Episode 109
Dretphi taps a pencil upon the taped together, printed map and scans her steely gray eyes over the different markings. Propping her tan, faint gray striped arm upon the table top, she rests her chin in the palm of her hand. Her pencil tip wanders between topological rings and terrain indicators. She sketches out a route from an access road and tracks back to a marked point. Cideeda's furry ears perk, and her emerald green eyes watch Dretphi's drawing. "We might have to hike from further down. There's nothing in any recent maps to confirm that road is still even usable."
Dretphi sighs, hovering the pencil over the access route. "I know. The old road should be preferable over forest. I hope."
Wandering her curiosity over towards Aristespha and the mess of research in front of her, Cideeda lifts a curious eyebrow. "Anything else you want to add to the map?"
Tugging at the corner of her mouth, Aristespha slowly shakes her head of long, silvery blue hair. She rubs her violet eyes and sighs with a trace of a smirk. "No. I think that will be plenty for one possible trip. I will probably have another batch once I double check the coordinate conversions."
Aristespha glances over at Bach, perking her brow. "Anything of interest?"
Moments later, Bach blinks his blue eyes back to awareness and shrugs with a bit of embarrassment. "Uh, sorry, no. Honestly, I've been blanking out for the past hour. I think I'm a bit fried."
Hovering in a seat next to Bach, Sebastian meets the expectant gaze of Aristespha and grins awkwardly. "Same?"
Aristespha smirks lovingly at Sebastian and nods understandingly. "It is okay, Sebastian. I think I need a break, too."
Cideeda's furry ears flick towards the kitchen door, and a spark of hunger lights up her eyes. "Sotalia is back."
Seconds later, the faint drone machinery and echoing metal conveying up sounds out through the wall, and the kitchen door opens. With a grin on her face, Sotalia struts in and hoists up two large paper bags. "Who's hungry?"
Resting the sacks upon the nearby counter, she lifts up her sunglasses upon her fiery orange, wavy hair and sorts through the food. "Sorry it took so long. Fval Spice was busy today."
Cideeda sniffs the air, slinks out of her chair, following the scent, and reaches into one of the two bags. "What was the occasion?"
Sotalia ponders a moment, rapping her long, black fingernails upon the counter top, and twists her mouth. "I think it's all the people arriving early for some kind of fan thing for the Next Adventurers of Nexus? A lot of people wearing show shirts."
Aristespha flutters her eyes, memory prompting her to check her aetherphone. "Oh, that's right. It is some kind of fan meet up they had a contest for. Deedri was mentioning it. Speaking of which, I am supposed to meet with her tonight in the forest. I will have to ask her what has been going on with this event."
Lifting up a box, Sotalia reads the markings and walks over towards the end of the dining table. "Sounds like a bunch of bullshit from what Tassilda has messaged me."
She places the container in front of Aristespha and passes over a fork. "They have them running around doing just everything you can imagine to please the fans."
Aristespha nods, snapping her attention upon the food box, and opens it up with a hungry glint in her violet eyes. She pauses a moment, Sotalia starting to turn away, and taps her ivory finger upon a tablet display. "Oh, what does this translate to? I cannot remember this old dialect correctly right now."
Sotalia's golden eyes focus up the images of old text, and she contorts her face in contemplation. "It seems to be talking about plains or fields? And... Well, this part is really context dependent. It's some mix of within, under, upon, between, or part of."
Nodding, Aristespha jots down some notes upon a pad of paper and wrestles a frown upon her mouth. "Thank you. I will have to go over it a few more times and refresh my knowledge."
Sebastian hovers up from his seat over a chair at the dining table and drifts around in thought. "Well, we have enough for one good trip. And, it's the stuff that's closest to Noxian's last known direction. So, we'll at least eliminate a few that might be next on his list if he starts exploring back here."
Bach rubs his blue eyes, stretches against the chair back, and blinks blankly. "I just hope it stays quiet around here. Nothing to get his attention. He wanders up there, and we sweep everything out from underneath him. Then, he gets to study our leftovers."
Sotalia places a foil tray in front of Bach and sets a fork next upon the steaming collection of vegetables and meat. She pats his shoulder with a smile and tosses back her hair over her swept-back horns.
Small groups of people wander through the old mall turned convention center. Down one wide main hall, different storefronts advertise Next Adventurers of Nexus products with elaborate displays. Further towards a T-intersection, the crowds of fans thicken in long, organized tracks leading to different stations. Within the first opposing pairing of old storefronts, Deedri and Modoran occupy their respective booths. Under the surveillance of stationed and roving camera crews, Deedri maintains a cheery exterior in her show themed attire, greets fans, and poses for pictures. She makes small talk with each of the more excited fans and answers questions with canned responses. Between photos and signatures, traces of wear briefly slip out onto exterior demeanor. Summoning up renewed cheer, Deedri greets the next group energetically and cheerfully, matching their expectations.
Modoran leans hard on the back of his chair, idly rocking his boots upon the signing table, and sighs in a mix of boredom and resignation. With each small gathering of fans, he presents a nonchalant attitude, acknowledging them with a nod. Photographs receive quick signatures, and Modoran meets each group, posing both figuratively and literally laid back. Despite the lack of effort on Modoran's part, the fans walk away sparks of excitement and energy, their experiences sating their beliefs. In the lulls between, Modoran sneaks a watchful gaze over towards Deedri. Occasionally, for brief moments, two exchange comforting glances across the wide hall through a sparse section of the flowing crowds.
In the next pairing of opposing booths, Trakenthin and Tassilda meet and greet people. With each gathering, Trakenthin stands stoic. Gauging the reactions of the fans, his facade shifts between calm and stern. He poses for pictures, sporting his practice blade, and maneuvers the dummy weapon, clashing dramatically with fan reproduction weapons. Aetherphones record mock matches of swords and a few arm wrestling matches. During matches of sword or strength with proficient fans, faint hints of amusement slip out from behind Trakenthin's stoic exterior to Trakenthin's eventual victory, the closer the match the more enjoyment appearing on his dark bronze face.
Tassilda meets fans with fanciful displays of magic and an outwardly aloof attitude. She answers questions about basic magic to the eager, humoring those drawn to her appearance. With elaborate signatures upon materials, she gestures brief illusions, finishing the process for the astonishment of recipients. With a confident attitude, she poses with in a variety of slightly alluring stances, often winking a light blue on black eye for the cameras. Dramatically pivoting, she walks back to her seat behind the booth during respites and eases out relaxing breaths in the lull of activity.
At the center stage of the intersection, Chad and Veevi entertain the crowds lining up. Veevi remains front and center. Tossing back her pink hair, she poses for the ongoing attention of the cameras. She struts around in her revealing, leather armor outfit with a flick of her short-haired tail, and winks with a smug smirk on her tan face. She picks out groups from the crowd, fancifully signs materials, and poses suggestively. With each gossipy question, she remarks around the question and tinges the response with attention grabbing controversy. Hogging the large share of interest, she gleefully fields the fans and soaks up the adoration with each wave.
Chad maintains a booth off to the side. Groups arrive, and he presents his bold, bright white smile, greeting them confidently. Gauging the reaction, he happily poses for both group and action pictures. He carefully answers questions and admits what he can't reveal to the hopeful fans, playfully teasing future details. He readily signs materials with personal, encouraging messages. A group clears around for the next, he takes a few seconds for himself, peeking over the sparse crowds. His gaze shifts between Tassilda, Trakenthin, Modoran, and Deedri. Narrowing his brown eyes, he observes them, noting how well they handle the onslaught. He checks his aetherphone clock, sighs at the morning time, and musters up his bold exterior for the next group approaching.
Far off to the side away from the crowds, Samantha glances over her clipboard and directs her voice towards her aetherphone. "It's going just fine, Howie. Everything is coming together nicely."
Howard's voice sounds out from the other side of the call. "Good. I take it our guests of honor are getting treated well?"
A wicked smirk graces Samantha's face, she snickers with a nod. "Yes. They are getting the VIP treatment with the rest of the contest winners. They'll be split up in the smaller groups for the personal meetups soon. We've got a good time and place for their... Encounter."
Foreboding chuckle sounds out through the speaker, Howard calls out from the phone. "Gerald? Are your people ready?"
Gerald quirks his brow, twisting his mouth. "Yes. I can dedicate a few small teams to be at and around the location. We should be able to cover it as part of the live streaming parts and mix it in with the episode tonight."
A spark glee trickles out upon Samantha's face, and she smiles eagerly. "The production team should be ready for our planned, breaking event. I'm certain we will get something good out of it. We'll get the ratings back up and then some."
A hint of relief slips through into Howard's voice leaving the speakerphone. "Good. I'd like to get a few more episodes this season and round out the count. We just need one good bit of drama to make it work, and we can bump it from there."
With a giggle, Samantha grins wide and hugs her clipboard a little tighter. "I can't wait to see what we get."
Gerald glances over towards Samantha and her aetherphone. Moments later, he stares out into the crowd and watches Chad, Veevi, Tassilda, Trakenthin, Modoran, and Deedri, mixes of hesitance and dissatisfaction leaking out into his uneasy body language.
Lalyanpha opens the front exterior door in the modest living room. Kallentesson steps across the threshold and immediately wraps his arms around his daughter, stating a warm verse of evuukian with a smile at her. From behind, Lasosopha steps between and hugs Lalyanpha. "How is my daughter today?"
Lalyanpha rolls her dark yellow eyes and dons a smirk upon her light, gold highlighted face. "As good as any mother with a little boy running rampant can be."
With an understanding, humored smile, Lasosopha sighs and narrows her similarly dark yellow eyes. "There are a few stories I need to share with you about your brothers. It might help explain a few behaviors you will likely run into."
Kallentesson walks in further and extends his hand towards Mason standing in the living room. "Mason, how was work this week?"
Mason shakes Kallentesson's hand, drawing in a breath, and chuckles warily. "Exhausting, Kal. Thankfully, we got the part of the convention center that was booked for Next Adventurers crew done last night."
Cracking a smirk on his tan face, he perks his brow. "And, I'm NOT on call. So, I'm staying right here for the weekend."
Kal nods in agreement, a smile appearing on his tan hinted face. "Good plan. Doing something similar myself."
Lasosopha lets go of her daughter and glances around the room. "Now... Where is my grandson?"
Leaning back and squinting, Lalyanpha gazes through the doorway into the kitchen and spots Mylo through the window over the sink, playing in the backyard sandbox with a small shovel and bucket. "Keeping himself occupied... For now."
Brushing back her blonde hair, Lasosopha nods and steps back, standing near the kitchen entrance. "Oh good. We have a few moments."
Lalyanpha quirks an eyebrow and gazes into her father's orange eyes. "While I am happy to have you here, I am a bit curious why you chose this weekend to come down?"
Kal twists his mouth and shrugs indecisively. "Well, it was a few different reasons. Your cousins were coming down due to some contest they won, and we decided to take advantage of the group accommodations they booked. But..."
Pausing a moment, he retrieves an envelope from his back pants pocket and holds it in his hands. "I wanted to tell you some news."
Lalyanpha glances around, her body reflexively tensing. Mason steps next to her and wraps an arm around her. Brushing a hand through his head of gray speckled, golden hair, he releases a long sigh of relief. "I have officially stepped down as head of the house. It is my brother's duty, as of now."
Blinking in surprise, Lalyanpha's very long, pointed ears twitch, and she tilts her head to the side in mild shock. "Oh. My. Gods. I had always figured you would hold onto it until you could just NOT anymore."
Chuckling, Kal presents the envelope to his daughter with a humored grin. "Well, you are right. I just could not anymore. I have found so many better things to spend my time on now."
He rolls his orange eyes and groans with an amused twist in his smirk. "Plus, it will FINALLY get your uncle off my back to have his chance to run everything. Gods help him, because no one else will."
Lalyanpha curiously inspects the envelope, and Mason gazes on, thinly veiling his expectations. Kal smiles hopefully and bows slightly. "But, before I left... My final act was to right a wrong."
Lalyanpha flips open the envelope, pulls out the bundle of folded papers, and examines them. Her eyes read the text. Her mouth drops open in disbelief, and tears well in her eyes. Drawing in a long breath, Kal proclaims proudly. "Lalyanpha Ralliana Vaskvari- Sorry, Anderson. You are officially reinstated into House Erikanden. You are free to don this house name, as you see fit. And, you are granted the right to instate your children, current and future, into the house."
Holding back tears building in the corner of his eyes, Kal pulls a shuddering breath in and musters the composure, fighting against the old regret in his voice. "This cannot make up for what I have done wrong. I just hope it allows us to start a better future."
Drops of water fall upon the page of official letterhead with Evuukian emblems. Lalyanpha sniffs and wipes the tears from her dark yellow eyes. She takes in a few breaths, processing the surge of emotions. Mason holds her close and thankfully nods at Kal. Glancing back from watching Mylo, Lasosopha smiles lovingly at her husband. Kal glances up, breathes in with a sniff, and fights against the water from escaping his wet eyes. He laughs awkwardly and sighs. "Unfortunately, I cannot grant you any big positions in the house. Everyone else assumed them... Which might be a blessing, honestly. But, you, Mason, and Mylo have every right to visit all house properties and attend house events."
Stepping forward, Lalyanpha embraces her father and hugs him tightly. Wrapping his arms around his daughter, Kal squeezes out the welling tears from his orange eyes and sniffs loudly. He whispers endearing phrases of evuukian to Lalyanpha with tinges of regret. Lalyanpha replies with warm, forgiving words. Mason pats Kal's shoulder and nods. "Thanks, Kal."
Kal loosens his hold of Lalyanpha, smirking. "Also, you do regain access to your house bank accounts."
Lalyanpha snorts and eases out a soft chuckle, hints of sarcasm mixing in. "Gods... I had almost forgotten about those. Let me see... Oh, a few years of non-resident citizen stipend might be just enough to get a new matching washer and dryer. Maybe..."
Kal points at the next few pages of the paperwork in the bundle within Lalyanpha's hands. "You might want to read the next page. Durandon engaged in some creative accounting to invest his big sister's money... Without my knowledge, of course."
Furrowing her burrow, Lalyanpha flips through the next few pieces of paper and focuses upon a financial statement summary. Blinks blankly, she draws the piece of paper closer, studying it. Mason steps up, peeks over Lalyanpha's shoulder, and widens his brown eyes. Lasosopha steps into the kitchen with an amused smirk. Lalyanpha glances between her father and the paperwork in disbelief. "I- Uh- Huh."
Kal holds his hands up and shakes his head. "I have no idea. I still do not know if I should be impressed or worried that he is in charge of our house's accounting."
Mason slides his gaze over at Lalyanpha and smirks encouragingly. "So... New kitchen?"
Lalyanpha slowly nods in agreement. "THAT is a distinct possibility."
She glances off the side and furrows her brow. "Especially if it means getting a proper tile floor in there."
From the kitchen, a door closes quick and fast footsteps sound out upon the aged linoleum floor. Mylo rounds the corner with his orange and brown gaze searching the room and excitedly calls out. "GRANDPA!"
Kal kneels down and scoops up the incoming boy into his arms. "How is my grandson?"
Mylo grins wide and laughs happily. "Digging for treasure!"
With a smirk, Kal asks Mylo. "Did you find any gold?"
Mylo shakes his head. Kal smiles and ruffles Mylo's dirty blonde hair. "Not yet. So, what did you find?"
Thinking out loud, Mylo rambles. "I found a rock. A stick. Another big rock. Some grass. Some mud. Stinky sand."
Kal blinks and furrows his brow, darting his gaze around at the other adults in the room. "Stinky sand?"
Mason glances around awkwardly and grits his teeth briefly. "The neighbors have cats."
Widening his orange eyes, Kal nods in complete understanding and walks to the kitchen entry. "Oh! Well. How about we wash our hands before lunch?"
Lasosopha smiles at her grandson reciting his growing list of sandbox excavation finds, and Kal carries the child off down the hall to the bathroom. Lasosopha walks up to Lalyanpha and Mason and sighs contentedly. "Before I forget. I want to invite all of you to the family holiday getaway. I want the both of you and Mylo there."
Lalyanpha glances over at Mason. Scratching the back of his head, Mason nods and smiles. "If you'll have us, I'm all for it."
Gazing into her mother's eyes, Lalyanpha uneasily smirks and contorts a bit of worry upon her face. "If it is not too much trouble. I want Mylo to meet everyone. But, I worry how welcoming some will be."
Resting her hands on Lalyanpha and Mason's shoulders, Lasosopha grins brightly with a lift of her eyebrow. "There is NOTHING to worry about. Everyone WILL be on their BEST behavior, and we have gotten new arrangements for a more accommodating resort."
Walking casually down the hall, Modoran darts his dark blue eyes around, searching the long corridor. Seconds later, he gravitates towards a set of large double doors and grabs hold of the handles. Tugging back a few times, he narrows his stare at the locked metal entry and contorting a confused frown upon his dusky bluish gray face. He scratches the back of his head of short, light gray hair and glances around curiously. From the shadowy space high above in the maintenance walkways, a glint of a camera lens shines briefly, Modoran staring down the opposite way.
Reaching into his pocket, he retrieves his aetherphone, taps through a few menus, and sighs, the call connecting. Moments later, he wrestles the hints of annoyance on his face and calmly states. "Samantha? Hey. The room I am supposed to do the private meet and greet with my next group is locked. I could pop the lock, but I thought you would want to get someone official to handle it-"
Nodding with the conversation from the other end of the phone call, he furrows his brow and glances side to side. "Okay... Yeah... I guess I can keep them entertained with a few tricks and lessons. Answer some questions? That will probably take up some time."
His dark blue eyes roll, and he draws in a long breath into his athletic, thin frame, groaning faintly. "Okay. Sure. I will do what I can. Bye."
Shaking his head, he taps the end call button on the screen of his aetherphone and drops it back in his pants pocket. He leans up against the double door and mutters a few choice evuukian curses underneath his breath. Tilting his head back, he gazes up through the high up skylights, the faint traces of evening slipping into the afternoon sky above. His stare grows more distant, and he yawns with a faint droop of his very long, pointed ears.
A familiar evuukian man's voice sounds out. "Hello, Modoran. It has been a while."
Modoran's eyes spring wide open, and he snaps his head down one end of the corridor. An evuukian swear slips out of his mouth. Upon his pale, dark blue hinted face, Hektoran grins smugly and narrows his yellow eyes at Modoran. Stepping up next to Hektoran, Mishavalla poses her lithe figure confidently, focuses her piercing yellow eyes, and dons a sneer on her pale, dark blue hinted face. Modoran frowns sharply and grants a quick wave to the brother and sister with four evuukian friends behind them. "Oh, hey. Nice to see you all again! I really got to see someone about getting this door unlocked."
He pivots around and steps away. "Catch you all, later."
Crossing his arms, Hektoran tips up his head of short, golden brown hair, curls a mean sneer on his upper lip, and laughs. "OH. We are here for our private meetup with a Modoran Anatolin Lotherin... of House Hyathilternen."
Modoran halts. He straightens up his posture, slowly turns around, and glares at Hektoran. "Could you... PLEASE... Not use that name. I have done the best I can, at great expense, to honor the judgment of the Houses. You know I CANNOT be associated with that house in any capacity."
Drawing in a harsh breath through his nose, he puffs up his chest and growls out. "That was the punishment I accepted and try to abide by. Just respect it already. Could you, PLEASE?"
Hektoran steps forward and points spitefully at Modoran. "Oh, fuck you! You got off so easy! You have no idea what I have gone through!"
With a twitch of his cheek, Modoran's nonchalant exterior crumbles, and he throws his hands defiantly up in the air. "What YOU have gone through?! Just what the hell is your malfunction, Hektoran!? This has gotten ridiculous!"
He squints at Hektoran and cocks his head to the side, pointing to himself. "What did I ever do to you to deserve this? TELL. ME. I am fucking TIRED of getting shit for things I do not even know about!"
Hektoran grits his teeth, narrowing a baleful glower at Modoran, and yells out. "You ruined my chance to be the next guardian of my house idol! That's what you did to me! ASSHOLE! Because of YOU and your house, I was passed over for the role before I got a real chance to prove myself!"
Modoran cocks his head back, blinking blankly, and glances around incredulously. "MY FAULT?! Are you fucking serious?."
He stares forth and meets Hektoran's ireful glare. "You are fucking serious... Oh. My. Gods!"
Muttering through a series of evuukian swears, he shakes his head and takes a few steps closer. He grumbles to himself and calls out. "Did it ever occur to you that maybe, JUST MAYBE, there were a few other factors involved that were YOUR FAULT?"
Tossing back her long, golden hair, Mishavalla leads the rest of their crew, gathering closer to Hektoran. Sneering indignantly, Hektoran spits out defiantly. "Like WHAT?"
Narrowing an examining glare through Hektoran, Modoran throws his arms out to the sides. "I don't know! You going around being an asshole to the rest of us at every assembly of houses. You beating us over the head with how your house businesses were the best all around and how the entertainment business was so awesome. Rubbing our noses in how you got all access passes to all the shows we wanted to see. You know, giving all of us every reason to not like you."
Approaching closer to Hektoran, Mishavalla, and the lackeys, Modoran grimaces meanly and leans slightly forward. "And FINALLY... Constantly telling us when you would get your first night to guard your precious house idol all by yourself."
Hektoran pulls a wicked, self-satisfied grin across his face and chuckles awkwardly. "Well, you were too much of a coward to face me alone! You had to get your cousins to help you out to even try to get past me. It took all of you to get the idol from me!"
Modoran stands up tall and cackles in sheer, condescending amusement. "Oh shit! You think we banded together because we were afraid of you?! In case you forgot, I snatched that goofy looking, dusty statuette right out behind you, by myself!"
The grin wanes on Hektoran's face, and Mishavalla narrows her glare at Modoran. With a long draw of breath, Modoran smiles smugly and perks his eyebrow. "We were afraid that you would call in your father at the first sign of trouble... Which you DID!"
He crosses his arms, puffing his chest up, and dons a frown on his dusky bluish gray face. "Your father is the REAL DEAL. He caught up to us when our escape plan fell through. We surrendered because we respected HIM. If it was just up to him, he would have just taken the idol back and let us go with a warning, as standard for house pranks."
Gritting his teeth, Modoran sighs and shakes his head. "But, NO... You could NOT let it go. Had to stir up some drama with your grandfather and try to upset everything to get your way. So, I took the brunt of it. It was my idea. Hence, I should be punished."
He narrows a stare right through Hektoran and slowly growls. "But... While you whine about not getting some position in your house, I had to get forced out of mine."
The assembly of evuukians watch each other in awkward, tense moments of silence. Down at the hall, Deedri peeks around the corner with her furry, tufted ears flicking at the noises. Her auburn eyes spring wide, and she spots Modoran beyond the gathering of six evuukians. Summoning up her sheer determination with a frown, she pulls out her aetherphone and steps forward. Quickly tapping out a message, she presses the send button and closes in on the confrontation. From shadowy corners, camera crews eagerly train their recording equipment on the new participant of the fray.
A few long, calming breaths later, Modoran shudders his head and straightens his posture, sighing. "Anyway, this is all old news. What is it that you want from me, now?"
Hektoran glares back at with a smirk. Modoran rolls his dark blue eyes and gazes over at Mishavalla with a worn, pleading tone. "Seriously. Misha? Why are you still allowing yourself to get dragged into this mess? If it's about me being an asshole and dunking you into those ponds when we were little, you can settle that WITHOUT him. You have proven that to me."
Misha's sharp facade dulls, hints of hesitance emerging in the silence. Modoran gazes over at the gathering and groans. "Really? I mean, you got your punches in on me last time. Why risk anything more for something that happened years ago?"
With a snarl of his upper lip, Hektoran summons up his ire and points at Modoran. "Do NOT try to talk your way out of this! I am not missing a chance to get back at you."
Modoran steps back, and the four other evuukians spread out from behind the main duo. Hektoran moves forward, and Misha readies to cast. A commanding, forceful tone echoes down the hallway from Deedri. "STAND. DOWN."
The attention jump behind the gathering. Storming down the hall in her thematic show dress, Deedri grimaces with determination, lowering her furry, tufted ears back, and flicks her haired-up tail quickly. She steps right up to the other side of the parting group and glares up at Hektoran with a claw tip pointed at him. "I've become quite familiar with Evuukian House Codes of Conduct and various laws dictating House nobility interactions with the public."
Standing up straight, she rests her hands on her hips and berates sternly. "Your actions are in violation of multiple codes and laws. Modoran is not of a house and is a member of the public, so any aggression against him will be deemed a violation of the Nobility Conduct Act. You are not arbiters of House justice in any capacity, and enacting any further retribution on a case that has been fully judged is explicitly against The Revised Post-Monarchy House Justice Code."
She steps forward, pushes her presence through the middle of the congregation, and darts her condemning auburn eyes between them. "While I could go on with other violations, I will state that from this point out I will bear witness to any transgression against Modoran and file a detailed recount of any and all actions with Evuukian House Affairs."
Deedri narrows her glare between Hektoran and Misha, waiting for them to step to the side. "I would advise all gathered to depart and refrain from any further interactions with Modoran."
Stepping through the gap between Hektoran and Misha, Deedri smiles warmly at Modoran and approaches.
With a surge of contempt rushing through him, Hektoran reaches out, firmly grabs Deedri's shoulder, and pulls her back. "I would fucking advise you to go witness somewhere else-"
Sharp claw tipped fingers wrap tightly around his forearm. Deedri slams back into Hektoran, yanks his arm forward, and ducks herself down. In a well rehearsed, smooth maneuver, Deedri throws Hektoran forward over her and onto the hard tile floor. With a flash of auburn glow in her eyes, Deedri swiftly gestures out a fast incantation and slaps down a flow of magical energy into Hektoran's stomach. She hops over the flattened evuukian, nearby Misha and crew reassessing the situation. Stepping away, Deedri tenses startles, Modoran wrapping his arm around and pulling her close.
Modoran holds Deedri tightly at his side, gazes with concern into her eyes, and grips her hand with worry. "Are you okay?!"
Deedri stares up into Modoran's dark blue eyes and smirks with a pant. "Yeah. Just fine. He just surprised me there."
Glancing over at Hektoran slowly getting up off the hard floor, Modoran whispers with a proud grin cracking. "Must be a lot more painful when you land on something other than grass."
A dark giggle escapes Deedri, and she bites her lower lip. "It's about to get a lot worse for him."
Hektoran stands up straight and brushes off the fuzz and lint from the floor. "What the fuck? Wait..."
He glares between Modoran and Deedri in absolute disgust. "Are you two dating or something?"
Both Modoran and Deedri blank their faces and nervously glance around the scene. Frowning, Deedri grows worried. Glancing down at Deedri, confidence emerges within Modoran. He meets Deedri's gaze and smiles warmly at her, squeezing her hand gently. Deedri's auburn eyes widen. She lets go of Modoran's hand and strokes his dusky bluish gray cheek. With bold, smug intent, both embrace and share a long, passionate kiss. Seconds later, the two part and smirk at the evuukian crowd. Modoran chuckles lightly, rubbing Deedri's upper arm lovingly. "I actually have to thank you a little, Hektoran. If you had not been such a whiny little bitch and got me thrown out... I would have never met such a wonderful, beautiful woman."
A range of mixed emotions play out upon the audience. Contrasting Hektoran's revulsion, Misha stares at Modoran and Deedri blankly, hints of regret and jealousy swirling. Regaining his composure, Hektoran grimaces, shakes his head against his revulsion, and starts to roll out derisive evuukian. Halting mid sentence, he grabs his stomach and contains a reflexive wretch. He glances briefly around in confusion. The next upwards kick from his gut launches his lunch onto the tile floor. Hektoran fights against the uncontrollable surges of vomit leaving him. Misha and others try to assist in vain.
Modoran and Deedri ease back in unison. Furrowing his brow, Modoran whispers down at Deedri. "Did you...?"
With a tight smile, Deedri slowly nods. "YES."
Firmly securing his arm around Deedri, Modoran grins brightly, readies his hand, and gestures out flows of energy. "Okay. Hold on. It is time to not be seen."
Gasping in a huge breath, Hektoran searches the vicinity, notices Modoran's hand, and sputters out. "Misha! Tag him!"
Misha fumbles to the ready and gestures out an incantation. Gathering the flows of energy into her hands, she flings the mass of magic towards Modoran. Leaving her hands, the power dissipates into a fading miasma. Misha puzzles at her missing spell, repeats the motions quickly, and throws out another puff of disappearing energy. Searching around for the reason, she notices a faint, translucent haze enveloping her.
From behind Deedri and Modoran, a confident, amused tone exudes from Tassilda, and she maintains a stream of barely visible flow towards Misha. "Try as you might, you paltry cantrips will not survive. It seems you haven't progressed that far in your studies. Allow me to educate you about the wonders of dispelling fields."
Two strong, dark bronze hands firmly grip a shoulder of an evuukian man and woman behind Hektoran and Misha. The two stiffly glance behind and trace the arms up, meeting the stoic, towering form of Trakenthin. Noticing a presence behind them, the other two lackeys slowly turn and spot Chad's bright white smile. Hand resting upon the handle of his Stalwart branded sword, Chad grins wide and chuckles confidently. "How about we just walk away from this whole mess and call it a day? Okay?"
Narrowing his glare at the aggressors, he sharpens a growing frown. "REALLY. TAKE MY ADVICE. Head back to your hotels, cool off, and we'll just leave all this be."
Hektoran steadies himself, gritting his teeth, and blurts out. "FUCK. YOU! This is NOT your affair! It's between me and-"
A loud, muffled bubbling resonates from Hektoran
’ s midsection, faintly echoing off the hard surfaces in the large corridor. Puzzles, he feels his stomach. "What the-"
Another torrent of gurgling stirs audibly within Hektoran, and his face pales further. Modoran waves off the leftover energies from his unfinished spell and glances down at Deedri. "Um... What is going on? It looks like he puked everything up."
Deedri parts an evil smirk on her lips. "Yes... But, that's only HALF of it."
Modoran blink blankly, squints at Hektoran tensing abdomen, and smiles proudly. Deedri grins devilishly and wraps her arm around Modoran's waist. Hektoran reflexively bows forward, gripping his cramping midsection, and gasps frantically. Noticing the state of affairs, Deedri points down the hall towards an intersection and motions towards the right. "There's an exit that leads to an alley with garbage cans and a dumpster you can go behind."
Without another word, Hektoran rigidly power walks down the corridor with Misha and lackeys following behind. The group darts around the corner, a metal door cracks open loud, and faint sounds of struggle through debris echo out. In the din of enraged and strained evuukian pleas, recording crews scramble from hiding and rush down the hallway.
Blinking a moment, Modoran quirks his brow and gazes at Deedri. "Wait... The bathrooms are just down the hall on the left."
Deedri glances up, perks up her furry, tufted ears, and nods. "I know."
Meeting her auburn eyes, Modoran brushes back stray locks of multi-colored hair from Deedri's fair face and smiles warmly. "I love you."
Wrapping her tail around Modoran's legs, Deedri guides Modoran's face down for another passionate kiss. "I love you, too."
Tassilda struts up to the rest of the team, glances over at Modoran and Deedri, and dramatically exhales her relief. "OH! Thank the gods! We can finally talk about you two out in the open."
A hint of color fills Deedri's cheeks, and she awkwardly smirks. "I hope it wasn't too obvious."
Chad shrugs his shoulders and snorts. "Well, there were many insinuations but there was no hard evidence."
Rolling his hazel eyes, Trakenthin shakes his head. "Excessive physical examinations for minor injuries."
Modoran slowly nods in agreement. "Yeah. We abused that a bit."
Turning his head, he aims his long, pointed ear down the corridor. Deedri's furry, tufted ear flicks towards a faint sound. Moments later, loud, muffled evuukian curses crest over the din of echoing, wet cascades of fluid splattering upon thin metal.
Deedri glances around with twinges of embarrassment and reassures everyone else. "Um, don't worry. He'll be fine. In a few minutes, maybe? It really depends on what he's eaten lately."
Chad searches around the corners and vantage points. Noticing only a few cameras in the area, he motions at the team and directs everyone's attention away from the latest commotion. "Let's get away from this while they're distracted. I really don't feel like giving them any more material to work with today."
Modoran's dark blue eyes widen, and he grits his teeth. "Oh... Yeah... I completely forgot in the moment. They have probably been recording..."
He draws in a long breath and sighs. "THAT is going to make things interesting."
With a hint of worry, Deedri glances up at Modoran. "OH. Right. Um... Gods, I hope this wasn't streamed live."
Modoran smiles lovingly at Deedri and hugs her firmly. "It does not change anything. But, we might want to avoid the show aethersite for the next week."
Rolling her auburn eyes, Deedri wraps her arms around Modoran and walks close with traces of relief. "If we're lucky, something else will distract them soon."
The team reforms. Tassilda glances back towards the direction of the distant digestive struggles and smirks. "Well... If THAT doesn't do it, just give Veevi a few days. I'm sure she'll do something scandalous."
Lounging upon the middle of a simple but well-made couch, an older, elegant evuukian woman swirls dark red wine in a glass and cracks a proud grin on her gray, shaded face. Her very long, pointed ears perk with the Next Adventurers of Nexus show cutting to a louder commercial, and she strokes her very long white hair upon her shoulders. With a breath in, she laughs softly and glances her dark blue eyes between the two younger evuukian women seated on either side of her on the couch. "Well. This is certainly an interesting development, but one I am absolutely delighted for. Especially for my precious little boy."
With an excited grin on her face, Linanania leans upon the older woman's shoulder and springs her dark blue eyes wide open. "See! I TOLD you. They were totally keeping it secret."
Rolling her dark blue eyes, Massadenia shakes her head of long, light gray hair and maintains her collected demeanor. "Well, now that it is official, I believe I should make arrangements for Modoran and Deedri for the family holiday? Correct, mother?"
Nodding to Massadenia, the matriarch between the younger women smiles happily and sips her wine. She ruffles her hand through Linanania's short hair and giggles with a smirk. "Of course. And, I want to see if Deedri's parents would be available, too."
Transitioning to opacity, an older evuukian man furrows the brow on his dusky blue hinted face and cocks his head of short, light gray hair. "Gods, do not scare her off, Lillithia. You do not want to be too forward and make her uncomfortable."
Lillithia gazes upwards lovingly and reaches out to the face of the man bowing down. "OH... I doubt anything I do is going to frighten her, Marrekan. Did you see her? I cannot wait to have her over, again. I have sample bottles of a few wines I need to enjoy with her."
Kissing Lillithia, Marrekan nods and stands up straight. "Yes. The whole event has made quite the stir already. I have already gotten a few messages about it."
A few chimes sound out from his aetherphone, and he inspects the device. He sorts through the list of prompts and rolls his dark gray eyes, shaking his head. "Gods almighty. I bet Kallentesson is very happy he stepped down before this."
Twisting her mouth, Lillithia sighs and swirls the remaining wine in her glass. "I cannot fault him. But, I feel his brother might be on the war path after this little incident."
Cracking a plotting smirk, Massadenia chuckles to herself. "Oh. It simply will not matter. Modoran never touched any of them. He displayed respect for the judgment of the Houses and showed restraint. AND, it was Hektoran that assaulted a member of the public. I do believe this is all in our favor."
She lifts an amused eyebrow and snorts softly. "It has actually come out in Modoran's favor that his house reinstatement paperwork is taking so long to process."
A wild grin springs wide on Linanania's face, and she giggles. "As if Hektoran is going to live this down. I mean... Behind a dumpster in an alleyway?"
Ruffling his daughter's short hair with his hand, Marrekan snorts with a smirk and shakes his head nonchalantly. "I wish that was even close to the worst thing we have had to contend with at our properties."
Linanania smiles brightly, sparks of mischief lighting up her dark blue eyes. "I wonder if she can teach me that spell?"
Awkward attention settles upon Linanania, Massadenia, Marrekan, and Lillithia exchanging wary glances.
Lalyanpha blinks her dark yellow eyes and glances over at Mason with her hand over her mouth. "I am, SO GLAD, I put Mylo to bed before this."
Tilting his head to the side, Mason grits his teeth and nods slowly. "Uh, yeah. That would have been a long talk if he wandered in."
Turning his head towards the recliner next to the couch, Mason curls an amused grin towards Kal and laughs. "So... Kal... How do you feel about your decision to step down now?"
Contorting his face, Kal stares at the modest television screen on the wall and blinks blankly at the advertisements, his orange eyes sorting through his thoughts. Aiming an annoyed glare down at his vibrating aetherphone on the recliner arm, he picks up the device and holds a button on the side. Seconds later, the phone powers down, and he plops it onto an end table. Shifting his hand over, he grasps hold of a beer bottle,and pours a long swig into his mouth. He draws in a long breath and smirks with a snort, gazing over at Mason. "It is rare for such big, important decisions to ever be easy to navigate. It is even rarer for your decision to be granted any kind of feedback on whether it was right or not."
He motions towards the general direction of the television and chuckles. "For something so blatant, that reinforces your decision so resolutely... THAT is an exceptional treat."
Lalyanpha pauses in thought a moment, leaning close to Mason's ear, and whispers quietly. Mason nods with a smile. "Yeah, of course, Laly. I sure wouldn't want to go anywhere near that mess."
With a quick peck on Mason's cheek, Lalyanpha leans forward slightly and gazes at Kal. "Father? Would you and mother like to stay the night here? I know you already made arrangements, and we are not exactly the best accommodations..."
Stepping through from the archway into the kitchen, Lasosopha perks her very long ears slightly, taps the end call button on her phone, and smiles eagerly. "I would love nothing more than THAT."
Kal nods in agreement and grins graciously. "Thank you. While we do not want to burden you, I really do NOT want to go near that hotel, right now."
Mason stands up from the couch and brushes himself off. "Well, do you two need anything from your rooms? I can probably sneak on in there for you. Just need to borrow one of your room keys."
Furrowing his brow, Kal uncertainly inquires. "You do not have to do that. I am certain we can arrange for our bags to be brought here and..."
Mason smirks knowingly, waiting for Kal's arrival at the same conclusion. Seconds of contemplation later, Kal cocks his head of gray speckled, golden brown hair, reaches into his pocket, and hands Mason a room key card. "I believe your suggestion to be the best one right now."
Taking the card, Mason nods and chuckles lightly. "Yeah. I'll throw on my work overalls before I head out. No one is going to bother asking the maintenance guy where any nobility is."
Lalyanpha gets up off the couch, starts pulling the cushions off, and tossing the occasional toy out of the way. "I have got a few thick blankets that should make this sleeper sofa tolerable."
Shaking her head, Lasosopha joins her daughter in the preparation effort and laughs. She whispers to Lalyanpha in evuukian and delights in the surprise upon her daughter's face. Kal glances over, rolls his eyes, and groans in stale embarrassment. "Oh gods, not THAT story..."