Episode 79

Along the side lot of the ranch style house, a strong gust of wind blows high up through the large, leafy tree. With each wave of the ambient air, leaves rustle together into a gentle, droning chorus. Thick metal targets hanging from stands sway slightly in the flow. In the shade underneath, Cideeda slowly lifts her chest up off the workout mat, gently curves herself backwards, and constantly pushes herself up with her arms. During the long stretch of her back, she eases her breath, tips her head of short, multicolored hair back, and flicks her furry ears against the breeze. At the extreme extent of her flexibility, she digs her claw-tipped fingers into the mat and presses her limits cautiously with a hint of a grimace. She holds the pose, her tail flicks, and toes curl with the building strain. Quickly, she relaxes from the tensed posture, and lowers herself, relaxing back upon the mat. Turning her head to the side, she sticks her tongue out with a stressed sigh. "So... That's how far I can take that pose... A bit of an extreme. But, it really helps to keep the back nice and flexible."

With blinking golden eyes, Sotalia stares and gawks dumbfounded. Gradually recovering her composure, she dons a playful smirk and rolls her eyes facetiously. "Yeah... I am not going to lie, girl... You completely lost me after you made a right angle with your back."

Tossing her fiery orange, wavy hair back, she cycles through a few breaths and grips her workout mat tight with her long, thick black nailed fingers. "Gods. If I can even get CLOSE to halfway of THAT, I'll be happy enough."

She grits her teeth, summoning up determination upon her face, and gradually lifts her upper torso off the ground. Crudely mimicking Cideeda's prior performance, Sotalia strains for righting herself against her less flexible, laden upper body and contorts between different grimaces through the stresses. Peaking at a nearly upright point, she holds her shaky position, the maneuver clashing with her body's limitations. With pride driving her, she struggles, holding the position for a number of seconds, and releases, quickly plopping down with a slight bounce upon the work out mat. Catching her breath with arms out upon the surrounding grass, she rolls her head over and faces Cideeda, blinking in a mild daze. "Gods almighty, how do you do that to yourself?"

A toothy grin appears on Cideeda's light brown face, and her emerald eyes gaze smugly over to Sotalia. "Oh. Because I'm just THAT good."

Crossing her arms in front herself, Sotalia rests her chin upon them and huffs out dismissively. Leading a stray lock of wavy, orange hair over one of her swept back horns, she snorts amused. "Yeah, yeah... I'll give you that much when it comes to THIS."

She quells a self-conscious frown and averts her eyes. "Gods... I swear it felt like I was going to break myself in two there."

Twisting her ill-humored smile, Cideeda flings a quip over towards Sotalia in fvalian, trailing her snicker. Sotalia blinks her golden eyes briefly, pushes her arms down, lifting herself up, and glances down at her chest. Tugging at the tight fitting top, she inspects the faded material and frayed stitching and narrows a mildly amused smirk at the quietly laughing Cideeda. "Oh. You joke, girl. BUT I've had this top a long time."

She comments tight-lipped through a spark of embarrassment. "Not the first outfit that THAT has happened to."

Rolling over onto her back, Cideeda stretches out her arms and legs, flexing her clawed fingers and toes, and rolls her eyes at herself. "Gods. At least, you don't have claws. I've lost count the number of gloves and socks I've ruined with these things."

She holds up her hand and lifts her brow. "BUT... I definitely can remember all the times they've saved me."

Gazing up to the brief bits of sunlight sneaking between the leaves above in the thick canopy of the tree, she stills herself and closes her eyes with a thoughtful, subdued sigh. Her face twitches, heavier thoughts that weigh down her breaths, and she grimaces fighting off the mood. Sotalia concentrates her gaze upon Cideeda, a swell of concern rising up to her light tan face. "So. How are you feeling? Really?"

Cideeda opens her eyes, awareness returning to her, and tilts her head towards Sotalia. "Good? I guess."

Lifting up an unconvinced eyebrow, Sotalia focuses her inquisitive stare upon Cideeda further. "You sure about that? After all you've been through?"

Twisting her mouth, Cideeda sits up with the upswing of her arms and hisses out an uncomfortable exhale through her teeth. "I mean... I guess? I'm alive and healthy... And, the whole world didn't blow up. So, that's a good outcome."

Sotalia pushes herself up, sliding her legs forward, and crosses her arms, leveling an examining stare squarely upon Cideeda. "Okay. I just wanted to be sure. Really don't need you repressing all that trauma to haunt you in the future."

With a sly smirk, Cideeda narrows a gaze at Sotalia, furrows her brow, and chuckles lightly. "Don't want the competition?"

Briefly flashing a mock glare towards Cideeda, Sotalia grins proudly, perking her eyebrows up, and laughs with a faux arrogant tone. "Of course NOT! I've done a lot of stupid things and endured too much to earn all my emotional baggage. Like hell I'm going to let some upstart outclass me in THAT department."

Softening her expression, she levels her genuine concern toward Cideeda. "Seriously, though... That was one of the worst moments I've had to experience in my life. And, if it hit me that badly..."

She sports a slight frown and gazes expectantly. "Well... I want to know how you are handling it. If, I'm not prying too much into your business, girl."

Cideeda pauses in thought and internally drifts through her mind, her emerald green eyes sorting between memories. "No. You're not. I just think I'm processing it as well as I can, right now? I mean... It's just really weird."

Resting her hands out to her sides on the workout mat beneath her, she grits her sharp teeth, wrestles the emotion on her face, and releases an uneasy sigh. "I mean... Like, um, most the close calls I've had... Just happened so quickly. I really didn't have a chance to even think about it that much. I just reacted to the situation, and got clear... or clear enough. And, then, it was dealt with and over."

Subconsciously pressing her finger claws into her workout mat, Cideeda's tail wags with an erratic undercurrent, and she frowns slightly with an emerging hint of sadness in her voice. "This time... I had way too much time to think about... Everything. It was only a few minutes, but... A LOT hit me all at once, after I made the decisions."

She glances around inside her mind, slumping her shoulders slightly. "Not used to that at all."

Nodding sympathetically, Sotalia's golden eyes meet Cideeda's emerald green eyes, and Sotalia smirks compassionately with a gentle sigh. "Nothing is worse than being left with your own thoughts during the worst times. Take it from someone with way too much experience in that. You never quite know what's going to show up from the back of your brain when you give it too much of a chance."

She presents a comforting smile to her friend, sitting up straight, and brushes back her fiery orange hair over swept back horns. "I know you probably know this... And, have heard it a hundred times. But, we're all here for you. So don't be afraid to talk to us. Good ahead and pester me all you want, girl."

She averts her gaze off to the side briefly with a knowing grin. "Gods know, I've had to do plenty of that post bad day thinking before, and often really wanted someone else around to help me through it all."

Cideeda curls her mouth into an appreciative smile, nods slightly to Sotalia, and draws in a relaxing breath. "Yeah. I've heard it a lot. But... It's... Good to hear it, again. I think I should be okay. Just sorting through it on my own right now."

Cracking a slight grin, she relaxes some of the tension out of her shoulders. "If not... I'll definitely hit you up."

She glances around the surrounding shaded grasses under the leafy tree, briefly checks towards the front yard, staring at the main road, and ponders out loud. "Well, Aristespha and Dretphi should be back from running errands and getting lunch soon. So, I think we can try one more stretch."

Swinging out to her sides, she deftly moves her legs into side splits, cocks her head questioning, and eyes Sotalia uncertainly. "How good are you at the splits?"

Sotalia lifts an incredulous brow at Cideeda's display, contorts her mouth against her pride, and chuckles confidently. "I may be a little out of practice, but I should still have some flexibility left in me."

Stifling a snort, Cideeda bites her lower lip, unleashing a prodding comment in fvalian. Sotalia narrows her stare, musters up an evil grin, and articulates a comeback fluently in a similar fvalian dialect with a sly tone. Springing her emerald eyes wide, Cideeda expectantly twists the grimaces on her face and fights back a flush of embarrassed red in her cheeks. Pointing a finger at Cideeda, Sotalia snorts out a laugh and shakes her head in amused satisfaction. "Ha! I figured as much. You would TOTALLY use it to your advantage."

Squirming and recomposing her pride, Cideeda shrugs her shoulders nonchalantly. With a sweep of her long tail, she rolls her eyes at herself and curls a guilty smirk, her furry ears flicking around. "No comment."

Sotalia turns her focus ahead, unfolds her legs in front of herself, and braces her body with her hands out on the ground at her sides. "Well... Let's see how rusty I am."

With careful progression, she gradually eases her legs sideways and slowly guides them further apart. Cideeda observes attentively, studying Sotalia's movement. Arriving at a right angle between her feet, Sotalia stops pushing any further and takes a deep breath, holding the position with a slight grimace. "Gods. As much as I want to show you up... Damn... I think that's about all I can do right now. Really don't want to chance it any further."

Cideeda nods respectfully and rests her hands on the tops of her thighs. "Honestly, that's really good. Especially if you haven't stretched them out like that in a long time."

Sotalia starts to ease her legs close, shifting her weight slightly forward, and rests her hands on her legs. "Still... Dammit. I used to be able to do so much bet-"

Beneath her form fitting workout shorts, a large inner-thigh muscle quivers visibly for a moment and sharply tenses. Sotalia's legs suddenly pull closed, and she rolls over onto the ground. Gritting her teeth, she screams out in a mix of anguish and anger. "AH! FUCK! GODS DAMMIT!"

Cideeda scrambles over next to the curled up and cursing Sotalia and grabs hold of her. Sotalia spews forth a litany of curses in an intricate fabric of languages weaving together into a tapestry. Fighting against the pained flailing of Sotalia, Cideeda maneuvers the wailing half-emin onto her back and secures the afflicted leg, carefully leaning close to the limb for inspection. "Calm down! Let me see what's going on!"

Sotalia musters up a fraction of composure, tightly grasps her horns, and breathes loud and tense. "Oh gods! Fuck! Dammit! I can't BELIEVE it's THAT same spot! WHY NOW?! It hasn't bothered me in YEARS!"

Cideeda quickly spots the deforming tension, cautiously feels the contracted muscle, and slowly shakes her head. "WOW. That's really locked up. What helped it out before?"

Cringing and gritting her teeth, Sotalia forces the words out through the pain, growling out. "Massaging it! Just needs to be massaged. SHIT! FUCK! OW!"

Grasping around the inner thigh, Cideeda studies the tension and presses her finger tips carefully into the leg. "I'll see what I can do."

Inside the living area of the ranch style house, Bach quickly steps into the middle of the living area from the hallway archway. He searches around the room for a noise and aims his confused stare out towards the sliding glass door. Slowly plodding on the floor barefooted, he pulls up his loose fitting shorts and brushes off his baggy t-shirt. A loud, shrill noise cuts through the muffling glass and grabs Bach's attention. Stepping up to the sliding door, Bach pushes it open and charges out into the backyard. He blinks worried and darts his alert gaze around, searching for the source of the noise. Sotalia squeals out in a torrent of pan-cultural swears and shouts out. "STOP USING YOUR CLAWS!"

With blatant frustration in her voice, Cideeda yells back. "Then roll over! I might get a better angle to press into it."

Bach sprints off towards the side lot of the property next to the house, rounds the corner, and snaps his gaze towards Cideeda and Sotalia. He approaches fast and slows to halt. Fighting through a haze of bewilderment and awkwardness, he puzzles at the sight of Sotalia face-down, tightly gripping her workout mat, and groaning with both of Cideeda's hands between her thighs. Bach glances around the area and cocks his head to the side. View the situation, obviously perplexed, and he calls out uncertainly. "Okay... Um... What the hell is going on? I heard the screaming from inside my room."

Sotalia lifts her forehead up from the mat and growls out. "A fucking cramp!"

Flashing a glare back to Cideeda, Sotalia grumbles loudly. "And the claws AREN'T helping!"

Shaking her head, Cideeda releases Sotalia's leg and dismissively holds her hands up in the air with a roll of her emerald green eyes. "I can't reach the right muscle to massage without poking her."

Bach quickly steps over to Sotalia's side and gazes between Sotalia and Cideeda. "So, um, anything I can do to help?"

Twisting her head back, Sotalia glances over her shoulder to Bach and winces, fighting off a surge in muscle tension. She energetically directs Bach with a point of her finger. "Grab hold of it and massage it! OW! FUCK!"

Blinking dumbfounded, Bach settles his attention upon Sotalia's posterior and legs and freezes, embarrassment and awkwardness paralyzing him. "Uh... where... is... the... cr-"

Underneath the surface of Sotalia's tight-fitting workout shorts, an inner thigh muscle abruptly tenses in erratic twitching spasms. Sotalia growls out frustration and pain and clenches her fists. "SHIT! Why won't it just stop already?!"

Bach focuses his attention upon the spot, widens his eyes briefly in a blend of surprise and curiosity, and leans closer, studying the muscle. "Wow! THAT is a cramp."

Hearing Sotalia whimper out her frustration, Bach powers through the awkwardness and discomfort and grasps tightly, massaging the area. Minutes of experimentation and guidance from Sotalia and Cideeda, Bach works a firm pattern of applying moving pressure, soothing the spasm crazed muscle. The process continues. Sotalia stretches out of her arms in front of her and recovers from her exhausting, painful experience with each long, calming breath. Cideeda gently pats Sotalia on the back of the shoulder, comforting her. "I think it's calmed down finally."

Fluttering her golden eyes open, Sotalia slowly crosses her arms, rests her chin on top, and sighs. "Finally... Gods... It hasn't done that in so long..."

Bach continues working the area in longer sweeping motions. Regaining her situational awareness, a sly grin graces Sotalia. Shifting her gazes to the side, she slowly shrugs her shoulders, requesting with an alluring tone. "You know, since you did such a good job there... I have a few tense spots around my shoulders that could use YOUR touch."

Pausing the task, Bach's thought process jams up in the sudden surge of awkwardness and situational awareness. Cideeda notices the building embarrassment-fueled red flush in Bach's cheeks, narrows a glare at Sotalia, and presses a claw tip firmly into the side of Sotalia's butt. "I think YOU need to GO INSIDE and rest until Aristespha gets back."

Squelching a reflexive yip, Sotalia briefly grumbles. She pushes herself off the workout mat, steadying herself with the help of Bach and Cideeda, and stands up. "That's probably a good idea. Let's get-"

A twitch of the muscle halts Sotalia, stopping her next step, and she groans annoyed. "Dammit. I had almost forgotten how annoying this thing could get... Okay. If I can just keep it still and limp it-"

With Sotalia's attempt to move forward, another visible spasm tenses the muscle. She halts and balances her weight between Bach and Cideeda. Gritting her teeth, she drops her head down with painful resignation. "Shit... It's still really touchy. Oh gods, maybe if I-"

Thinking a moment, Bach judges the distance, kneels down slightly, and readies himself. "Here. It's not that far. Let me carry you the rest of the way."

With a careful sweep underneath, Bach tips Sotalia back in his arms, hoists her up with a little strain of his body, and carries her towards the sliding glass door. "Let's not chance it right now."

Sotalia glances around in surprise, Bach securely carrying her. She squirms slightly against the physique keeping her aloft and smirks guiltily. With a humored snort, Cideeda rolls her eyes and slides the back sliding glass door wider, allowing Bach and Sotalia in.

---

Inside the living area, Sotalia squirms upon the couch, anxiously watching Aristespha. Concentrating her dimly illuminated violet eyes at the inside of Sotalia's thigh, Aristespha examines the recently spasm prone muscle. Nearby with her arms crossed, Cideeda shifts weight between her feet, observing with a mix of intrigue and scrutiny. Bach stands idly surfing through the different channels on the television, glancing over occasionally. Twisting her grimace thoughtfully, Aristespha sits back on her ankles, resting her hand upon the coffee table top, and ponders out loud. "From what I can determine, nothing too serious. Seems to be a very strong muscle cramp. There is some residual tension in the muscles and minor cramps trying to happen."

She closes her eyes briefly, reopens them to a bright violet glow, and pulls back her long silvery-blue hair over her very long, pointed ears. "I can perform a few muscle release magical flows. Those should disrupt enough and allow the muscles in that region to relax fully."

Turning his attention away from the television screen, Bach furrows his brow curiously at Aristespha. "So... How does that work?"

Aristespha glances over her shoulder briefly. "It is similar to dry needling. The process triggers an interrupting stimulus that causes the muscle to release."

Smiling with intrigue, she motions Bach over. "In fact, sit next to me. I think this is something you can learn."

Stepping around the pulled out coffee table, Bach settles down into a seat upon the floor next to Aristespha. His genuine curiosity combats down the faint sparks of anxiety from Sotalia smiling at him. "Are you sure? I mean, that really sounds like a proper medical procedure that should be done by someone who... I don't know... Actually knows what they're doing? With years of training and one of those specialist certificates?"

Aristespha turns her head and faces Bach, lifting an incredulous eyebrow, and shakes her head reassuringly. "It is a simple pulse of flow utilizing energies you are more than capable of handling. The key thing is the amount and finer aspects of control."

Tilting her head to the side with an amused smirk, she furrows a knowing brow at Bach and motions towards Sotalia's leg. "Which YOU should be able to pick up, easily. Now mage sight here and watch me, please. I will need to do a contrast pulse so that we can get a better idea of what muscles are affected."

Sotalia's apprehension swells, and she grits her teeth briefly. Glancing nervously around, she chuckles lightly and squirms slightly, vainly playing down her unease. "Huh. You sure something like a needle is the right thing? I mean, Cideeda tried that already."

Cracking a toothy grin, Cideeda flexes the fingers on her hand and blatantly admires her claws. "Well, I'm sure with some proper guidance I could try again. Maybe get better results next time."

Aristespha stares upward for a moment at Sebastian's ethereal form hovering above. Rolling her eyes, she shakes her head along with Sebastian's sigh and calls out towards the kitchen. "Dretphi? Could you assist me, please?"

Leaning her tall frame out from the kitchen, Dretphi shakes a stray platinum blonde braid out of the way and nods. "Yes. How can I assist?"

With Dretphi approaching, Aristespha points towards Sotalia's feet and instructs in a warning tone. "Grab hold of her legs. Sometimes the contrast flow pulse can trigger other minor spasms, and I really do NOT feel like getting a knee to the face today."

Dretphi clamps down her grip on Sotalia's ankles. With golden eyes springing wide open, Sotalia braces herself uncertainly. Sebastian's ghostly visage lands next to the arm of the couch Sotalia's head rests upon and whispers comfortingly in her ear. "Take it easy. You know she knows what she's doing."

Easing out an appreciative sigh, Sotalia nods, grumbles quietly. "I know... I know... But gods, I really don't want that cramp to go off again. That shit REALLY fucking hurt."

Aristespha quickly gestures through a short incantation, flowing energies to her finger, and gently presses the tip against Sotalia's inner thigh. Bach blinks his eyes to a bright blue glow and observes the magical power at play. With exacting finesse, Aristespha releases a faint pulse of flow and narrows her examining stare upon the target area. The energies propagate throughout the different tissues, faint tremors of muscle activity cascade out in fading spasms. The spectacle captivates Bach, his awareness of the world waning with his focus. The contrast pulse dissipates to its outmost range, and Sotalia momentarily winces, reflexively grabbing hold of Bach's upper arm in surprise. Yanking him back to reality, Bach glances over at Sotalia, puzzling. "Uh. You okay?"

Sotalia notices her grip, releases it slowly with a smile, and nods. "Yes. Um. It just felt WEIRD, and I thought that muscle was going to go off again."

With an understanding smirk, Bach shifts his attention back over and studies Aristespha's procedure. Eying over at Bach's arm, Sotalia catches Dretphi's gaze. She subtly points towards Bach's arm, pantomimes by curling hers, and mouths out her surprise to Dretphi. A strong hint of pride radiating out, Dretphi grins faintly and nods in confirmation. Minutes later, Aristespha blinks her violet eyes back to normal and sits back on her ankles, rolling the tension out of her shoulders. "That should calm down the muscles in that region. Though, I would still relax for a few hours and avoid strenuous activity for the rest of the day. You do not want to risk triggering it again today."

Sotalia reaches out towards the out of reach coffee table for the remote. Bach plucks the device up and passes it over. Nodding thankfully, Sotalia resettles herself upon the couch and releases a long, tired sigh. "Oh. Not a problem there, girl."

She furrows her brow towards the television and mumbles. "Gods... I just hope something worth watching is on."

Pondering a moment, Bach slowly turns his gaze over towards Aristespha with an inquisitive tone. "In that one muscle group, I keep noticing a difference in flow. I don't know how to explain it exactly. I mean, it was like there was a rough patch or something."

Aristespha nods in agreement, searching her mind briefly, and explains. "Oh, yes. Very likely it is an old injury that has healed over time. The amount and density of replacement muscle cells can create that type of flow phenomena."

Blinking a moment, she aims an intrigued lift of the eyebrow at Sotalia and cocks her head to the side. "Old gymnastics or workout injury?"

Sotalia thinks a moment, rolls her eyes over, sparking a glare at Sebastian, and snorts. "Yeah. You could say THAT."

Hearing the familiar accusatory inflection, Sebastian catches the visual insinuation and remains silent, a goofy smile failing to hide past embarrassment. Aristespha shakes her head with a laugh and stands up. "Well. Those types of injuries can happen."

Bach rights himself up, maneuvers over to his chair next to the other side of the couch, and plops down in it. The rest of the team disperses to their own tasks. Bach and Sotalia level their attention on the television. A commercial later, the local news report bit pops up.

"Investigators have turned up more evidence of recent activity by the People for Dragon Rights group in the Amaranth Valley area. Along with previous disruptive activities in the mass release of fancy whelps at a show, recent antics have backfired during an attempt to free a small herd of pseudo-dragons from their pens. Attempts to push sleeping pseudo-dragons out of their stables, incidentally, tipped one over on top of a group member, temporarily pinning them underneath the irritated creature. Investigators are still looking for more information about these individuals, and urge anyone with information to please contact local authorities."

Bach sneers his upper lip, groaning out his disgust, and shakes his head. "Oh. Gods... THOSE assholes."

Perking her brow, Sotalia tilts her head towards Bach and flutters her eyes in confusion. "Huh? What do you mean? They usually seem well meaning..."

Twisting her mouth, she glances off to the side. "If just really... REALLY... Inept."

Bach contorts his face into a few derisive grimaces and grumbles out a sigh, shrugging his shoulders. "Well. There was a real big chapter of that group that hung out around High Alton. And, they gave me, Sebastian, Kaleb, and Shadeesa all kinds of hell because... We kept a dragon as a pet."

Fighting an incredulous hoist of an eyebrow, Sotalia narrows her curious stare at Bach, prying for more. "Really? They always seem to champion good things. I mean, how bad could they really be?"

Bach holds up his finger towards Sotalia, catching her attention, and directs his voice down the hallway. "Hey, Sebastian! Get over here! I got something to tell you."

Seconds later, Sebastian hovers into the living around through the archway leading the hallway and gazes down at Bach. "What do you got, bro?"

A sly smirk appears on Bach, and he taps the fingertips of both hands together. "Guess who's in town?"

Sebastian thinks a moment, furrowing his brow. Moments pass, and he squints a suspicious stare at Bach, crossing his arms. "Who?"

Twisting a smile, Bach holds his hands out to his side and darkly chuckles. "Our friends... PDR."

Confusion flashes up on Sebastian's ethereal form, and furious recognition flushes out prior emotions into oblivion. "AH FUCK! REALLY?! SHIT..."

Sebastian rubs his ghostly temples and wanders into frustrated circular paths in the open area. Cideeda and Dretphi rest down plates of food on the dining table, exchanging stares, and stare upon the scene. Crossing her arms, Cideeda flicks her furry ears and perks up her eyebrow. "Okay. What exactly did those guys do to you two?"

Grumbling to a slow regain of his composure, Sebastian mulls over the right choice of words, twisting his mouth. "WELL... They just constantly gave us shit for almost a YEAR. GODS. It got so bad, we could hardly even take Lagi out for walks without scouting the area out first."

He shakes his head in pure disgust, old frustrations bubbling up. "AND, the leader decided to get into an argument over dragon care with Shadeesa... AFTER, she was well into her exotic veterinarian program."

Bach's blue eyes widen, a distant memory rising to the front of his mind, and he grits his teeth. "Oh... Gods... YEAH... Holy shit, I thought I was going to witness a murder that night."

Cracking a sly grin toward Bach, Sebastian chuckles darkly with pride at his brother. "It wasn't until Lagi learned a particular fire spell..."

His ghostly visage leans forward with a playful stare at Bach. "SOMEHOW..."

Bach averts his eyes and dismissively shrugs. Sebastian straightens his posture back with a smirk. "That they finally kept their distance. They were THOROUGHLY CONVINCED to go bother people other than us after Lagi started spitting fire at them."

Furrowing her brow curiously, Sotalia levels an examining stare upon Bach. "OH. Really?"

Bach spots the attention and twists his mouth uncomfortably, attempting to shrug off the guilt. "Yeah, uh. Turns out Lagi was a very observant little dragon, and really liked that fire marble spell..."

He holds up a finger against the scrutiny surrounding. "I was PRACTICING that one night."

Sebastian hoists a partially accusatory eyebrow towards Bach and colors his tone in a mix of sarcasm and amusement. "Yes. The fire marble spell. That entry level, practice spell, often done by high school students in a basic magic course... That YOU... For SOME REASON... Desperately needed to do an all day refresher session on... Right in front of Lagi's attentive gaze."

Drawing a wide evil grin on her light tan face, Sotalia gazes at Bach, thoroughly amused. Cideeda and Dretphi twist their faces between humor and surprise. Peeking out from the hallway archway, Aristespha furrows her intrigued brow. Bach glances around at the attention and releases a defeated sigh, shaking his head. "Yeah... Well... Just DON'T bring it up with Shadeesa. Please? I think she's still..."

He briefly grits his teeth, hissing in a tense breath, and holds up a pinch between his thumb and forefinger. "A little mad... Still?"

Glancing off to the side, he lingers out a groan. "I mean... She did lose some really expensive clothes that one time because of Lagi using that spell."

Sebastian catches a thought his subconscious tosses up and requests with concern, fighting a reflexive cringe. "Speaking of which... Bro, could you send both Kaleb and Shadeesa a message? Even though they're not that close to here, we should warn them."

Sorting through the menus on his aetherphone, Bach nods in complete agreement and starts typing out a message. "Yeah, I'm on it. And as big as Lagi has gotten, he's quite figuratively AND literally a big target for them."

Dretphi hums in thought and slowly shakes her head. "Did not think they were confrontational. Comically incompetent? Yes. Misguided? Yes."

Sebastian rolls his translucent blue eyes, shrugging his shoulders, and holds his hands out to the sides. "They just focus on the big, easy to see problems. Stuff that looks good, and they get done quickly. Then, they just pat themselves on the back afterwards. You never see them helping out at the shelters, or doing fundraisers for anyone other than themselves."

He shakes his head and sighs. "The real solutions to the real problems take time, and aren't glamorous enough for them."

Bach's aetherphone chirps out an alert, and Bach taps onto the on display pop up. Sebastian floats over next to Bach and peeks over at the phone screen. "Kaleb or Shadeesa?"

Holding up his aetherphone, Bach snorts with a crooked smirk. "Kaleb. His response... Oh, gods fucking dammit. And, I think he was using the voice to text function? Because, it might have caught Shadeesa's response in the background, too? These are emin letters, I think?"

Sotalia carefully scoots over on the couch to the other side and aims an expectant gaze at Bach, hemming. Noticing Sotalia, Bach glances at his aetherphone and hands it over to Sotalia. With golden eyes quickly scanning the text, Sotalia blinks blankly, hands the phone back, and whistles faintly. "THAT is NOT a happy woman."

---

A peaceful ambiance radiates throughout the dense forest. Thick patches of undergrowth soak in the spots of bright sunlight slipping through the full canopy of competing older trees. Powerful gusts of wind filter through the countless gaps between the leaves, and sound out a droning chorus of rustling below. Within a carefully arranged circle of rocks, a low fire singes the prepared carcass of a small game animal propped above it upon a spit. A leather gloved hand reaches out and grasps tightly upon a leg, firmly securing the cooked limb. A sharp dagger with a glinting edge pushes into the connective tissues around the joint and effortlessly slices the meaty leg free from the rest of the roasted body.

The lone evuukian man bites calmly into the cooked flesh and grumbles lowly to himself in a dialect of evuukian with a calculating tone. Slowly chewing, he straightens his posture, sitting on a log, and adjusts his leather armored outfit. Noticing the build up of pollen and dirt, he brushes off the intricate details within the aged and worn suit and slowly cleans the magically reflective emblems. Tossing his long, black hair back, he contorts his light-gray, green hinted face between sprints of contemplation and narrows his distant brilliant yellow eyed stare. Munching upon the cooked leg, he shifts his attention over to a pile of equipment at his side. He sifts through the gear under the swaying, leafy shade. Carefully setting an elaborately designed, exceptionally crafted bow off to the side, he slides over a handmade leather quiver filled with meticulously, intricately made arrows. Glints of magical light flicker off the nearly invisible flowing patterns inlaid upon the equipment, laying neatly against a shaded fallen log.

With a firm grip, the aged evuukian man hoists up a battered, older field radio unit and sets it up next to him. Turning on the unit with a twist of a knob, he taps a number of buttons in a well rehearsed series of steps. The device displays a fast changing series of numbers with sweeping signal indicators. The digits halt. The encoded contents play out through a speaker on the unit, and the man presses a button. Over the next minute, the process repeats numerous times. The man sighs, tinges of frustration slipping out. Flipping to another band of frequencies, the device locks onto a channel, and a spoken broadcast plays out.

"In our ongoing coverage of the sudden GAA activity in Ark, public relations representatives from the GAA have released official statements about troop movements into the Ark river peninsula. From the official release, it seems a previously unknown facility, long abandoned, was discovered due to tips from the public describing strange activity in the area."

The evuukian raises up the roasted leg of meat, readying for another bite, and curls a mean smirk from the corner of his mouth.

"During initial investigations, GAA specialists discovered a possible threat to the public and successfully dealt with the problem before it could lead to endangering the citizens living in the area..."

Pausing right before another bite, the evuukian man slowly angles his forming glare upon the radio. He sneers his upper lip, growling quietly to himself. Reaching into a nearby backpack, he puts his arm further in than the height of the container itself and retrieves a long, rolled up document. Spreading out the thick and aged paper of the detailed map, the man surveys the many markings of locations, extensive notes littering the margins and symbology annotating the points of interest. He scours over the information and settles his gaze upon a circled spot in the middle of a river peninsula. Plucking a marker from one of the backpack's side pouches, he slowly drags an "X" out upon the paper, a low growl articulating his simmering frustration.

He pauses in thought, stares coldly at the map, and examines it closely. He studies the many other labeled locations and scowls with a slow shake of his head. Narrowing his yellow eyes upon another spot on the document, he nods to himself. He quietly ponders to himself, methodically sorting through the forming thoughts, and grimaces between deliberating rocks of his head. He rolls the map back up and deposits it into the darker space deep within the backpack. Flashes of sunlight from above beam down through the swaying branches and briefly illuminate the greater capacity within the bag, highlighting the mix of old artifacts and collections of documents packed tightly within space beyond.

Pulling a strip of meat off the cooked leg, he grits his teeth in swelling anger and groans to himself, annoyance driving his distant stare into the dense surrounding forest. He squints in thought and grumbles out in spiteful evuukian. At the apex of his quiet rant, he narrows a stern glare and flickers of faint white spark around the centers of his eyes.

---

A hard rain pours down, rolling out in sheets across the mostly empty parking lot. The droning patters of drops rush the front glass wall of the small restaurant and spatter against the surface, coats of water shedding off to the rhythm of the wind. Meredosia's crimson eyes stare distantly out into the drenching gusts, waves drifting across the wet surface of the pavement outside. A minute of staring later, the screen on her battered aetherphone dims, and she blinks back to the current reality. Glancing down upon the display, she taps it back to full brightness and idly scrolls through the text on an aethersite. Humming to herself, she rests the device down on the small table next to the kitchen entryway and presses the link on the screen. A brief, weak flash lights up the horizon. Muffled thunder vibrates upon the glass store front.

Meredosia brushes back her long, gray hair away from her ivory face, drawing in a long breath, and stares at her aetherphone, light hints of annoyance slipping out. Rolling her crimson eyes at the loading indicator prominent on the screen, she watches the dim illumination of the stormy afternoon through the vinyl "Fval Spice" signage on the glass front door. Observing no difference in the weather over the moments, she shifts her attention down to a worn, aged notebook, and flips to a new page. Picking up a wooden pencil off to the side, she taps on the blank paper, twisting her face of indecision thoughtfully. Slowly, her left hand gracefully brushes the graphite tip, sketching out rough shapes and shades upon the page. Her eyes focus upon the developing picture, and a faint smile creeps out from the corner of her mouth.

Brushing his hands on his apron, Noyando steps out from the back of the kitchen, flicks the graying tips of his furry black ears, and contorts his light brown face thoughtfully. Pondering the weather outside in the quiet moment, he glances over at the wall clock, frowns slightly, and shrugs his shoulders plainly. "No more deliveries, today, Mera. To-go and dine-in only."

Mera blinks back to awareness, gazes over to Noyando, and nods with growing relief. "Oh. Thank you. To be honest, I really didn't want to have to ride out in this weather."

Shaking his head, Noyando sighs with a jutting canine smile. "I would not want you out there, right now. Anyway, you can help with getting ready for the dinner rush."

Mera agrees and begins to get up from the seat. Noyando holds his hand out and calmly motions for Mera to stay seated. "Not now. It's not busy. So, I will cook your dinner. What do you want tonight?"

Settling back down onto her bench seat against the wall, Mera thinks a moment and decides with a happy tone. "Oh. I want to try that one dish you recommended. Please?"

A proud grin appears on Noyando, and he nods, pivoting back into the kitchen area entrance. "Of course. I will start right now."

Mera's very long ivory ears perk up subtly under her gray hair. She returns her attention back to refining the sketch in her notebook. Glancing over to her aetherphone, she taps the screen back on, enters the security code, and resumes reading the freshly loaded aethersite text. Mera browses quietly. A young fvalian girl wanders out from the kitchen area with a battered tablet in her hands. Briefly frowns at the constant rain and dark gray skies outside the store, she glances over towards Mera and steps over to a chair on the other side of the table. Sliding the chair out, the fvalian girl hops up into the seat, places her tablet on the tabletop, and idly searches through a partially cracked screen for a game on the menu. Mera shifts her attention over to the child momentarily, quirking her brow, and resumes filling in the finer details of her sketch.

The fvalian girl presses firmly on the screen, the device responding eventually, and watches a loading symbol appear, frowning slightly. The bar slowly creeps along. The fvalian girl's black furry ears droop close to her shoulders, and she sighs loud, impatiently. Idly kicking her legs under the chair, the seconds tick on by. Her attention drifts around the room, desperation seeking anything else entertaining around. Exhausting the contents of the room around her and the same stormy grayness outside, she settles her gaze upon Mera's notebook. She stares attentively. Her furry black ears perk up, and her light brown eyes widen with growing curiosity. Mera continues to glide her pencil skillfully over the evolving picture. The young fvalian girl unconsciously leans closer and closer over time towards the work in progress, staring at in it growing wonder. Gazing her light brown eyes up at Mera, the fvalian girl smiles brightly. "That's really pretty. You're really good."

Mera blinks back to awareness, glances up from the page, meeting the fvalian girl's eyes, and awkwardly smiles, hiding some embarrassment. "Oh, um... Thank you. It is not done, yet. I still have a lot more to do."

Thinking a moment, she tilts her head to the side and plainly asks. "I have seen you around here. But... I have not caught your name. What is it?"

Flicking her furry ears, the fvalian girl perks up and grins with a sharp smile. "My name is Katelli. You are Mera."

Mera chuckles lightly and cracks a small smile. "Yes, I am."

Katelli smiles brightly, her fluffy tail wagging. "You are always taking food out. And riding the scooter."

Nodding, Mera smirks happily. "That I am."

Quickly shifting her attention to a chime from her tablet, Katelli stares at it for a second and sighs, watching it struggle to load the game. Mera squints her eyes at the screen, frowns slightly, and shakes her head. "Is it broken?"

With a mildly frustrated growl, Katelli rolls her eyes and shrugs her shoulders. "I don't know. It's just SO OLD. It takes FOREVER to do anything. The screen is all scratchy, too."

Mera nods sympathetically, lifting up her aetherphone off the table top, and shows it to Katelli. "Yes. I know how you feel, too."

Glancing from her worm device over at the battered aetherphone, Katelli giggles appreciatively, smiling. "Wow! It's as old as my tablet. Does it take FOREVER to do stuff, too?"

Turning the phone back to her, Mera taps a new link on the aethersite and places it back down on the table. Katelli slides her tablet over next to the aetherphone. Mera and Katelli watch on, the devices progress bars gradually sliding along their ponderous paces. With her elbows on the table and knee upon the wooden chair, Katelli leans over and snickers with a wide grin, wagging her tail excitedly. "Which one will win?"

With a humored snort, Mera rolls her eyes with a smile and shakes her head. "I do not think either of them will really win. They just will not lose as bad as the other."

Katelli giggles and wanders her attention back over onto Mera's developing sketch. She stares captivated at the details in the surrounding forest framing, the overlook into a huge clearing between massive trees, and the plant covered ancient buildings. Blinking curiously, she tilts her head, intrigued at the two evuukians sitting next to each other and gazing into the clearing. She flicks her furry ears in thought and stares at her slow loading tablet. A moment later, she readily slides her curiosity over and glances over at Mera's notebook and pencils.

Sitting briefly back down, she hops out of her chair and walks over behind the front counter, almost disappearing out of view with her furry ear tips just above the countertop. With Katelli's tail wagging out, sounds of shuffling and noises of movement fill in the air briefly. Seconds later, Katelli reappears from behind the counter with a pad of order tickets and a pen. Rushes back over, she slips back into the chair and puts the pad down upon the small table's top. With a happy smile, Katelli's furry ears perk, and she starts putting pen to paper. "I'm going to draw something, too."

Puzzling in the moment, Mera watches Katelli scratch out the first lines on the pad of tickets, a delighted smile gradually emerging over time upon her ivory face. In between filling in spots of detail upon her sketch, Mera pauses, following the progress of Katelli's drawing. The powerful storm rolls on across the parking lot, filling the outside world with background chaos. Inside the calm pocket of Fval Spice, Mera and Katelli compare doodles and dysfunctional portable devices, the growing aroma of food filling up the small restaurant.