[Day: Tuesday, Oct. 9th. Time: 10:30 p.m.] [You've just rescued a creepy old man and his elf-servant from a bunch of kidnappers. Now can the old guy help you get your bodies back? Let's find out. Starting with opening the sack he's trapped in.] [Session Start] * Herman appears, with the others, by the old man inna sack! Teleportation is handy. Only it's still cold, so it's not *that* handy. * Ashley appears! Swish, woo. * Lukas is kicking kidnapper. GRR. * Alys appears too! And joins in on the kicking. [The sack mumbles and kicks in all directions.] * Ten appears sitting in the snow, and she's still pouting over things not happing her way. Bloody... let the man out, for Christ's sake. * Togo gets his bearings and starts towards the bag, then stops, wincing and clutching his ribs. "Goddammit..." * Lukas steps back from his kicking of kidnapper, still holding the bullet wound. "God, I hate this shit. I swear, if we had to get some goddamn milk, there'd be a nationwide milk crisis just before we needed it." * Herman flicks her wrist, and the cards fly back into her hand. She tucks the deck into her cleavage before leaning heavily against her staff for support. ( Funny you should mention that o/~ ) * Khalil keeps rubbing his knuckles, looking over at the others and the bag. The cold makes it sting extra. * Ashley is, for the record, weaving like crazy. He's not making a move towards the sack. [You all stare at the bag, but this does not make it open.] * Herman starts towards the bag, using her staff as a walking stick. "Wasn't *that* bad, Lukas." * Alys kicks him one last time for good measure, then stops. "Kicking always makes me feel better. Should we let whatshisname out now?" Someone open the bag? I'd do it, but I think I cracked a few ribs, and I'd rather not bend down right now. * Herman crouches down and opens the bag. "But I wonder why that guy recognized 'us'." * Lukas isn't staring at the bag and mutters quietly very much to himself, "You don't get it." I bet he totally will, and he'll be mean too! Best not to think about it. Once they are back in their bodies, they can explain. * Herman missed whatever Lukas said, then. [A head pops up from the bag as soon as it's opened. It's a brown, wrinkled old thing with white hair that sticks up on the sides like little wings. There's big bushy white eyebrows and a V-shaped white mustache. A pair of huge round spectacles rests on his nose. And for the record, yes, the head appears to be attached to a body still within the sack.] * Herman peers back at the face, only about a foot away. "G'evening." * Lukas 's eyes flick over to Ten for a sec, then to headman. ["Well, it's about time!" he says in a squeaky voice. "That was about the sloppiest rescue I've ever seen!"] ... back in the bag he goes, lads. It worked, did it not? Do you want us to try again? * Herman doesn't even blink. "If ya want, we can give you back to them and try again." Sorry. We're not ourselves lately. * Ten looks at the ground. "Hmph!" [He pulls the sack down, revealing a body that had to be less than 4 feet tall, covered in a red overcoat and brown robe. "No, no. That will do."] And... how could it be the sloppiest you have ever seen when you cannot see outside a bag? * Herman stands up again, then, and keeps leaning on her staff. She rubs at her eyes. ["Nevermind the details, son." He adjusts his glasses and peers up at you all. "Now then (a contradiction if ever there was one), what do we have here?"] * Ashley sighs. "Dohrbran, you've an elf assistant bleeding out upstairs, but I'm more than willing to discuss the finer points of you getting stuffed in yet another sack while she hemorrhages." ["Good grief." He steps out of the sack and shuffles -- surprisingly fast -- towards the door of his mushroom tower, all the while mumbling, "Can't an old man get any privacy anymore?"] * Herman looks at him leave, then back at the guys, then says, "Not if ya just let 'em come to and go after you again." * Ashley follows, leaning rather heavily on swordcane! Which he has retrieved from the cloak. "Afterwards, we can talk about old times." * Ten stands up. "He is gonna switch us all back right? Right?" * Alys points. "We kicked that one a bit, I think he'll be out for a while." * Lukas watches him and then snorts, saying, "Well, who's got the bondage so we can get on with this?" [He makes his way back to the tower, using the right knocker. "Yes, yes. Old times, y'say? I don't think I've met you before, son." He heads inside.] I could try unraveling the turban again. Although the material is rather thin. I do believe Justinius will be wanting his clothing back as well. Can't you just put him in the sack? No no, go ahead and ruin his clothes. I don't like him. * Togo shuffles after the group, holding his ribs. The stairs, they are not fun. My main concern is the clothing being ineffective, truly. * Lukas shakes his head and says, "Fine, god, I'll just hold them." * Ashley smirks. "When you're writing up the IOU for the lifesaving, you can just make it out to Ashley." * Lukas telekinesizes them into a big uncomfortable clump. * Herman nods at Lukas, then she carefully makes her way to the tower. * Ten stomps towards the tower. * Khalil shrugs and takes out his turban anyhow, then works with the bayonet to cut lengths of "rope" [He's already disappeared into the tower!] * Alys walks along, perfectly healthy-ish. "Anyone need help walking or something?" My pride prevents me from being carried unless I've had a limb or two blown off, but the gesture's appreciated. [He climbs back to the fourth floor, where the fight was. "Ashley sent you? And here I thought you were from a circus." He looks her over, then heads over to another room, where there's a small lab, and starts mixing potions.] * Herman slowly makes her way back to the fourth floor! Hooray! * Ashley rolls his eyes. "You HAVE finally gone senile. I am Ashley, just in a rather different body. I'm looking to you for help getting me, and my friends, back into our original forms." * Lukas grits his teeth and says through them, "I could use a ride. Carrying people with your mind isn't as fun as it looks on TV." [He doesn't look up as he mixes. "Oh. Well, why dintcher say so?" He returns with a concoction and pours it down the elf's throat. "Fortunately the injuries aren't too severe. Leedlit should be fine." He turns towards Ashley. "Now, you were saying?"] * Khalil looks at Lukas as he finishes some turban strips. "Alright." (I KEEL JOO) * Ten stops stomping to the tower and turns around and goes back for Lukas. "So not." * Herman makes it up to the fourth floor and sighs heavily, sitting down against the wall. And making sure the baddies don't randomly wake up and run away. Sure, I.... * Ashley points to himself. "Ahsley soul. Not Ashley body." He points to his friends. "Ashley friends. Not Ashley friends body. The goal is to fix this." * Alys watches, slightly confused, as suddenly everyone wants to help. (Yes, she's going to whack them with her pipe.) (I don't have my pipe. But I do have a stick!) * Togo makes it up to the fourth floor a bit after Herman, and slumps back against the wall next to Herman with a wince. "I think I cracked a few of Mariah's ribs. Is there a card you buy for this sorta thing?" * Khalil looks at Ten for a moment. "Not what?" ["Oh, right, right. So you came to me for information on how, eh? Well, since you saved my life, I think I can help you."] * Alys shrugs. "Well... you look pretty well covered. I'm gonna head inside." She runs to the door and tries to catch up. Not fun! They're all meanies and this is all their fault! * Ashley raises his eyes heavenward. "Thank Auberon, Titania, and Robin fucking Goodfellow." That is one way to put it. Are you getting him or shall I? * Herman looks at Togo. I'd heal ya, but Sarah never learned how. Sorry. I am, or you can or something! ( Plus I don't want to have to touch a woman. I mean eww.) Well, you should decide now. * Lukas looks between the reluctant carriers. "Yes. Today would be fantastic." [He nods. "Think nothing of it. It just so happens I know a wizard who's experienced with soul swapping. He's a British man named Thomas Jensen."] * Ten stomps over to Lukas and picks him roughly by the waist. Is he here? As in, on this plane of existence? Do it when we get back into our bodies, then? I'd feel guilty giving Mariah back a body with busted ribs. * Lukas 's eyes widen. "Oy! Christ, Ten." ["Why, certainly. He lives in Britain."] * Khalil blinks. "I believe she is learning from you." Can we get more specific? * Khalil turns around and heads on to the rest. * Herman starts and sits up. "WAIT!" she yells. "Who the hell- what?" * Ten puts Lukas down and sounds apologetic. "Uhm, I kinda never learned how you're supposed to pick up people with arms." * Lukas blinks and laughs, "No, you had it. Mostly. Just do it fast." * Alys makes it up to the fourth floor and winces. "Ouch, no yelling. What's going on?" * Herman gets to her feet, leaning on the staff, and carefully walks over to the room with the fae. "*What* did you say?" ["Yes? I said I knew a wizard experienced with soul-swapping who could probably help you. That is what you wanted to find out, isn't it?"] Who is it? * Togo watches Herman get up, mutters, and gets up himself, shuffling after him to find out what all the fuss is about. * Ten brightens. "Kay!" And then she picks Lukas up again and doesn't squeeze quite as hard this time. Then she hurries to the tower with him! * Ashley blinks. Uh... Herman, meet Dohrbran. ["Weren't you listening, girl? Thomas Jensen, I said."] * Herman blinks again. She's clutching that staff *awfully* hard. "Give us someone else." * Khalil comes in to the fourth floor finally and walks in. "I am sorry. Did I miss anything important?" [He squints at Herman. "Don't like the Brits?"] Thomas Jensen is not fixing us, I think. * Lukas carries the things with him. I like Brits fine. I am a Brit. I *don't* like my fucking father. Give us someone else. Herman, you'd best have a bloody good reason.... oh, Christ. [He rubs his chin. "Oh dear. That's a problem. Not many people are experienced with soul swapping. Nasty business, you know."] * Ashley pinches his nose. "Why can nothing ever be easy?" I know, but fuck if I'm going to go back to my old man when we went all this way to stay away from him. Um... he didn't do this to us, did he? Are you on bad terms with him? * Khalil blinks, looks at Herman, then looks at the other. "It seems to me that he is not in the best position to return to his father, no." * Ten arrives with Lukas and a floating pile of bodies. "Can we switch back yet? Huh? Huh?" * Herman glares at Alys. "What do *you* think, Ward Girl?" * Ashley looks to Dohrbran. "No other options? Potions, demons, spells, one-eyed crones with magic staves and a penchant for baby flesh?" * Lukas adds, "Yes, god, please, let there be switching." * Alys winces. "Sorry." ["Hmmmmm.... Well, you could try a man in Okinawa, although last I'd heard he dropped off the face of the earth."] ["Oh, of course, plenty of demons could do it for you! ... If that's what you really want."] I have no bloody clue what we want, Bran. I would not be surprised if that were literal at this point. * Ten listens to the flow of the conversation for a bit and sets Lukas back on the ground again. "So, like, that's a no isn't it?" ["Well...." He gets a glint in his eye. "If you want, *I* could do it."] * Lukas mumbles a "Thanks" at Ten and stands there holding the hole in himself. The bleeding one. * Ashley turns to Herman. "Herman, I strongly suggest you immediately reconsider us visiting your father. STRONGLY." You can? Pleasepleaseplease! I wanna be me again! * Khalil glances at Ten and eyes her, then walks forward and grabs her by the arm. "Excuse us for a second." He tries to pull her off to the side. [He humphs. "What? Don't you trust me? Just because I've never done it before doesn't mean something will go wrong."] * Ten gets pulled off to the side. (... He touched a woman.) (His hand is going to go alight.) Yes, that's exactly true. That contingent of pixies that turned into powdered candy were extremely pleased with the way their color-changing spell worked out. ( Hey, that sounds like something I would say! He must be good at it!) (HA. Nice quote, Ashley.) * Khalil whispers to her. "I do not think that that is the best idea. We may end up as something worse." ["Well.... they weren't as prepared as I was. I'm sure."] [He doesn't sound sure, though.] * Ten whispers back. "Ooh. Yea. That'd be bad." * Ashley looks back at Herman. "I don't fancy being alchemical R&D tonight. Just how bad IS this family spat?" [He rubs his hands together. "I'd even do it free of charge, for saving my life!"] If it something even Ashley would not trust, then I would-- * Khalil stares at the old man. "Yes. Anyone who is that eager is obviously going to turn us into newts or something worse." ( Ironically, it's because his dad wants him to date a girl he doesn't want to date :P ) * Herman sighs, somewhat deflating, and leans against the staff. "The old man almost bloody well disowned me after he found me with a schoolmate, what, when I was thirteen or somethin'. Junior high. Wouldn't teach me magic anymore, either." Turned eighteen, left, and never looked back. Didn't stop him from arranging a marriage with Sarah and me. * Lukas gets a slight smirky grin. * Ashley pauses, sighs, then runs his hand through his hair. "Well, there's not much else to be said except 'bollocks', is there?" * Herman nods and says, listlessly, "Nope. Bollocks." So, like, there's only two people who know how this works? I like this body. It can wait a bit longer. I could shoot him a few times for you afterwards if you really wanted. Or I know this guy who could get me a metric assload of explosives... ... 'kay, I don't want my father *dead*. Well, we could go for the demon option. * Togo shrugs. "I could do wounded." [The old man turns his head towards Ten. "Working with souls is a very dangerous thing, little lady. VERY dangerous."] Easy for you to say. I do not mind this body but I am worried what the other person is doing with *mine*. Or does he have a favorite car? I could firebomb it. It'd make you feel better, I guarantee it. And we just walked into it! ["The demons would know it best, yes. But you know, the price would not be light."] I bloody well know that. We could give them all the trophies! Somebody's gotta want them! [He nods, a rather serious look on his wrinkled face. "Then you have your options. Jensen, myself, a demon, or a one in a million chance of finding a man in Okinawa."] I think the only guy that would want -those- ugly things is the guy we took them from. It's rather like "Let's Make a Deal", except we could all die. Actually, I think dying in this sense is not necessarily the least desireable option. Three people! What's the name of the guy in Okinawa? I can see... Lukas can see if there's any info! Seriously, Herman. I don't like asking you to deal with your giant ass of a father... but we're not gonna be able to stop whatever Asahara's planning in these bodies. We need our own. * Herman doesn't look at Togo. The floor's interesting. "Yeah." ["I don't think so, girl. His name is Bob, and nobody's seen him in over a year now. If *I* can't find him, I doubt you could."] Speak for yourself. I have a blade on a stick, I can do anything! * Ashley nods to Bran. "He's right on that cout." And besides... you're not a kid anymore. You're a goddamn man. If he disaproves, fuck 'em. ["And discounting the demons, that leaves you with really only two options. It's up to you which to choose."] * Ten goes back to pouting. "Awwwwwwwwwwwwww. This sucks." * Khalil looks at Herman. "At least you can vouch for his abilities in this manner." * Lukas shrugs slightly. "Hey, as long as I don't bleed to death, we can look for Bob. It's not like Okinawa's huge." * Alys grins at Herman. "Hey, we can go as your bodyguards and look menacing and stuff!" ["Yes... If he were IN Okinawa."] Yes. Our group looks truly menacing. I think Volt in particular is the most frightening of us all. * Ten blinks. "Like! Your friend's still upstairs! An she's hurt bad!" * Lukas smirks. "Yeah. Don't fuck with the kid. Now all I need are some sunglasses." * Herman lets out a heavy sigh. "All right." * Ashley puts his hand on Herman's shoulder. "I rather do appreciate it, you know. I think we all do." It'll be okay, Pipe Girl. We'll get all fixed and you'll be Pipe Guy and properly sexually oriented again. * Herman says, dully, "You don't know that, Ward Girl." ["You've made your decision, then?"] Yeah, I'll take 'em to see the old man. Yeah. He might want a daughter instead. [He snaps his fingers. "Rats. It would have been such an experience, too..."] Funny, but no. He wants a son. A straight son that'll give him a grandson. Seriously. It'll be okay. You've got us to help you out. ( What, he's never heard of artificial insemination? =P ) * Herman doesn't look exactly heartened by Alys. (You don't mess with a tradition that dates back thousands of years.) We done here, Ashley? He needs to get his son back then, right? So he's gotta help us! * Khalil closes his eyes slightly. "I doubt it is any comfort, but you shall be glad that you were not born in my country. Many would be put to death for such a thing." He opens his eyes and looks up. "Though I believe such laws are changing lately." * Lukas snorts and nods with Ten. "Sooner this is done with, sooner you can tell him to screw himself again" [In Afghanastan, 2062, women are required to take a day off and go to the beach every year.] * Ashley looks to Bran. "Thanks, you old goat. Sorry to have to intrude, but this was rather an emergency. ou performed marvelously, though." He winks. "Drop by when I'm more settled, we'll have tea." [Men have to pole vault.] [30 ft. at least.] ( Literal pole vault, or is that a euphamism for HAWT MAN LUV? ) * Herman flips her phone open and dials Sarah. ( Somehow I knew that was coming >.> ) (If it's a euphamism, 30 feet is... woah.) ["Of course, of course. Are you sure you don't want me to do it? It would be quite an experience..."] For who? ( I'm happy to live down to your expectations! ) * Herman speaks into the phone, dully, "It's Herman." I'm gonna be me again! Er, no. Tell you what, though, I might send some, ah, interested parties here from time to time. [He muses, then shakes his head and waves his hand. "On second thought, don't. I have enough trouble with privacy as it is." He glances over at the thugs. "Guess it's time to move, before those Asahara people come after me again."] Belgium's nice this time of year. * Herman sighs. "Yeah, and we had to fight off some guys who recognized your people. They were kidnapping Ashley's friend. One was a really bald guy with a giant hammer." * Togo looks thoughtful for a moment, then wanders over to the old fae. "Pardon me, sir, but... I don't suppose you know of anyone sane and non-demonic who has the ability to heal really serious permanent injuries? Like missing limbs or such?" ["Hm? Oh! I can do that. Just a moment." He shuffles into his lab and mixes a potion, returning with it shortly. "Here, drink this."] * Togo blinks. "Seriously? Would this help someone grow back eyes that were burned out of the sockets by magic?" Togo... Maybe. Ashley's friend just said that they're from Asahara or something. ["Probably not."] ... fuck. 'Scuse me, but does that do less serious healing too? And does it keep? I mean, could we maybe take a few with us? * Khalil puts a hand on Togo's shoulder. "The easy solutions are often not the answer." Nope. ["Oh, no! Why, that stuff turns bad within ten minutes! Then it smells worse than a skunk in an onion bog."] * Togo deflates rather severely, having been on the verge of hugging the old fae a moment ago, and nods back at Khalil. "Still... kinda got my hopes up there for a second." Oh. Well, thanks anyway, I guess. Hey Volt, do you wanna try this and see if it helps? Like, Lukas kinda sorta probibly needs that right now. I'd rather pry it out with a needlenose. (Such timing we have) If I thought it were possible, I would have asked for something to remove an ancient curse myself. Or at least something to fight allergies. Sure. Hang on a sec. * Herman moves her face from the phone and looks to Bran. "Why's Asahara after ya?" * Togo rubs his forehead a bit, and grins sadly at Khalil. "Yeah, I know. But it'd be nice if it was that easy for once, y'know?" ["Hm? Oh, they wanted me to tell them how to bring someone back to life. Of course, that wasn't good enough, and afterwards they wanted to take me for my knowledge."] * Togo starts to say something to Khalil, then does a doubletake and STARES at the old fae. "Please tell me you didn't tell them how to bring someone back to life." Did it work? * Herman nods, then brings the phone back to her ear and says, "Knowledge, I guess. Magic and potions and stuff." [He turns his wrinkled head towards Togo. "Of course I did! They'd have killed me right there if I didn't!"] ... bloody hell. * Khalil looks at him for a moment. "...did they say WHO they wanted to bring back?" ... And he told them how to bring someone to life, too. That's so cool! Is it very hard? * Lukas just runs his hand back through his hair and keeps 'em TKed. ["No, and I didn't ask, either."] Yeah. Dunno who they wanted it for, though. ["And yes, it's hard. Bringing someone back to life is never easy. Like working with souls, you see?"] * Herman blinks. "Sarah?" Something totally bad happened, huh. I should learn magic. It seems like there's all kinds of neat things. Perhaps we can take comfort in the possibility that the reason they wanted him is because they did not have the ability to perform it themselves. Lin who? ... Asahara with the ability to bring things back to life. Jesus fucking Christ in a Chrysler... Great. So they'll bring- * Herman sighs. "Okay. Sarah, we're gonna meet you guys in London. Ashley's friend pointed us back to where we started." We're gonna have to see my old man. I do. ( Random question: Would Jesus drive a Chrysler? ) (WWJD?) Look, it's him or a demon or a method that we have no idea'll work. And I think screwing things up even more isn't gonna do... whatever it is you need to do, and your friend's stuck as a robot and... shit. Yeah. Fuck knows they'll bloody well pick me up and *make* me talk to my dad after a point. * Herman smiles wanly. "Yeah, well. Our faults, too, right? Try to save a few people and look at where it gets us." Hey! My body is awesome! We'll meet you at the apartment, okay? See ya. * Herman hangs up and tucks the phone back. She looks to the others. "Ready to go?" Who does she think Asahara wants to bring back? Lin Kar Lau. * Ashley nods. Who's Lin Kar Lau? Some head guy who was offed twenty years ago. ... fuck. NOT good. Head Asahara mad scientist. Mariah mentioned him. * Lukas thumbs at the Asharas. "These need to go with us, huh?" Yes, but as it is, there is not much we can do in these bodies. Shall we go? ["Well, don't leave them in my home!"] * Herman blinks. "Fuck, I didn't ask. Yeah, guess so." * Herman hobbles over to the pile of bodies and stands near them, drawing the tarot cards from her bosom. * Ten walks over to the bodies so she doesn't get left behind. ... no, wait, it's worse. I'm mixing him up with someone else. He was the fucking DIRECTOR of Asahara. * Lukas goes over by his captives. * Alys walks over and looks down at the bodies. "I guess it'd be really awful of me to kick them some more, huh?" Go ahead. Do it. They're meanies. * Alys kicks one of them in the shins. "Oh peer pressure, you do me in every time." * Lukas looks back too the guy and says, "Uh... I hope your elf gets well soon. Or something." * Ashley turns to Bran. "Keep well, you old fraud." * Herman nods. Yeah. She waves to Bran with a weak smile. "Thanks for your help." And then the cards are tossed, and she takes a breath and starts chanting. * Khalil watches Alys with a strained look. "...you seem rather obsessed with physical violence." [He nods to Lukas. "Oh, don't worry about her. She'll be fine." Then he turns to Ashley. "And you too. Hopefully our next meeting will be under better circumstances."] * Alys nods at Khalil and smiles happily. "It tends to make me feel better." Hah! Clearly you've forgotten our heritage. [One way or another, you return to the apartment.] * Herman appears in the apartment! With everyone else. And the hostages. And ow, because a lot of people are hurt. She leans heavily on her staff and looks around. [The Mystery Club crew is all there, along with a confused looking woman with both arms in casts, and an angry looking librarian.] * Ashley flops down in the nearest seat! * Ten appears with Herman, and it's a good thing it's a good-sized apartment because it's full of people now! Hey, guys. We brought presents. * Togo coughs as they reappear, and clutches his ribs, wincing badly. "Hey folks." [Herman (or rather, Sarah), walks up. "How are you?"] Feel like I want to bloody well drop dead, but I guess we should get this over with. My friends got... uh, your friends' bodies pretty banged up, so ya might wanna heal 'em before we go. * Lukas holds his damage and holds up the bodies too. * Alys sits down wherever Xuan is. ... And do something about those guys. * Herman jerks her thumb at the bodies. [Sarah nods and gets to work. Most of the others look kind of... upset, at seeign their wounded bodies.] [Oh, and Mariah is here this time! She's a dead ringer for Togo. Because she is Togo! Haha! Also, they brought Liadan back, so you don't have to go get her.] * Herman goes to get water for Sarah for the healing spell. She returns with a pitcher of the stuff and starts to help. * Ten waves at her body and then gets out of the way. Sorry about the ribs, Mariah. Big guy with the hammer was faster than I thought. [Mariah frowns, but shrugs it off. "I've had worse."] * Ashley is almost asleep in the chair. [Dante pokes Ashley with the end of his cane.] * Khalil shakes his head and walks forward a bit, making the turban rope taut. "Is this a good time to tie them up then?" [Justinius steps forwards. "My turban! What did you do to my turban?!"] * Ashley swats at the cane. "nngh." Can we call Herman's dad and switch back now? [Sarah heals Togo and Lukas; she doesn't seem to have the energy to do more than that.] Oh, I got some rope in the dresser. Uh, by the black pouch full of sand. Might be under a small pile of crosses. * Khalil blinks and looks at Justinius. "I improvised. What did you do with my body while you were in it?" [Mitsuji nods. For once, he's not typing on the computer. He goes, returning with the rope shortly.] * Togo is about to rub at the newly healed ribs when he realizes that said act could look a bit odd since he's in someone else's body, and refrains from doing so. ["Did what anyone would do in my situation. Got drunk."] * Lukas says exasperatedly, "How long am I going to have to play 'Juggle the-- oh, thank god." ...you have defiled my body with alcohol? ["Look what you did to my poor turban!"] * Alys takes off her shoe and throws it at Justinius's head. I hardly think the two are equivalent. * Herman gets up and slumps off t o get the rope herself. She returns shortly and starts tying people up. The bad people, that is. [Justinius is beaned in the head. "Ow!"] * Khalil sighs and shakes his head. "Thank you." He works on reraveling the turban like before, since the rope is present. Can we just switch back now? Please? Then you can all fight from your right bodies and everything! * Alys gets up to collect her shoe, then goes back to where she was and sits down again. [Xuan nods. "Switch, yes please."] * Herman finishes with the tying. "Yeah. I don't wanna leave these people in my apartment, but I guess we don't have a whole lotta choice." * Herman looks around and counts how many people there are, then curses. Sarah, you ever been to my dad's place? Togo can call his friends and have then taken away! It is ironic. My body is receiving more injuries on this side and I feel it fully justified. In fact, I feel like hitting sense into it myself. Oh, yeah. Someone do that. * Lukas snickers. [Sarah shakes her head. "No, but I've met with him before."] * Lukas also lets go of the TK hold and rubs his neck. See! Physical violence -does- make you feel better! * Ashley snoozes in the chair. [Justinius sighs. "I need another drink. And some women." He looks around hopefully.] Okay... uh, call a few taxis, I guess, and just drive over. [Dante pokes Ashley again.] * Herman pulls out his phone, lets out a breath, and says to himself, "Straight into Hell." He dials and starts arranging transportation. * Ten ignores Justinius. * Togo nods, pulls out a post-it pad and a pen, scribbles something on it, and hands it to Mariah. "Call this number, give this ID code, and give them the address, the number of people to be picked up, and mention that they're Asahara agents. They'll be gone by the time we get back." [Mariah nods. "Got it." She flips open a cell phone and calls.] * Khalil glances at Justinius again, sighs and starts unraveling the turban and then approaching him. * Ashley swats at the cane irritatedly again. "Bloody shagged out, leave me be." [Dante says, simply, "You can rest once we're back to normal."] This from the man who's scared to go on a date. * Lukas chuckles and says, "The sooner you get up, the sooner you can go visit all the people you promised to visit in the past fucking day. Geddup." * Herman hangs up and pulls a note out of her cleavage. She hands it to Dante. Your date's phone number. [He takes it and shoves it in a pocket. "Hmm, yes."] * Khalil approaches Justinius. "This is for your own good." And starts trying to tie him up. * Ashley works his way out of the chair. "Ask her to demonstrate the Highland Hoover. Positively delightful." [Justinius steps back. "Hey now. Cut that out."] Are we going now? We're totaly going now and are going to switch back! Soon as the cabs get here. I was wrong. This is for *my* own good. [You taxi on down to a standard middle-class house in a standard middle- class neighborhood.] * Herman gets out and looks at the boring old beige, two-story thing with a metal fence and not much yard to speak of. "Shit." [Sixteen people get out of a number of cabs and stand awkwardly in the middle of the street.] Kinda... ordinary lookin'. ... what were you expecting? Gargoyles, at the very least. * Ashley yawns. That's inside. It's totally the perfect hiding place! We're in modern Britain, not the bloody fucking magical countryside of yore. [About the most unusual thing in this neighborhood is the billboard advertising the new Darkwing Duck vs. Count Duckula movie.] * Herman takes a breath, lets it out, and walks slowly to the front door. She looks rather like a woman walking to her own execution. * Herman raises her hand and rings the doorbell. Look, this one HAS ONE. [It has a standard dingdong noise.] * Alys looks around. "It's sad that this kinda thing doesn't look normal anymore, what with all the traveling." * Ten hangs out with the mob of people in front of the house. * Alys beams happily when Herman rings the doorbell. "See? Someone has sense!" Who? Whoever installed the doorbell! ...the electrician? [The door is opened by a standard middle-aged man who looks like an older Herman, but with glasses and a beard. He's wearing a casual suit, and looks kind of sleepy (well, it's nearly midnight) as his eyes glance over the lot of you.] (And no spiky hair!) ( And no spiky hair. ) ( It's more of a comb-over. ) * Herman very doesn't smile. "Hello, old man." [He straightens. "What is the meaning of this?"] I'm your son. * Herman points back at Sarah in Herman. "She isn't. There's been a lot of switching going on." We sorta need you to fix it. [He stares hard at Herman. "You do, do you? I'd thought perhaps this was the wedding party, but of course, I should have known better."] * Herman shrugs. * Ashley snorts, but manages to not say anything. Never knew you wanted me to be the bride, but I'll try to remember that. * Khalil keeps deathly silent. * Herman's tone has been amazingly even and lacking life. * Alys's hands are twitching from wanting to talk, but she stays quiet too. [Sarah steps up. "Mr. Jensen, please, we-" But he cuts her off. "Quiet! I won't have this. How dare you return here, demanding I do something for you! How DARE you?!"] Yeah? [Justinius whistles in the back. "He's pretty pissed."] * Ten nodnods. * Khalil thunks Justinius on the head with his fist. "Ow!" * Herman picks up some heat in her own voice. "Last I checked, *you're* the one who sent a fucking letter making demands." [Dante opens up his computer. "Guess I'd better start looking for an alternative."] * Khalil speaks up, looking at the man. "If anything, I would think you would wish to fix this simply because it is very awkward the way it is." Family crises give me hives. Can we retire to the pub whilst you have this out? [He folds his arms. "Hmph. Hardly demands. It was a plead. One last attempt to get you to fulfill at least some of your mother's expectations. Not to mention the Fallsworths, who all too eagerly agreed to the marriage."] [Justinius nodnods at Ashley. "Beer and chicks? I'm there."] * Khalil grabs Justinius by the collar. "Once you are back in your own body, you can do as you please, but for the moment, you are not moving one more meter from my side." At the very least, quiet and dark. Stout and a nap work wonders. [Thomas Jensen scowls. "Rest assured, I placed only the faintest hope in you to accede to our wishes."] * Herman rolls her eyes. "Hey, at least this way, I can get pregnant. Plus, right?" * Ten starts to grin. [Sarah doesn't.] (...I just had this scary thought of Ten pregnant now.) And look, you can tell the Fallsworths that you went and left their daughter like that. I bet they'd love to hear *that*. (That'd be bad.) [He scowls even more. "Yes... Just another disappointment for them to hear about their would-be son in law. You can't just ruin your own life; you've got to drag someone else down, too, don't you?"] * Alys takes a deep breath. "Mr. Jensen? Could I speak with you for a moment, please?" [He turns towards Alys and takes a deep breath.. "Yes?"] * Herman takes a breath to answer, sees that her father's distracted, and bites her tongue. Hard. She looks furious. My name is Alys Onedyr. I'm very sorry we've come to your house so late and bothered you, but it's been a really tiring and trying time for us. If you could please change us back, we'd be willing to discuss some kind of payment. [Sarah holds Herman's hand in an attempt to calm him down. *awww*] [He chuckles. Then laughs. Laughs so hard he takes a step back.] * Herman nearly yanks her hand away, sees that it's Sarah, and lets her/him. But she glares. Yes. And goes back to glaring at her father. * Alys looks nervous. "Mr. Jensen?" * Ten watches and waits. * Khalil waits, watching him curiously. ["Payment? Payment?! I don't want your money. All I want is a dutiful son." He sighs and looks at the sky. "God, forgive me. I've failed our ancestors. Generations upon generations of the most noble house descended from Merlin, and it ends here, because I couldn't raise a proper son."] [He's not quite crying, but he does look pretty melancholy. Oh, and angry. Angry, too.] * Ashley cracks up laughing, and has to sink to the pavement to stop from falling over. He IS crying. * Ten looks at Ashley. [Heads tilt toward Ashley. Liadan beeps. "Let's not make the powerful wizard man angry."] * Ashley is laughing too hard. Sucks to be easily amused, I suppose. * Herman takes a breath and screams (like a girl), "Fuck you! All you care about are your fucking bloodlines and politics! Couldn't give two halfs of a shit about who's stuck bein' who they aren't, what's going out there, *anything*, and least of all me!" ( "Y'know, they really *have* made amazing advances in artificial insemination..." "Shut up, Togo!" ) * Khalil shakes his head and looks down at Ashley. * Ten takes a few involuntary steps back. * Khalil glances at Alys and Ten for a moment. "I hear Okinawa IS nice this time of year." [He glares back at Herman and roars. "You wanted your freedom! You wanted me to leave you alone. Well, you got that, now, didn't you? And look what rewards you've reaped! If you had been any kind of obedient son, you'd have the power to undo this mess yourself!"] * Alys sighs quietly and watches. * Ashley subsides into occasional giggles, but he's still laying on the pavement breathing heavy. ["You're a disgrace! And that makes me a disgrace! You have no concept of lineage, no concept of tradition! You'll sacrifice everything our ancestors have built for your own selfish reasons! How could I possibly help you?"] [Fittingly enough, a storm brews overhead.] * Herman stares at her father, shaking and clutching Sarah's hand and her staff extremely hard, digging her nails in, without realizing it. Her teeth remain clenched for a long moment before she says, "You're right." [Sarah winces.] * Khalil blinks and turns to Herman. * Herman keeps speaking, tightly and on the edge of screaming again: "If that's all you want, you're right. I was wrong." [Thomas folds his arms. He doesn't say anything. It starts to rain, though. And Sarah is grimacing but doesn't let go.] * Herman lets the rain fall. She might be used to it, because she doesn't even notice, as she takes a few deep breaths. [Dante frowns and quickly shuts off his laptop.] Sorry... I'm not what you wanted. * Alys asks quietly, "Did anyone get any kind of neat rain-shielding spell?" * Herman realizes she's clutching Sarah's hand too tightly and deliberately relaxes her grip. * Ten gets rained on. It's something new, and since she's still in the winter coat, not completely uncomfortable in her fire-type body. [Mariah did. She pulls out an umbrella, which Xuan scurries under.] I would have thought you'd like rain. * Ashley soaks! * Alys also goes under it, if there's room. Why? Just call it an instinct. Well, I do love rain. I think it's brilliant, as long as I'm watching it from the other side of a window with a cup of coffee. * Khalil sighs and looks up. He is not used to this. [Thomas wipes his brow. He's still scowling, but it looks like the rage is leaving him. "... Well... come on inside so you don't get soaked." He turns and walks into the house (which is pretty standard inside), leaving the door open.] Espresso. I could use a... a quadruple shot of espresso right now. Oh, ta! * Herman looks miserable. She also looks like she doesn't want to go in and would rather stay soaking outside. * Alys follows him in. [Sarah moves forward, tugging on Herman's hand.] * Ten walks up to the house. "Uhm, do ya wanna go in, or should we give up now?" * Khalil glances at Herman for a moment. "You may get drowned if you wish, but I am not partial to this sort of weather yet." He heads inside. * Herman is tugged along, not really noticing it. [The rest of the MC crew go inside.] * Togo heads inside. * Lukas glances back and then mutters, loud enough to be heard, "Great barrel of fun. He should hear that we're in 2082 now." (Except Ashley, who is still on the sidewalk unless somebody lets him know.) [He gestures towards a living room and says, "The rest of you wait here, while Herman comes with me." And he heads back, down a hallway.] [Dante pokes Ashley with his cane. "We're moving."] * Herman drops Sarah's hand and drips after her father. * Ashley climbs to his feet and kicks Dante in the knee. "You ought to work on not being so damned tired all the time." * Togo waits. "I'm gonna hafta buy that man some drinks when this is over." (Ashley and Dante are so cute together.) * Khalil looks around for a fire. Preferably in a fireplace. * Alys waits until Mr. Jensen and Herman are both gone, then says, exasperated, "Politeness! People do all kinds of things for free if you ask nicely enough!" * Ten drips in the living room. [He heads in. "And you ought to not hide your true self all the time.] * Lukas nods slightly at Togo adding, "And if I get the chance to make him accidentally lose all his money, I might have to just let it happen." I'll help! We can totally give it all to charity! * Ashley follows. "Who's hiding? You know I sleep with anybody." [Mitsuji frowns. "That's a fine way to repay a man for helping us."] But he hasn't yet! And he's being a meanie about it! * Lukas says dryly. "He's really not helping anyone." * Khalil shakes his head. "I can understand his concern. A family's lineage is most important." It's nice that he cares about his family, I guess, but telling your kid to go forth and make babies is kind of over-the-top. * Ashley flops in a chair inside. [Dante shrugs. "It wasn't up until a few hundred years ago. Even homosexual kings have had wives."] It is not a matter of making children so much as it is--that is disturbing, Dante. But they don't have to anymore! * Ashley raises a finger. "James the second." He pauses. "Or so I heard." (Ha.) I'm guessing that Herman's smart enough to've suggested artificial insemination or something like that before, and got turned down. ...that is immoral. Why? * Lukas rolls his eyes. "Welcome to the modern era. If he wants the kid so bad, he can get it. He wants the wife and kids and social crap package." Like, you'd rather force him to marry somebody? It requires one to t--touch the body inappropriately, does it not? * Alys blinks. "What?" ... * Khalil squirms a bit. * Lukas rubs his face. "Oh Christ." Mmm, not if you get a skilled assistant. * Ten blinks a few times. A doctor can extract it, actually. Army buddy of mine had that done after he got part of his dick shot off in the Sudan. * Ten looks down at Liadan's body. [Sarah sighs. "I'm sorry to say this, but none of you understand the situation."] * Khalil stares wide-eyed at Togo, mouth a bit agape. [Liadan beeps. Beep! She beeps a lot. Maybe she enjoys it?] * Alys looks much less confused. "Oh! I get it." * Lukas rubs his face more. I'm sure I don't. *turns back to Khalil* Which part of that are you slack-jawed over, kid? Like, can you talk about that... somewhere else? * Khalil just stares at Togo and croaks. "Please, must you continue speaking about it?" * Togo tilts his head at Khalil. "Don't quite get you, Khalil, but if it's botherin' you that much, I'll drop it." *to Sarah* "So what don't we get? Or is it private?" [She sighs. "It's hard to explain. But it boils down to this: some of us still hold on to old traditions."] * Khalil turns to Sarah and nods, grateful at the change in the course of the speech. "It is honorable for you to do so." * Lukas looks a bit disdainful. Shock. Khalil! Context! * Ten looks lost! [Sarah nods. "I can't blame Mr. Jensen, because what he's saying isn't wrong. It's just.... complicated."] Context? You can't say traditions are good when we're talking about people forcing Pipe Girl to get married. That's just mean. * Khalil stares at Alys. "When did I say that?" Well, honourable, or whatever. They're not happy things. It is... complicated. I doubted you would understand. [Mitsuji shakes his head. "That's not necessarily true."] ["Arranged marriages are still done in Japan, sometimes."] That's Japan, and Pipe Girl doesn't -want- to get married, she hasn't agreed to it or anything. * Lukas nods and says. "Tradition isn't 'correctness'. It's a substitution for thought. Take it or leave it as it is, that's what it does for ya." I do not agree with the arranged part of it. And-- * Khalil stares at Lukas and narrows his eyes. "Watch what you say." But the tradition totally doesn't cover what Herman's doing! * Lukas shrugs slightly. Or, I don't think it does, 'cause like, Sarah didn't actually say what it was. Tradition's good when it's good and bad when it's bad. Just like most things. * Ashley snores lightly. * Khalil starts to say something, then blinks and lowers his finger. "Finally, Togo makes some sense." [Sarah sits in a chair and rubs her eyes.] * Togo grins. "Bit out of practice with the 'normal human interaction' thing. Shows, don't it?" I dunno. What do 'normal people' talk about? * Lukas smiles faintly out of nowhere and then rubs his neck for a second, smearing more blood. Then he goes back to holding. Probably not how uncomfortable it is to switch bodies with someone else. [Justinius grins. "Normal people talk about girls."] * Khalil just looks at Justinius, then at Alys. "Alys?" * Ten shakes her head. Yes? Sadly, he's right. ... Never mind. We could talk about girls. I still don't think I'm attracted to them, for one thing. But if I have to talk about girls, you have to talk about guys. ...we could talk about computer games. Or books! I know about books. They're fiendish. [Liadan beeps. "There's this hot guy in Japan who calls himself Ensof. Mariah should totally hook up with him."] [Mariah stares at Liadan.] * Ten perks. "I can talk about games an....." She trails off and just stares at her body. * Lukas snickers. * Khalil blinks and looks at Ten. "What?" That's like, totally not something I'd say but sounded like me saying it and it's just all weird. Yeah. * Lukas grins. "But it was funny." How do you believe I feel hearing myself talk about "chicks" all the time? Weird? Yes. Disgusted as well. But I am growing used to Justinius. * Khalil lets out a breath and adds. "Unfortunately." [He grins. "Everyone does eventually."] * Lukas mutters and looks around. "Is there a bathroom around here?" ... question. You know the new pope, Justanius? * Khalil closes his eyes and starts to backhand Justinius on the side of the head, but then stops and blinks at Togo. "Now I recall. Yes, I was wondering about that." [Justinius boggles. "The new pope? What's wrong with the old one? Well, besides his dying."] * Ten slumps onto the floor since all the chairs probably got taken some time agio. The new one. Or the leading candidate to be the new one, rather. The young guy who's the head of the Vatican warrior monk sect. The cute one! * Khalil stares at Alys. (Is there an obvious bathroom? I'm tired of being bloody.) * Ashley snorts, but on closer inspection is drooling. (As in, he is dozing.) [There's a bathroom woo!] [Justinius thinks. "Hmmmm.... You mean Father Kage? I've met him before, yeah..."] * Lukas heads into the bathroom! And tries to clean the hell up from being bloody. Water is great. [Xuan taps her foot. "They take long time."] We saw some footage of you with him on TV... what'd you think of him? I've heard some mixed things about the Vatican's occult fighters. I have not heard them yet. That means they are not yelling or throwing things. I take that as a plus. * Ten nods. "Like, maybe you could look for that Bob guy online or something?" ( Bob's in Mainframe. Duh. ) [Mitsuji raises a hand. "Already tried it. Can't find a trace of him."] Not even from years ago when he disappeared and stuff? [Justinius blinks. "Occult fighters? Didn't seem like one. He came promoting peace toward the end of the civil war. Probably helped keep Turkey form launching another attack against Byzantium."] He is. Just doesn't advertise it. Vatican likes to keep it under wraps. * Togo grins. "I'm a lapsed Catholic, so I really don't care." [Session End!]