[ We find Our Heroes rising in the morning. It has now been a week since the attack on the campus, and construction is starting to get underway, which means sleeping in late is now next to impossible. That being said... ] [ ...Istvan suddenly dies for no apparent reason. But it's a slow and painful death, I assure you. ] (HOORAY.) [ Anyway. That being said, Tia will probably manage to sleep in anyway. ] [ As for the rest of you, it's time to get up! Session Start! ] * Istvan is currently flumped on the couch, covered in soot, and asleep. Been like this the last few mornings, too, as it seems that, after pulling all-nighters in the forge, he's been failing to make it back to his room. * HKenji comes downstairs, sniffing the air delicately to see if anybody is making breakfast. * Alcinoe comes walking in from the backdoor. She has, true to form, been mostly out and in very briefly, and really not saying much. She glances at the Istvan on the couch, smiles a very small, now fairly rare smile, and then spots Kenji. "Mornin'." Morning. * Patrick is making breakfast again. Seems he's taken up cooking recently, must be something about nobody else doing it. The smell of pancakes and sausage comes from the kitchen. * Seylin is likely also in the kitchen, helping out. Yay for boyfriends who like cooking! ;p * WillS comes downstairs too, following the smell of food that's coming from the kitchen. "Morning everyone." Hey, whazzzup? * HKenji pushes his way into the kitchen and grabs a small cup of tea. Morning, Kenji. Good morning, Seylin. * Istvan snores softly. * Alcinoe walks on into the kitchen, too. She has a seat at the table for the first time since they've returned. "Mind if ya make me some, Patrick?" Sure thing. Feelin' better? * Alcinoe shakes her head. 'sup then? * Seylin looks over at Alcinoe. "Orange juice?" Ah'm hungry. An' sure. Okay. * Patrick snerks. "Tired of eating summoned food?" * Seylin grabs several oranges from the refrigerator and proceeds to make juice. XD No. I will never understand how you can stand those... sausages. I will admit that the cakes are quite good, however. * Seylin hands Alcinoe a glass of juice. * Alcinoe takes it. "Thanks." Sausages are the best man. Nothing like a bunch of good links. ^^ * WillS grabs a seat and sits down at the table. "Why don't you like sausages, Kenji?" You're welcome. Anyone else? No, thank you. * Alcinoe sits there and has a sip of orange juice. * WillS raises his hand. "I would like some!" Sure thing. * Seylin hands Will a glass of juice, then takes one for herself and sips. So... what's on the agenda today? * WillS takes a sip of his orange juice. "Thanks Sey." Nngh. *sits up slowly* Aww, again? Geez... *rubs eyes* * Patrick rolls the sausages around on the skillet, and serves up pancakes and sausage. Not the best pancakes/sausage you'll ever eat, but they're not bad. Breakfast is served! * Istvan pushes himself up off the couch, shuffles over to the fridge, pulls out a leg of mutton, and waves at everyone before he starts gnawing away at it. How are the weapons coming, Istvan? * Seylin waves to Istvan before taking a plate and getting some pancakes/sausage. * Istvan chews and swollows. "Workin' 'round the clock, but it's gonna take time. Never worked forging this much magic into gear before... didn't really get into my head how long it was gonna take to do it all at first." * Alcinoe gets some pancakes and sausage, herself. "Thanks, Patrick." She digs in, cutting off a piece of sausage and popping it into her mouth. How long? * WillS waves to Istvan. "Morning Istvan. Hope you're not overworking yourself." * HKenji reaches out with a pair of chopsticks, rolls a pancake up, and slowly munches on it. * Seylin pours herself some tea and has a seat. * Alcinoe watches Kenji do that, idly wonders *how* he did that, and grabs the syrup, putting a generous amount on her pancakes. She dips sausage into the puddle on her plate, eating that. * WillS graps a plate and gets some pancakes/sausages for himself. "Thanks, Patrick." * Patrick sits down with his plate, pouring syrup all over it. From talking with the mages I work with that specialize in this sorta thing, and with the forgemaster... two months to finish it all, give or take. * Seylin stops with her fork halfway to her mouth. "That long?" Not that I doubt you're working your hardest, but I didn't realize it would take that long. Mm. Less than expected. Excellent. Magic items take forever to make. * Alcinoe nods, mouth full of food. Ah, I guess I didn't quite realize. Or maybe... * WillS nods. "Wow. Thanks for putting in so much time and effort Istvan." * Seylin takes a bite and chews thoughtfully. I'm gonna try pulling 20-hour shifts every other day, see if I can speed it up a bit, but there's only so much this can be rushed. Is there any way we can help? Gather materials or anything? * Istvan shakes his head. "The materials I don't have yet are mostly for Alcinoe's gear, which is getting the most magic pumped into it, but by the time I can start on it I'll be able to get the materials through normal channels." * Seylin nods. Don't overdo it. You can't speed the making of magic items through working harder. And I appreciate it, Will. *turns to Patrick* Not the magic imbuing process, no. But a little here and there on the more mundane forging work. If I can save us a few days, it's worth it. 'sides, forging builds big muscles. *flexes a bicep; grins* * Seylin smiles back. * Patrick snickers and grins. Though I really gotta quit falling asleep on the couch. Yes. s'not built for long-term flumping. *eyes couch* And I think I got soot on it. [ The couch has an Istvan-shaped area covered in soot. ] You have to clean it now. I knew I shoulda gone for the self-cleaning coushins. * Alcinoe chews and swallows, then says, "Ah'll clean it." * WillS nods. "I'll help too. Istvan's already doing enough making our stuff." * Istvan frowns. "Don't like making people clean up my messes... but I'd appreciate it." We'll take care of it, really. You've got plenty to do. * Patrick smiles. Yeah, no problem. Yep! We said we'd help, and we meant it. * Alcinoe finishes her meal - it's not like she's been talking - drinks the rest of her orange juice, and stands, going to put her dishes in the sink. [ There is a sharp knock at the door. ] * Alcinoe then walks over to get the door, seeing as she's already up. She opens it! Shock! * HKenji takes a long sip of his tea. * Anastasia is standing there, hand on hip and looking slightly impatient. "Well. If it isn't a new paladin." She almost sounds sincere. * HKenji spits hot tea across the table. * Patrick gets out of the way! * Seylin blinkblinks and narrowly dodges tea. Her wings flutter slightly. * Alcinoe looks at Ana evenly, ignoring the reactions from the kitchen. "Ah'm sorry, what?" * WillS freezes with a mouth full of pancake. "Mmm?!!" * Patrick snerks. "This I gotta see." * HKenji quickly wipes his mouth and composes himself. Oh, just heard about your success. Congratulations. * Anastasia, amazingly, does not sweep past Alci into the room. * Patrick gets up and walks past the rest into the room where Alci is. * Istvan eats mutton! * HKenji stands up, turns around slowly, and pushes his way through the door into the living room. * Alcinoe is standing there, barefoot in jeans and a tank top, talking to Anastasia and basically in front of the doorway. "Nothin' much ta congratulate me for," she says. * HKenji bows just slightly to Ana. "Anastasia." * Anastasia waves her hand. "Nonsense. Hard work, great honor and all that." She sniffs and looks around Alci into the room. "Kenji. Mind if I come in?" You are welcome. * Alcinoe steps out of the way to let Ana walk in, eyeing her. * Istvan finishes his mutton, tosses the bone in the trash, wipes his hands, and wanders out to see what Kenji's fiancee wants. * Anastasia strolls in, looking about. "Heard about the disaster. Horrible, simply horrible. I thought I would drop by, and make sure my favorite House was doing fine." Seems like this place made it through in fine shape, though. The House of the Flying Couch was not attacked. * WillS quickly swallows what's left on his plate and goes to listen to the conversaion. He is curious as to why Anastasia is here suddenly. * Alcinoe nods. "We weren't hurt." She shuts the door after Ana enters. * Anastasia stops somewhere in the living room and puts her hands on her hips. "Really? Some good fortune, that." She eyes the scorch marks on the couch, but merely sniffs. Not luck. Just a message. Still, I am glad to see you again in the short time we are back at this house. That must have been some message. Are you heading out again so soon? * Alcinoe sighs. She goes to have a seat on the stairs. Two months, at the earliest, three at the latest. * Anastasia smiles. "How very exciting for you." You should come with us. We are going to Rokugan. * Seylin is in the kitchen listening, out of sight. At Kenji's statement, she mouths the word "No!" and makes frantic hand gestures. * Alcinoe blinks. She looks to Kenji, but she doesn't make frantic gestures. * Istvan glances at Anastasia, then upstairs to where Tia's room is, and shakes his head. * Anastasia gets a strange look on her face, which quickly passes. "I'm afraid I'll have to pass, Kenji. Pressing business ... elsewhere." But at the moment, I am here to offer my condolences, and assistance in rebuilding the school. * Patrick snerks. * HKenji looks genuinely disappointed as he says, "I was looking forward to showing you my homeland. Very well... another time, perhaps." * Anastasia even actually looks sincere and not condescending. It's kind of creepy. * Alcinoe is watching this rather like she's stepped into the twilight zone. Have you had breakfast? * WillS inexplicably shivers as he watches the exchange between Kenji and Anastasia. * Istvan is about to lean against a wall to relax and watch this all play out when he remembers that he's still covered in soot and the wall, as far as he can recall, isn't Scotchguarded (TM). Got some 'cakes'nlinks. * Anastasia nods. "I ate on the road in. Thanks for the offer, though." She looks over her shoulder. "I've brought a cleric along, if there are still dead to be raised." We finished that two days ago. I just finished breakfast. We can go help with the rebuilding, if you like. * Anastasia nods. "That is what I came for, after all." She looks about the room. "I've also brought several craftsmen, and can get many more, if needed." I'm sure you brought more than enough. * HKenji pads slowly over to the door and holds it open for Ana. "Shall we?" * Anastasia shrugs. "Gold, as well, if it's needed." She nods to Kenji, and starts towards the door. "Good to see you all survived," she says over her shoulder. * Anastasia turns back to Kenji. "I also have news of the fortifications for you. We can discuss them on the way." She walks out the door, waving behind her. * Alcinoe nods at Ana's statement, then glances at Kenji. * HKenji looks back at Seylin and says hurriedly, "Let Max know that I will make myself available in the evenings, as soon as he needs me." Certainly. * HKenji ducks out the door, letting it close behind him, and catches up quickly with Ana. * Seylin waits until they've been gone for a few moments, then asks, "What was *that* about?" About what? * Seylin points at the door. "That. Them." * Patrick shrugs. * WillS smoothes out some goose bumps on his arms. "Scary." * Alcinoe thinks. "Ah ain't sure. But it looks like Kenji's willin' ta go through with it." That's what some sages call 'some grade-A bullshittin' ' Yup. * Anastasia has quit IRC (Quit: Once outside the door, we smooch madly! Aahahahaah!) Though her bringin' craftsman and a cleric is downright decent of her regardless. Yeah. But I really wish Kenji's family had betrothed him to someone else sometimes. Someone less... her. Ah'd rather they not do arranged marriages at all. Yeah, she seems pretty mean, don't she? ^^ * Alcinoe leans against the wall on the side of the stairs, still seated. * Seylin looks over at Alcinoe and nods. "Me too." But since they do, they... well, never mind. 'Salright, Seylin. Ah don't like 'er. * WillS looks up towards Tia's room and sighs. Good thing she's sleeping in today. [ And so they talked about Anastasia behind her back. Session End! ]