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.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

" 'Actively trying to eat you' zombie, or 'weirdly friendly corpse' zombie?" Nico asked. "Pfft. If we do play, the lies are just going to be the ones that sound the least ridiculous."

"Wanted to whip us to death zombie." Howard raises an eyebrow. "Are you saying I got no imagination?"

" 'Unnecessarily creepy' zombie, got it." Nico rolled her eyes. "Fine, the lies are the ones that are either the least ridiculous or the most horrific. I bet you're just as mean as I am when it comes to imagination."

"Probably. Okay." Howard bites his lip, wrinkles his nose and tries. "Our bats fly underwater, I've seen a kid literally cough his lungs out, and before I showed up here, I could shoot lasers."

"Please be the second one," Nico said, mouth curling down in a grimace. She was pretty sure that one wasn't the lie though; because Howard's home reality is an awful, awful place.

"Pssht, like I'd be lucky enough to get laser beams." He raises an eyebrow and shudders a bit. "Your turn."

"Ugh."

Nico shook it off and thought for a moment.

"My parents were first generation immigrants to the U.S., I'm a former altar girl, and the second spell I ever cast summoned a bunch of pelicans."

"Mmmm, the first one. You're some kinda Asian, right? Japanese, maybe? We got a lot of third or fourth gen Asians in SoCal." Howard scratches his chin.

"My dad's family's been here since the early nineteen-hundreds at least," Nico confirmed. And they were all evil and crazy, she didn't add, even though it was so very true. "Your turn."

"Uhhhh. I haven't seen the sun in two years, I was a premie baby and so you're an asshole if you make fun of my height, and my favorite game is World of Warcraft."

"I'm going to say the second one because if that were true, you'd have brought it up earlier," Nico said, propping herself upright with her Staff.

"Dude, no. League of Legends all the way." He rolls his eyes.

"Whatever," Nico said, rolling her eyes right back at him.

"I've been bitten by a vampire, I can play the tuba, and I once punched someone for calling me 'Cho Chang'."

"You can't even carry a tuba." He shakes his head, wrings his hands. His palms are clammy. "I got stuffed in a tuba case once."

"Only fantasized about the punching; that was a whole year before I ever thought I'd have to throw a punch."

She makes a face, drumming her fingers on the shaft of her Staff. "Yeah? Bullies suck, huh?"

"Whatever. I wasn't the target forever." He became the bully, eventually, using meanness to make up for where size and strength lacked. "You were a band geek?"

"Uh huh. Bad hair and glasses and everything." Nico raised a hand and peered at her fingertips. "Speaking of, I think transforming into a spirit or whatever either fixed my eyes or permanently melded my contacts to my eyeballs, and I'm not sure which is creepier."

Howard makes a disgusted face. "Wow, I thought this whole Guardian thing couldn't disturb me more, but you managed it."

"Yay me," Nico deadpanned. "Upside, at least now we know that we'll notice if any more changes happen. It's not going to be all 'I never wore glasses, my eyesight has always been 20/20', 'we have always been at war with Eastasia'."

"We have?" The reference goes entirely over his head.

"No, I mean." Nico flapped a hand. "1984? Big Brother never lies so whatever he says is true, even if it wasn't true yesterday." she shakes her head. "I just mean that nothing's messing with our memories. So that's good."

"As far as you know. People here have weird powers. They could be planting your memory of contacts in your head." He wraps his arms around his knees and rests his chin there.

"That seems like a weird thing to plant a memory of," Nico said. "I could cast a spell to see if I've been mind-whammied, but I'd rather save that spell for a situation where I think someone's actually messing with my head."

"What do you mean, save it? Do you have to like...spend for it? Not money but..."

"No -- well, yes." Nico made a face. "I usually have to bleed to summon the Staff. Not a lot, but I've still got to do it. But what I meant was that I can't cast the same spell twice. I always assumed that's why it's called the Staff of One."

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