his head. When had she even climbed up there? “Alright, alright, I’ll stop.” The crimson cooed affection to him before showing him a very clear mental image of food. Seth rolled his eyes. “Yes, yes, I’ll get you a snack. Come along then, you silly flit.” Perhaps it was best that he stopped worrying so much. He would enjoy the moment for all that he could now and just deal with things as they came.  

[elfgurl1234]

~New Allies?~

[Hytech PRP] Manly Man Date Redux: Downtown Investigation!

Summary: Eli's been receiving a distress signal of sorts lately, and asks Seth to help him track down the source. What they find is certainly not what they had expected.

 

[elfgurl1234]

~Why Can't Time Move Faster?~

[Hytech PRP] Spoilers

Summary: Cassandra hints around about future events and Dacj drops by for a visit.

 

[elfgurl1234]

~Reconciliation~

[Hytech PRP] Confessions

Summary: Dacj and Sorcha meet to talk out their argument from Valentine's Day. Seth is present to help explain events that took place later that same day.

 

[Seth_Avi]

~TMI~

[Hytech PRP] Wait, What? o_o;

Summary: After their earlier discussion at Dacj's place, Seth gets a surprise visit from a certain cow Hyte. Red faces ensue.

 

[elfgurl1234]

~Frozen in Place~

[KKMC Meta Mission #2 PRP] Let It Snow, Let It Snow...

Summary: Missy and Seth go back to Phanes to do some spy work, but a freak magic blizzard throws a large kink into their plans.

 

[Seth_Avi]

[PM RP] So That Was Weird
3/27/11 – 3/30/11

Quote:

Dacj'd been a little reluctant to leave a promising crowd, but Noelani did put a natural dampener on things, just by being there. And Seth had wanted out, so out they went...

She barely waited for them to get to Seth's car, casting a glance behind her just to be sure no one else had come out after them, before starting up the conversation she'd been wanting to have for some time. "So...any luck finding out what the hell Noe's problem is? I got ahold of Eli, and he said she was just as snippy with him. Something about how she was displeased about nothing changing, and then she went and said something about change corrupting a person? She put him off enough he didn't want to get near her today." And if the empath and twin-brother didn't want to deal with her, Dacj wasn't sure who would. Or if they should. Noe's problems were Noe's problems, right? Though Seth would likely find some way to make some part or another of it his fault...maybe. She'd be watching him for signs of blame-taking, definitely.

Seth had scarcely began pulling on his seatbelt before Dacj began asking questions. So Eli had spoken with her already, huh? A bit of warning would have been appreciated... "Unfortunately, no such luck. The conversation pretty much died right away when Aubrey and Lance showed up." Not that he held any resentment against the other two males, but Noe could be stubborn enough about these sort of things in private; he wasn't about to attempt to pry information from her with an audience about. "I'll have to try speaking with her again in private sometime." Seat belts buckled, Seth turned on the car and drove off. "Did we want to go to my place or your place?" he asked, remembering he didn't quite know where they were going. he had started off for his apartment out of habit, but that could easily be rectified. "Or other?"

"Well, probably just as well that Eli didn't want to come when I called him, then," Dacj said with a shrug, buckling in as well. "If you want to willingly subject yourself to such, sure? I know that you probably have the best chance next to Eli goin' all empath-y on her, but there's no guarantees..." She looked pensive at the question of where--their plans pre-Noe had not exactly been super well-defined either, just meeting up and hanging out... "Yours works." Especially since Noelani had no idea where Seth lived now--always a plus. Not that she seemed likely to seek out the Cottage, if her snippy mood returned after Aubrey and Lance left.

And what was her problem? More importantly, why was Dacj even bothering to care? It wasn't like the kuppy girl had ever done anything other than snark at the kraken. A bit of an excuse in futility, really, to even try and help her.

"Never said there was one," he replied. But if ever there was a chance to find out, it would be talking to her in private and praying that she was in a semi-cooperative mood. At Dacjs decision, he continued driving in the direction of his home. "I apologize for her rudeness toward you. I don't really have any idea what's going on with her." She was barely even the same kuppy that he knew anymore. What had caused such a caustic change in her? And what was it that she 'couldn't' tell anyone? And how or why was she even back in the first place?

"You really don't need to, it's not in any way your fault," Dacj said, crossing her arms. That had taken all of five minutes. Could just be a kneejerk reflex though...heaven knew he'd spent plenty of time apologizing for her when they were in a relationship, or so it'd seemed to Dacj. This time, it didn't seem like it was particularly personal--if she was snarking at Eli even--but there was no denying that Noelani didn't like Dacj much at all. Who knew why... "Mighty kind of her to drop in while she's in such a mood, huh? Though Eli did also say something about a 'more permanent basis'..." Dacj added, making a grimace. Like life wasn't complicated enough.

... His fault for suggesting they meet at Hytech in the first place? For not having made more effort to keep in contact with Noe before now? There were several ways in which he could see some blame for himself, but he was apologizing more for her rude behavior in general than any particular fault of his. "She's home for good then?" he asked, not quite believing it. Something else was bound to come up sooner or later... Guess they'd need to avoid Hytech for a while until Noe found herself another home. Unless she moved into her guardian's home again? It was certainly an option. "Well, I'm sure Mena will be glad to see her. Provided she's in any better mood than she was with Eli or us."

"Good-er?" Dacj said, shrugging again. She'd agree that something was bound to come up eventually, and Noelani'd be off on some adventure or another, most likely. "Yeah...I guess. Mom isn't very tolerant of bad attitude though, so it could end messy there as well." The kraken had firsthand experience--the times she'd fought with her mother had usually been on account of her own stubbornness. "Pfft," she said finally, expelling her breath in a plosive. "Let's not let her mess with our day, okay?"

The cheetah Hyte nodded in agreement. "Sounds like a plan to me." All things considered, that meeting could have gone much worse than it did. Of course, he hadn't exactly had the right chance to tell Noe about Dacj and him either, but still. "Anything in particular you felt like doing at the apartment, or just another lazy day at home sorta deal?" He'd invested in a couple of small board games and such, but honestly he was quite fine with the lazy day bit himself.

Definitely they still had news to impart to Noelani, but...well, she'd throw her hissy fit and she'd get over it. Now. Things to do. "A lazy day sounds excellent~" Dacj said with a smile. Frankly, she was about the cheapest date ever--let her pet Seth's ears a bit and cuddle and she was quite blissfully happy, thanks.

"Lazy day it is then," Seth said with a smile.

It wasn't too much longer before they arrived at his place, and once out of the car Seth took Dacj's arm to 'escort' her up the stairs. "After you then, my Love," he said with a smile, unlocking the front door and opening it for her. "Would you like me to set up the fireplace? or would that be a bit too warm?" The winter weather had mostly faded away by now, after all, so he could understand if she'd prefer to cuddle sans flame.

"Ohoho, feeling gentlemanly today, are we~?" she teased. Though she did half-wonder if it had anything to do with Lance's actions earlier...nah, probably not. Seth had his moments without knightly inspiration (or provocation?). "Probably a bit too warm with the fireplace. Though I'll compromise with a nice thick blanket if you'd like to be a little warmer?" she suggested. Lock in the warmth they'd have by snuggling together. Obviously there would be snuggling; they really tended to think along the same lines sometimes.

Perhaps subconsciously it had, though more as a reminder than anything else. "Nah, that's fine. I think we'll be able to stay plenty warm," he replied with a small smile. The fireplace was wonderful for the winter months (and for that last trip to Phanes), but the rest of the year was a bit warm to have need of it. Still, for any abnormally cold nights it'd be good... or if maybe he turned down the air really low next time Dacj came over. Higher electric bill, true, but might be worth it. "Can I get you anything to drink?" he asked, stopping by the kitchen himself for some water. He had forgotten to ask that in quite a while it seemed.

And here she'd thought she'd trained it out of him...not that politeness was a bad thing, but they were close enough they didn't need the standard protocol, right? (She suspected Seth's answer would be no, there was always need of the standard polite etiquette, that was why it was standard...though probably not in so many words). It was just personally vexing to her rather than a real issue. "I'm fine, thanks," she opted for with a slightly wry smile, sitting on the couch and stretching her tentacles absently. "Oh, I meant to say, nice save with your mom's house as an excuse. I really have been meaning to stop by there to ask elf for something..." She'd given the place a rather wide berth since Valentine's, but some temptations were too great for even that experience to dissuade her. Plus, she'd have to show her face around there eventually--it was where Seth worked, so she couldn't entirely avoid it.

"Well, it's a valid enough excuse, considering I spend most every day there anyway," he replied, slightly wry as he filled a glass with water. He paused to take a drink before setting it back down on the counter and walking over to the living room to join Dacj. "What did you want to ask my mom about though?" He hadn't figured she would be too inclined to return after what had happened the last time she came over.

"Just trying to source possibly embarrassing video and/or photographic evidence of your babyhood from her," Dacj said with a grin. She'd do all kinds of unpleasant things to get access to that sort of "data." Really, she had no idea why she hadn't thought of it much sooner, but it had only occurred to her recently... "I mean, fair's fair, you saw me as a baby."

'Possibly embarrassing' baby videos? The cheetah Hyte had to roll his eyes. "Once or twice, yes. Though I doubt images of me as a cub are terribly different from what you might see on documentaries." Of course, he'd also reached full-grown cheetah size before becoming a child, but he doubted it was that aspect of his baby-hood that she was overly curious on. Still, if anyone had the images, it would definitely be his mother.

"But they wouldn't be random cheetah cubs, they'd be you, and that makes all the difference~" she teased, snuggling up to him. "I am sure you were far more entertaining than regular cheetah--I mean, I'm pretty sure most squidlets weren't as entertaining as me. I'm guessing the human intelligence factor helps a lot with that." Most squid generally wouldn't have concerns beyond floating, eating, and maybe floating some more. Wild cheetah seemed to be about the same, only with running instead of the floating and a bit more active hunting and all.

"To be fair, I don't think most people are as entertaining as you either," he replied jokingly, wrapping an arm about her as she snuggled against him. "You're one of a kind, you know." And he was beyond lucky to have her.

"That is because they do not practice, which is an utter tragedy," Dacj said, leaning back into his hold. It was hard not to just beam at him, all silly-like, when he started veering in the touchy-feely-warm-fuzzies direction. It was a byproduct of a long unrequited affection now returned, she was quite sure, but it didn't stop the urges from striking her. The kraken was, after all, a hopeless romantic. It was more obvious at certain times than others. "As are you, love--and don't even try objecting!" she added with a grin, leaning forward and up to give Seth a light kiss.

Seth returned the kiss, vaguely amused. Jokingly, he replied, "And if I do?" Not that everyone wasn't unique in their own way, but he was rather bland all things considered. Still, he mostly only said that to tease her and see how she'd respond.

"Then I'll argue the point and prove you wrong. I'm very persuasive," Dacj said, smiling widely, reaching to stroke one of Seth's ears with a light touch. He could claim he was average all day long, but the kraken knew better.

"That you are," he agreed, ear flickering lightly under the touch. Of course, 'persuasive' and 'correct' weren't necessarily always the same thing. Still, he'd humor her for now. "It was a bit of a surprise to see Aubrey grown today, hm?" he asked, deciding to start up some conversation. That left only three non-adults now as far as he was aware, and really they should have all been adults long before Aubrey. He supposed they at least got to enjoy their childhood a bit longer this way though...

"Mmm, I hadn't been paying attention to timing, so I really was surprised. You'd think Missy might've been camping out to lie in wait though," Dacj said, amused at the mental image. The sad part was it was entirely plausible. At least Aubrey would likely handle any such hypothetical-scenarios-turned-reality with grace and charm. Toad after her own heart, that one--she'd been getting a little tired of being one of the few goodnatured troublemakers. Hunter couldn't really be described as "goodnatured" in any circumstance, and Cobalt...was Cobalt. "Looks like Hyte fashions have certainly taken a turn for the less clothed."

"A couple certainly have," he replied, able to think of another prominent example right off the top of his head. "To each their own, I suppose." He didn't entirely approve, but it wasn't particularly any of his business in the first place. "... Though Aubrey may want to hope that he doesn't run into Georgie anytime soon." That chameleon was a bit... there wasn't a good term for it.

"I suppose you and your warmth-needs wouldn't understand the freedom of the scantily clad," Dacj teased. She looked thoughtful at the mention of the chameleon Hyte. "I don't think I've ever met Georgie, or if I have, it was only in passing. I'm sure Aubrey can probably talk his way out of trouble if he needs to!" There really was no telling--the toad could be totally and completely gay and Missy might be devastated. "But I haven't shown you what I'm likely to wear in dancing performances, have I? Since I'm training primarily in bellydancing styles..."

"Staying fully dressed has nothing to do with 'warmth needs'," he replied with a roll of his eyes. And he hadn't ever properly 'met' Georgie either, but he had seen him before at an... 'interesting' time and had heard plenty on his antics prior to then. "And no, I can't say that you have." Though if it was anything like what she wore on Valentine's Day, he certainly wouldn't mind seeing it. Come to think of it, he'd never seen her do any solo dancing period... "How are your dancing lessons going?"

"Privacy needs then?" she said, cheeky grin pitted against his eyeroll. "They're going well enough~ Since things have been quiet I've been able to progress in my studies a little. Still kind of looking for a mentor to...sort of do an apprenticeship with? They'll hopefully be able to get me into venues and onto programs and basically help me build up a network of my own for when I start freelancing," she explained matter-of-factly. "I'm pretty sure I have a naturally unique pitch--squidgirl with ten legs and all--but there's still plenty of work to do for promotion in the meantime. And costume design. I can probably let Missy handle that..." Missy would probably pitch a fit if she didn't let the pig handle it. "But I should show you sometime. Costumes. Dancing. Both."

Seth decided it may be best to just let the clothing conversation go. "I'm sure you'll be excellent," he replied, lowering his head to give her another kiss. "And you should show me. When you're ready." He was admittedly rather curious as to what her dancing would look like, as he couldn't quite picture it in his mind. She was definitely determined in following this path though, and he knew with as much work as she put into it that she would be excellent.

"Ready?" Somehow it was phrased in such a way that it sounded more like...like a personal boundary to be overcome than a matter of gathering together materials and a bit of practice. "If I were slightly less scatterbrained, I'd be able to show you something right now~ But in return for your patient waiting, I'll work on something really special," she promised, with a grin. There were a couple things she could think of, off the top of her head, that might prove entertaining... "My first non-'school' related performance--it should be fun!" There was no doubt that Seth would prove an easy audience to win over...especially since he was already wholeheartedly on her side.

By 'ready' he had merely meant prepared, as he doubted that she was ready for such dancing at a moment like now for example. "No need to go through any extra trouble," he replied with a small smile. "Though I certainly look forward to it." Not that he was especially hard to please; any time spent with the kraken was quite enjoyable.

"Extra trouble can be fun though," she protested--really, it could almost be her motto. Dacj was never one to shun a little work if it meant a more satisfying payoff. "And you should! S'not everyday you get to see a kraken dance, after all~ Well. Until I start doing it as a real source of income and then it probably will be most days," she amended with a smile and a shrug.

"Whether it's 'most days' or once a year, it doesn't matter," he replied with a smile, lightly kissing her on the head. "I will always love to watch you move." The sentiment was playful, but entirely genuine. While some might have been put off by Dacj's rather unusual anatomy, for him it didn't remotely detract from the person inside. Thus he was able to appreciate its own unique beauty more fully. "We'll have to dance together again sometime."

His playful admission had her wrapping her arms around his waist and squeezing him tight in a rush of affection. If he would always love to watch her move, she would always love to make him watch--and certainly she had plans brewing to that effect...showing off both her skill and body to best advantage for this future private performance. "I'd love to dance you with again. More practice in private or are we going to brave a public venue sometime? There are plenty of classy dance clubs, if you know where to look." Or there was always sneaking back into Eli's apartment's sim room, which was a brilliant mood setter. Lock the room next time, maybe...

"Perhaps a bit of private practice before trying public?" he replied. He didn't exactly know much besides basic slow dancing, so some practice would definitely be helpful. "I would trust you more with picking the dance clubs. I don't exactly get out much." Not that he especially planned to change that anytime soon, but he could at least make an effort to get out more with Dacj if not on his own.

"That's acceptable," Dacj agreed, with a smile. "As for clubs, I'll ask around in my classes. I'm sure my fellow dancers ought to have a recommendation or two." She didn't really expect Seth to be something other than a homebody, though the idea of him randomly being knowledgeable about the hottest spots in town was a little amusing. Besides, for every night they might go out, she wouldn't mind several at either of their homes. And Sorcha alone was adventurous enough for two or three Dacjs, probably--if she had two partners like that, even the kraken was sure she'd get worn out before too long. "And you get out plenty...you just need a bit of motivation to do so, eh~?" It probably had been awhile, though...they really should go out, do an on-the-town date. Even if it was all-too-tempting to stay at home and snuggle away...

"Oh, I know of a couple of good clubs nearby," the cheetah Hyte remarked jokingly, holding one of her clubs in each hand. "But yes, I'll try to make more of an effort to go out." Pleasant though their time alone was, Dacj was sure to appreciate the occasional dinner outing at the very least. It wasn't as if he was any sort of chef after all.

"Is that so~?" she said, grinning, flexing her club-"hands" around his. "The effort is mine to make as well~ I've been lazy recently, really." There was the finishing the treehouse, and Jasper's party, and all the distractions of this relationship...well, they were probably getting to the point they could be seen in public without inducing cavities. Though NRE was always the fun part... (said she of a whole two relationships; she was well aware pretending to be an expert on relationships was a bit silly) "And there are advantages to staying in," Dacj added brightly, as she slipped a hand under Seth's shirt to lightly stroke his side.

"That there are," he agreed, quite liking where this might be going. He couldn't entirely return the favor at the moment given that she was wearing a dress today instead of a shirt and skirt combo, so he instead opted to draw her into a loving kiss. It was certainly as good a place to start as any.

No matter how the day had started, Dacj was rather liking it as of now. She returned Seth's kiss eagerly, tentacles crawling slowly across his legs as she moved to sit in his lap. Her clubs wrapped around his torso and back around again, as her hand on his skin explored restlessly.

That definitely elicited a pleasant reaction from her. Hands free of clubs now, the cheetah Hyte placed them on either side of Dacj's waist, continuing the kiss as she moved over. He definitely didn't mind staying in, and even began a faint purring as further proof. His hands too explored, despite the barrier of her dress.

It wasn't long before Dacj's slim fingers found the powerstone lying against Seth's chest, and she lightly batted T'gillan back and forth between two fingers. Her other hand brushed back into his hair, and her head tilted slightly to one side as they continued to kiss. Truthfully, with the purring, she wouldn't have minded simply laying her head against his chest and listening to the faint rumble, but kissing was rather fun too. Plenty of time to enjoy cheetah purring later...

Seth almost sensed an inkling of annoyance from the stone against his chest, but he was much too pleasantly involved at the moment to actually notice it. One of his hands moved up her back and into her hair while the other stayed down below to help hold her. His tail joined in, wrapping itself comfortably about her waist (as far as the tail could 'wrap' anyway).

Free of semi-dormant-psychic links to said stone, Dacj couldn't sense T'gillan's annoyance, and had no problem continuing to toy with the powerstone, as it made for an interesting tactile experience, touching the crystal and chain. The metal and stone certainly made a stark counterpoint to the warmth and feel of Seth's skin... Though it did have a very sharp point...would probably have to be taken off at some point. Before they got too distracted maybe--though it was a little hard to stay focused on anything other than the feel and sensation of the moment...

The irritated vibes continued, but so did the total lack of noticing from either party. ... They were idiots, both of them. [Flattered though I am to be included in this little impromptu 'threesome' of yours, if the miss would kindly stop feeling me up that would be much appreciated.] He addressed the message to both parties this time.

Seth blinked in surprise the moment T'gillan's voice entered his mind, more surprised to actually be able to hear the other than at the stone's words themselves. Had it actually gotten strong enough to project to other minds? Or had he himself only heard it because he was so closely linked to the stone? "Um, Dacj, you may want to stop messing with T'gillan a bit there," he remarked, not realizing that she had heard the stone too.

It wasn't surprising that Seth didn't realize she hadn't heard T'gillan as well, because she'd only pulled back slightly at the disembodied voice, still cupping the powerstone in the palm of a hand. She looked from Seth to the stone, and then back to Seth again with wide eyes. "I heard him too," she said, blinking, before giving the stone her best skeptical look. It felt rather silly, to be trying to act stern to a crystal. "And it's hardly a threesome, you're made out of Seth's thoughts and impressions," she pointed out wryly to T'gillan, assuming if the stone was active enough to project into her mind, he could probably read the echo of her audible speech in her mind too. Besides. It wasn't her fault T'gillan was all...self-aware? Though for something that had come from Seth...he didn't seem much like the cheetah at all. Then again, powerstones themselves were also dead-Phoenekeia-bits, so T'gillan was inherently a mix of Shimy and Seth...? Ick, did not want to go down that mental road...

"I'm not quite so sure on that," Seth remarked wryly, also glancing down at the stone in her hand. He hadn't had much conversation with it, but it was definitely nothing like him. Perhaps the blankness he had perceived in the beginning was merely an evil trick to lure him into a false sense of security. Yes, that was it.

[Ya don't get off that easy. I was as blank as your own head before,] T'gillan replied in answer to Seth's unspoken thoughts before turning its 'attention' back to Dacj. [Yes and no. I like to think of myself as more of... a reaction to his thoughts, so to speak. A balancing opposite force of sense, if you will.]

"... You know, I could always just go stuff him back in a drawer."

[Oh darn. And I was so enjoying this lovely chat.]

There was something ironic about a piece of stone "thinking of itself" in general, let alone having an opinion. And if there was anything it seemed T'gillan had, it was a lot of opinions. Clearly he grated on Seth's nerves--Dacj suspected it was likely due to a conversation tangent she couldn't hear. Seth had been pretty irritated with T'gillan the last time the stone had spoken (to Dacj's knowledge) as well.

"I'm not sure on the 'sense' part, but I'll give you the reaction and opposite," Dacj agreed...it was clear that in T'gillan's case, opposite sensibilities did not "attract" and probably if the stone was minded he'd bicker all the day long with Seth. She looked up at the cheetah's suggestion, shrugging. "You could? I suspect if you do it ingloriously he probably won't stop talking at you to get back at you," she said. Because if she were T'gillan, it was basically what she'd do. She had to wonder briefly what that said about her, if she was correct in predicting the stone's course of action. Well, she did know the stone didn't like being tossed about, from last time.

Oh, silly kraken. How little she knew of him.

"Possibly," Seth replied, though given how quiet the stone was on a normal basis, he somehow doubted it. As far as he could gather T'gillan preferred silence and only spoke when it felt that it must.

[What do ya know, you're not so dull after all.]

[Just shut up.]

[Put me somewhere safe and out of the way, then I will.]

The cheetah Hyte rolled his eyes. "I'll be right back, Love," he said, leaning in briefly to kiss Dacj one last time before pulling away so that he could put T'gillan in his room. He'd need to start finding a safe spot to store the stone for times like this where he had to take it off.

Dacj tucked her hands together in her lap, swinging her tentacle-tips lightly to and fro as she watched him disappear into the bedroom. It was one of the the hazards of living around magic, she supposed, interruptions like T'gillan. For all Dacj knew, Elti could be watching through her as well (as much as the kraken liked the Ti'ama, the idea of her spying on such moments was a little...mood-killing?). It was just par for the course. Especially when one's boyfriend was a pseudo-not-quite-permanent telepath and, in the case of Elti, one's soul was irrevocably tied to a world dragon (Contract or no Contract). Sometimes she wondered what it felt like to be a normal person, really...then again, normal people probably also did not have tentacles and twelve limbs.

There was another short and silent comment exchange as Seth put the powerstone in his nightstand drawer, but he returned to the living room quickly enough. "Sorry about that," he said apologetically, sitting back down on the couch with Dacj. "I tend to forget that he can talk now." Or rather, he hadn't known that he could still communicate with them even if his telepathy wasn't active. Learn something new every day.

"He has a very interesting voice," Dacj said, amused enough to let the apology slide despite the fact it really wasn't his fault. Dacj'd been the one to annoy T'gillan, or so it had seemed given it'd been her actions that caused him to speak up... "The fact that he can project even to me probably says you're working too hard though," she said, trying to sound lighthearted even though she really meant it seriously. He worked way too hard sometimes--to the point of dreaming about studying! Sure, the missions were serious business, but lightening up a teensy bit wouldn't kill him...probably.

"I would think that'd be more 'worked'," he replied with a wry smile. After all, he'd hardly been practicing his telepathy that intensely since before the detox even, focusing more on the healing instead. He really ought to practice more again, actually, considering that there had been enemies on both trips to Phanes now... If anything, he'd not worked enough, and he needed to get back on that.

"True enough," she agreed. "Just keep T'gillan in mind as an example of what happens if you're all study. It's like hallucinating from overwork, only more real." And presumably more annoying.

The example of hallucinations amused him, and he might have even considered it for a moment had T'gillan not spoken to them both. "He'd have cropped up eventually," he replied smoothly. After all, the talking itself could just as easily be attributed to their constant proximity and connection rather than specifically training too much. It was probably only the former, really. "Still don't get what he's supposed to be based off of though."

"Maybe," Dacj said doubtfully. As far as she could tell, it wasn't like the stone had originally been intended to hold a personality (like the famous Link of Aikatyrine's). Most of them weren't. Most of them didn't talk. It was a tough call, and Dacj was hardly an expert on powerstone lore or anything. "If I squint really hard and take him at his word as more reacting to you and your thought patterns, I can sort of see where he'd come from. I'm mostly going off what you've implied about him though...like the impression that he really irritates you." If they had opposite manners but somewhat similar thought patterns--that could explain the head-butting easily enough. "Though I guess he's not much of a bother until we start throwing him around or I 'feel him up' or something," she added wryly.

He still didn't see it. "Fortunately. I'll just have to be more conscious about remembering to take him off in the future," he agreed. Then there wouldn't be any issues in dealing with him. He was rather sarcastic for a stone... Maybe there was one minute similarity there. Lightly stroking a nearby tentacle, he asked. "Did you wish to pick up where we left off then?"

"I think remembering would go a long way towards preventing future interruptions, yes," Dacj said with a smile, which only grew wider at his question. "It could be arranged easily enough~" she answered, wrapping a club around his middle. She placed her hands against his chest, poised for button-fiddling if the mood just happened to require it. She had a suspicion that it quickly might. "Which is to say, yes," she added, moving in for a kiss.

Well good, he was glad to see that the mood hadn't been completely destroyed. He kissed her back lovingly, hands finding their way around to her back. The day might have started off a bit odd, but really the alone time now with Dacj more than made up for it. So long as they were there to support one another, what could really keep them down?

 

[Seth_Avi]

~Home Movies Galore~

[Hytech PRP] Childhood Memories Relived

Summary: Dacj and Seth sit down together to watch videos of their childhoods.