longestnight_old | Better Late Than Never

The yetis and elves had been extremely welcoming when they arrived back at the Pole. As soon as they shook themselves out of their shock at how battered they'd looked, they'd immediately brought out the blankets, spare clothes, first aid kits, food and drinks. Cocoa was pressed into people's hands whether they wanted it or not.

"Blughbloghughblug?"

"Out of nowhere. In broad daylight, no less," Katherine said to one of the yetis, holding her half-finished cup of hot cocoa in her hands. "It goes without saying that this is very, very bad."

"Ooghughaugh. Blughooghablorgblurgh?"

"Oh, well, that may be because they're still tethered to their worlds to a degree." She looked to the others. "He said someone named Wonder Woman, a Mr. Stark, and some undead fellow that had stayed behind at the Pole disappeared while you were meeting with me. I suppose that supports my hypothesis about the trans-dimensional tethering."

It had been a little while now since they'd returned and there was still no sign of Jack and Bunny. It was obviously bothering Katherine. In between her idle chatter with the yetis, who seemed to regard with her great fondness, she was pacing back and forth through the area that had been made into a "common area" while they'd been away. It was comfortable, full of plush red couches and cushions and tables for them to sit at to eat. Board games in many varieties had been stacked around.

The yetis were on standby, ready to get anything they needed, or show those who hadn't seen the Pole yet around.

"They should be back by now. I don't know why they're not back by now. Maybe the lindworms gave them trouble. Perhaps they had to take shelter in the Warren."

She chugged down her cocoa like someone else might nervously down a shot of whisky and then went for a refill.

[ooc: This is just for a few minutes of post-fight mingling and then the return of Jack and Bunny, then it'll be free-threading after this.]

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Once the bubble popped, Zac kind of just...fell into a pile/puddle and oozed out of the sleigh slowly. It took him about a minute to get himself back together, and once he did, he shook his head a bit before turning toward Nico.

"...thanks for the, uh. Container. Sorry if I caused any undue stress in the process," Zac says in a quiet tone - he'd jerked around a fair bit at first before he finally settled down.

"It's magic, not telekinesis," Nico said around a mouthful of cookie. "I could have brought you along if you'd been bouncing around like Flubber. But you're welcome."

She finished her cookie and sighed. "I guess it's introduction time. I'm Nico, and I trust most adults as far as I could throw them without my magic staff. Hi."

"Ahh, well - figured I should say so anyway. Can never tell for sure with people's abilities," Zac answers with a light shrug.

His expression falls a bit at the trust remark at first, but he puts forth a small grin. "Well, I'm Zac, and I'm already not like most adults in a lot of aspects, hopefully that continues to be the case. Nice to meet you, though I wish it was better circumstances."

"Don't take it personally, it's a twice-burned-not-going-there-again kind of thing," Nico explained with a shrug of her own. "So long as you don't take it into your head that you know better than me, we shouldn't have a problem."

The right corner of her mouth quirked upward. "The circumstances really suck."

"Eh, it's understandable," Zac says as his lower body loses cohesion for a moment, then reforms into a sitting position once he's gotten low enough to the floor. "I can kinda relate a little, maybe - not gonna see me running to hang out with a bunch of over-enthusiastic scientists anytime soon."

"Hopefully we'll be able to turn that around," he adds, then takes a swig of cocoa provided by one of the Yetis. Given his form, it kind of just dispersed around the inside of his torso in plain view, clouding it up until it simply faded as it was absorbed. "At least, these guys seem to think we can."

...Well, that was weird to watch.

"Was that the impression you got?" Nico asked tearing her eyes away from the dispersing cocoa cloud. "'Cause the impression I got was that it's looking pretty awful and they're not even sure how much help we're going to be."

"Well there's that, too," Zac says, his expression faltering just a bit. "And not all of us are pros at beatin' up bad guys," he adds with a sigh. "So yeah, it does look bad, but there's a little glimmer of hope in us. It might be flickering and kinda sparking like a busted machine, but it's there."

"There's always hope," Nico said. She didn't really believe in 'everything is going to be all right' anymore, but she did believe in desperate, grasping hope. "And if that doesn't work, we can fall back on spite. But I'm not that cynical yet."

That got Zac to smile a bit. "Well, good. Long as you still got hope, that's something," he says, motioning toward Nico with his cup. "Little bit of it will go a long way."

"You're all right?" Mami felt the need to ask. She smoothed down her skirt and smiled---hey, she'd seen weirder. And he was an ally.

Zac gives Mami a thumbs up and a lopsided grin. "Yeah, I'm good. Bouncing back is pretty easy when you're like me," he answers. "Never been a fan of small, enclosed spaces, though."

"You can spread just about anywhere now, can't you?" Mami wonders. "Found a nice place to settle?"

"Anywhere solid is good," he answers, patting the ground. "Hopefully my next flight experience will be a little less strenuous. Hopefully."

"I hope so too," she agrees, plopping right there to get a good look up. "We'll make a nice flat seat for you to spread on. Does that work?"

"I think I'd be fine if any other flights aren't as rough as that one was, really. Maybe have to hunker down depending on how fast we're going," he answers, regaining a bit more form and sighing.

"You seemed to be handlin' yourself pretty well out there for someone your age."

Mami laughs and flicks her skirt back. "I've had some practice. I've been fighting like that for over a year---after a while it's easier."

Zac's expression softens - figuratively, not literally. No meltyface here, just a bit of concern and empathy. "Sounds pretty rough," he answers, a bit quieter than before.

"It is, but it's my duty. I've been used to it for a while," she explains, looking down at her hands. "And when you're the only one who can do it, you learn to adapt."

Zac nods, half-smiling. "I know that feeling. Duty calls, but it sure picks some of the worst times to do it," he answers. "But then again, it's called duty, not convenience."

Better Late Than Never

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