Better Late Than Never

[morethanmyth]

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.]

Comments

[spellitonce]

"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?"

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"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?"

[spellitonce]

"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."

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

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

[spellitonce]

"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'."

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

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

[spellitonce]

"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."

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"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.

[spellitonce]

"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."

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

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

[spellitonce]

"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."

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"Sounds like that'd make it way hard to practice anything complex," Howard says, tapping his lips. He takes a deep breath and holds his hands out, sees that they aren't shaking.

[spellitonce]

"I don't need to practice much," Nico said with a shrug. "It can pretty much do anything short of raising the dead. I just need sharp things and access to a thesaurus and a few English-to-whatever books."

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"Well. That's specific." He stands up, cracking his neck. "I think...I'm going to head back to my room. See if I have any English-to-whatever dictionaries hanging around. I got lots of stuff, some might have snuck in."

[spellitonce]

"All right." Nico's mouth twitched up in a smile. "I guess we'll table Two Truths and a Lie for later."