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 Posted: Tue Jan 07, 2014 6:52 pm
"Things will work themselves out, little sister," Mystic called in a good natured tone, "Besides, Athan would surely feel horrible about the ruining of your lovely wardrobe. Surely, he'd offer something shiny for you as solace. Guilt is that man's middle name."
"I heard that," Athan grumbled as he pushed open the door to the back room with a gruff look. He looked to have been caught as off guard as everyone else present seeing as he was wearing house shoes, pajama pants, a loose tunic shirt, and his nice full length coat to top it all off. "And I swear if you had something to do with this," he hissed as he pointed accusingly at the eldest Fiend.
'He didn't do it,' Hawk quipped as he snuggled up against Athan's side who growled out something under his breath in a foreign language in response and shoo'd him away with a wave of his arm. 'Well. He didn't. But he can fix this. Mostly.'
"How super reassuring," Reyna said with a huff.
The Seer floated over towards Mystic and poked him with one finger curiously. 'You look like crap.'
"Oh, gee. And aren't you just a bed of roses. How's that mask working out for you?"
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Posted: Wed Jan 08, 2014 1:23 am
“Ohh, busy, busy! Good Morning, everyone~!” Miranda was peering in through the front door, having it nudged open some with her ellbow, as her hands were occupied holding a large vintage cookie tin. Unlike everyone else she looked neither disgruntled nor put off at all, but seemed in a particularly good mood. Though she was still wearing yesterday's clothes and the rings under her eyes indicated she'd gotten very little sleep, if any at all. One of the shadow imps was perched on her shoulder, happily chattering away, and she didn't seem the least bothered by it.
“Rutie, would you hold the door for me? Or the cookie tin. No, wait, hold the door.”
'Good morning, good morning~!' Rutie echoed his guardian's greeting, sparkles raining down from his tail as he entered after her. Unlike Miranda, he didn't look tired at all. In fact, he never did, since he simply didn't sleep. Which was why Miranda's sleep deprived look wasn't quite as unusual as it was for the others.
“Figured, since those adorable little guys seem to be made of shadow, I'd better check back here,” Miranda happily babbled on, feeding the imp on her shoulder another cookie from the tin, “guess I was right about that.” There seemed to be two more imps nested in the canvas back draped over her shoulder and that … seemed to be it.
“Dude, Amon, I don't think I ever saw you with stubbles. Can I touch?”
'Can I touch, can I touch?' Rutie echoed his guardian's words again, gingerly stretching out his fingers and wiggling them a little.
“Yes, Nephrite, you may use that hairpin to gouge their eyes out,” Amon said in a deadpan voice, secretly revelling when the bubbly pair immediately backpedalled. Apparently they still didn't know what to make of him, and it seemed like Nephrite might have left some lasting impression as well at some point.
“So, uh. What's up? Cookies, anyone?” Miranda beamed, holding up her tin and keeping a safe distance between herself and Amon's fiend.
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Posted: Wed Jan 08, 2014 6:30 pm
"It's three ******** A god damn M," Reyna snarled, "What's so damn good about it?!" For the briefest of moments her physical image seemed to ripple as though something just underneath was trying to get free. She drew a steadying breath which caused the brief glimmer of something to disappear. Changing forms and ripping everyone to shreds would not help, or so she kept telling herself silently in a mantra with her eyes closed while she pressed one hand over the eye that was covered with her ever present eyepatch.
'Oh, shut up, Mystic,' Hawk hissed, tail twitching in agitation at the elder Fiend's barb about the mask that was currently pressed tightly against his face.
"Aww... did I hurt your feelings?" the Fiend in question teased. He could feel Reyna's tension, but he was too wound up to offer her solace as he usually did. Instead, her distress seemed to only egg him on. "Maybe you and Athan can sit and hold hands later. That should-"
"ENOUGH!" Athan shouted in a tone that was far more commanding and authoritative than what most of them had likely ever heard from him. At least, none other than Reyna, but their "discussions" of that manner typically did not occur when other people were present.
"All of you," he spoke up again but in his usual calm baritone, "Please try to remain calm so that we might handle this situation without further issue." He shot a glance towards Mystic and Hawk who were still lingering behind Reyna's desk. "Behave yourselves."
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Posted: Thu Jan 09, 2014 9:12 am
Miranda gave a small, frightened “Eep!”, immediately taking another step back, and eventually taking cover right behind Athan, where she considered it to be safe . Gee, why was everyone so tense?! It wasn't like anything bad had happened, right? Though – she realized as she fed another cookie to the shadow imp on her shoulder and it's brethren in her canvas bag – there seemed to be a LOT more of those shadowy little dudes about. Where did the all come from?!
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Posted: Thu Jan 09, 2014 9:59 am
“Calm. Right.” Amon remarked dryly. “In that case, I'll be outside and have a smoke, keeping an eye peeled for Cinder and her crew. Might have to move my car once she comes in with … whatever.” He had grown quite fond of the former (???) Space Pirate. Nevermind her choice of spouse – he'd get over his initial disappointment eventually – he quite enjoyed it whenever she'd hired him for business at her establishment.
And he'd reluctantly started taking into consideration visiting one of the medical planets off Gaia she kept pointing out occassionally. That his sight on his “healthy” eye kept degrading was troubling news he mostly kept to himself, and what with his awakened element, a synthetic eye, he knew, wouldn't be a fix. No matter how well-made they were, they simply weren't heat resistant enough.
The professional escort briefly paused as he passed by Reyna. Unlike anyone else he'd enticed rather than apalled by the ripple in her appearance. “See you later?” he murmured softly, his left resting momentarily at the small of her back, consciously ignoring the cat-like mental growl Nephrite emitted.
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Posted: Thu Jan 09, 2014 7:25 pm
Athan scowled at the sass from Amon, but otherwise said nothing else. The room was tense enough, he felt no need to further argue his point. He turned slightly to check on Miranda who was cowering behind him and tried to offer her what he hoped was a reassuring smile.
"I'm going outside with Amon," Reyna announced while blatantly ignoring the swell of irritation and jealousy she felt from Mystic. "You," she said, pointing over at her Fiend, "Make this... these things... go away!"
Mystic watched her dash out the door and rolled his eyes. "Fine, yes. I will make them leave," he grumbled.
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Posted: Fri Jan 10, 2014 10:15 am
"Can I, like, can I keep mine?" Miranda asked, peering at Mystic from behind Athan. "One at least?"
Thing was, just like Rutie, these cute little imps didn't seem to tire out or feel a need to sleep, which made them perfect playmates for her shadow fiend who seemed to just keep going and going and going like the Energizer Bunny. Which made them ideal playmates for him in Miranda's eyes, hopefully allowing her to sleep and wake rested for a change.
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Posted: Fri Jan 10, 2014 10:51 am
Amon barely seemed to notice Athan's scowl, and if he did, he blatantly ignored it. He had a cigarette on lips the moment he stepped outside, and had it lit only moments later. He had been somewhat serious with his remark though, no matter how it might have come across. Smoking helped him calm down, him calming down made it less likely for things to go up in flames in spontaneous combustion.
He'd barely sat down on the steps to the shop's front door, wondering if insurance would handle the damage to his car, when the door went again. He glanced up curiously, because the one person he'd been expecting to follow him out had been Nephrite, but she wouldn't use the door in the first place.
Well. He hadn't been expecting for "later" to be this soon.
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Posted: Sat Jan 11, 2014 10:28 am
"I don't see why you couldn't keep one. Just be prepared to keep a steady supply of sweets on hand for them," Mystic replied despite the stern look Athan shot him that he was quite certain meant no.
Hawk remained silent for the time being. He had a hard enough time getting back into Athan's good graces after helping Mystic with the haunted houses they had created in the years prior. His tail flicked side to side in obvious irritation despite himself. He did not like being scolded.
Reyna chose to ignore everyone and pretend she didn't hear Mystic say it was okay for Miranda to keep one as she dashed out the door. She paused for a brief moment before darting in close to Amon to steal the cigarette he had just lit.
She leaned back against the brick wall and took a long drag. She exhaled, and for a moment looked much like a fuming dragon surrounded in swirls of smoke.
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Posted: Sat Jan 11, 2014 4:30 pm
It took all the cookies in the cabinets, and then they had to move on to Cinder's M&M collection when it came to gathering the imps. Two had gotten into Mrs. Miller's gardening shed, using bits of candies Cinder had lured those two into a box as they smelled mysteriously of gasoline and Mrs. Miller's mower wasn't starting.
Rhys set in the back of the Jeep, and Tek had moved to the cargo hold to watch over xyrs, 'babies'. Here here, have more candies. Tek giggled happily and flung M&Ms all over the cargo area feeding the little shadow creatures. Opening up the box xe passed a few to the contained two. A particularly devilish imp shoved two of the candies in his mouth before burping leaving the smell of gas behind.
Despite the suspicious gas burps and chaos that followed the imps Cinder has bee smoking heavily since the whole thing began. Muttering to herself she slid into the Jeep and snapped the door shut, one of her strong cheroots on her lips - luckily her lungs had been one of the organs reinforced along with the rest of her. "Lets get these things to the shop...I swear shadow things make more trouble than anything during the war."
Rhys winced, turning he glanced back a faint smile coming to his face as he watched the imps crawl over Tek the little fiend giggling and playing the entire trip to the shop.
As the group arrived at Twilight Design Cinder didn't bother finding an actual spot and just stopped the Jeep in front of the shop. "Get 'em out. They better know what to do with them."
Pushing the door of Twilight Design wide Cinder stepped in as Tek and Rhys lured the small bands of shadows into the shop.
Glancing up Cinder muttered as the shadow imps poured in, "delivery o' trouble."
While the group moves into the shop Cinder pulls her phone out and sends a text to Merci. She was pretty sure they had gotten all the shadow imp things from the house but one could never be too sure.
Text: Tek seems to be having babies or something - whatever is happening small shadow creatures are running around, we got all the ones I could find. Don't smash them they just replicate, bribe them with sweets and get them to Twilight Design ASAP if you find any.
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Posted: Mon Jan 13, 2014 8:36 am
“Oy!” Amon protested, when his cigarette was stolen, but only gave the demoness a half-hearted scowl before he rumaged through the pockets of his denims for his lighter and cigarette case and simply lit another one. “Annoyed that much, eh,” he remarked, taking a long drag himself, inhaling the smoke deeply. “Whatever is up with your fiend lately? He's being … weirder than usual.”
Mystic was oldest, he knew, which had him somewhat concerned about what Nephrite might turn out to be like. Or the other fiends. “They are not all going to turn out like that,” he asked, hoping. “The other fiends, I mean …” His voice faded off, and for the time being he was entirely too mesmerized watching the arrival of Cinder and her gang to be expecting an actual answer.
“Trouble indeed …” he muttered, mostly to himself. He was pretty sure he'd caught a whiff of gasoline above the cigarette smoke. “Yo, Cinder,” he eventually raised a hand in greeting, while she was busy texting, not really intending to get up from his comfortable spot on the stairs. At least not before he had finished smoking.
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Posted: Mon Jan 13, 2014 9:07 am
Miranda nodded earnestly. Keeping a steady supply of sweets at hand wasn't a problem for her, as she had quite a sweet tooth anyway. That Athan seemed to disaprove of her request went completely unnoticed by the young woman.
She was just starting to wonder if she should walk over to Nephrite – the cute little fiend lingered close to the door but seemed not entirely willing to follow her guardian outside, especially now that Reyna was with him – when the door opened once more, and more shadow imps poured in. And a familiar face. “Hello Rhys~!” Miranda rose to her toes and waved cheerily. Geez, why did everone seem to come in with So Many More imps than she had?
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Posted: Mon Jan 13, 2014 4:40 pm
"Mmmhm," Reyna grumbled around the cigarette pressed to her lips. Another long drag and slow exhale left her in a slightly improved setting; calm enough to speak, anyhow.
"Athan says that he's stuck in some sort of evolutionary stage. Like... caught between his form as an adult and whatever it is he's supposed to be next," she told him with a small frown. "Kinda... wondering if that's my fault since I'm also stuck in a demi-form," she admitted as one free hand pressed against her eyepatch.
Unlike Amon, her eye was intact. Strangely, Mystic's appeared to be mirroring with almost the same issue, but instead of leaking magic from a half finished, oozing spell that could not be completed, his was emanating darkness.
"He's also formed a super creepy mouth. Like this big gaping maw that cracked his face open. Kind of freaks me out," she went on with a shudder. "Hence the uh," she motioned towards her face with a mild look of distaste, "Bandana and stuff."
She idly glanced towards Rhys and Cinder who had dashed inside, but wasn't at all shocked by their reaction. She felt much the same way, but found that she was beginning to recover from her initial bout of rage. That was always good for everyone's health.
Athan was not surprised by the arrival of additional guardians either, but it was beginning to worry him. He glanced towards Hawk, and without saying anything the Fiend moved to stand near his side.
"So you know Mystic is not the cause of this situation," he spoke up before asking, "I don't suppose you know who would be able to upset or otherwise command this many elementals all at once?"
Hawk shook his head no with a look that was mixed with frustration and annoyance. 'I can't... actually see anything as specific as that. There are strange gaps in the timeline. I can see Mystic at the desk. I can see the guardians arriving, but the cause is a blank,' he lamented as he leaned against Athan's side, eyes sliding closed, 'I'm sorry.'
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Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2014 3:44 pm
After the message to Merci was sent off Cinder looked over to the others, "just making sure Merci knows what is going on so she can gather up any others she finds and brings them here." Frowning a moment Cinder's eyes darted over the variety of imps in the room. "What are these things exactly? I can't help but wonder what's going to happen if we aren't able to gather and deal with them all." Seeing the two on the stairs, Cinder pulled a silver case from inside her jacket and took one of the thin fragrant cigars from inside pressing it between her lips a moment later. Lighting her cigar Cinder's eyes drifted toward Mystic briefly.
Rhys gave a small nod to the others, smiling as he heard Miranda. Moving over toward her he glanced from her to Athan listening to the conversation as he approached. "Please just ... someone tell Tek they aren't his babies," Rhys gave a small smile though his tone sounded serious. He really did hope they weren't related to Tek. Standing silent a moment he gave Hawk and Athan a moment to speak, "the shadow things appeared near the fiends. Maybe someone that has a tie to them set something in motion."
Tek didn't waste time once inside, continuing to bribe the imps with candies the little fiend let loose xyrs tentacles and attempted to play and bribe as many as xe could to crowd in and even on xem.
Catching sight of Tek and the imps Rhys muttered, "I really hope they won't harm him somehow."
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Posted: Wed Jan 15, 2014 10:35 am
“Is that so.” Amon kept his tone carefully neutral, even though his one-eyed gaze curiously lingered on her eye patch for a brief moment. Unlike his own right eye, her left wasn't really gone, he knew, but he'd never inquired about the details, nor would he now. First rule learned in his training as an escort: Do. Not. Pry. Not he always obeyed that rule, and she wasn't precisely a client of his either … but respect most certainly outweighed his natural curiosity. “Though that makes me really wonder what Nephrite might turn out like,” he added dryly. If the fiends were influenced by their guardians this much … Oh dear.
He finished his own smoke rather quickly, actually rummaging for his cigarette case for a second one, before he thought twice and gently nudged at his bond with Nephrite. Nephrite, hon, anything important going on inside?
'Just, MORE of these annoying creatures,' Nephrite complained instantly. 'I wish Mystic would make them go away already.'
You could come join us outside …? Amon suggested.
'You're smoking, why would I?' Nephrite's disgust could clearly be felt through their bond.
“Ah well,” Amon muttered under his breath, lighting another cigarette as he wondered if any more guardians would show up, and just how widespread this 'imp' problem might be.
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