After The Boom
<<OOC>> Maya says, "When last we left our gallant crew, Mikki had just attempted to take off. There was a loud bang, a shake, and things went dark."
Slowly the light returns. The central column is the first to be illuminated, then the outer parts of the room. Certain parts of the central column, such as viewscreens and dials, are glowing and beeping in a possibly alarming way.
<<OOC>> Maya says, "People are waking up. Those who are about to have to go or are vanishing may still be fuzzy or unconscious if they wish."
<<OOC>> Maya says, "Having banged their heads, etc."
Mikki groans and stirs. "Precious... daddy's coming," she mumbles.
Ledenyca mphs a few times, and blinks slowly, raising her head. Did... she die? No. This isn't Trauma. ...is it Limbo? Where... huh. Oh, wait, right. Weird people. Demons. Giant artifact.
Ledenyca uh oh.
Jin wakes up. Assesses the situation, as best he can from the floor, and sits up. "That was worse than--" He pauses, upon realizing he isn't the /only/ one who had an adverse reaction.
Ledenyca sits up slowly, and adjusts her hair, while rubbing her face. She looks about blandly, hoping no Princes have shown up. At least she's not dead.
Mikki works on slowly crawling over to tend to the sad beeping of her precious.
Jin pulls himself to his feet. "Mikki," he says, in his best calm and non-accusatory voice, "do you know what happened?"
There are no Princes. This is probably a good thing.
<<OOC>> Maya says, "Mikki. Roll dem bones."
Mikki cries into the console, "I'll never speak Helltongue to you again, baby. I promise, I promise."
<> Arcangel rolls the d666 and gets 2 2 CHECK: 1.
Ledenyca gets up and grunts a little, rubbing her head and back. Ow. "Something went. Went. Um. Went bad."
<<OOC>> Ledenyca twitches violently. Dice. Dice being mean.
Jin offers Ledenyca a hand. "That's the conclusion I'm reaching, yes."
Ledenyca takes the hand and gets up all the way. She mutters and adjusts her dress, and peers about. "Is anyone dead?"
Lan twitches.
Jin goes to check on the other two angels. "I'm not certain, yet."
Ledenyca peers at Lan, and pokes him experimentally.
After some eyeing of controls, the evidence suggests to the Team Engineer that there was some sort of fuel or power shortage (this requires further research) which caused the navigation system to crossheterodyne into the auto-disturbance-tracker and has unfortunately set the TARDIN on a least-potential-energy course to those coordinates in time and space. The effective "going into neutral gear" caused certain disturbances in the TARDIN.
Deoradhan stirs, and promptly winces, as the bruise where she hit her head when falling makes itself known. "_Ow_," she mutters, and opens her eyes as she pushes herself upright. "...what happened?"
Lan groans. "How many trucks hit us?"
Ledenyca says "What's a truck?"
Ledenyca pulls Lan up.
Mikki weeps, "Baby! I'm so sorry! You were hungry. My poor baby!" She pats the console carefully and starts trying to figure out when and where they are.
Ledenyca peers about for trucks quietly, and stares at Mikki. Huh.
Lan stands abruptly and leans on a console for support. "Take two elephants, put them in armor, and shoot them out of a cannon for speed."
Ledenyca says "Oh."
Ledenyca says "Ow."
Jin glances over her shoulder at Mikki, then back at Lan. "No trucks. Some sort of malfunction with the machine, I believe."
<<OOC>> Maya says, "Give me another roll, Mikki."
<> Arcangel rolls the d666 and gets 4 6 CHECK: 2.
Deoradhan probes the bruise carefully, wincing, and blinks at Lan. "...huh? --oh." Her expression clears, and she pushes herself to her feet, grabbing a console to keep her balance. "Gah. Can we not do that again? Please?"
Mikki says, "It's hungry, my poor baby. It sent us to the next disturbance goal, through a short-cut, because it needs fuel."
Ledenyca blinks and considers this. Maybe it's a new Baalite weapon. She wanders around a little, trying to shake the haze out of her head, and make sense of the weirdness of the last couple of hours.
Jin says "I'd be in favor of that plan. Our ability to execute it, on the other hand..."
<<OOC>> Maya says, "You are currently in the Time-Space Vortex and heading towards a destination which is somewhere in the Northern Hemisphere of Earth in the late nineteenth century."
<<OOC>> Maya says, "It's going to take an hour or two or three to get there, because the TARDIN has gone into fuel-conservation mode."
Jin heads over to where Mikki's standing, to peer at the controls on the off chance that something will make more sense. "Refueling? Were we supposed to know about that?"
Mikki adds, "We're heading for... somewhere in the North half of the Earth. Late nineteenth century. We've got at least an hour. My poor baby! What do you eat?"
Mikki says, "It's been a long manual!" She starts flipping through it.
Ledenyca looks at all the weird lights and stuff, and resigns to /not/ touch them. It might try to eat her hand, or something.
"Er. I don't think so?" Deoradhan wobbles slightly, then makes her way over toward Jin and Mikki. "There's no spare fuel onboard? ...what _kind_ of fuel does this take?"
<<OOC>> Maya says, "Consultation of the manual, together with checking various dials, suggest that the TARDIN is in need of fissionable thorium. On the positive side, one of the reasons it's locked into the current destination is that it registers it as being available there."
<<OOC>> Deoradhan _hee_.
<<OOC>> Maya says, "This isn't the TARDIN's main fuelstuff. It's just something that's incorporated somewhere in the design."
<<OOC>> Deoradhan ahhhhhh. [nods]
Mikki reports that fissionable thorium is required! And there should be some in the area of arrival. Then she stands still and says, "Oh, that's not going to be good. Nuclear wessels."
Ledenyca says "Um... why are we going to the north? Is this thing a moving Tether?"
Lan sits down on an appropriately button-free area of the console. "Today is just not my century."
Jin presses two fingers to his forehead. "Maybe next time... we can check for this sort of thing before taking off? I'm not sure what's readily available from the controls and readouts there."
Deoradhan looks utterly blank at "fissionable thorium", rocking on her heels (while holding the console; is Ofanite, not _stupid_). "...wait, _nukes_?"
Ledenyca blinks at what Mikki says. "Fashionable thorums?"
Mikki says, to Deoradhan, "Er."
<<OOC>> Maya idly reminds people that "late nineteenth century" is the Victorian period, which is not generally known for nuclear bombs.
<<OOC>> arcangel giggles. Mikki's a little scrambled? Or worried that just because it's not _known_ for them doesn't mean they aren't there!
<<OOC>> Deoradhan _hee_. Right. (Was reacting to Mikki's mention of 'nuclear', though. [grins])
<<OOC>> Deoradhan giggles!
Ledenyca sits back down, very slowly. Fashion, flying elephants in armor, things called nukes... if this isn't some sort of demented Kobalite project, then she doesn't know what it could be.
Deoradhan ers right back. "Why are we worried about nukes?"
Mikki says, "Well, there shouldn't be any, at that point in time, but..."
Jin says "If we have nukes in the century we're heading to, someone's /really/ been messing with the time stream."
Deoradhan looks relieved at 'shouldn't be any'. ...then ers at Jin. "...well. You never know..."
Ledenyca says "Are... are you saying /n/ukes, or /d/ukes? Are we going to meet with Dukes? Can we not?"
Ledenyca taps her fingers together and pouts at the floor, wracking her brain. She isn't used to doing that.
Deoradhan asides over her shoulder, "Nukes. With a n. They explode and inflict fake Discord on you if they don't kill you straight off."
<<OOC>> Maya says, "Hm. Mikki, want to try to remember what Vapulans were doing around that time period?"
Mikki asks, randomly, "Not that I'm objecting to picking up stray demons, but why are we picking up stray demons from the past?"
<<OOC>> MIkki would like that, yes.
<> Arcangel rolls the d666 and gets 1 3 CHECK: 5.
Ledenyca looks up, and does not gulp. Uh oh. Is she going to be killed now? She hopes not. And these nukes don't sound very good at all.
Jin opens his mouth to respond, then closes it until he can think of a better answer to that question than "It seemed like a good idea at the time."
Jin is having a bit of trouble thinking straight while his internal time is blinking "Hastur, fnord, 12:00" at him.
<<OOC>> Maya says, "Mikki, you do vaguely remember that Vapulans were beginning to work on the principle of extracting power from radioactive sources at the time, but you don't _think_ anyone had yet come up with the precise concept of nukes. (Though the concept of Blow Up Real Good had been mooted, certainly.)"
<<OOC>> Deoradhan cackles at Jin! And mmm, Blow Up Real Good.
Ledenyca slowly backs to a corner or wall, and tries to look small and not-killable. Was just going along with what seemed to make sense.
Jin finally says, "It seemed like a good idea at the time."
<<OOC>> Jin sobs. Wants brains that function outside of ordinary time as well as inside it. Can handle the being-in-different-times, but the actual /travel/ is wreaking havoc.
<<OOC>> Maya says, "Jin, you only actually get nauseous at the moments of entering and leaving the time vortex. The current fnord/fnord state isn't actively unpleasant."
Deoradhan probes her bruise again, wincing. "...'cause Lan thought it was good? And. Um. I think I need ice for this, or something. I'm gonna go look for some. And. We sure there's no fissionable--stuff--on here that works?"
<<OOC>> Jin says, "Ah, good. (Though the player's brain isn't very up to speed at the moment.)"
Ledenyca says "Um. I, I can heal that, if you wish."
Mikki looks thoughtful. Then she looks worried.
Jin turns to watch Mikki, because when the Vapulan looks worried, that's not a good sign.
Absently, Mikki says, "If you want to look for some on-board, that'd be great."
Ledenyca waves a hand meekly at Deoradhan. And hopes nobody is considering throwing her back out... wherever they are now.
MIkki continues to look worried.
Jin . o O ( ...ayup. We're doomed. )
Deoradhan shakes her head at Ledenyca, gingerly. "Not worth wasting the Essence on, unless I can't find ice, but thanks." She nods carefully to Mikki, and makes her way toward the door to the TARDIN hallway. "I'll look for that after putting something on this. Yell if something else comes up, 'kay?"
Mikki nods. "Yeah."
Ledenyca stays firmly in her corner, and tries to look unobtrusive.
Deoradhan nods, with a hand pressed to her head. "Good." And disappears into the hallway.
Jin pings the /new/ demon for signs of trouble, while trying to keep an eye on Mikki.
<> Jin rolled 4+3=7 CD 5 vs. 8 - SUCCESS
<<OOC>> Jin facepalms. Never knows what to do for CD 5 and 6... "Um. Response if Jin went over to Lede to express sympathy/concern."
<<OOC>> Lan | "Kitty? Johnny? Paulina? Oh, great - I'm in the middle of a love /rectangle/."
<<OOC>> Ledenyca hrms. She'd be awfully wary, but she'd just sort of... bland and nod at him a lot, for fear of him suddenly sprouting giant claws and shouting "HI, I'M THE GAME ACTUALLY, HAHAHA STAB YOU NOW." She's very confused and a little scared.
Mikki says, slowly, "Where we're going... Vapulans were starting to work with fissionables."
Jin says "...that's probably not good. Except in the sense that we might be able to get the fuel we need."
Mikki nods and caresses the console.
Ledenyca wonders what fishing-something has to do with this. Decides to just... listen, and pretend she's not here for the moment. Seems safe.
Jin meanders over in Lede's direction, still with a faint "harmless little boy" air to demeanor. "Lede," he says. "That was your name, right? How are you doing?"
Ledenyca says "Um. Lede. Ledenyca. I'm okay, sir."
Ledenyca keeps her eyes to the floor, and her hands folded.
Jin smiles, a mild comforting expression. "Good. We're moving through time, so we're likely to be running into a lot of things you're not familiar with. If you have any questions, or need help with anything, just let me know."
Ledenyca says "Wh... why are we moving through time?"
Ledenyca can't help but keep a little bit of utter bewilderment out of her voice.
Mikki says, "Because the Boss says so."
Ledenyca mms. Boss said so. Sounds... familiar.
Jin glances back at Mikki, then to Lede again. "That sums it up fairly well. We're all from different places and Superiors--though you're the first from a different time--but we're currently working for Destiny."
Ledenyca takes a long moment to absorb this. "Destiny? As in, Archangel of? Um. I suppose that makes some sense. I suppose."
Jin says "That would be the one."
Mikki says, "He had a _time machine._" She sounds worshipful.
Ledenyca taps her fingers more, and looks slightly worried.
Ledenyca says "...what if my Prince finds me? He'll... take me back."
Mikki says, "I have no intention of meeting any Princes if at all possible. The Genius A... Prince would like to peel my brains."
Ledenyca says "Are you a Renegade?"
Mikki says, "The Princes would think so."
<<OOC>> Mikki prefers . . . differently employed.
Jin considers Mikki. "For some reason, they might take receiving a Heart from an Archangel amiss, yes."
Ledenyca looks confused. "What about my Heart? He'll see me." She considers. But time travel. If they're really doing that. Oh, this is giving her an awful headache.
Jin looks back to Lede. "I'm not entirely sure how this works. But...he's unlikely to be looking for you in a different century, correct?"
Mikki says, "I have no idea what happens to a Heart when the device activates. I'd think it would go dark, at the least. It may have been discarded as junk by now."
Ledenyca does not look very comforted by this.
Mikki suggests, "Well, if it shattered, you might have picked up some Discord."
Ledenyca says "As long as he doesn't come for me... I'm fine with that."
Ledenyca blinks.
Ledenyca says "But I don't feel Discordant. Can you feel it?"
Mikki says, "It's what _happens_ when Hearts get shattered, right?" She sounds defensive.
Ledenyca examines herself with worry. She isn't fat. Or purple. Or sprouting tentacles.
Ledenyca tries to probe her mind. Oh, how can you /tell/? This is awful.
<<OOC>> Maya says, "You feel just fine, Ledenyca."
Ledenyca slumps and looks slightly grumpy.
Mikki pets the console and coos non-Helltongue endearments at it while flipping through to make sure she knows what it needs to eat.
Ledenyca says "...so what are you all doing? Why does the Archangel of Destiny need to go into time? Is that not... bad?"
Ledenyca waves her hands vaguely. You'd think time was a stable thing you couldn't mess with so easily. Guess not.
Jin says "It's complicated, but the idea is that we want to /prevent/ changes to history."
Mikki nods. "We're not allowed to pick off Princes before they get crowned."
Ledenyca says "Oh. No. That does not seem very smart. So... you stop Princes from dying then?"
Jin sits down on the floor, propping his chin on his knees. "For example, that plot against the Queen. We know from /our/ point in time that she wasn't supposed to be assassinated. But if we hadn't stepped in to affect things, she would have been. It seems someone else is interfering, somehow, and we need to keep those actions from causing problems."
Ledenyca looks a little confused at the whole concept.
Mikki sure _hopes_ she's not put into a position where she'd have to _save_ a Prince. Unless she got, like, that Lilim thing, a Geas. That'd be nice. Her eyes glaze a little.
Ledenyca blinks. "The Queen? Killed? By who- .../oh/. That bastard. Scoundrel."
Ledenyca flutters her lashes, and throws her hair back with a "Hmph!"
Jin nods cheerfully up at the Djinn. "So it's our job to track down where these changes are trying to happen, and stop them. ...except for times like these, when the job's to get more fuel for this vehicle so that we can keep doing the /regular/ job."
<<OOC>> Maya says, "There are, of course, a few perks . . ."
Jin . o O ( I'm using very broad values of 'regular', but I think it's the best definition available right now. )
MIkki says, "Well, it's also going to a point where we're supposed to fix something. Maybe we're supposed to keep the Vapulans from making nukes."
Jin says "I'm strongly in favor of /that/."
Ledenyca says "Oh. Um. How long have you been doing this? And why did you decide to take me? ...and what in the name of Shal-Mari are Vapulans? That sounds unpleasant."
Mikki says, "Vapulans are... Demons who serve Vapula, the Prince of Technology. You wouldn't know him. He's one of Fate's."
Lan says, from where he's sitting and rubbing his head, "You had the potential to be much more than what you are. You deserved a chance. You deserved better than to be left for the Game. Now please excuse me while I get some aspirin."
Ledenyca snaps her head up at the mention of Fate. "What? Kronos? Where?"
<<OOC>> Maya provides some Lan.
Ledenyca ignores Lan. Kronos? 'Technology'? Bad. Bad words. /Bad/ Prince. Worse than Andrealphus, even.
Mikki says, "Kronos made Vapula. After a while, the Genius 'Angel' -- he's a Habbalite -- became the Genius 'Archangel.' Then _his_ kid became Prince of the Media."
Ledenyca says "...the what? More Princes?"
Ledenyca frowns and looks visibly upset. The last thing she wanted to hear about was Kronos breeding like a rabbit in the spring.
Mikki says, "Yeah. Heaven should spray for new Princes more often." She sighs.
Ledenyca mutters "/Hate/ Kronos" and then sighs a little shakily. "...is Andrealphus dead? In the future?" She asks with a very small sliver of hope in her voice.
Mikki shakes her head.
Ledenyca blands at the floor. Should have known.
Ledenyca says "So it's just more Princes and more trouble, huh."
Mikki says, "Something like that. But we've got the time machine!" She perks up.
Jin says "Mm, more Princes, but they seem to balance each other out too. Heaven hasn't started losing."
Deo wanders back in. She's carring a tray stacked with steaming teapot, steaming coffeepot, milk jug, bowl of sugar, cups, teaspoons, and a tin of assorted biscuits. "Here. If it's a couple of hours. Now excuse me while I go do some more checking."
Ledenyca says "Oh. Um."
Ledenyca eyes Deo as she comes and goes, and peers at the tray blandly.
Deo orbits out through the door again.
Mikki peers as well. "Coffee!" She beelines for it.
<<OOC>> Ledenyca huhs. Does Lede know what coffee is? Could swear it's been around for a real long time.
Jin stands up, and investigates the tray. "Can I get you anything, Lede?" Not that /he/ wants anything on his stomach when he'll have time and space warping around him soon, but if it's sociable...
Mikki shall construct... the VapuCoffee! This is about half sugar and half coffee. Ideally, the dark sludgy coffee concentrate that you get after a couple of days, but hey.
<<OOC>> Maya says, "It had certainly reached Italy by the Elizabethan period, Ledenyca, so Lede might well have encountered it."
Ledenyca says "...may I have some of that? Please."
<<OOC>> Maya says, "Ah. Yes, it had reached England, but would have been restricted to the wealthy."
Mikki pours some coffee for Lede. "Sure. I only need about half a cup."
<<OOC>> Ledenyca probably has not had much then. Even in Hell. Probably a Haagentian thing for a long time.
<<OOC>> Maya notes that this is probably instant coffee, and thus free of all the ... stuff that would have been in Elizabethan hand-roasted, hand-ground coffee.
Ledenyca twiddles her thumbs, and relaxes a little bit. Is confused to numbness and scared out of her wits, but at least she can have something to drink.
Mikki goes back to constructing VapuCoffee.
<<OOC>> Maya says, "And the biscuits include Hobnobs and Jaffa cakes. ;)"
<<OOC>> arcangel cackles!
Mikki dunks a Jaffa cake into the coffee. And stirs.
Jin passes the cup Mikki poured over to Lede.
Ledenyca takes the coffee, and peers at it. She sniffs it, and hmmms. She takes a small sip, and blinks. Oh. Not bad. "Th-thank you."
Mikki sips her own concoction. The shudder passes from her shoulders down, and then she shakes her head as if to clear it. "Mmmmmm! It'll do."
Ledenyca peers at Mikki. What, is this stuff made out of Essence or something? Tastes good, anyways.
<<OOC>> Mikki knows the holy grail of Essence tastes like coffee.
Jin, who likes coffee almost as much as chocolate, decides he can get away with not participating in this one.
<<OOC>> Maya says, "Now that's what I call roleplay. ;)"
<<OOC>> arcangel giggles.
Ledenyca quietly sips her coffee, and mulls over what has happened. Queen almost killed. Made strong Malphan angry. Probably a Renegade. Going through time with angels and demons, she thinks. Time needs to be fixed. Is drinking good stuff. Well. Maybe it isn't such a bad week after all.
Sitting around, drinking coffee, eating biscuits, in the smoothly undulating lights of the console, with the gentle humming of the TARDIN underneath . . . it's almost peaceful.
Mikki makes sweet Vapuluv to her coffee, sip by sip. Her eyes grow brighter. The manual is to hand. Mmmmmmm, life is... not too bad, all things considered. Be wary, the other drive will blow next.
Ledenyca says "Um. May I ask something?"
You paged arcangel with 'I get the feeling you've watched me drink my "first coffee of the day" once too often. ;)'.
From afar, arcangel giggles!!
Jin says "Please do."
Ledenyca stares at her cup, and shifts against the wall a little. "If you are all demons, and you all serve Yves... I'm confused. Why does Yves want demons to serve him?"
Jin says "...ah. A slight miscommunication, that. We're not all demons."
Jin decides to go for the short and to the point explanation. "Deo, Lan, and I are angels. Mikki's a demon, and Yves asked her to help run this device. You...we weren't specifically planning on picking up, but as long as you're here, I imagine we'll be able to work out a way for you to help us."
Ledenyca blinks. She has no honest way to respond to that, so she looks at her drink some more.
<<OOC>> Jin tries to remember how much introducing was done earlier with Lede. Suspects it was rather brief.
<<OOC>> Maya says, "It was."
<<OOC>> Ledenyca says, "There wasn't much at all, really. She's a little too freaked to go asking more at the moment."
"In case you were wondering," Jin says, suspecting this demon either wasn't or has had more pressing issues on her mind, "my name's Jin, and I'm an Elohite. You served Lust, right?"
Ledenyca looks up quickly and blinks, and she blushes a little. Is it that obvious? It has to be, she supposes. "Yes. I'm... I am a Djinn. Of Lust. Formerly Lust. I think."
<<OOC>> Leti says, "Awww."
Jin . o O ( The questions about Andrealphus did rather hint at it. )
"Ah," Jin says, and smiles quite brightly. "We can work on that."
Ledenyca says "Work?"
Ledenyca sounds vaguely worried. What does that mean?
Jin pings the Djinn again, wondering if he's moving too fast. Quite possibly. Must remember this isn't exactly a demon who ran to a Heavenly Tether, only a demon who ran and happened to end up surrounded by angels.
<> Jin rolled 1+6=7 CD 2 vs. 8 - SUCCESS
Mikki continues to listen with half an ear, luv her coffee concoction, and flip through the manual.
<<OOC>> Ledenyca is still rather confused, but is slightly relaxed.
"Well," Jin says, abruptly wishing he'd acquired a beverage for useful gaze-fixing during conversation, "it seems reasonably clear that you're no longer working directly for Lust. From my perspective, that's an excellent step in the right direction, and gives me a good reason for me to go out of my way to help you, should you need help." Yes, a mug to sip from right now would be useful; Jin settles for grabbing a Jaffa cake from the tray. "If you were a Cherub, I'd have even /more/ reason to help you. But for now, it's quite sufficient that you might be working to help us in the project Destiny's given us."
Ledenyca blinks a few times, and stares at Jin with a pouty and slightly-worried expression. She had no idea if she should be worried or not.
Ledenyca says "...why would the Archangel of Destiny want me?"
Ledenyca has a hint of self-defeat, or even self-loathing in her voice.
Jin cheerfuls right back. "Presumably because you ought to be working with us. Destiny knows things like that."
Ledenyca says "I... you're right, I do suppose. Destiny does create these sort of strange happenings. Just... time travel? Seems a little odd. Why is there no Archangel or Demon Prince of Time? If we can sit inside a large object with glowing lights and travel about, what stops a Prince from doing the same?"
Ledenyca bites her lip. Oh /please/, somebody, anybody, don't let Andrealphus look into her Heart if it's still there.
Jin mms, and nibbles (with /very/ small bites) on the Jaffa cake. "That's a good question. Possibly there's only one of these. Or maybe there are two, and that's why there are problems we need to fix."
Ledenyca puts a hand to her stomach, and suddenly burps a little. She places a hand over her mouth, and excuses herself in embarassment. The very idea of being responsible for the damage of time by her Prince is making her feel ill.
Jin swaps out to an encouraging smile. "We've managed to do it so far. We may even be able to get better at this as we go along, from practice."
Ledenyca says "Practice? You mean you're unsure of what you do?"
Ledenyca looks at Jin with a bit of horror.
<<OOC>> Patkin still thinks Kronos should pop up riding the H.G. Welles Time Machine just to mess with the TARDIN.
<<OOC>> Ledenyca throws rocks and cups at Patkin.
<<OOC>> Maya says, "Tempter. ;)"
<<OOC>> Patkin ows. Cups! My only weakness!
<<OOC>> Ledenyca says, "See?! Don't encourage her!! I already did with Teen Titans Kim Possible ramblings!"
<<OOC>> Jin oh dears.
<<OOC>> Patkin encourages secretively away from the cups.
<<OOC>> Ledenyca throws more cups. Back! Back, demon!
"The details aren't always immediately clear," Jin says. "Though, really, /any/ worthwhile skill can always be improved on."
Ledenyca says "So... if I am to be believed... you, demons and angels, from time and place, have been taken by the Archangel of Destiny, and put into an artifact which sends you through time, and you have to fix time while unsure of what you're exactly doing? Am I right?"
Ledenyca says this very slowly, while thinking very hard.
Jin smiles over the Jaffa cake. "Yes."
Jin . o O ( Must find excuse to stop putting things into my stomach. Whimper. )
Ledenyca opens her mouth to speak with a delicate finger raised, but just sighs and slumps a little, a thick red strand of hair failling over his face as she blands at the ground. "Oh. Well. I suppose it is better than wasting in a Tether all day, waiting to savage some fool or be thrown on a bed for amusement."
"Far better," Jin says. "With us, you're actually doing some good."
<<OOC>> Maya notes that oranges could be obtained from Spain, so that the filling of a Jaffa cake would be familiar to Lede -- though the chocolate might be a new experience.
Ledenyca says "Am I." rather flatly, still staring at the floor forlornly. She eyes the cake Jin has. "...may I sample one of those? Something smells familiar."
<<OOC>> Jin is fully prepared to be optimistic and cheerful as necessary to deal with new teammates. With great dedication and obligatory cheer, even.
Jin is overjoyed at the request. But smiles politely, and says, "Of course. Here, try a bite of mine, and tell me if you'd like another."
Jin . o O ( I am Elohite, watch me smug smile. Forever. If objectively necessary. )
Ledenyca blinks. "Okay." She reaches out and takes the cake, and sniffs at it. She takes a small nibble, and her eyes widen. She mmmms, and takes a rather large bite. Momentarily unconcerned about the Look Good mentality that's been nailed into her head, she greedily consumes the cake, licking her fingers. /Delicious/. It... it tastes like Heaven must, surely. She coughs and clears her throat, and looks primly at Jin. "...may I have another?"
Jin offers the tray. "Go for it."
<<OOC>> Maya says, "Could it be . . . that just as the arts of cooking have improved during Ledenyca's own lifetime, they have advanced even further in the future?"
Jin does not cackle and rub his hands together. But does make a mental note about asking a few other Elohim if research has been done on good food as a redemption-encouraging technique.
Ledenyca takes the tray, perhaps too fast for politeness. She reasons these are angels, though, and they don't care probably. She sets into another cake, overjoyed to taste something so /good/ and /right/. Hell and Earth has /never/ given her something so delectable to try. With a stuffed mouth, she asks, with quite a bit of enthused emotion and wide eyes "Do fhey haf moh of fhifh in fah fucha?"
Mikki surfaces from the book. "Well, we haven't _done_ a lot of fixing yet. I guess they only recently got the time machine. Or... only recently got _me._ What, the cookies? Probably."
Ledenyca closes her mouth, crumbs tumbling down her chin and chest.
<<OOC>> arcangel forgets if Mikki is British or American.
<<OOC>> Maya says, "Probably American, or at least having recently been in America, if she's saying "cookies"."
Jin lets the Djinn have the tray, and wanders back to see what Mikki's looking into right now. "Mikki will have to introduce you to more of the wonders of chocolate," he says. "That's usually a fan favorite."
<<OOC>> Mikki's been speaking Helltongue recently. Clearly the terms are tangling in her mind.
Mikki has the manual in her lap, and is sipping a somewhat appalling concoction of Jaffa Cake, Coffee, and Sugar.
Ledenyca nums, and munches, and stuffs, happy to drop pretense and just /enjoy/ something so nice and simple for once. She calls over "Fah fucha if /funderful/!"
<<OOC>> Mikki coos over http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/fun/fightsong.php . Just, er, for reference.
"Yes," Jin says. "I'm rather fond of it myself."
Mikki eyes the Djinn. "Right. When we get the chance, candy store."
Ledenyca licks her fingers and lips, unconcered for the crumbs she getting all over. A small part of her considers it a rightful slight to Andrealphus and his insanely clean ways. Well, clean in some respects.
Mikki adds, "Also? Bath. For that matter, we're going to have a while. There's got to be some bubble bath around, and *I* want to get the, um, primitive aroma out of *my* hair!"
Ledenyca nibbles on her lips. Must get all chocolate. So good. She peers at Mikki while sucking on a finger. "Baths?"
Jin brushes the remaining few crumbs off his fingers, on his...come to think of it, still-bloody little-boy clothing. "Cleanliness before arrival would be nice," he says. "Yes, baths. Lede, would you like me to show you to a bathroom?"
Mikki says, with nearly as much fervor as when she grabbed the coffee, "_Hot_ baths."
Ledenyca says "Hot bathes?"
Jin surveys the Djinn's clothing. "We'll probably all need to swap into more era-appropriate clothing, at that."
Ledenyca cocks her head a little. "...clothing?" Her eyes brighten a little bit, and she picks at her outfit with some distaste.
Mikki grins. "_Lovely_ hot baths. With bath salts."
She adds, "And _shampoo._"
Ledenyca blinks. "Is it as pleasing as the chocolate?"
Ledenyca wonders what shampoo is. Is it something else to eat?
Mikki drains her cup, Jaffa Cake crumbs and all. "Oh-yeah."
Jin says "I find proper hygiene even better than chocolate, but opinions vary."
Ledenyca stands up slowly, wiping her hands down on her dress without concern. She looks a little tentative, but oddly eager. This... is sort of fun.
Mikki gets up, putting the manual back carefully. (Unless it's waterproof, in which case she takes it with.) "Well, let's go find a few bathrooms! I think I saw one back here..."
Ledenyca says "...okay."
Ledenyca brightens, and smiles a little bit. Well, if they're going to kill her, at least she'll go out happy. She follows along slowly, peering about.
Mikki leads the way to the nearest bathroom, and hopes that making hot water won't make the poor Device use more fuel. Hopefully it doesn't use fissionables to make hot water, yes?
<<OOC>> Jin says, "If we're taking nuclear-heated baths, I /don't want to know/."
<<OOC>> Mikki would like to know, so she can wave a geiger counter over the water. >_>
As they enter the corridor, Ledenyca becomes aware that this _thing_ is even bigger than she'd thought. Lots of corridors. Lots of rooms. Lots of _space_. Ah, the nearest bathroom is a pleasant if not palatial one, tiled in grey and green, with a large bath, a shower directly over it, a wash-basin, a toilet, various toiletries on a shelf, and fresh fluffy towels and flannels.
<<OOC>> Maya says, "Don't worry -- it's a different part of the fuelling system. :)"
<<OOC>> Jin whew.
<<OOC>> Mikki whews.
Mikki starts the water running, and digs up some nice bubble-bath. Djinn like this stuff, right?
<<OOC>> Maya says, "Gosh, Ledenyca, hot water is coming out of the odd protrusions after Mikki turned some knobs."
Jin approves of the bubble bath. It's hard to sulk when covered with bubbles.
Ledenyca walks in slowly, peering about in wonder. Wow. It's like the abode of a Prince. Only... much nicer. And everything is so clean and nice. She peers at the water, and sniffs the air. "What do I do, exactly? Why is hot water coming from that? ...are you Haagentians?" She peers at the two celestials critically, just to be sure.
Mikki says, "Ex-Vapudite. Just take off all your clothes and check the temperature with your toes." She pours in some bubble-bath.
Ledenyca scratches her head, and promptly shrugs off her dress, peering down at the water blandly. Well. It does look sort of nice, and it isn't hot enough to cook her alive. Hmm.
"Stone," Jin says. "Definitely not Gluttony. There are also showers if you wanted to get clean faster, but baths are usually more comfortable."
Mikki goes digging around in the shelves to see if there's anything else that she could add. No, wait, not a chemistry experiment. No chemistry experiment on the Djinn. Just clean her. Well, maybe some nice-smelling bath-salts...
<<OOC>> Ledenyca has Body by Lust. Combat Meat Shield Edition. +2 Charisma. The kind that makes inexperienced Laurentines blush. Of which we have none, thankfully. /Stone Elohite/ and Technologist, afterall.
Ledenyca raises a foot, and pokes a toe in, slowly.
<<OOC>> Maya says, "The shelves are well-stocked but not incredibly so. There's certainly enough to make a bath smell nice in various different ways. Plus shampoo, conditioner, body moisturiser, etc."
Mikki pulls out the shampoo and conditioner. She'll just have to show the Djinn how it's done. Then, she goes to find a new bathroom and does it all herself! Glee!
<<OOC>> Maya says, "The water feels somewhat like the "hip baths" that the aristocracy took every few months -- that is, a small bathtub that you squatted in, basically, with hot water being poured over you to warm it up when you got cold..."
Mikki adds some nice-smelling bath-salts.
Ledenyca huhs, and lets her foot sink in. Oh, hey. That... wow. That feels really good. She steps over and stares down at the water for a second, and then slumps into it, ow-ing a little, but adjusting quickly.
<<OOC>> Maya notes that Ledenyca probably does know how to wash her own hair. ;) Though would have used more basic soaps and oils.
<<OOC>> Ledenyca nopes! This is a dirty Djinn.
<<OOC>> Mikki doesn't know how bad it might be in this benighted era!
Ledenyca says "This feels very nice. Is... this common, in the future? I like how this feels."
Mikki says, "Oh, definitely. Here, we've got some shampoo. Then after that, you put on the conditioner, leave it on a little, and rinse _that_ off." She sets bottles on the edge of the bath. "Makes the hair clean and soft."
Ledenyca stares at them blankly. "...do what."
<<OOC>> Maya says, "I find it hard to believe that a Lustie never once washed her hair..."
<<OOC>> arcangel says, "Well, Djinn... Dumped perfumes on? O:>"
<<OOC>> Ledenyca has! Just off about the bottles.
Ledenyca eyes the bottles. "I put this in my hair?"
Mikki pops the tops open. "Get your hair wet first. Then you put some of this in your hand. Put in hair. Scrub around. Rinse it out again."
Mikki actually sounds patient. You'd think she'd trained people to do stuff before.
Jin takes a moment at the sink to wash his hands and face, as long as he's in here, while considering swapping to his other vessel. Pre-cleaned, taller... Must consider whether the implied greater threat level of no longer being in a child vessel is worth it.
Ledenyca says "Oh. I understand now."
Ledenyca takes the time to slowly wash herself, and enjoys the bath immensely. Is simply unused to getting such a thorough cleaning. She seems to be enjoying herself quite a bit.
Jin says "It looks like you know what you're doing, so I'll go ahead and leave you to it."
Jin nods politely to each demon in turn, then goes looking for another bathroom.
Mikki waves.
Ledenyca says "May I ask why you are being nice and feeding me and cleaning me? Don't I have to earn the right to do so first?"
Ledenyca stares at Mikki oddly from underneath a curtain of wet red hair.
Mikki says, "Believe me, even if I were in the mood for Lust-skills, the bath is _definitely_ a prerequisite. And since I don't have my good vessel, I'm not in the mood. Why shouldn't I be nice?"
Ledenyca scratches her head, shakes it a little to get the hair out of the way, and shrugs. "I suppose I'm used to being beaten and herded. Not fed delicious food and put into hot water to clean myself, after being taken into a time machine by strange angels and demons. I suppose it isn't out of place, really."
Mikki says, "Only one other demon. Me. The rest are angels. And..." She looks uncomfortable. "Well, the Malakite wouldn't like beatings and stuff, and the Elohite likes you, so there's no point doing it. It wouldn't make me feel particularly better, or fuel the Device."
<<OOC>> Jin says, "Apparently we're not vouching for Deo's tendency towards or against beatings."
<<OOC>> Mikki had a BAD EXPERIENCE with an Ofanite at one point in the not too distant past, okay? She's a little twitchy.
Ledenyca says "Oh... well. Thank you. I hope I can do something to help you all. I didn't actually mean to invade this place like this."
Ledenyca sits in the water, and looks rather peaceful. She pokes at the bubbles and swishes the water around idly, feeling much more relaxed and safe.
Mikki shrugs. "We've got room. Don't worry about it. I'm sure that we can convince the Boss that it's okay." She looks a bit envious at the bath. "You be okay if I leave you here for a while? I need a bath as well, and this isn't really _that_ big."
<<OOC>> Jin says, "Awww, poor Mikki."
<<OOC>> Mikki agrees! Poor her! With Celestial Forces being pulled off!
Ledenyca says "I'll be okay. Thank you again."
<<OOC>> Ledenyca snerks. Poor Techpudite!
Mikki reaches out and pats Lede on the head. "You're welcome." And she heads out, in search of her own hot, nice-smelling, shampoo-equipped bath.
<<OOC>> Maya says, "Is Mikki going to leave Ledenyca with any clean clothing? :)"
<<OOC>> Mikki... will bring some back, after? Figures that the Djinn is going to soak for a while.
<<OOC>> Ledenyca wanders about naked? ...is as used to that as clothes, actually.
<<OOC>> Jin says, "Jin will come back looking for her after a quick shower, and can procure clothing for some if Mikki's not back by then"
<<OOC>> Mikki yays! Tag-teaming with the Elohite! Er. Um. Okay, she's starting to kinda like the Elohite. SO SUE HER!
<<OOC>> Ledenyca will be there! And clothes, yay!
<<OOC>> Jin smugs.
<<OOC>> Jin also, Elohite. Not gonna spend lots of time soaking: efficient shower, change of clothes, checking on demon(s).
<<OOC>> Mikki is an Impudite. Soaking. Bath-salts. Hair-care products.
<<OOC>> Ledenyca is in bath, burbling and bubbling! Not like Grigori was, though. Just enjoying hot water and bath WOW. If Vapula wasn't insane and evil and explosive, Lede would run to him and join up! And probably get rejected.
<<OOC>> Maya says, "Meanwhile, Lan and Deo probably have their own baths or showers."
<<OOC>> Ledenyca prts. What kind of clothes does the Happy Djinn get? :D
<<OOC>> Jin will be bringing...um. Era-appropriate ones! Or generic comfy ones, if the era's still very fuzzy.
<<OOC>> Maya says, "There was a fairly wide spread of "appropriate clothing" in that area, but female clothing was quite constrictive -- corset, skirts, etc. Perhaps Ledenyca should just wear something generic and comfy till you're sure where you're getting out."
<<OOC>> Jin says, "Yeah. Generic and comfy it is!"
<<OOC>> Jin is entirely in favor of practical clothing.
<<OOC>> Ledenyca nods. The Djinn would /very much/ like something comfy that doesn't threaten to crush her organs into an hourglass shape.
<<OOC>> Jin is, honestly, in favor of the sort of clothing worn by people practicing martial arts in dojos, but that's seldom appropriate. Alas.
<<OOC>> Meanwhile, Mikki sinks down in her bath and bubbles and reflects that she needs a waterproof book and this would be... Well, um... Curses! He Who Gives The Toys is cunning!
Ledenyca gets out of the bath eventually, drying herself off, and admiring how clean she feels. Wow. She could seriously get used to this kind of life, even if she does end up having to help an Archangel and his servants do odd things to time itself. If there's more chocolate... for now, she pushes aside the insanity of what she's thinking about, and simply gets dry, and wonders about clothing. She refuses to put that ratty dress back on. She can at least do up her hair while she thinks.
Jin knocks politely on the bathroom door. "Lede? Mind if I come in?"
Ledenyca says "Come in."
Jin steps inside, now in her adult female vessel. "It's just me again, Jin," she adds, in case this isn't clear. "I brought you some clean clothes. I'm not entirely sure what'll be appropriate for when we arrive, so I grabbed something comfortable you could wear until we work that out. If they're not to your taste, I'm sure we can find more."
Ledenyca stands at the mirror, trying to tame her hair, which is awfully easy with the combs and conditioners she got. She looks mildly pleased. She blinks at Jin, now female and older. "Oh. Thank you." She wanders over and peers at what she was brought to wear, picking at it curiously. Future clothes?
<<OOC>> Jin has gone for, well, sweatshirt and sweatpants, basically. Comfy, simple, basic!
Ledenyca pulls the clothes on, and smiles. "These feel very nice. Thank you, Jin. Are these from the future too?"
"From the future, though they're nothing too fancy or high-tech." Jin decided it might not be a good time to introduce zippers.
Ledenyca pulls at the sweater, and marvels. "They must be much smarter, later on. These feel nice, and they're warm. They're very... some word. Useful."
"Not so much smarter, as building on what's gone before," Jin says. "Progress comes from remembering what's already happened and improving, not just casting about wildly for flashy new ideas." She smiles at the Djinn. "About ready to face another part of the future?"
Ledenyca says "I... I suppose so. What's next?"
Ledenyca looks at herself in the mirror, quirking her head. It's nice to not have to put all those powders and oils on. She feels clean and simple this way.
Jin says "Well. We arrive in the future, we assess the situation, we work out what the problem is, and then we solve it. Or so the plan goes."
Ledenyca looks up, somewhat worried. "...do you need to ask the Archangel about that? What if he does not want me? What if I have to be left somewhere else?"
Ledenyca takes a longer moment to understand what she's getting into. While she's never /totally/ bought into the line about Angel Princes and Heaven being awful, for various reasons, the idea of meeting the Archangel of /Destiny/ still goes a long way to make her stomach feel like it's trying to crawl out of her throat.
Jin shrugs. "There's a certain amount of personal discretion involved in time travel; we can't effectively run back to ask him for a judgment call every time an unusual situation comes up." She smiles soothingly. "And this is a time machine. If you /do/ need to be left somewhere else, we can take care of it when we're finished with everything else. There's no rush. But I don't think he'd turn you down, if you wanted to help." She pauses delicately. "Do you want to help?"
Ledenyca hangs her head and pouts a little at the floor. "I-I'll help if I am allowed to. I... I don't want to be left alone, where my Prince will get me. I don't want to be a Renegade or anything, but..."
<<OOC>> Leti says, "Balprop IS true. Just give the angels a Lustie and they get all distracted."
Ledenyca leaves it at that, staring intently at the floor.
<<OOC>> Mikki . o O (We have the Technology! We can redeem her!)
<<OOC>> Ledenyca has only gotten indication of desire for bedfun from the one other demon, and it was a passing one at that! This is... a good sign, she thinks.
<<OOC>> Ledenyca is frankly happy, but she's still a nervous wreck right now. It may all be one huge and cruel Kobalite/Gamester joke.
"I'm not in the habit of leaving my companions behind," Jin says, "and I don't intend to start now." She offers a hand to the Djinn. "Let's go see if Mikki can tell us how soon we're arriving."
<<OOC>> Mikki wants her GOOD vessel back, if she's going to think about bedfun!
<<OOC>> Jin ...will offer bedfun if and when it is objectively useful to do so, and not any sooner. So.
Ledenyca nods quietly, and puts her hand out for it to be taken, still looking mostly at the ground. She doesn't know just how to react to all of this, yet.
Jin takes the Djinn's hand, and leads back to the control room. Here, Mikki, Mikki, Mikki...
<<OOC>> Mikki... may still be in her bath. >_>
<<OOC>> Jin can also go looking for the kitchen. Chocolate! Demons apparently like chocolate! This is a useful data point. /Why/, she can't imagine, but there's no accounting for taste.
<<OOC>> Ledenyca likes chocolate because the best she's ever had is /gruel/!! You do the math!
<<OOC>> Jin shudders. Gruel > chocolate. And healthier, too. But she can be objective about this. Will even /eat/ chocolate if necessary.
<<OOC>> Ledenyca blands. Right. Stone angel. They probably eat dirt and pebbles to make themselves stronger.
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