Back at the car, Kall pulls her waffle from the container, folds it, smashes it, then shoves it in her mouth. She tilts her head up momentarily as she swallows. After a few moments of repeating the motion, she smiles and states, "Waffles are great!"
Concerned that the group may be gathering a little too much attention, Ærik says "I don't know that we need it, but I'm feeling a little exposed with all of us here. I'm going to try to use a little magic, to make us less trackable if we have to split." With that he reaches into his Duster, and pulls out a pinch of what appears to be ash, sprinkles it in the breeze, and mutters a couple words. (Pass without a Trace, good for one hour on the entire group) "There, I don't know if that was necessary, but we have a bonus on our attempts at stealth, and we cannot be tracked without magic." He says to the group.
“Ummmm....I don’t think that was necessary. Let me back away and try and get in contact with Liz.” Ryan says as he steps about 40 feet away and attempts to call Liz but there is no answer.
Ryan returns. “So, she isn’t answering.” Ryan pinches the bridge of his nose.
“I’m going to try something. Kieran do you think you can describe who called the cops on you.” Ryan asks
"Let's get out of sight of the restaurant real quick" Kieran says nervously, backing around a corner. Once out of sight, he relaxes a little. Once settled again, Kieran turns back to Ryan. "It was the waitress inside. Liz tried to pickpocket a guy we were talking to, he stabbed her in the hand with a butter knife, and we got out of there. Heard her calling 911 as we left, mentioning a man and a woman together, which is why we split up." He then proceeds to describe the waitress.
“Do you know if Liz got caught?” Ryan asks
With a shrug, "No clue. Like I said, we split up, almost as soon as we got out of sight of the restaurant. Haven't seen her since. We were going to meet back at the car at dark or something." Kieran says
Ryan sighs. “Okay. I’ll try and talk to the waitress and such to see if they’re going to press charges. And then go down to the Police Station to see if she’s been detained. Why don’t you guys go down to the Plastered Dragon in Nolan’s car and discuss what we all found. I’ll try and join you guys with Liz later. Kieran I’ll give you a text when I figure out where Liz is.”
"How long ago did you split up, before Ryan leaves to find her?"Ærik adds.
"A bit over an hour ago." Kieran asks
"Drinking, or talking to people, easy choice for me. I'll go with them." Ærik says, and then looks at Ryan. "We can discuss later, during Pizza." Ærik then attempts to get Kalls attention. "KALL, would you like your Bebe back, or can I carry it for you for a while?"
"I would like my Bebe back," Kall responds. "Bebe needs a drink." She pulls a water bottle from her pocket, which is far too small to contain such a thing.
Ærik holds out Bebe with both hands and says,"I have enjoyed my time with her, should you need someone to watch her again, just ask. "
"I will," she responds, accepting the plant. She sets it down and opens the water bottle, pouring the contents into the plant's soil. "Oh, Ryan found something," she says, standing. "A music device." There's a click sound like she's unbuttoning something and she pulls a lyre from her pocket.
"Nice. Why don't you go with all the others to the Plastered Dragon? I'll get Liz and then we can all go over everything we found. Now if you'll excuse me time to go talk to a waitress and see if people are pressing charges." Ryan says as he makes his way back to the Waffle House.
"I like waffles," Kall whispers after Ryan. And then as he’s leaving she shouts “Wait, Ryan!”
"Yes." Ryan responds.
She rushes over, handing him her trash and the empty water bottle.
"Oh, ummm.....thanks. I'll throw the trash away and recycle the water bottle." Ryan says
"Thank you," Kall says, returning to Bebe and the car.
As Ryan enters the Waffle House he gets rid of the trash. His phone ringing just as he does. Ryan sees that it’s Liz calling him.
Ryan answers his phone "Liz. What the ****?"
"Hey! Buddy!" Liz sounds like nothing's wrong. "Hey, I need a lift and you just *happen* to be the only other number in my phone that is currently taking my calls. Wanna hook a friend up with a lift?"
"Where are you Liz?" Ryan asks.
"Little place called the Police Station." Liz laughed. "Maybe you've heard of it?"
Ryan audibly sighs through the phone as he leaves the Waffle House. Then a grin comes across his face "Can I pick you up in your car?"
Liz reached into her pocket, and pulled out her keys. "No, I have the keys in my hand."
"What if I don't need the keys?" Ryan responds.
"Don't you dare touch my Sweetie! I'll kill you, Ryan!" Then Liz's voice gets distant from the phone for a moment. "No, officer, it's just a joke! I promise, I'm not *actually* going to kill anyone!" Then her voice gets closer to the receiver again, but is hushed. "I will *totally* ******* kill you," she whispered.
"Okay. I'll just let the tow truck take it then." Ryan tells her.
"No! Wait!" Rustling is heard on the phone, then more ambient noise as Liz stepped outside. "Don't you dare let them take my Sweetie!"
"If I get in they can't take it. And then I'll just pay off the tow truck and drive it to you. Does that sound good to you?" Ryan offers.
Liz growls. "What are you going to do?"
"Just hot wire it." Ryan says.
"****," Liz grumbled. She sighed loudly. "Fine, just... don't get in any accidents on your way here. I'm not joking Ryan, I'll ******* kill you right here in front of these cops."
“Thanks bye.” Ryan says hanging up before she can change her mind.
Liz was brought in and thrown into a holding cell for 15 minutes before someone comes along and asks her to pee in a cup, saying they would be back in 5 minutes. Liz sighs, looking at the cup. Resigning herself to this humiliation, if there was a possibility it would get her what she wanted, she unbuttoned her jeans and began to pee in the cup, staring at the security camera the entire time. If she was going to be made uncomfortable by this, she was sure as hell making anyone else watching just as uncomfortable. Once she was done, she left the cup near the entrance of her cell. A second after she’s done, the same man returns and grabs it. Liz is left to wait there for about 45 minutes. Finally alone, Liz stretches out on the cot, determined to get a nap, since she didn't sleep well the night previous, and swiftly fell asleep in no time. An hour’s nap later, an officer raps on the bars and wakes you. “Scuse me, ma’am. Your lawyer is here.”
"Don't have no lawyer," Liz mumbled. Sitting up, she looked at the officer, and popped her neck. "Can't have a lawyer visit me if I don't have one. While you're here, I'd like to talk to someone about a couple missing persons. Would that be you? Could you help me?"
“Good afternoon, Ms. Remington,” an impeccably dressed man in a three piece suit greets Liz. “I am your attorney, Mr. Green.” The officer quickly left, leaving Liz alone with this man she'd never seen before.
"Hey, thanks for answering my question," Liz yelled after the officer. She frowned and looked at the man in the suit. "Mr. Green is the worst cover name I've ever heard. Who are you?"
“There’s something so classic about BEN cover names,” the man muses, walking over to the security camera and waving his hands in front of it. “They are so perfectly obvious, yet everyone chooses to just ignore them. In any case, I am the agent who has been assigned to your case, Ms. Remington.”
"What 'case?' I don't have a case." Liz looked at the suited man a bit longer then lay back on the cot again.
“Of course you have a case, Ms. Remington,” the man snapped his fingers and the camera gave a small spark. “Career hunter, such as yourself, who manages to become a person of interest in the Lake Buena Vista case and get picked up by the cops for causing a disturbance in the same day... you’re quite impressive.”
"What can I say," Liz said with a lopsided grin. "It's a talent. So, what's the case?"
“Mostly how to keep you from destroying the delicate balance between magical and mundane,” the man arches an eyebrow. “Things like bringing a partially transformed werewolf into a Waffle House go against what we stand for.”
"Right, because that was me," Liz said angrily, sitting up suddenly. "I did not transform anything. I wouldn't begin to know how. Not in my skill set, asshat."
“I said bringing, not being.”
"Oh, because I knew that would happen, right?" Standing, Liz crossed her arms over her chest. "You realize I only met him a few hours ago, and know nothing about the guy? Also, I didn't "bring a partially transformed werewolf into" anything."
“Ms. Remington, I am merely attempting to convey to you the situation you have put me in,” the man replies. “Your compatriot broke several secrecy statutes, which I would tell him if he was here. Unfortunately for myself, the local authorities were only able to apprehend yourself.”
"Yeah, well, good luck next time," Liz growled. "You done lecturing me, dad?"
“Not quite,” he replies. “Why were you investigating the LBV Case? And where are your parents?”
"Why don't you tell me?" Liz moved to the bars and leaned forward as far as she could. "What did you all do to them?"
“BEN currently does not know the whereabouts of either of your parents, hence why I am asking you.”
"If I knew... well, I wouldn't tell you," Liz grinned again. "But you could be sure I wouldn't be here, if I knew where they were."
"Fascinating," the man replies. "Well, Ms. Remington, here is my card," he hands her a thick business card that simply says a name and phone number. "If you learn anything, do let me know. I would very much like to help you."
Liz doesn't move, doesn't take the card. "Explain to me how you want to help me, before I touch that thing."
"Smart girl," he gives a half-smile. "We are both clearly looking for the same people. If I find them, I'd be happy to let you know. Conversely, if you make a discovery about the LBV investigation, I'd appreciate it if you gave me a call."
"Wait, are you saying you think my parents are involved with what happened here?" Liz pulled back, confused. "When I was in your jail cell this morning, I was told my parents weren't related to this at all. Now you say we're looking for the same people. I need you to tell me what happened here." Her heart racing, she didn't wait for a response. "They've been missing for two weeks. If they're involved, I need to know if there's a possibility that they're..." She paused, choking on her words.
“There are two separate investigations going on as of now, with the only thing linking the two being yourself, Ms. Remington,” the man said coolly.
Liz stepped closer once again, fear apparent in her eyes. "You'll tell me if you get even the slightest whiff of their presence? You'll tell me if they're... dead?" She squeaked out the word, letting it hang dreadfully in the air.
“If you agree to help me, then yes.”
"What are you expecting of me?" Liz asked, scared of the answer. "Tell me absolutely everything. No lying."
“Merely to keep me apprised of your own investigation,” Mr. Green replied. “If you find something that seems important, call me.”
Liz considered this a moment, then quickly snatched the card from his hand. She quickly wiped a stray tear away, acting as if it were never there. "You getting me outta here, or what?"
“You will be able to leave here with no additional charges added to your record,” Mr. Green says. “After I leave, an officer will be in to let you out shortly.”
"Thanks," Liz replied, then pressed her lips together, wondering how horrible of a mistake this was going to end up being. But she was pressed into a corner, with no other clear way out.
“Thank you, Ms. Remington,” the man straightened his tie. “Do try to be more careful in the future.”
"No guarantees," Liz mumbled, staring at the business card. It’s a black card, with in green writing ‘Mr. Green’ and then below that ‘(407)666-1234.’ Mr. Green leaves without another word. A moment later, an officer comes in and unlocks the cell."Finally convinced I'm not a crackhead?" Liz asks, snidely.
“Sorry about that, sugar,” a different police officer than before hands you a baggie containing all of your things.
"Oh, I'm sure you are." Liz double checked that all her belongings were intact, then quickly put Mr. Green's number in her phone. Once she has Mr. Greens number in her phone, she puts the business card in her pocket. Then, after staring at her phone for a bit, she dials Ryan's number. "Liz. What the ****?"
Once Ryan finished his conversation, Nolan offered, "You could take my car but..." he glanced over to Liz's car, "that's a nice ride."
“I don’t want to make a trip back her if I didn’t have to. And besides she gave me permission. Now Ærik, is your magic still up. I want to do this without drawing a lot of attention. So you and your magic can help hide, maybe you too Kieran. And then I get in, starts it, and we’ll pick up Liz.” Ryan explains
"Don't hurt Liz's Bebe," Kall objects.
"My magic holds. It will hold for an hour from the time I cast it." Ærik replies. "Now this kind of theft makes sense. What was she thinking...?"(edited) "Ryan will be gentle. He won't hurt Bebe KALL. It will be all right" Ærik says, turning to face KALL.
“Alright let’s do this. But first....is anyone watching.” Ryan looks around to see if anyone is paying attention to them.
"I am watching," Kall responds, looking at Ryan's hands.
“Good job.” Ryan says as he looks to see if anyone is watching.
"I am watching too," Nolan added as a jest.
Kieran says nothing, just stands and stares at Ryan.
Kall nods to Nolan as they both watch Ryan.
Nolan looked to Kall, and then to Kieran, and then to Ryan with narrowed eyes. Then he looked back to Kieran, then to Kall, then doubled back on Kieran, and then returned his gaze to Ryan.
Ærik is watching everyone watch one another, and asks himself if he's made the right choice.
While waiting, Liz begins to pace impatiently, outside the police station.
[Per 20] Not seeing anyone looking Ryan attempts to stealthily lock pick Liz’s car door open. {lockpick 10}
"It didn't work," Kall says. She then turns to Nolan and whispers, "It didn't work."
Kieran leans in and whispers to Nolan, "It don't think it worked."
He chuckled to himself. Kall's oddities were quickly rubbing off on the group. He touched Ryan's shoulder and uttered a simple arcane phrase (Guidance). Which was a wasted effort, as Ryan completely failed to pick the lock. He sighed and handed him his keys. "It's an automatic. 2014 Subaru Impreza. Shouldn't be too hard to drive. Don't wreck her. She's like a bebe to me."
[Lockpick 14] “I got it.” Ryan says pulling open the passenger side door before unlocking the others and sliding over to the drivers seat. “Now comes the fun part.” Ryan says as he begins the process necessary for hot wiring the car. With a roar the car comes alive. “We’re in business boys. Not let’s go pick up Liz.” Ryan says revving up the engine. [Hotwire 20]
Kieran gets a nervous look again. "Might be better off if I don't go to the Police Station..."
“Ride with Nolan then. You guys can just go to the Plastered Dragon. We’ll met you there it shouldn’t be too long.” Ryan says.
"Works for me." Kieran replies, walking over to Nolan's car and trying the passenger side door.
"Shotgun," Kall states, scrambling into the passenger's seat with Bebe.
“If everything settled. Let’s go.” Ryan says driving those who are in Liz’s car to the police station while Nolan and the others go to the Plastered Dragon, which Ryan told them was only a couple blocks away from his apartment.
Ærik hops in the back behind Ryan. "Let's go get her, so we can chew on her a little."
Liz continues to pace, thinking of all the horrible things Ryan could be doing to her car right now.
The passenger side door was unlocked, allowing Kieran to sit down in the hot car. Nolan muttered to himself as he sat down, keeping the driver's door open as the heat slowly rolled out. "Should've cracked the windows." With that in mind, he started the car and followed Ryan.
As the engine roars, and Ryan starts driving to the police station, sitting in the back seat, Ærik has to suppress an almost irresistible urge to shift into a giant dog, and shed hair all over the back seat, while hanging his head out the window. Not trusting his current company quite enough yet, he holds back and settles in for the ride.
Eventually Ryan pulls up outside the police station and in his best Regina Jorge impression says “Get in loser we’re going to the Plastered Dragon.”
Liz stood there a moment, looking over the car. Finally satisfied that it hadn't been damaged, she looked at the passengers. For a moment, she considered telling Ryan to get in the backseat, but she frowned and got into the back anyway. "Thanks," she mumbled, staring out the window. It was strange to be in the backseat of her own car.
Ryan also looks confused but decides not to question it as he drives off to the Plastered Dragon.
"Hi Liz," Kall says. "I have shotgun..." As an afterthought she adds, "You tried to pick someone's pocket and got caught. I can teach you how to pick someone's pocket and not get caught. It's easy."(edited)
Liz sank down in the seat. "Thanks for the reminder," she grumbled, still staring out the window.
Ryan looks back at her through the mirror and says “So you got caught, big deal. It happens to everyone eventually. Cheer up. We’re getting pizza later.” Ryan says with a smile(edited)
"Sausage pizza," Kall adds. "Extra sausage."
"Yeah," Liz said, absently. She pulled the black card from her pocket and looked at it for a few moments.
Ærik sitting beside her at this point growls slightly, then asks "We're your parents in that jail?"
Still looking at the card, Liz replied, "No."
Ærik shakes his head disapprovingly, and replies, "We agreed to doing "illegal* things. I don't give a shit about human laws. I care about right and wrong. Ryan borrowed your car, so we could come get you. That's illegal, but it was right. Stealing from an old man, is wrong if it wasn't to find your parents in jail, then why? It is going to be very hard to help you, when you don't seem to want to help us do that. I gave you my word to help, and I still intend to do that, but use your damn head girl"(edited)
Liz quickly shoved the card back in her pocket. "Yeah," she said, resting her head against the window, and continued to brood.
“Okay” Ryan says loudly trying to break the tension. “Why don’t I play some good music and we all relax for now?” As Ryan suggest it he changes the radio station to the first country station he can find in hopes they’re playing some Kenny Brown.
Liz scowls at the music choice, but decides she doesn't have the will to fight.
Ærik recognizes the signs of a caged animal, who is withdrawing from her captors, "Liz... I'm sorry. I lost my mother years ago, and made a horrible mistake in my rage afterwards. It is the reason BEN knows about me. We will help you. We can find them, but we need your help to do that."
"Yeah," Liz said once again, then frowned. "Getting arrested didn't effect anyone besides me." She took a deep breath then pulled the black card out again. "What I did to get out might."
"Well ****, " Ærik responds, "I thought they released you. What happened?"
"My 'lawyer' showed up." Liz handed the black card to Erik. It was a black card, with green writing stating ‘Mr. Green’ and then below that ‘(407)666-1234.'
"BEN... Mine was Mr. Black, on the same Black card." Ærik says, with a noticable tone of distaste in his mouth. "What did he do to you? Did he hurt you?"
Liz shook her head. "I'm fine. BEN knows nothing, or little to nothing, about what happened in LBV. He... made me a deal. Info on the 'incident' for info on my parents." She quickly wiped a stray tear from her face, hoping it had gone unseen.
"Info," Kall says, handing Liz the lyre they found.
Liz took the lyre, and looked it over. "I know nothing about this."
Ryan laughs, "I don't know if that is quite the information they are talking about but, we'll help Liz. I don't know what I would do if my parents we're gone so....I'll help."
"Ryan" Ærik says, "Liz might have something you can use. Mr Green was so helpful and left her his phone number. Can you use that in any way?"
"This was sitting at the bottom of the lake. There was a flute too, but it was in a crack Nolan couldn't wiggle into," Kall explains.
"No," Liz said quickly to Erik, snatching back the card. "I'm not dragging anyone else into servitude with BEN. They made me their ***** today."
"Maybe?" Ryan says, "BEN agents are a little harder to track and such thats normally why I go a roundabout way by using the local PD. But, I can certainly try. And don't worry Liz I'm good at making BEN work for me without them realizing it." Ryan finishes with a reassuring smile.(edited)
"Nolan needs to lose weight," Kall says, coming to the conclusion it would help.
Liz handed the lyre back to Kall. "Do you think I could get into that crack?"
"You can wiggle well?" Kall asks.
Liz shrugged. "I can try."
"They did that to us all long ago Liz, being caged this morning did nothing but remind me how useless it was to try and hide from them"
"I was doing well, for a while," Liz said, leaning her head against the window again, the black business card still in her hand.
"Maybe," Kall says assessing her body.
Liz caught Kall looking her over, and shifted uncomfortably. "Stop that."
Kall nods, then turns her attention back to the front, then looks back again, then back to the front. She then looks at Ryan and whispers, "I think her butt might be too big."(edited)
Ryan just gives Kall a weird look but decides to not comment on it.
(Meanwhile in the other car) Kieran looks to Nolan while they drive to the Plastered Dragon. "So, how long have you been a hunter?"
Nolan smiled, pulling out of some trance while he drives. He let out a nervous chuckle before responding, "Uhhhh... I'm not really a hunter. I just help the people who have been hunted. Sometimes it means I hunt, but it's never been anything large. Maybe a goblin in disguise as a midget, but that's it. What about you? You have any marks you're proud of?" @Kieran Bedford
“I have plenty of scars, but most of them aren’t from things I’ve fought.” He pulls@up the sleeve of his shirt to expose a long scar down the outside of his upper arm. “Worst of those is this one.”
He glanced over quickly before returning his eyes to the road. "You got a story behind it?"
“Werewolf,” Kieran responds, a far-off, pained look in his eyes. “it was my introduction to the magical world.” “What about you? How’d you learn magic was real?”
He paused, uncertain of where to begin. "I... was in Poland. At least, I think this is why. I was walking in a forest when a centaur ran out of the brush and into me. I didn't realize what it was at the time but, I learned soon after. It scurried off and away, and I was too stunned to say anything. My hands started glowing a few days later, and after a few months, I'd learned to cast a few minor spells. Aaaaannnnndddd... now I'm here.
Getting out of the car, Liz hesitated. "I'll come in later." She went around to the trunk, opened it, and pulled out a toolbox, then headed to the driver's side.
Kieran notes Lizbeth's car parking ahead of them just before Nolan parks his own. Kieran steps out of the car and sees Liz remain outside, doing something with her car while the others go into the bar. He walks over to the driver's side door. "Liz! Are you all right?"
Liz gives Kieran a bright smile. "Yeah, sure! All peach-keen here!" She slides to the ground then leans in under the dashboard. "Just gotta... fix a thing."
Kieran chuckles, remembering the attempts to pick the lock, then Ryan hot-wiring the car. "I'll bet. Glad you're okay. I'll let you work." He heads inside and joins the others in the booth, ordering an ale when he can get the bartender's attention.
You arrive at the Plastered Dragon at about 3 in the afternoon. Thunderclouds loom on the horizon; it’s safe to expect a downpour in the next hour or so.
Hector, the bartender, is serving the other patrons when you arrive. A visibly half-elven woman sits at the bartop, an adventuring party of four occupies one table, and a flirting couple appears to be enjoying post-lunch drinks on the other side of the bar. It’s not super busy, but there’s just enough activity for you to fade into the background.
“What can I get for you?” Hector asks as soon as you sit down at one of the large corner booths.
“Hector” Ryan says as though they are old friends, “Why don’t we start off with some appetizers, mozzarella sticks, and I think we should lay off any drinking until we get a definitive plan made for tonight. We shouldn’t be drunk on the job.”
“What’s the job, Ryan?” Hector asks.
“Some strange stuff happening at Lake Buena Vista. Just trying to investigate and contain. You know the normal.” Ryan says.
Ryan sighs, “Really. Drinking when we might be going out for a hunt in a little bit.” Ryan says to Kieran after Hector leaves.
Kieran shrugs. "I'm not gonna get drunk off of one ale."
“You better not because we might be going for a swim.” Ryan says, knowing he can’t stop a grown individual from doing what they want.
Nolan's ears perked up. "Swimming? Are we going back to Disneyland? Oh!" He looked to Kall. "Did you show them the lyre I found?"
“Yes. We saw the lyre. And then we found this at the actual lake.” Ryan says showing the black feather. “It definitely comes from something magical. And the animals were talking about the incident at the other lake. They know that they didn’t do it. No animal did.”
Speaking of the lake, we haven't had a great opportunity to talk yet. Did you guys happen to notice a magical woman in the lake while you were there?"
Ryan shakes his head no.
"Before Liz tried to pickpocket the guy at the Waffle House, he said he saw a woman come out of the lake, totally naked, singing the most beautiful song he ever heard." Kieran says
Nolan hissed. "I knew Excalibur had something to do with it."
Kieran chuckles. "I did think of that. Though he didn't mention a sword. He even mentioned King Arthur and called her the Lady of the Lake"
“Hmmmmm......a luring song and the feather makes me think we might be dealing with something like a Harpy. But why? And what’s with the canoe being eaten at Lake Mabel.” Ryan ponders aloud.
"A canoe being eaten?" Kieran asks.
“It was in the news. It’s at Lake Mabel which is close-ish to the resorts so it kind of encompasses part of the whole LBV area. I first thought it might have been an alligator or something but they said it wasn’t them.” Ryan explains
"They said...you talked to the alligators?" Kieran asks Ryan.
Ryan chuckles “Not me. Ærik. He’s connected to nature. A Druid. I’ve ran into a couple in my own guild but they’re not super common.”
Kieran nods, looking over at Ærik. "I've heard of Druids, but you're the first one I've met."
"You're Kieran right?" Ærik asks. "We haven't had a chance to chat yet. Yes, I am what they call a Druid. What do you specialize in?" Turning back to the barkeep, he says "Hey Hector, can I get a pint of your finest Ale, and fill this guys cup back up." Sliding a ten dollar bill across the counter he adds, "please keep the change"
Nolan took in the scene around him. It'd been years since he was last in a bar. It was an Irish bar back in Orange County near his old home. "I'll just take water," he suggested with a smile.
“Yes, I’m Kieran. I specialize in hunting monsters,” he says, patting his longbow. “I’m a blood hunter.”
"Blood Hunter, hmm..." Ærik replies, "Is that like a blood hound, do you sniff out your prey?"
Kieran chuckles. “Something like that. I do indeed have increased tracking abilities, but only for certain kinds of targets, such as Fiends and undead, as well as creatures of “the Fey
"Or he hunts people *with* his blood." Nolan faked a shudder at the thought.
“As a matter of fact, I do also have better than normal senses of smell and hearing as well.” Kieran answers.
Nolan looked around warily before whispering, "Do... do you *drink* their blood? Like a vampire?"
Kieran gives Nolan a disgusted look. “Ew, not that’s gross.”
Nolan chuckled. "I know. Well. I was like... *82%* certain I knew. But there's gotta be *some* reason vampires do it," he added nonchalantly.
"That shall be something to see. I look forward to seeing you in action." Ærik turns to Nolan, "Human blood is definitely an acquired taste. I have rarely enjoyed the flavor." A big grin now on his face, bearing his teeth slightly.
Nolan’s light-hearted demeanor sours with melancholy as he absent-mindedly coughed nervously and shifted back in his seat, staring at his glass of water as the smile faded.
Ryan just laughs at the entire exchange.
As Kall enters the Plastered Dragon, she glances around briefly before approaching the rest of the group. Upon getting close, she starts kicking one of her legs out. With each kick her illusion melts down the side of her leg and into the ground. Eventually Kall stands with the group in their true form. A humanoid crow from head to toe, the Kenku wears a tropical shirt buttoned down the front side. Two large fanny packs are strapped around their waist with a carabiner clip holding the lyre in place. A pair of sandles is strapped to their feet and adorned atop the kenku's head is a fresh set of Mickey Mouse ears. Kall turns their attention to the group and listens, tilting their head as the conversation continues.
“Wow! JC wasn’t kidding when he said you were a tourist.” Ryan comments on Kall.
Nolan glanced over to Kall, more confused than ever. "Is this another one of your forms?" he asked, half-expecting to know the answer.
Kall nods to Ryan, "A tourist," they reply in his voice. They then glance over to Nolan and say, "No, my form." Kall's voice changes to Nolans as they answer him.
Kall places Bebe on the floor, allowing her to stretch her roots. She plops out of the planter and hugs the Kenku's leg, small eyes watching the group. At the same moment, JC appears atop the kenku's head, leaning against one of the Mickey ears.
"So nice to breath the smokey air of the Plastered Dragon again," JC says, flapping their wings in comfort.
Using Arial's voice, Kall asks, "How long can we stay? My buns are burning." Kicking off their sandles, Kall sits on a nearby stool. Bebe waddles over, lifting its branches to be picked up. After a moment, Kall complies and lifts the small plant into their lap.
"Long enough to eat, plan our next move, and wait out the inevitable 15 minute downpour thats going to happen." Ryan answers.
Ærik turns back to Nolan. "I've only had to kill a human a few times. Except for once, they all were sent to the nine circles of hell to repent for eternity." With that he reaches out and takes the pint of ale placed in front of him by Hector. He raises the glass to the sky and says "Praise Valhalla. May Freyja bless us this day in our quest for truth". Ærik chugs the pint and slams the glass back on the counter.
"I mean... I try not to judge, but doesn't that seem a bit... *gruesome*? The whole viking lifestyle?" Nolan asked carefully.
"Ay, twas at that. I no longer embrace my Berserker blood line though. A darker God in darker times. I serve the Goddess Freyja and, I only use *those* gifts when really needed now." Ærik responds. "I haven't taken a life in a decade, but have saved any I could"
“A decade,” Ryan says surprised. “How old are you Ærik?”
"I'm only 28, so young for a *Druid* or so I'm told. My Teacher in school was over 200yrs. He had a plant like Bebe, but his was a nasty mean Ol' cactus" Ærik replies. "I have much to learn before I can *Awaken* a plant."
"I have killed monsters, but I have not taken a *human* life in a decade." Ærik adds after thinking for a moment.
Ryan nods along, “Sorry for the surprise. The way you speak suggested that you were older than I initially thought but, it seems your just wise beyond your years.” He says, apologizing as a force of habit.
"7 years basically in solitude, atoning to the Goddess, I forget how little time I've actually been alive, " Ærik chuckles, "Learning from a 200yr old gnome, affects how you treat others. I'm also learning. "
Ærik stands and says. "I was looking forward to the rain. I'm going to see if Liz split with the car, and hopefully see the sky cry for us. I *will* stay close, you talk to the others and come get us when we're leaving. " With that he grins at Ryan, straightens his Duster, and heads toward the door.
(Liz is sitting in her car, kinda hunched over her steering wheel)
Ærik strode out the front doors, paying no attention to the group he had just left at the bar. He was hoping that Liz hadn't taken off. As he opens the doors, he lets his eyes adjust from the smokey interior, to the outdoor day. He takes a couple steps and breathes in the electric air. It is charged and ready to release the impending downpour. Ærik takes his time, appreciating the clouds, and makes his way to Liz's car. He walks around to the drivers side door. Seeing Liz slumped over the wheel, he taps lightly twice on the window, and says. "Liz, I'm sorry I chewed on you. May I enter your car?"
Liz quickly rubbed her face across the sleeve of her leather jacket. "Sure," she said, not looking up.
Ærik walks around to the passenger side, opens the door, and slides into her car. "I hope it rains, I love the rain. I would rather see the sky cry, than you. I am sorry I was mean to you. We all do mistakes."
Liz leaned back in the seat, and smiled. "Hey, no problem. It happens."
"Do you have this car ready to go again? Ryan did appear to be very careful when borrowing it" Ærik asks, hoping to change the subject.
"Yeah, nothing I can't handle." Liz gave the steering wheel a gentle stroke. "This car and I have been through a lot together. She's got my back, I've got hers."
"The ale in there is pretty good, do you want to wait out the storm, and then go join the others?" Ærik asks. "I think I scared the little mage in there, and you can't feel much more connected to the Earth, than standing out in a nice rain storm. Whatya say.?"
Liz looked out the window. "Yeah, I like the rain. It reminds me that no matter how much ****ed up stuff there is in the world, it can be washed away."
Ærik thinks about her words for a minute. "Yeah, I guess it does. That's another way of seeing it. I can picture myself being bathed in the Goddess's tears."
Liz looked at him, her eyes red and puffy. "Goddess?"
Ærik responds quickly, "Yes, the Goddess. I serve the Norse Goddess, Freyja, said to have taught Odin himself the Nature magic he uses. It is she who grants me access to her magics." With this last statement, he makes a slight motion with his left hand, mutters something unintelligible, and Liz swears she hears the soft sounds of a waterfall coming from the back seat. It only lasts for a couple seconds and is gone.
Liz whips around to check her backseat. "Hmph... impressive. I always thought those old myths were... well, just myths." She shifted slightly, putting her back to the door and pulling her right leg up onto the seat, giving herself a better view of Erik. "I mean, I know there are crazy things out there, but I didn't know that the gods and goddesses of the old myths were real. You ever meet her? Like, face to face?"
"As real as a dream or vision in your mind can be. I feel her power in the Earth. I have heard her voice. I can picture her face in the light. She is beyond words." Ærik responds. "You fight demons, but don't believe in God's" He shakes his head trying to understand. "You are a mystery to me indeed "
Liz shrugged. "Never seen one. With what I've been through in my life, I can't really concern myself with things I haven't seen. If there's a demon, it needs to be killed, and that's where I come in. Never heard of someone needing to kill an angel or a god before."
"I've seen and done things I'm both proud of, and very ashamed of." Ærik says, his voice growing more somber. "I assure you, that they are real. I have lost the Goddess's favor, lost my magic, and spent many years atoning. I believe, and don't take my oaths lightly."
"Must be nice to have faith in something," Liz mused, gazing at him.
Ærik looks at Liz, trying to catch her gaze. "You must believe these monsters come from somewhere. Without the God's, then where? How can you have no faith.? You lead a stranger life than I thought" He adds, feeling saddened by her pain, but still confused by her lack of faith. At that last statement, Ærik turns his gaze back to the clouds, hoping the rain comes soon.
"I honestly don't care where the monsters come from." Liz held eye contact with Erik. "I only care about keeping people safe. That's not a terrible reason is it? If I have to do a few illegal things to ensure the safety of others, and keep our big secret, does that instantly make me a bad person?"
"I don't think you're a bad person, " Ærik responds. "And I guess it doesn't matter where they come from, as long as we stop them. We have to do that without hurting those we are trying to protect.." His voice trailing off. "That's often the hardest part.
Liz frowned at Erik. "You ever hurt someone?"
Ærik turns toward her again, a lone tear starts to run down his face. "I have hurt many and I have killed many, they were all monsters, human or otherwise.... except the first. I learned that day, that i was the monster."
Liz frowned and leaned forward, brushing the tear from his face. "You're not a monster. You're trying to help people, right? A monster wouldn't do that. You feel the pain of guilt and a monster wouldn't. The fact that you're here, bearing your soul to a complete stranger tells me you're the farthest thing from a monster as you can get." She gave him a kind smile and patted his cheek.
Ærik shakes off the melancholy upon seeing her smile. "No, thank you. You are right. I am NOT a monster unless I choose to be. BEN kinda broke me again with the caging" His words ending in a slight snarl. He starts again, firm but no longer angry "I am blessed with a gift, I'm not a cursed beast with no free will. I choose to do the right thing and walk proud in this world. The question is, whether I trust you to do the same."
"I do what I have to do, Erik." Liz paused, glancing out the window. "Kieran... changed, right there in front of that old man. I don't know what he was thinking, honestly, but BEN knows what he did. I got blamed for it, and that's okay. I don't mind. They caught me and not him, so they couldn't punish him for what he did." She glanced back at Erik. "I told you, I'm not above doing illegal things to protect others."
A look of realization coming across Ærik's face. He looks down in shame, shaking his head side to side. " Oh The blindness of judgement." With this he looks back up, "You were protecting the shifter... That's why you picked the old man's pocket. Now I Kenna." Ærik gets a slight puzzled look on his face and asks, "You said he changed just his hand?"
"His arm," Liz said, noticing sprinkles on the windshield. "Right there, in the diner. I know the man saw it, but for some reason, acted like he hadn't. Denial, perhaps, I don't know. I'm not sure if the waitress saw, but there's no way the security camera didn't see it. I panicked and did what I thought was best." She shrugged and suddenly the sky let loose, rain pouring down on the top of the old car, reminiscent of rain on a tin roof. Liz leaned her head against the seat and closed her eyes. "That's the best sound in the world."
"Just an arm..... He told me he is a Blood Hunter. I will have to keep a better eye on that one." Erik says. He then starts to remove his duster, and as he opens the car door and steps into the rain, he tells Liz, "I will enjoy the sound better out here. I'll see you in a few." With that he closes the car door and looks up to the pouring sky. He takes his time, enjoying the rain, and leaning on his staff.
Liz jumps out of the car quickly. "Erik," she called, running to catch up to him. "Do me a favor, please, and don't tell anyone why I got arrested. I don't want anyone to yell at him like... well, like you yelled at me. It's over and done, and I'm hoping we can all most past this." Some of her hair was clinging to her face, and she brushed it back. "Just let me be the stupid girl."
"Does that mean you forgive me for chewing on you?" Erik asks in response "I think I would like it if you did." His lips curling into a grin. "I can respect your wish, now that i understand it." With his right hand, he taps his staff twice on the ground, reaches up and taps her shoulder twice with his left hand. A faint electric sound being made at the point of contact with his hand and her shoulder. [Druidcraft (the faint elctric sound when he toucches Liz's shoulder touched your shoulder)]
Liz jumped slightly at the electrical sound at her ear. She looked quickly, but saw nothing. "Yeah, yeah, I forgive you. But honestly," she laughed. "If you want to chew on me, all you have to do is ask." She laughed again and began walking to the bar.
Happy to no longer have Liz angry with him, and glad he feels he can trust her, Erik finally relaxes. He leans back against Liz's car, and watches her go into the bar, while feeling the last remaining tension from being caged washed away in the rain.
Liz burst into the bar, huge grin on her face. She wrung the water from her hair and looked around. Once her eyes had adjusted, she spotted her newfound friends, and sauntered over to their table. "Okay *****es," she said, plopping down into a chair. "Where's my beer?"
"Well that invoked a slew of emotions," he mused at Liz's entrance as he finished the last of his water. Standing up from the table, he added, "I'll getcha one. Is your car okay?"
"Thank you, that would be wonderful," Liz said at the mention of beer. "My Sweetie is just fine. Nothing I can't handle," she said, giving Ryan a grin.
“She drove beautifully. And hopefully she’ll do just fine to our next stop. I think Lake Mabel is where we need to go next.” Ryan says back to Liz.
"She'll do just fine," Liz said with a wink. "So, we're going to go find the naked lady in the lake? Sounds like a party to me!"
“Yeah. She may be more than what meets the eye though.” Ryan says holding up the feather and the musical instrument.
"Oh, I'm certain she is." Crossing her arms over her chest, Liz sat back in the chair. "She's straight out of Avalon, which isn't exactly normal."
Nolan blushed like a red rose blossoming as he returned with Liz's beer, overhearing their plan. "We're uhh.... what?"
"Lady in the lake," Liz said, grabbing the beer. After a long drink, she continued. "King Arthur, Excalibur? Naked women in lakes handing out swords and forming governments. Well, Kieran and I were told by the old man at Waffle House that he saw the Lady in the Lake."
"Where's my beer, *****es?" Kall asks Nolan as he comes back with Liz's beer.
Liz burst out laughing, then stopped quickly, finally realizing just what Kall really was. "Well now," she said leaning forward. "You certainly much more interesting than your first appear. Impressive disguising skills." She took another long drink of her beer, while looking over Kall.
Bebe hugs onto Kall tightly when Liz leans over to inspect them. "Thank you darling," Kall replies in Arial's voice.
Liz grinned and sat back in her seat. "So, what did you all find? Surely nothing as exciting as naked women!"
Nolan sighed, feigning frustration with a sarcastic tone. "What am I, the Mormon bus-boy?!" He threw his hands up in the air to dramatize the effect before doing what he was told and grabbing a beer for Kall.
As Nolan returns again, Kieran grins at him and asks the same question.
Ryan rolls his eyes. “Stop teasing the poor boy. I’ll go get it you can sit down.” Ryan says getting up and offering his seat to Nolan.
"ANYONE ELSE WANT A BEER WHILE I'M STILL STANDING," Nolan yelled as heads turned.
Liz laughs and pulls Nolan into his chair. "Don't let them rile you up. Tell them to **** off, you'll feel better."
Kieran chuckles at Nolan and raises his ale glass, showing he doesn’t actually need a drink.(edited)
He chuckled after a moment. "Eh. It's not a big deal to me either way."
Ryan shakes his head and heads off to the bar, hoping to also chat with Hector about what a certain feather might be from.
Kall sticks their beak into the glass, feeding the beer into their mouth small bits at a time. When the Kenku comes back up, small foam lines outline their beak. "Thank you, Nolan," Kall says in Lillianna's voice.
Liz smiled and looked around the table at everyone. "You know, I never work with others. But I get the feeling that I'm going to enjoy working with you all." She sent a glance at the door. "I hope Erik joins us soon. I'd hate for him to miss all the fun."
Feeling quite relaxed and having truly enjoyed the rain fall, Ærik grabs his duster from the car, and heads toward the bar. He walks thru the door, and shakes himself off like an animal. He then flings his jacket over his shoulder, and heads back to sit with the others. He stops before sitting and looks across the group once, Starting with Kieran and ending with Liz, and a giant smile on his face. "It was a very good rain. The sky cried for us all. So where did yall decide we're going next?." Ærik asks, while sliding into a seat.
"Lake Mabel to find naked women," Kall responds in a part Ryan and part Liz voice. Kall dips their beak back into the beer and small clicking sounds are heard as they dribble up more of the liquid. Drips fall onto Bebe and the plant soaks up the liquid quickly.
"That's the lake where the kayaker was attacked right? Maybe the animals there actually saw something useful. The damn alligators where we were just kept saying that they all knew better than to eat a plastic kayak, and the attack wasn't one of their kin." With that Ærik notices that the voice came from a giant Crow, and he pauses to take in the feathered creature in all it's glory.
"Kieran and I were told there was a naked woman in the lake singing the most beautiful song," Liz said, grinning at Erik. "I figure it's worth a look."
"We started the day, half naked and caged, let's hope she's not an old hag. Naked or not, it'll be hard to improve on my earlier view from a cage." Ærik replies, matching Liz's grin.
"There's also another musical instrument underwater that I promised to help get, so it looks like I'm taking a swim." Liz looked at Erik. "Think you can keep the gators from eating me?"
"I can't take a form that swims, but I can handle a few Gators. Give me a minute to talk to them, but they made it clear they don't like trouble any more than we do." Ærik responds.
"Just as long as I don't become someone's dinner, I'll be good." Liz continued to grin at Erik.
Ærik just grins at her response. "I never said you wouldn't be someone's dinner, but I'll keep you safe at the lake from any normal animals."
Liz laughed loudly and took another large swig of her beer.
Ærik turns his attention to KALL, and says. "Wow. You are a beautiful bundle of feathers. Are you able to fly?" He's never seen a bird creature like this before and is very curious about it's nature. Looking around the room, he has another thought and turns to the group. "Has anyone tried talking to the other guests? Maybe that elf knows or has heard something. "
Nolan perked up at the thought. He hated talking to new people, but at least he was good at getting them to talk. 'I'll see if I can scrounge up any information," he offered as he stood.
Ryan approaches Hector at the bar “Hey, I have a question for you if you don’t mind answering it?”
“Anything for you, Ryan,” Hector already has the rogue’s drink of choice in front of him.
"Thanks," Ryan says grabbing the drink. "Now, I was wondering if you had any information about Lake Mabel. We think our investigation is leading us there but its best to know if the place has a history with the magical community first." Ryan says while sipping his Rum and Coke.
“I don’t think I’ve ever even so much as heard of Lake Mabel,” Hector replies. “You know how it is, so many damn lakes around here. I guess that sort of answers your question, though.”
“Yeah. What about a lady of the Lake kind of situation? You know an enchanting song to lure people in, speaking of enchanting. We also have this magical lute that’s oozing enchantment magic and magical black feather. Do you know any creatures with black feathers that hang out by the lake?” Ryan asks.
“The past month has actually been pretty quiet. Four months ago there was a string of harpy incidents, but they ended abruptly. Haley, there was super pissed she didn’t get to kill the buggers herself,” Hector replied chattily. “Sorry, I’m not more help. What I can do is cast Identify on that lute, that is, if you finally agree to go on a date with me.”
Ryan's face turns to beat red. “Now....now Hector. I...I already told you I’m not looking for anyone. I’m...I’m focusing on my hunting career.” Ryan manages to stutter out.
“How can you deny the electric chemistry between us?” Hector winked.
“I....I....Hector, you seem like a nice. I’m...I’m just not interested right now. Sorry. I’m...I’m really no good at this refusal thing.” Ryan says taking a long drink out of his glass.
“Well, when the time is right for you, you know where to find me,” Hector replied.
Ryan doesn’t move. He’s obviously having an internal debate with himself. Finally, Ryan finishes his drink and then looks back up at Hector. “One date. And you identify and tell me all about the lute and the feather.”
“Do I get to pick where we go?” Hector asks with a smile.
“Sure. You can pick where. But let’s do it Friday. It’ll give me the rest of today and tomorrow to close this case.” Ryan responds.
“You have a deal,” Hector grins. “Hand me the lute.”
While Hector is Identifying the lute Ryan look over to the group to make sure that everything is alright and then realize that if I should give Hector my number if I'm going to hold on to my end of the deal. Ryan takes a napkin and writes down his number for Hector.
A minute later, Hector stops muttering under his breath and looks up at Ryan. “Where did you say you got this? Because this thing has got some serious juice.”
"The others found it while we were looking for some clues near Lake Buena Vista." Ryan tells him.
“Interesting, interesting,” the bartender nods. “The closest thing I can liken it to is an Instrument of the Bard’s. When attuned, it makes enchantment based spells more difficult to resist. It also has enchantment magic of its own stored up in those strings.”
"More enchantment...." Ryan thinks for a moment. "Thanks, Hector. Do you think you can tell me anything about this feather as well?" Ryan says holding the black feather up.
“I’m not a nature expert, sorry my friend,” Hector replied apologetically. “But Friday night... can we meet up at around 8?”
"Yeah. Here's my number. Send me a text later and I'll tell you where to pick me up." Ryan says handing Hector his number and taking the lute back to the others.
Flirtations and Bathroom Visitations... Nolan, spotting a lone half-elf sitting in the tavern, approached her with a warm smile, crouching down as he looks up to the sitting elf and asked, "Hey! Is it alright if I ask a few questions?"
The half-elf pulls out a dagger and slams it into the wooden bar next to Nolan’s hand. “What kind of questions?”
"... Nice questions?" he replied sheepishly with a smile, feigning humility. "It's not a bother if you don't want to answer them. I was just curious if you've been to Lake Mabel and heard anything about naked women throwing swords out of it."
“Why are you talking to me?” She narrowed her eyes, clearly on edge.
He chuckled. "To be honest, I only have a few options," he mentioned as he looked around at how few patrons there were. "And large groups intimidate me." He moved to stand and backed away, "Perhaps I should ask them though. I hate upsetting people..." He let the words trail off.
“What‘s your name?” She interrupted.
He paused and turned back to her. "Nolan. Nolan Dodge. I'm not even from here really. Do... I look familiar?" He asked with a curious face as he crouched back down to look up at her.
“No,” she replied, withdrawing her dagger and returning it to its place on her hip. “Do I look familiar to you?”
"Uhh... No," he remarked, showing confusion on his face. Is this what flirting is like? he thought to himself, his face turning a little red.
“Then why are you talking to me?” The half-elf raised an eyebrow.
This is definitely flirting "Beeeecause you looked like you might be able to answer a question or two of mine?" he reemphasized, blatantly confused.
“Merlin you’re slow,” she sighed. “Ok, ask your questions.”
"Wait," he interjected, using the moment to take a seat by her. "Is Merlin real?"
“You’re going to waste one of your questions on something that stupid?”
"You know what?" he countered. "Yes. Yes, I am."
“Merlin is as real as Harry Houdini,” she replied. “I thought everyone knew that.”
"I'm... new to the magic world. I only really came across it a few years ago." He quickly adds, "But you don't seem much for one to like small-talk and playful banter, so let's cut to the chase: have you heard anything about Lake Mabel and women throwing swords out of it?"
“That explains the Merlin question on two accounts,” the half-elf nodded. “I’m just back from a hunting trip down in Miami, but a week ago no one was talking about Lake Mabel or a Lady of the Lake.”
"So it's a new event..." he mutters to himself. His mind drawing blanks, he nods his head and stands with a smile. "You've been most helpful. Even if this conversation was like dancing through a minefield, it was like dancing nonetheless."
“I’m not sure if I like you or not,” the woman half smiled. “But glad I could have been of service, Nolan.”
"If it's any consolation," he mentions with a chuckle and a wave of his hand, "I feel the same way. Bye!"
As Nolan returns, Kall asks, "You get them digits? That ***** was fine as ****." The voice is somewhat recognizable as the one they used in the jail cell earlier. Kall looks past Nolan at the half-elf and raises their beer.
Liz laughs loudly. "I like you. You're my kind of... people!"
Nolan turns bright-red as he steals a look back at the half-elf. "Cool your pants, birdman!" he shouts with a whisper.
"I ain't got no pants, sugar," Kall replies in Arial's voice. Kall then sticks their beak back in the beer and washes more down their throat.
Grinning like a loon, Liz said, "Oh yeah, this is gonna be fun."
Ærik's grin turns to a slight frown, and he says. "You think this is fun after only one beer? I would have bet you could drink way more than that and still see clear." He turns to Kall and says "Hey KALL, Liz is driving, she can't drink anymore. Will you watch her for me?"
"Hey!" Liz feigned shock. "This is like drinking water!" She leaned forward, poking Erik in the chest with her finger. "I'll show you later just how much I can drink, buddy."
Ærik's frown turns back to a big smile and he says. "Ryan , JC and I are having lots of Pizza later, we can drink then. Besides, we agreed twice was enough today. The third time is not a necklace. You do not need a DUI."
Liz finished off her beer in one long swig. Sitting the bottle down, she held her hands up. "Fine, fine. I'll be a good girl."
"I'll be good," Kall says in Liz's voice, trying to finish the beer as quickly as possible. Most of it ends up on Bebe, but the plant doesn't seem to mind.
"So pizza and beer. Now that sounds fun." Turning to Nolan, he asks "You weren't over there long, did she know anything?"
He sat down, still visibly flustered, the redness not disappearing in the slightest. "No, not really. She just knows that there was no talk of... certain women, swords, and Lake Mabel a week ago. So this all is pretty recent."
"But you didn't answer the important question," Liz said, motioning at Kall. "Did you get her digits?" She gave Nolan a wink and leaned forward.
"Yeah *****, hook a brother up," Kall says in response, using the same prison voice.
He sighed and shook his head, sinking back into his chair.
"So go ask," Liz said, egging him on.
"I'm not getting her number," he mumbled as his stomach churned and he took some deep breaths. "Excuse me," is all he could say as he beelined for the bathroom.
"Now that's a man that can't hold his liqueur," Kall says in Lillianna's voice. Kall watches as Nolan heads over to the restroom.
Liz slowly sat back in her chair. "Well... that was unexpected." Beginning to feel bad, she turned to Erik. "Maybe you should go check on him? I would but... I don't think anyone wants me barging in on the men's room."
"I imagine that probably depends entirely on the person in question and the situation," Kieran says waggling his eyebrows suggestively.
"Well, okay then!" Liz promptly stood from the table, and began to walk to the men's room. Opening the door, she called out, "Hey Nolan! I'm coming in." Without waiting for a response, she walked in. "You okay? Sorry for... pushing you." From the table, Kieran laughs out loud as Liz barged into the restroom.
Liz walked in just as the squirts began leaving Nolan's bowels. It abruptly stopped, followed by a profound silence. Why me. Why now. Why here. "I think I just ate something foul, and this pressuring me to get her number... I don't want to. Too stressful," he confessed.
Liz leaned against the wall, keeping her eyes on the door. "Yeah, about that... I'm sorry. I don't work with other people often. When I'm drinking, it means I don't have much to worry about and can have a little fun. Honestly, I can't be held responsible for the things that come out of my mouth. I... I'm just trying to have a little fun, and I'm sorry it was at your expense."
Another shower of squirts leaked past his weakening anus. "It's.... it's fine. Can I just be alone right now?"
"Oh sure," Liz said, containing a laugh. She walked out and rejoined the group. "He'll be fiiiiiiiine."
Kieran shakes his head. "Wrong person, wrong situation."
Liz shrugged and raised her hand to order another beer, then quickly dropped it, remembering her promise. "This beer and pizza is sounding really good right about now."
With a nod, Kieran says, "Hard to go wrong with pizza."
"I vote pineapple, and I'll fight anyone who says otherwise," Liz replied, giving everyone a stern look.
"Lots of sausage," Kall replies in a tiny but confidant voice.
"Okay, I won't fight you on that." Liz smiled. "I like a bit of sausage from time to time."
“I’m a fan of pepperoni myself.” Kieran simply responded.
"We promised JC suasage" Ærik adds.
Ryan returns lute in hand, "Well, I got some information for everyone. My hunch was right, its probably some Harpys that have returned to the area. Also, if anyone one of you are particularly a bard or really good with enchantment magic this lute might best be used for you. Kall and Nolan, you two found it so you two should probably who get first dibs on it." Ryan says taking a seat amongst the group. As Ryan looks around, he realizes that Nolan was nowhere to be seen. Ryan looks around the bar, "Where'd Nolan go?" he asks the group.
"Nolan is hiding in the bathroom"Ærik replies. "He looked like he had a bad fever after talking to the elf over there. I almost forgot. Liz is joining us for sausage pizza and beer tonight. I hope it was ok to invite her, since she is staying at your place" Ærik adds. Liz smirked at Ryan.
“Yeah. It’s fine. The whole group is invited.” Ryan says. “I’ll go see it Nolan’s okay.” Ryan states before getter by up and rushing towards the bathroom.
Ærik shakes his head as Ryan rushes off, "Harpies... Nasty things in my experience, and not tasty at all. Their meat is way too stringy and has a bitter aftertaste. Fun to hunt, but theb ones I've encountered were just mean." He leans his staff on the table, and slowly starts cracking his knuckles, while looking off toward the bathroom where Ryan is headed.
As Ryan enters the bathroom he calls out, “Nolan. You okay in here. The others said you looked sick.”
As Ryan entered the bathroom, he sees Nolan washing his hands thoroughly. "I'm good!" is all he says as he dries his hands and then wipes his face and neck with the wet paper towel. "I'll be fine," he reassures as he exits the bathroom to join with the others.
Ryan just follows him out not questioning him since he seems okay. “If everyone is done here let’s head out. Lake Mabel is our last destination for the day. And then it’s pizza and beer at my place.” He says with a smile.
"Yes, let's finish quickly. That beer is calling my name!" Liz stood quickly, giving Erik a wink.
"We should go swimming before we eat Pizza. I'm ready to do this." Ærik says grinnng back at Liz
Liz nods. "I'm not sure swimming in a thunderstorm is the best idea."
“Is it still storming. Normally the rain only lasts like 15 minutes here.” Ryan says
Liz shrugged. "If it's not, I'll go for a dip!"
"What's a little thunderstorm? It's the Best time to go swimming when the fishes are out." Ærik says, his grin getting bigger. "Did we actually find something your afraid of?"
Liz shot Erik a look. "I'm not afraid of anything."
Ærik just smiles at her reply. "Then let's go swimming. I've had enough of the smokey air in here." Turning to Nolan he asks, "Nolan, are you good? You look like you could use some fresh air too."
He nodded his head. "I'm fine now. But yeah, let's go outside to get some air. I think I might want to get soaked again."
"Shotgun," Kall says in an unrecognizable voice. As they say it, their form shimmers and shifts, taking that of an average aged caucasian blue-collared worker wearing jeans and a wife-beater. A weeks worth of stubble is apparent on his hawk-like features. Bebe clambers down and back into her pot and Kall lifts it up.
"I'm totally down for getting soaked," Liz said standing and moving to the door. "Nothing wrong with getting a little moist."(edited)
Ærik watches Kall shift, and thinks to himself that he's a little jealous. They seem to be able to hold a chosen form for much longer periods of time than he himself was able to. Turning and following Liz toward the door he responds "I don't think you can get a little wet while swimming, but you might have a trick I don't know."
Liz snorts and puts a hand on Erik's shoulder. "You have a lot to learn, my friend. That one went right over your head."
As Ærik turns and looks back over his shoulder, seeing nothing there, he turns back to Liz, and quietly asks, "I didn't see you casting magic, do you use magic?"
“Ærik. It was a figure of speech. It means she made a joke that you didn’t get.” Ryan says choosing to end this before Liz chooses to take advantage of the man.
Liz gestured a hand over her head. "Woosh!"
Ærik smiles and nods his head. "Ah, thank you Ryan. Over. .. my head. " He chuckles lightly at this, "A short joke. Always with the short jokes..."(edited) (he's only 5'6")
"Oh, honey," Liz said, throwing an arm around his shoulders. "I haven't even begun with the short jokes." (Liz is 5'9")
“Leave Ærik alone. He’s just the right size.” Ryan (the 5’10’’ man) says.
"I pick on the ones I like," Liz said, winking at Ryan. "If I don't give you shit, it means I don't like you."
"I can reach quite high places when I need to. Don't you worry about me. Now Let's go find a naked lake lady." Ærik reaches out and gives Liz a quick squeeze, his arm below the one she has on his shoulder, around her waist. He releases his arm, and steps away from her, and strides out the door towards her car.
"Yeah," Liz said, winking at Ryan again. "Let's go find naked chicks."
Ryan rolls his eyes at the mention of naked women.
Liz wiggles her eyebrows and twirls the keys on a finger. She opened the door and jumped in, starting up the old beast. "Well, what are we waiting for?"
"Do you know where you're going?" Ryan asks as he slides into the backseat. "Do you know where you're going?" Ryan asks as he slides into the backseat.
"Nope!" Liz looked in the rearview at Ryan. "That's why I have you."
"Lake Mabel. Hold on I'll bring it up on my GPS. Be prepared for any Harpys to attack as well." Ryan says taking his phone out and turning it on.
"Ummmm...." Nolan began. "I'll take my own car. You're drunk and shouldn't be driving."
Liz gives Nolan a look. "I've had one beer. It's been..." She checks the clock. "A while since I last had that one beer. I'm not even close to drunk."
He smiled defeatedly. "Okay! I'm still driving my own car."
Liz gives Nolan a wink. "Yeah, you are."
"You know you wink a lot Liz. You might want to get that checked out." Ryan says from the car.
"Must be something in my eye," Liz laughed. "Come on, lighten up a little, Ryan."
"Sorry. I'll be fine later. I'm just anxious to find these beasts." Ryan responds.
"Whatever they are, we'll kick their asses," Liz said, shutting the car door. "I'm pretty confident in this group. You all seem very competent." She rolled down the window. "Hey I got room for one more!"
Nolan sat in his own car and yelled out. "I'm good!"
Liz gave Nolan a thumbs up.
"Come on Ærik, get in and lets go." Ryan says.
"Join the dark side, Ærik!" Nolan countered. "We have cookies."
"We have Bebe." Ryan counters.
"And I'm here," Liz added. "Who wouldn't want to be with me?"
"Lyuboy s glazami." Ryan quietly says. (Russian: anyone with eyes.)
"Don't be summoning demons into the backseat of my car, Ryan," Liz said, cocking an eyebrow.
"No demons. Only truth." Ryan responds
"Mmm-hmm," mumbled Liz, narrowing her eyes.
Ryan gives Liz a playful wink.
Ærik holllers to Nolan as he opens the door and slides into Liz's backseat, "Someone's got to watch out for these 3, you take Kieran, and will see you there"
He smiled in response to Ærik, closing the door and rolling up the window. "Looks like we're the misfits once again, aren't we?" he suggested to Kieran.
Kieran shrugs as he climbs into the passenger seat. Way less crowded this way anyway.
After piling into various cars, the crew makes their way over to the other side of Orlando. Half of Lake Mabel is bordered with a suburban subdivision, but a side dirt road on the souther tip of the lake leads to a secluded spot. While the afternoon storm has stopped, grey thunderclouds still hang heavy in the sky over this area.
Once at the lake, Liz stepped out of the car. "Okay, if I were a naked woman, where would I be?"
“Alright. Let’s search for some clues. Ærik do you think you can talk to some of the local wildlife. I’m going to attempt to find more signs of harpies. Maybe they’ve dropped some feathers. The rest of you can either help me find more signs of harpies, this Lady of the Lake, or maybe if the magical barrier is weak around here.” Ryan instructs before he begins searching through the area.
"If you're talking to the wildlife in the water," Liz said, looking at Erik. "I'll go with you. The old guy said the Lady was in the water."
"JC," Kall says, summoning his familiar. JC pops into existence on Kall's shoulder. "Let's search for some clues." Kall leaves Bebe in the car for this, unsure how dangerous it might be. And follows Ryan.
Kieran stays nearby, but moves in a different direction from Ryan and Kall, looking for further signs of harpies.
Ærik hops out of the car behind the rest. He gathers his belongings and prepares to commune with nature. "I am going to talk to as many creatures as I can, and then we can try to look for weird magic spots also."
Ærik walks down towards the lake, and finds a nice spot to stop. He stands still under a tree, taps his staff on the ground twice and starts the process of casting spells as rituals. Ærik casts speak with animals as a ritual, and starts asking the alligators and birds if they've seen any Harpies, if they saw the kayak attack, and if they've seen any naked lake ladies. He will cast the spell multiple times, to talk to as many animals as possible for about an hour. (Charisma for talking to animals: 18)
Liz walks with Erik, but when he stops, she continues to the edge of the water. She looked around, remaining still, and listening to the world around her.
Ryan and Kall:
Kall shadows Ryan, looking at what he looks at, turning stones that Ryan has already turned. And generally studying Ryan’s demeanor.
“Look. It seems like our feathered friends really like the water.” Ryan says pointing out the trail of feathers that lead into the water. (Investigation: 17)
“Look at these feathers. They are more than a couple days old but less than a week.” Ryan comments to Kall. “I wonder how often they show up here. Maybe they’ll come back tonight. Though, Harpies seem a little too easy for something that involves BEN kidnapping people. Maybe there’s something bigger going on here.” Ryan ponders aloud as he begins making his way back to the cars hoping to run into the others and hearing about what they found.
Ærik and Liz:
Ærik turns to Liz, and asks "Will you stay close, I don't want to draw too much attention. Will you act like your taking pictures with your phone of me and the animals when I'm talking to them?"
Liz smiled. "Sure," she said winking. "I'll take pictures of you."
Ærik is having fun, posing with the animals, while Liz *takes pictures*. They stroll around while he points at the trees or a bird, looking like a typical nature enthusiast. Stopping to chitter with any who will chit with him. He scoops up a particularly friendly chipmunk, and it sits in his shoulder for bit. He makes little animal noises while feeding it some seeds from a pocket in his duster. "It's ok little one, she won't bite you. Not today anyway. Run along now." Ærik says after a couple of minutes, lowering the little chipmunk to the ground, while giving Liz a grin. "Well, that is interesting indeed. We may have another clue. Or three.... We should catch up with the others, unless there's something else you'd like to see or do out here."
"Personally, I'm not interested in biting a chipmunk," Liz said, grinning back. "Hopefully your clue can help us, because I haven't seen shit."
"We must have the Goddess's favor today" Ærik replies. "I've seen lots of shit. There were duck and goose droppings along the shore. At least one dog has been thru here recently. Was there a kind of shit you want me to ask about?" Ærik turns to see if the chipmunk has left the area.
Liz laughs again. "I like you. You make me laugh." She patted Erik on the shoulder. "Not the kind of shit I mean. I meant that I haven't seen or heard any naked women here. I'm not entirely sure the Lady of the Lake was a valid clue. Maybe the guy was just loony."
Ærik smiles back at Liz, while committing her odd saying to memory. "Oh he was wrong it would seem, but not entirely. Our little friends say that there are actually 3 women who aren't women, who come here together to sing. It has been very regular lately. They have been coming once a week and the last time was five nights ago at sunset."
Liz frowns. "Did your friend say if they were naked? Regardless, I don't think three non-women singing is any better than one naked woman singing."
"I didn't ask if they were naked. I'm sorry. I was too excited that there were three of them. I agree that 3 may not be better than 1 in this case, but they come once a week. They could be Harpies, but why here? It seems way too public of a place for their usual feeding frenzy. I have heard they have beautiful voices, they use it to draw in their victims. Similar to my Charm spell." Ærik finishes. He's very excited and talking rather quickly at this point.
"But if they come here once a week," Liz counters. "Then what does it have to do with this 'incident' that happened here? I dunno. Something just isn't quite adding up. You would think BEN could handle 3 harpies. I don't think the harpies are what we are looking for, to be honest."
Ærik listens to Liz, and scrunches up his shoulders, his left hand raised palm up. "I dunno. It does seem too easy, Maybe they've seen something or are working for someone. Either way, at least we found *something*, the other lake Ryan took me to, had nothing but a feather that we don't even know came from a Harpy."
"There's that lake that Kall found the instrument," Liz suggested. "Seems odd that an item like that would be at the bottom of a lake. And there's another instrument down there, which I offered to retrieve. What are the odds of that?" Liz pauses a moment, thinking. "I think it's unlikely we're going to find these three non-women here today, or even this week. I think we'd be better off going to the other lake, grabbing the other instrument, then having some beer and pizza."
"We should go find Ryan and the others then. We can share what we've found, and head back to the other lake. I did promise to keep you from being eaten while you get wet." Ærik responds.
Liz nodded in agreement to Erik. "Let's go. I think we're wasting our time here." She pulled him along, back toward the group. "I did get a couple really good pictures of you," she said, showing him the only images saved on her phone.
As Ryan makes his way back to the vehicle he runs into Ærik and Liz. “So, what’d the animals tell us?” Ryan asks.
"Oh. I really like this one with the chipmunk.” Ærik just finishes saying as he sees Ryan coming towards them. "Ryan, I'm sorry you missed the chipmunk. He was a sweet little thing." He waits until Ryan gets a little closer and then quietly continues, "There are three women who aren't really women, who've been coming to the lake once a week and singing together. They were last seen here five nights ago at sunset. Could be Harpies, but it seems off."
“That connects to the feathers I found that lead into the lake. They’ve been there less than a week. Which means they’re do to return any day now. Do you think they’ll be back tonight?” Ryan asks
"The animals did say once a week. Five days puts it at tonight or more likely tomorrow." Ærik replies. "You found more Harpy feathers? Leading *into* the lake.?" He then asks.
“Yes. Which has me complex since, unless these harpies are part duck or something, they shouldn’t be going into the water because wouldn’t it make it difficult to then fly?” Ryan muses aloud.
"Umm, did it look like there was a struggle? Did anyone look *in* the lake?" Ærik asks
“No. That’s where Liz comes in. She’s willing to go for a swim.” Ryan says with a smile.
"Sure, why not?" Liz said smiling. She glanced at the sky. "Doesn't look like I'll be getting struck by lightning." She walked back to the waters edge. "Just make sure nothing tries to eat me while I'm in there." Scanning the water for a moment, Liz slid out of her boots and began to peel off her clothes.
“Keep your undergarments on. We don’t need the police to randomly so up and you get arrested again for indecent exposure.” Ryan says as Liz begins stripping.
"Don't worry," Liz said with a grin. "That's the plan." She handed Ryan her heavy leather jacket, her phone safely tucked in a pocket. "I just don't want to risk losing or ruining things."
Ryan smiles and takes the jacket folding it over his arm. “Be quick. And don’t fight anything. This is just recon.” He comments as he takes all of her stuff for safe keeping while she goes for a dip.
"Got it, boss," Liz replied, while stripping the rest of her clothes off. "Eric, try to keep the wildlife off me. No sense in them getting mixed up in this. Wish me luck!" She gave Ryan another smile before diving into the water.
As soon as Liz is under Ryan searched her coat for her phone and takes it out. Something has been bothering him for a minute. Ryan goes into her contacts to see if he really is the only number she has. Ryan, seeing the photo realizes that it must be Liz and her parents, it dawns on him how close they must really be. However, seeing that she only has him as a contact on top of what he assumes is her parents Ryan quickly begins adding the others. The last thing he does before putting it all away is scroll through her recent photos of Ærik and Ryan sends the cutest ones to himself. Kieran hakes his head as he watches Ryan fiddle with Liz's phone as soon as she disappears, but doesn't say anything. Ærik watches with interest as Liz once again ends up in her undies before him. As he realizes that she is jumping in, before he's had a chance to talk to the animals, he rushes forward to the waters edge. He turns back to Ryan and says, "I'm being careful this time. This shouldn't affect your phones. I haven't asked the animals to look after her yet." Ærik reaches out with his staff, taps it twice on the ground and casts Pass without a Trace on Liz.
A few minutes later, Liz popped back up to the surface. "I can't see shit down here! Water's too murky. Suggestions?"
“Does anyone have the ability to make magical light?” Ryan suggests.
“You’re not supposed to be looking for ‘shit’ anyway.” Kieran says with a grin.
Nolan's right hand glew with a brilliant white light as he smiled. "I specialize in light and healing." Liz grinned at Kieran, and slowly raised a hand out of the water, middle finger extended. "And radiant fire that would sear the flesh off of bones," he added as a morbid afterthought. Kieran leers at what he can see through the water and winks back at Liz suggestively.
"Anything that can help me at this moment?" Liz continued treading water, waiting.
"I could light up your underwear, Liz," Nolan offered with a chuckle. "Unless you're wearing someone else."
"Nolan," Liz said with a grin. "Are you suggesting I should have a set of headlights?"
“Okay....ignoring that last part. Nolan make Liz glow.” Ryan instructs.
Nolan furrowed his brow for a moment, perplexed. His face suddenly turned red as he realized what she meant. "No... I... uhh.... Oh freak. And I just realized I have to touch the object to light it up." He began laughing out of pure nervousness and anxiety.
"This was your idea," Liz said, climbing out of the water and walking toward him.
"Oooooo-okay," he said between deep breaths. Moving behind her, he touched the clasp of her bra on the back, lighting up her whole bra with white light. As an added measure, he said with a bright red face. "And... have faith in yourself. There's power in belief!"
"Your future's looking bright," Liz said to Erik with a grin, then dove back into the water.
"You're welcome!" Nolan called out as she leapt into the water.
Swimming down, Liz is still unable to see past her own fingertips. Feeling something brush her foot, she's unsure if it's a fish, piece of trash, or her imagination. Surfacing again, she exits the water. "Still no luck. That water's disgusting."
“So much for that.” Ryan then checks his phone to see what time it is. “Well the sunset in normally between 8 and 9. It’s about 20 til 5 so...how do we feel about going to get that flute and then staging a stakeout here in hopes the harpies return tonight?” Ryan asks the group.
Liz began to put her clothes back on. "Hopefully we'll have better luck there."
“Sounds good to me,” Kieran replies.
"I guess i can wait for pizza and beer, to hunt some Harpies. We know what were trying to get in the other lake at least. We can make our own luck there." Ærik adds.
Nolan smiled and nodded his head. "Who thinks they're small enough to squeeze into the crack it's in?"
"You saw the flute Nolan, is that right? How big is the crack it's in?" Ærik asks
"Yeah, I swam down there. It was too small for me to fit in. A dwarf or hobbit could fit in, or maybe a goblin or similar sized again," he added the last part looking at Ærik, "But I'm not sure any of us could without risking getting stuck."
"I saw you hand Liz that jacket back in the prison, can you just lift it out of there? Not that I don't want to see Liz become a lake lady again." Ærik turns and grins at Liz, "but if you don't think she can reach it, can you get it?"
Nolan blinked, dumbfounded. "I should've done that in the first place." He looked down at the ground before looking at their faces. "Sorry guys! Now I'm just wasting our time." With a chuckle, he added, "On the plus side, you all get to go to Disneyland now!"
"Yay, we get to go to the number one tourist trap in America." Ryan says sarcastically.
"I don't really do crowds, but let's go get this flute" Ærik responds.
"Disney World," Kall corrects.
"Okay, Ms. Extraplanar Tourist," Nolan responded with a smile and a wink at Kall.
"Hey, I don't mind taking a dip," Liz said smiling. "I just hope the water there is better than this one." She pulled on her jeans then began pulling her boots back on.
"I think maybe I could try one more thing before we leave. There's something bothering me about the amount of Harpy feathers that are here." Ærik says. "Ive never tried this shape before, so... does anyone have a problem waiting a few more minutes so we can try to see what's down there?"
Liz finished pulling on her second boot and gave the water a glance. Looking down at her boots, she frowned. "Do you want help?"
"I don't really need help, I just don't want to be seen, shifting. I'm not going back in a cage today." Ærik responds.
"Shift in the water," Liz suggested. "I have no issues going back in the water, just in case something goes wrong."
"Shift in the water.... ",Ærik muses aloud. "That's a great idea. Ok if this works, I can only hold this for for an hour. I may have to come up for air, but I'm hoping to see thru the muck and find out if there's something living down there." With that Ærik takes off his duster, folds it and lays it on the ground. "Goddess bless me with your sight." He says, while holding his staff, firmly planted in the ground before him. He lifts his staff off of the ground and walks into the lake. Once he's deep enough to submerge himself completely, he Wild Shapes into a Giant crab.
Liz watched for a moment, sticking her hand into the pocket of her leather jacket. She pulled out her phone, checked for any calls or messages, then quickly stuck it back in her pocket. She watched the water, clearly worried.
Ryan picks Æriks duster off the ground before it becomes too dirty. He’ll then turn to the others “Hmmmm.... none of you are of Fae descent. Right?”
"I come from an old family," Liz said, continuing to stare at the water, waiting for Erik to return. "Why do you ask?"
“The lute is a magic item that requires you to be of Fae descent in order to use it. It allows you to cast some enchantment magic from it and increases any enchantment magic you might already posses.” Ryan explains.
"Better questions should be if anyone can even play a musical instrument," Liz said, distractedly.
“That is true but I don’t want a power magical item to go to waste if someone is of proper descent to use it. I mean, how hard is it to learn a musical instrument.” Ryan says.
"Seems like something you'd need a lot of time and commitment to put into it."
“It can’t be anymore difficult than learning a new language.” Ryan says with a smile.
"Yeah," Liz said stretching. "Still seems like too much of a hassle to me."
As Ærik concentrated on the shape of the biggest crabs he'd ever seen. He felt the power of nature course thru his very being and he instinctively held his breathe, as he became a giant crab. He started sinking immediately to the lake floor, and was trying to get the hang of seeing without seeing, thru this new creatures eyes. All the while judging how far he was from dry land so he could retreat for air if needed. Ærik did his best to try to look around and determine if anything was around. He was looking for any creatures that shouldn't be in the lake, and the remains of any Harpies. Ærik spends a few seconds getting used to this new shape. Not seeing the remains of any Harpies, or seeing anything threatening, he starts to relax a little. Noticing the kayak, he decides to make his way back to the shore, slowly lifting his face out of the water just enough to get a huge breathe of air. Turning to the deeper waters, he hurries as fast as he can scramble, to the piece of kayak. He grabs the piece of kayak in his claw, and hopes he has enough breathe left to drag the piece back to dry land to inspect. When Ærik is about five feet from shore, he grasps the piece is kayak tightly in his left claw and drops his wild shape. Pushing off the ground with his feet, he bursts to the surface and gets s huge breathe of air. He swims forward until he can walk, and walks out onto the land dropping the piece of kayak at Liz's feet. "That was a new experience" he says, shaking himself off like a wet dog. "I didn't see any Harpy remains, or creatures trying to eat me, but I brought this back."
Liz smiled, finally relaxing. "I'm glad you're okay. You were down there for a while." She glanced around at the others. "We were all getting worried."
“This is great Ærik. I knew you could do it.” Ryan says with a smile. “This can tell us if it was really a harpy. Let me investigate the claw marks.” Ryan continue to say as he excitedly begins to examine the kayak for any kind of unusual mark on it.
“Well. This is interesting. Look. No claw marks. It’s a clean break. Like it was sawed off.” Ryan says as he’s inspecting the kayak.
Liz looked at the piece of kayak. "That's odd, for sure. Guess the gators were right." Kneeling down, she looked closer. "What would do this?" She glanced up at Ryan. "Know if any magic that could cut this cleanly?"
“Yes. Kind of. It’s definitely magic. My guess is something that either heats up a blade or maybe a magical flaming sword. That what it looks like more to me. Like someone used a flaming sword to cut through the plastic that is this kayak.” Ryan says aloud as he spends a little more time investigating the kayak.
"I'm just glad nothing down there wanted imitation crab for lunch." Ærik says, while finishing wringing out the water from his braids. "Thank you Liz, I was really worried about you also. You jumped in before I could even ask the Gators not to eat you."
While Ryan described the lyre's magical abilities, Nolan thought back on his magical experience with the otherwordly creature in Poland. What if if came to him because his line was magical? It'd be straight out of a fantasy book if it was the case. And he did play the piano as a kid. But, drawing out of his own thoughts as he stared blankly into the water and seeing the current conversation, he held his tongue on the subject, instead mentioning half-sarcastically, "A magical sword? Ladies in the lake? I'm telling you, this screams King Arthur and Merlin and all their fantastic adventures."
Upon hearing Ryan mention a magical flaming sword, Liz stood quickly, and backed away from the piece of kayak. She sent a glance back out at the water. "Well, there doesn't seem to be anything happening here. Maybe we should go." Liz's seemingly obvious reaction to Ryan's casual mention of a flaming sword soars right over Nolan's head.
Ryan looks at Liz and her obvious strange reaction. “Liz. Do you think we can fit this piece of kayak in your car?”
"Yeah," Liz replied quickly. "Trunk." She turned and quickly walked back to her car, pulling out her phone and dialing. She stuck the phone to her ear as she walked and mumbled something.
“Hey, can you guys pick this up. I’m going to go help Liz.” Ryan says running after her.
Nolan shrugged his shoulders and picked up the kayak piece, moving it to the back of Liz's car. Ærik puts his duster back on, and asks Nolan "Are you good, or do you need help with that? I can bring it if you'd like."
Nolan grunted under the weight, but smiled, "Nope! This is just a reminder of the many trials I face and the need to persevere through them." Nolan struggled incredibly with the small and lightweight piece of kayak. "Huuuuggggghhh... I'm out of shape."
"I like your attitude. Now to get a flute." Ærik says heading towards the car, behind Ryan.
The strain of the kayak was almost too great as Nolan was forced to a slow crawl with the incredibly lightweight kayak strapped across his back, as if he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. Ærik turns and stops, listening to the grunting sounds behind him. He pauses and waits while Nolan catches up, carrying a smaller than skateboard sized chunk of kayak, that you would think was made of pure gold by the way he was straining to carry it. Ærik chuckles to himself as Nolan passes him, headed to the car. Ærik just grins, shakes his head, and takes a slower pace, following the little mage. Nolan looked on to the duo chatting with serious faces by the car. He stopped the crawl and collapsed on his back taking some deep breaths, still a ways away from the car. "I think I need a break. This kayak must be made of gravitanium or something."
Kieran shakes his head at Nolan and grabs the piece of the kayak. "Whiner. This thing can't weight more than a couple pounds."
As Ryan walks near Liz, he can hear her say, "...please just call me. I need to know." Upon seeing Ryan approaching, she quickly closed the phone and shoved it in her pocket. Giving him a smile, she pulled out her keys and opened the trunk. "It should fit in here."
“Liz. I didn’t come to see if it would fit. I came to see if you were alright. I saw how you reacted to the mention of a flaming sword. Is everything okay?” Ryan asks.
“Liz. Don’t lie to me. I know we don’t really know each other. But, I trust you can at least tell me if something is bothering you.” Ryan says before looking down and saying in a quieter tone “It’s your parents isn’t it.”
Liz glanced past Ryan quickly at the approaching group. Pulling him close, she looked him in the eyes for a moment. It was evident how much worry she held within her. "My mother uses a flaming sword."
Ryan’s eyes widen. “That means she was here. Liz. That’s good. It’s a lead on them. I know you’re worried but a lead is a lead. And that just means we’re one step closer to finding them. Think of it like that. Okay Liz. Besides, if your mom has a flaming sword that means she’s a badass that totally fine right now.” Ryan says to Liz realizing that the excitement he felt for a clue was probably wrongly placed so he attempted to console her.
"Was there someone in the kayak? Did someone get injured?" Liz searched Ryan's face. "This might not be good, Ryan. What if..." She took a deep break, looking over his shoulder at the group.
“Liz. It’ll be okay. I promise.” Ryan says with the most reassuring smile he could muster.
Her eyes flicking back to Ryan, Liz gave his arm a squeeze. "I really hope you're right."
“Don’t worry. I’m not going on a date with Hector for everything to not be alright.” Ryan says attempting to keep the conversation light.
Liz gave him a grateful smile. "Just... please don't tell the others. Not yet. We don't know if my parents were here at all. We don't know if they're involved. Let me try to get more information from Green first. Then I'll..." She paused, taking another deep breath, releasing it as a sigh. "I'll let them know."
“I understand.” Ryan says giving her a moment before saying “Should we go back to the others. I think Nolan is attempting to be strong and carry the kayak.”
Liz grinned and looked over Ryan's shoulder again. "Hey, Mr. Strong-Man! You can put that right in here!" She motioned to the trunk, a lopsided grin on her lips.
Kieran walks to the car with the kayak piece then grins back at Nolan and pretends to strain mightily to lift it high enough to get it into the trunk.
"So," Liz said, with a smile. "What's the plan?"
“Go get the flute. Come back here for a stakeout. Then beer and pizza.” Ryan explains
Liz groaned internally at the idea of waiting even longer for beer and pizza. "Great. Let's do this. I'd love to swim in some cleaner water." She shut the trunk, diverting her gaze from the rest of the group. "Let's go, *****es."
“Why not bring the pizza and beer here for the stakeout?”
"Isn't it illegal to drink in public?" Liz opened the drivers side door, and slid in, not waiting for an answer.
“Tailgate party” Kieran says
“Yes it’s illegal. Especially while we’re in a vehicle.” Ryan says as he slides into the backseat of Liz’s car.
Once her door was closed, she said quietly, to Ryan, "Besides, I need some alone time."
“Do you want to get the flute alone? I can keep everyone here to give you some time to think.” Ryan offers
"No," Liz said, looking at him in the rearview. "I just want to get drunk and call Green." Then a thought hit her. "If I call him, do you think you can, I dunno, trace the call or something and hack him? See if he's got info he's sitting on?"
“Maybe. Definitely not here and now. I need my PC back home. I’ve never tried to hack directly into BEN before but I can try. They already arrested me once for I assume hacking into the Polices database to see what cases BEN took off their hands.” Ryan explains
"Then don't worry about it," Liz said quickly. "I'm not getting you arrested."
“It’s fine. I just need some hair pins. I almost broke out last time. Besides, if I wake up next to someone like Ærik every time I get arrested I might do it more often.” Ryan jokes
"He's easy on the eyes, for sure," Liz agreed. "Look. I don't care if I end up in jail, but I'm not getting someone else locked up because of me. I'll handle this on my own."
“Liz. I’m a grown man. If I end up in jail because I help a friend then I end up in jail. Don’t try and stop me. It never works.” Ryan says
"This is my shit," Liz said coolly. "Let me handle it."
“If you don’t let me help you then I’ll call Mr.Green myself and try it by myself.” Ryan says “I took his number out of your phone earlier.”
Liz pressed her lips together, but said nothing.
“We’ll do it tonight. After I kick a lot of people out. Too many magical people slows down my computer but it’ll be fine with just me and you. Ærik will be in the other room.” Ryan says, satisfied that she’ll let him help.
Liz started up the car, and rolled down her window. "Let's go," she yelled.
Ærik has been just walking around, trying to dry off his wet jeans. At the sound of Liz's voice, he snaps back to the present. "Shotgun," he cries and heads toward the passenger door. As he reaches the car and opens the door, he asks Liz and Ryan in the car, but loud enough for Nolan and Kieran to hear him, "Are we going to the other lake to let Nolan get that flute for us now?"
"Yeah," Liz said simply.
Ærik slides into the passenger seat next to Liz, reaches over and lays his left hand on her right leg. "You seem quieter than you've been, are you ok? Was it too cold in the water for you?"
Liz plastered a smile on her face. "No, the water was fine. I'm fine."
Kall hops in, taking whatever unoccupied seat is available.
"Liz will be fine after pizza and beers. Let's just get this flute and then hope these harpies come tonight." Ryan says to Ærik.
"I'm getting really hungry myself, I understand. Pizza should get rid of this weird hunger for seafood I'm currently having." Ærik replies to Ryan, his hand still on Liz's leg. He turns to Kall and asks. "Kall, did you, JC, and Bebe have a nice walk at the lake?"
Liz's fake smile softened and became a bit more real. She reached down and squeezed Erik's hand.
"I'm full," Kall says. "There were a lot of bugs."
“We’re not getting bugs on the pizza. This isn’t Lion King.” Ryan says
"What do lions have to do with bugs?" Liz asked, entirely confused.
“Have you not seen the Lion King?” Ryan asks genuinely shocked.
Liz stares blankly at Ryan in the rearview.
“It’s a Disney movie about lions. It’s loosely based off of Hamlet.” Ryan explains.
"Yeah, never have time for movies," Liz said.
“It’s a classic. I’ll get you caught up later.” Ryan says
"I like Pumbaa," Kall explains.
"Excuse you?" Liz turned in her seat, looking at Kall, appalled.
“The Bird has seen it Liz. We’re watching it later. You’ll love it.” Ryan says.
Liz looked between Kall and Ryan, flabbergasted. Turning to Erik, she said, "Let me guess, even you have seen this movie?"
In a perfect mock of the voice, Kall sings, "Hakuna Matata."
“It means no worries.” Ryan sings along
Ærik just shakes his head in amusement. "No, If I said I'd seen it I'd be lying. I don't watch much TV. I prefer a less tech form of entertainment."
"Good, at least I'm not the only one." Liz gave another look at Ryan and Kall, then turned back around in her seat.
“I’ll put it on while we’re eating pizza.” Ryan informs them
"Are you going to be singing in my car?" Liz asked. "I kinda need to know where I'm going." Throwing the car into drive, she sped off.
Ryan will give Liz directions to Downtown Disney but he sings the directions the entire way.(edited)
Kieran looks to Nolan as he climbs into the car. "Off we go again."(edited)
Liz periodically sends glances at Erik, making faces while Ryan sings in the back.
Nolan chuckled. "High ho! High ho! To get the flute we go!"
Taking Liz's hand, he briefly looked around at their surroundings before he guided her to the edge of the spring. "I'm going to dive in and retrieve the flute. I shouldn't be gone for more than two minutes." He pointed to where some water was bubbling out off in near the center of the spring. "That's where I'll be." Releasing her hand, a rock floated up from the ground before glowing brightly with light. "If you see anything dangerous, chuck this rock near where the water is bubbling out and hopefully I'll see it."
"Please be careful, Nolan," Liz said, giving his hand a squeeze. "If you get into trouble, I can't see you to help. I'll be right here when you get back."
Nolan smiled invisibly. "I'm always careful... Okay. That's a lie. But I'll be fine. Just throw the rock if you see anything, okay?" With that said, Liz heard him splash into the spring before going under and heading for the flute. Swimming for the flute, he cast mage hand to be ready to grab it. As he did so, his invisibility wore off, completely baffling him. Looking around for anything that might've disabled his spell, he saw nothing. Shaking his head, he cast invisibility once again and continued to the geyser, keeping his magical hand in tow.
Liz kept as a lookout up above the water but saw nothing to disturb her or Nolan either.
Reaching the geyser, Nolan's magical hand reached through the crack, grabbing the flute and pulling it back to him. He glanced over the craftsmanship before his body reminded him of his need to air. Swimming upwards, he eventually breached the water's surface and took a large breath of air. He swam to the shore, excitedly whispering for Liz. Once rejoined, they hurried back under the barricade invisibly and returned to their friends.
Ryan felt a wet tap on his shoulder, followed by Nolan's voice. "Hey. We're back."
Liz sneaks up beside Ryan and whispers in his ear. "Hey there, good lookin'!"
"We'll do the hug thing and you two can turn back in the middle." Ryan whispers to Nolan but suddenly jumps at Liz words. Smirking he says "I could say the same thing to you. You've never looked better to me."
Liz stuck her tongue out at Ryan, but realizing he couldn't see it, she pinched his butt.
"Ow." Ryan says before saying. "Don't damage the property." He then turns towards the others. "Okay everyone. Group hug time." He says pulling everyone into a group hug tight enough that others can't see inside of it but with enough room that Nolan and Liz can get in the middle and turn visible.
"Wouldn't think of it," Liz said, smiling to herself. She squeezed herself into the middle of the group hug, and positioned herself directly in Erik's face, a huge grin on her face.
Nolan's invisibility dissipated as they came in for a hug. He was still dripping with water, though the sun's radiating heat was quickly drying him off. In his hand, he held a fancy flute. "Here it is!" he exclaimed excitedly.
"EZ, GG," Kall says, dabbing.
Ærik joins in, connected to Ryan on his left side, in the group hug, after hearing the banter of his unseen companions. He is proud of the little Magi, for his gifts he thinks to himself. "Good job, Nolan you got it. Where's Liz?" He adds.
Kall looks around, then remembers their supposed to end their concentration. Liz pops into existence in front of Ærik's face.
"Good job Nolan. Let me see the flute. It might be related in some way to the lute." Ryan says excited to see that the group has been successful in this little mission so far.
"And you guys were freaking out someone was watching us from the shadows and would attack us when we least expected it." He nonchalantly tossed the flute to Ryan before looking around at the surrounding people's faces.
As soon as Ryan is handed the flute his face lights up and he immediately begins inspecting is for any indication that it is magical in nature.
Ærik steps back defensively, when Liz pops into being, but upon realizing it's Liz, he smiles, releases his grip on Ryan, and grabs her for a big hug. "I'm glad you made it safely and quietly this time. " He then releases the hug, and exclaims, "Oh, your not wet", looking over at Nolan, dripping next to her.
"Well, if you want me wet," Liz said with a laugh. "I think it can be arranged."
"No, I..." Ærik pauses, "well our Magi is soaked, I just thought you would be also."
Liz hugged Erik, then flung an arm around Nolan's neck. "Turns out he didn't need my help."
Ærik smiles and looks at Nolan. "I'm glad your safe. I think we were all starting to worry a little. I underestimated you Nolan, good job."
"We should go," Liz said, looking at the people around them. "Before we start looking suspicious. We can talk about what happened once we're out of here."
"Can I have chocolate?" Kall asks, wondering towards the nearby confectionery.
"You know what," Liz said, walk toward Kall. "You kept me hidden so well, I'll buy you some." She motioned for Kall to follow her, and went into the shop.
Kall's handsome illusion beams with joy as they follow Liz into the shop.
"Pick anything you want," Liz said with a smile. "You deserve it."
Once the line thins out and Kall is at the counter, they start pointing out the various chocolates. "This... this... this... this... oh, and one of those!" Kall points at a massive candy apple.
"And a bag of those to share with everyone," Liz said, pulling out her cash, counting it, frowning to herself, but placing the correct amount on the counter. She stuffed the rest in her pocket, and grinned at Kall. "Just enough for a case of beer."
"Magic can solve any problem," Nolan replied with a beaming smile.
“Except a fried computer, cracked cell phone screen, someone hacking into your private online accounts, or slow internet to name a few.” Ryan counters.
Kieran laughs. "Just about any tech problem is unsolvable with magic," he adds. "Unless the problem is how to break it."
Nolan shrugged his shoulders in response and said nothing.
After paying for their massive load of chocolate, Liz lead Kall out of the store and back to the group. She held up the bag of fudge she bought for the whole group. "I got us dessert!"
Kall stood behind Liz, moving their mouth forward as if trying to figure out how to eat the apple.
“I guess we’ll eat it during the stakeout. Unless you want melted fudge in your car Liz.” Ryan says
Liz frowned. "Just trying to do something nice," she mumbled, walking toward her car.
Ryan looks a bit confused. “Who said anything about it not being nice? I’m just saying you don’t want fudge in your car. It’s hard to get the stains out.”
Kieran calls out to Liz as she starts to walk away. "Hey! Where you going with that fudge? Some of us appreciate it!"
Liz shoved the entire bag into Kieran's hands and continued walking.
“****” Ryan says not knowing what he did wrong as he runs surprisingly quickly after Liz.
Kieran looks at the bag in his hands, then back up at Liz as she walks away. He glances around at the others. "What...just happened? Any idea what's up with her?"
"Anyone too busy to say thank you will get fewer and fewer chances to say it," Kall pipes up from behind. They pop the whole apple in their mouth, the stick sticking out of the side.
Ærik responds, "I don't know either, she seemed fine when they left to get the chocolate." With that he turns and starts heading to the parking lot. "I guess we're headed back to the other lake. I'll meet you at the cars. " He says. "I thought chocolate made girls happy..." Ærik mumbles as he starts towards the car.
As Ryan catches up he’ll try and get Liz’s attention. “Okay. I give. What am I doing to upset you? I’m getting mixes signals here on what kind of person you, what’s an okay joke, what’s not, and when I should just shut up and be appreciative of something instead of pointing out the flaw?”
Liz gives Ryan a quick side glance. "Don't worry about it."
“Really Liz. Don’t worry about it? I’m trying to be your friend but apparently I keep saying or doing the wrong things and I’m trying to figure out what’s okay and not. I was trying to do it just by reading you and how you interact with the others but apparently that’s been failing me so I’m just going to straight out ask you and then you practically refuse to answer.” Ryan replies growing slightly agitated.
"I..." Liz said, slowing. "I don't work well with people. Never had to in the past. Never had friends before. I'm just trying my best here."
“Well, Liz. Part of working with someone is telling them when they’re doing something wrong. Telling them if they are doing something to upset you. That’s what I’m trying to do Liz. Have you tell me what’s upsetting you so I don’t continue to do their things.” Ryan explains.
Liz ran a hand through her hair. "I don't even know, Ryan. I just want to find my parents, but nothing we're doing seems to be leading that direction, and I'm stressed and everything irritates me. I tried to do something nice for everyone, and you reminded me it was a stupid idea."
“I never said it was stupid, just not fully thought out. And I know this doesn’t seem like it has something to do with your parents but they might have been the ones in that canoe and maybe these instruments hold magic to help find them. I promise we’ll find them.” Ryan tells her his agitation having already vanished since Liz is opening up and making an effort.
"I appreciate the effort Ryan," Liz said, still not looking at him. "Next time I try to do something nice for you, say thank you."
“Will do.” Ryan says as he starts to let Liz get ahead of him towards the car. Before she gets too far ahead though he decides to yell out “By the way I’m gay.”
"Damn," Liz said to herself. She turned around and called back, "I'm sorry!" After a pause she followed up with, "Not that you're gay, but for... me."
Ryan just smiles. “I’m sorry for me too.” He responds back as he begins to walk towards Liz. “Now. Let’s hope the others follow us. I’m ready to shoot down some harpies.”
"I just want to go back to your place," Liz said. "Though now, maybe not quite as much."
“I’m sorry.” Ryan apologizes, realizing now Liz might be uncomfortable with staying at his place.
Liz looked confused. "Why? I'm the one who's been coming on to you. Thought there was some... action happening tonight."
“What!” Ryan says not expecting that response. “I thought you were uncomfortable because of our spat. I never intended to sleep with you. I just don’t like the idea of people not having a proper place to stay. So that’s why I offered a room to you.” Liz laughed at this, her laughter getting louder. She crouched on the ground, holding her head, and continued to laugh. Ryan puts his one hand behind his head and starts to scratch it a little. “I guess it is funny.” He says before he starts to laugh at the whole situation.
Liz looked up at Ryan, still laughing. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." She stood and walked over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I grabbed your ass," she laughed again. "At least I still might have a chance with Erik..." Then she looked at Ryan. "Wait... you..." Ryan faces instantly turns beat red once Liz figures it out. "Well shit," Liz mumbled, still holding him.
“I....I.....I actually don’t know if he’s into me or what. I.....I’m kind of hoping but, I don’t know.” Ryan mumbles as he attempts to look down and hide his face.
"Hey, stop. Don't do that." Liz gives him a gentle shake. "I've just been barreling in there. I'll back off."
“No...no it’s fine. Besides. I....I kind of all ready feel promiscuous after agreeing to that date with Hector.” Ryan shakes his head. “Why couldn’t I just say no and let the origins of the lute and feather be a mystery.”
"Promiscuous?" Liz snorted. "I'm the one who's trying to get in everyone's pants here. Do you like him?"
“Who? Hector? Not really. I mean he’s nice and cute but a little too straightforward and full-of-himself for me. Ærik. I believe so. I mean, it sentarte with waking up next to him practically naked. But he’s definitely the down to earth kind of person I like. And his social oblivion is just too cute.” Ryan responds. Liz smiled and nodded, but didn't say anything. Ryan looks back down, early embarrassed to ask this next question. “Do...do...you think he likes me?”
Shrugging, Liz released Ryan's shoulder. "I don't honestly know. I've been so focused on myself. I haven't even stopped to ask what does Erik want." She looked at the sky, a distant look in her eyes. "I'll cool it. Nobody needs me acting like a slut."
Ryan smiles. “Just don’t cool it too much. I get the feeling that if you start to filter yourself too much then I may not get the authentic you. Also, can you not tell Ærik this. I’ve only know him a day and I want to get to know him a little better as a friend before dropping the whole I have a crush on you think on to him.” Ryan asks Liz.
"I won't say a word." Liz said, snapping back to reality. "Not really my place, is it?"
“Good. I already have to keep JC quiet since he somehow figured it out.” Ryan says.
Liz nodded, that distant look crossing her face again. "I might need something stronger than beer," she mused.
Ryan laughs. “I’ll pick something harder up on the way to get beer.”
"That would be appreciated," Liz said, turning and beginning to walk toward her car again. Ryan will let her walk away. Choosing to give her some time to reflect on their conversation and he wants to make sure the others are coming as well.
As Ærik approaches Ryan, he asks, "Is everything ok? Did you figure out what's wrong with Liz?"
Ryan quickly attempts to compose himself after the unexpected direction of his conversation with Liz went. And of course, it was the topic of that conversation that showed up first. "Ummm...I think everything is okay. The friendship is still kind of new so we're working things out. But we talked and I think we're in a better place now. I'm just giving her a little bit of breathing room and time to think." Ryan says holding his face down for a moment to clear his blush before looking up with a smile.
Liz made her way to her car and got in. She started out the window a moment, trying to wrap her head around what had just happened. "The **** is wrong with you?" she asked herself. She sighed, closing her eyes, and rested her head against the steering wheel.
"Shotgun," Kall called, popping Liz's passenger door open and crawling in. Kall gives Liz a once-over and offers her a bite of the candy apple.
Liz jumps as someone climbs in, but smiles when she sees it's Kall. "No, thanks," she said. "I got that for you."
"Thank you," Kall says, popping the whole apple back in their mouth.
Liz gave them a pat on the shoulder. "You're welcome."
Ryan looks at Ærik, a smile still on his face before he looks behind him and calls out to Nolan and Kieran "Hurry up slowpokes." He then turns back to Ærik and says much more softly "Come on. Let's finish this stakeout so we can have beer and pizza."
"We'll take my car... again," Nolan replied, putting emphasis on the last word. He looked at Kieran and chuckled. "One of these days I'll ask about your past," he made mention in passing to him as he climbed into Sue and started her up.
Kieran climbs into the passenger seat of Nolan's car once again. He holds up the bag of fudge that Liz had given to him. "Fudge?" he asks with a grin.
"Yaaaaaaaassss," he replied, trying his best to imitate the velociraptor video as he dove his hand into the bag of fudge. It was clear he didn't care if his car got dirty.
Kieran grabs a piece of fudge for himself and takes a big bite.
Ærik smiles back at Ryan and replies, "Yes, I'm starving. Let's go kill some Harpies, so we can eat. " With that, he opens the car door and slides into Liz's back seat. He reaches out, places his hand on her shoulder and says "Thanks again for the ride, let's go get kill some Harpies."
Liz simply nods.
Knowing something is off, but not wanting to further upset her, Ærik removed his hand. As he lifts his hand off her shoulder, he uses Druidcraft to create the static shock sensation between his hand and her shoulder again. He puts on his biggest grin, makes a slight gesture with his hand, mutters something under his breath and filled the car with the sounds of little birds chirping, which lasts for a just a second.
“If your hungry Ærik I have some Cliff Bars in my bag if Liz allows you to eat in her car,” Ryan says before the car fills with the sound of birds. With a slight smile, Ryan says “Kall. I think your people are calling you."
Again Liz nodded. "I need alcohol," she mumbled to herself, starting up the car and putting it into drive without asking where they were going. She was confident she could find a liquor store. They were on every block.
"A cliff bar, those are great for camping. I still have this weird craving for seafood and was hoping that chocolate would fix it for a minute. I'll take one when we get to the lake" Ærik responds
“No problem. I always keep them on myself in case of a long night and for after my morning runs.” Ryan replied, a smile seemingly always on his face while he’s talking to Ærik.
Liz remained silent while driving. She pulled over at the first liquor store she spotted and got out of the car, still without speaking.
“Well. This isn’t the lake but, I guess we’re getting the beer early.” Ryan says confused as to why we’re here.
His hands almost crackle with lightning as he follows Liz's abrupt turn, abandoning his trusty Google-friend to get him where he needs to go. Once he sees the destination, he sighs within the-now-parked car. "This looks like a dependency stop."
Ærik hops out of the car. Instinctively checking his duster pocket for his wallet, and runs after Liz. "Hey wait up" he cries out. "You drive, I buy."
"No," Liz said, walking in the store. "Thanks anyway."
“I don’t know. But I promised everyone beer and pizza tonight so I guess I’ll get the beer now and order the pizza once we leave the stakeout.” Ryan says heading in to get enough beer for everyone for later tonight.
Ærik starts to turn back to the car, decides not to, and follows her into the store.
Liz heads to the aisle with vodka and starts loading up on the cheapest bottles she can find. She picks up the third, then pauses and grabs a fourth.
Getting nowhere with the apple, Kall pulls it from their mouth, snaps their fingers, summoning a knife, and starts cutting the candied apple into smaller pieces. Once satisfied, the small knife once again disappears. Kall licks the candied goo from their fingers before noticing that most of it got on the dash and seat.
Kieran sees where they're stopped and watches the others heading into the liquor store. "Guess we're stopping for the booze now?" He says. "Don't think they really need us in there with 'em, unless you have any special requests."
The kenku looks out the window to be sure she's not coming back out yet. Panicked, they wipe their hands over the surface and it shines like new. Kall leans back in the seat and pops an apple piece in their mouth.
Ærik approaches Liz sees what she's grabbing and grimaces. "A girl after my own heart. You like your firewater strong I see. Would you mind if we get something a little more, umm... Not cheap. I have plenty of money." With that, he reaches out and grabs two bottles of Stolichnaya, and two bottles of Polar Ice. Chuckling to himself when he sees the cute polar bear on the label.
Liz eyes the bottles that Erik picked up. "I was just getting these for me. Ryan's getting the beer for everyone."
You see Ryan at the cash register putting two cases of beer on the counter and some rum.
Nolan shook his head in their car. "No thanks. I don't drink. Feel free to pick up whatever you want though, Kieran!"
Kieran shakes his head. "I'm sure I'll be fine with whatever they grab." He reclines his chair and leans back, relaxing while they wait.
A confused look on his face, Ærik looks at Liz and asks, "Are you not sharing, or do you just prefer that kind? I really don't mind buying for us, if you'll drink with me."
Liz smiled, about to say something. She looked at Ryan and paused. "I appreciate the thought. I think I'm going to be drinking a lot tonight, and I don't want you to waste your money."
"If it cheers you up, it won't be wasted. I rarely spend much but like to enjoy it when I do. Grab whatever you want, but I'm paying and I'm getting these 4 bottles either way. " His grimace turning back into a slight smile, as she started to smile.
Ryan has already left the store and is putting what he bought into Liz's car. He then looks at the others "Besides booze is there anything else that someone would want?"
"Napkins and baby wipes!" Nolan called out extra loud, making sure he was heard.
"Do they have any chocolate?" Kall asks Ryan, peering out towards the store.
Liz watched Ryan leave, an internal struggling taking place within her. Her eyes dropped to the bottles she carried. "Really, I'm okay with what I have. I..." she paused, swallowing hard. "I can pay for myself."
"I can do all that. Anything else before I go back in? I really don't want to make another stop." Ryan says.
Nolan shook his head. "Nah, that'll do for me."
"You can save it for gas money. Really." Ærik sits two of the bottles down and puts his hand on her arm. "I don't know what I did to upset you, but let's drink ourselves stupid, together" He then picks the two bottles back up and heads toward the counter.
Liz stared after him, mouth open. "Erik," she said, stopping him. "You didn't upset me. I apologize if I made you think that way. I just... realized that maybe my personality rubs people wrong, that maybe I need to back off and cool it a little. I've discovered a few other things, as well, but... that's neither here nor there."
Ærik stops and turns to face Liz when she starts speaking. He listens to her and responds. "Apology only accepted if you let me buy... You are a mystery to me, but don't change too much." He pauses for about 2 seconds and asks "Are we good? The others are probably getting worried we're robbing the place by now."
Ryan, not hearing any more requests, walks back in to purchase some wipes and chocolate.
Releasing a sigh, Liz relents. "Okay. Fine. But you're buying me this, as well," she said, indicating the cheap vodka in her hands.
Erik turns his head back towards Liz, still walking to the counter. "As you wish." A huge grin on his face
Liz looked up as Ryan walked back in, and gave him an apologetic look.
Ryan doesn't say anything. He just looks down and goes about looking for wipes and chocolate. He doesn't reproach the front of the store until Liz and Ærik leave.
Liz frowned as Ryan avoided them. "Take these," she said, shoving them into Erik's arms, then turned and accosted Ryan. "Go talk to him," was all she said as she passed by him, and doubled back to the door. Getting back into her car, she sniffed. "What am I smelling right now?"
Ryan, unsure of what to do, kind of just stands there and stares at Ærik. He bites down on his lips, unsure of what even to say.
Noticing Ryan as Liz hands him the four bottles of generic vodka, he sits seven of the bottles down on the counter and tells the person running the register, "I'll be right back, I forgot something" he then turns and heads towards Ryan, with a big grin on his face "R Ryan, look what I found" holding one of the bottles of Polar Ice out, making sure not to cover the label.
Ryan's normal smile, whenever Ærik is around, cannot help but reappear as the druid starts talking to him. "Is that Vodka with a Polar Bear on it?" Ryan asks already knowing the answer. "This is the best. I've never had this brand before. My family is Russian so I've only had Russian vodka brands which, in the United States boils down to Smirnoff and Russian Standard."
"Then it will be both our first time trying it. I picked Stolichnaya over Smirnoff, is that ok? How about beer, Do we still need beer to go with it?" Ærik responds, matching Ryan's smile.
"Stolichnaya is fine. And no we don't need more beer. I think I got plenty. I actually came in for some wipes for Nolan and chocolate for Kall." Ryan answers.
Ærik is happy he chose well and says "oh I missed you getting the beer... Must have been when I was trying to feel up Liz. I think she's not mad at me anymore. Grab what you need, I haven't paid yet. Add it to my order and let's go hunt some Harpies. "
"Oh, yeah," Ryan says, his smile faltering into a frown at Ærik's words. He quickly just grabs the first thing of chocolate and wipes he can find and looks down, away from Ærik. As he walks to the counter to pay he attempts to mentally compose himself. No reason to let him know. It'll just disrupt the mission.
Seeing Ryan's smile fade into a frown, and not understanding what he said wrong, Ærik follows behind Ryan, and quickly slides his 8 bottles of vodka and 2 $100 bills to the cashier, as soon as Ryan sits down the chocolate and wipes. "Add his stuff to my check please," Ærik tells the cashier.
"I got it," Ryan responds a little harsher then he intended for it to come out as he slams a $20 on the counter and leaves the store with the wipes and chocolate. As he exits to the parking lot he practically slams the wipes into Nolan's chest and accidentally breaks Kall's chocolate as he does the same to the kenku before getting into the back of Liz's car.
"Wow. Ryan's pretty strong," Nolan commented to Kieran after he had left. He broke open the baby wipes, smelling them deeply, and then cleaned his fingers, handing them to Kieran in the hopes he'd do so as well.
"That... doesn't seem good," Liz said as Ryan slammed himself into the backseat. "You okay?"
Ryan attempts to take a couple of deep breaths. I have no right to blow up on them. They're adults and it's just some silly crush. Just calm down. he thinks to himself. Finally, when he feels like he can say something without pure anger coming out he says "I'm fine. But on second thought. I'm going to ride with Nolan and Kieran." Ryan then exits Liz's car and proceeds to get into the backseat of Nolan's Subaru.
Liz stares in the rearview, mouth hanging open. "Wha? I... what?" She turned confused to Kall, mouth still open.
"Woot, woot!" Nolan chanted. "Look, Kieran! We recruited a third! Welcome to the Batmobile," Nolan remarked, turning around to shake Ryan's hand vigorously with clean fingers. "Would you like some fudge?"
Ryan doesn't shake Nolan's hand. Instead, he says, attempting to maintain his cool, "I'm not in a very good mood right now Nolan. Can we please just get back to the lake?"
His usually smiling facade cracked slightly. But only slightly. "Yeah! Uh... sure." He left the bag of fudge by Ryan and glanced quickly to Kieran before starting the car and pulling up next to Liz. "Hey, you lazy... lappers. We going to the lake now or what?"
Liz looks at Nolan first, then at Ryan in the back seat. "Uh... Erik's still in the store..." She left the statement hanging, unsure of what else she could say.
"Oh!" Nolan remarked, looking into the store. "Well, we'll just meet you guys there, okay? I'd like to take a short swim there, if possible."
"Sure," Liz said, still looking at Ryan, not thinking about how she was going to navigate back to the lake.
Ryan is just staring straight down at his hands. Seemingly not paying attention to anything.
Nolan nodded his head, rolling up his window and began driving to the lake.
Kieran takes a wipe and cleans up his hands. “These things are so useful.” He looks back at Ryan as they start driving again. “Anything you want to talk about?”
Ryan takes a while to respond. "No. It's nothing. Just me being stupid. Let's just get these harpies and then get some pizza." He says, in a very monotone voice.
Kieran watches Ryan for a moment, then nods his head. “All right.”
In Nolan's car, Ryan opts to put some headphones in and listen to music. Of course, the first song to come out of his phone was Moving Parts by Kenny Brown. A breakup song.
Liz watched the car drive off, her heart sinking. "Whatever Erik said to Ryan, he'd better have a good excuse for it," she growled.
"He broke my chocolate," Kall whispers, not even noticing the scene play out.
"You have plenty of chocolate," Liz said quietly, still staring in the direction Nolan drove.
Ærik finally gets his goods bagged up and exits the store. He doesn't understand what he's said to upset Ryan. He approaches the car and sees Liz and Kall in the front. He opens the door to get in, noticing Ryan isn't there. He finishes putting the bags in the car. He sits in the seat, cradling the bags in the floorboard between his feet. "I didn't see the others, "Ærik says. "Where's Ryan?".
"He broke my chocolate and got upset. I should be upset, not him," Kall answers.
Liz whirls around in the seat. "What did you say to Ryan?"
Springing back in the seat, and raising one hand defensively, Ærik exclaims "What the **** is wrong with you two."
"Erik," Liz said, reaching back and taking him by the hand. "This is very important. What did you say to Ryan? Exact words."
Kall begins peeling back the wrapping of the mushed chocolate bar, unsure how they're supposed to get all of it in now that it's in pieces. Kall pecks at it, and small bits fall to the ground. Cautiously, Kall looks to Liz, then pecks at it again seeing her attention isn't on them.
"He said I chose really good vodka, then I asked him if we needed more beer, and he said he had plenty. I told him I hadn't seen him buy the beer, because I was trying to feel you up to see why you were mad at me. Then he stormed off and left.
Kall pecks again, this time dropping the wrapper and the bar. Cautiously they reach down and lift it up, pecking a few times more, and quickly, while they can.
"Feel..." Liz said, in disbelief. "Feel me up? You told him you were trying to... cop a feel?" She paused, shaking her head. "You were trying to grab me. My ass, my tits?"
Not able to get to all the nougat, Kall lets out a small whine before gesturing over the wrapper and the seat, cleaning everything up with a soft whistling whisper.
"What. What. No." Ærik shakes his side to side with a look of shame on his face. "That is not what I thought that meant... Goddess helps me... I'm so sorry." He drops his head in his hands, pauses, and looks back up. He slowly annunciates "Size you up, feel you out."
"You said Feel you up," Kall helps. "It's different."
Liz releases his hand and closes her eyes. "**** me," she mumbled, turning around in her seat. "Shit."
"I see why you would be mad. I would never try such a thing on you without asking first." Ærik says. Not thinking about why that would make Ryan mad, just that it would offend the "lady" in the front seat. He had been raised better than that.
"I'll never touch you like that either, Liz. Can we go now?" Kall asks, wondering if they already ate all the fudge in the other car.
"I'm not mad," Liz said, taking a deep breath. "We need to get to the lake. I'll... I'll figure it out when we get there. If we get there." Liz turned the key, starting up the car. Immediately Bon Jovi's "You Give Love A Bad Name" begins to blast from the speakers. Quickly, Liz turned off the radio. "Don't need that right now." She wasn't sure exactly where the lake was but started driving in the same direction she had seen Nolan go.
Kall begins looking for crumbs, knowing there's got to be a few pieces left somewhere. They don't even notice where Liz is driving.
"I wasn't paying enough attention when we came from the lake. I can't really help. And Ryan hasn't gotten me a phone yet. Wait, you have Ryan's number, can we call him for directions?" Ærik asks. "I want to apologize for my bad words. Maybe I could call him while you drive" Ærik says after thinking for a moment. Ryan must really like Liz, Ærik thinks, to be that mad at him for the improper words. I hope he forgives me. I'm really just no good with muggles sometimes he thinks.
"Yeah. Good idea," Liz said handing Erik her phone.
Ærik takes the phone from Liz. He has used one like this before at least, he thinks. He flips open the phone. finds the green call button, searches for Ryan in the list and hits call. I'm glad this call is coming from Liz's phone, he likes her, maybe he'll answer, Ærik thinks.
Ryan glances down at his cell phone as it starts to ring. They have already reached the lake and Ryan was walking around a little bit trying to figure out the best plan of attack for these harpies. He lets it ring at first, debating whether to answer it or not. Eventually, he takes a deep breath and accepts the call "Yes, Liz. What is it?" he says in a very monotone voice.
"Ryan, it's Ærik. I'm sorry I said such a bad thing about Liz. My words are wrong. Size her up, feel her out, . Will you talk to me." He blurts out rather quickly.
Ryan is stunned. He wasn’t expecting to hear Ærik’s voice. Let alone what he said Size her up, feel her out. ...a bad thing about Liz. What does he mean? Ryan can’t help but think. I can’t think about this now. They called me about something. Ryan takes a deep breath and just continues in his same monotone voice “Why did you call me Ærik?”
"To apologize, I'm really sorry I messed up my words again. and because we need directions to the lake. Liz's phone doesn't have a map thing in it, I don't think. We don't know how to get there." Ærik replies.
Ryan sighs. Of course, they need me for something. That's why he called. he thinks before saying in the same voice "Tell me where you're currently at and I'll direct you to the lake.
Ærik watches the street signs and tells Ryan the street they are on and names the last two streets they crossed.
Ryan begins giving Ærik directions to the lake. His voice never leaving the monotone range.
Erik pulls a small journal from his Duster and makes notes as Ryan is talking.
Liz holds her breath, hoping that Erik can smooth things over with Ryan.
Once he is done giving him directions Ryan asks, "Anything else you need help with?"
"English... But we don't have time for that right now. I am sorry I made you angry with me. I just don't speak right sometimes." Ærik says, his voice carrying a definitive tone of shame.
Ryan lets out a shaky breath. "So, you weren't trying to cop a feel with Liz. Then what were you doing?" He asks, the part of his brain that has to know overpowering the part that's telling him to just hang up the phone.
"NO.... ****, I would be angry with me too. I wouldn't have blamed you for punching me when I said that. I wanted to feel her out. I wanted to know what I'd said wrong to anger her this time, but she said she wasn't mad at me at all. I really just... I'm sorry" Ærik replies.
Ryan begins to fit the pieces together. So, he wasn't trying to feel up Liz. But Liz is acting differently enough that Ærik is noticing. Ryan lets out another shaky breath followed by a half chuckle. "Ærik. You really need to choose your words carefully. And....and...Liz was never mad at you. Our conversation gave us both a lot to think about and she needs to be alone to think." Ryan responds, the monotone leaving his voice but its not at his normal chipper sound it normally takes while talking to Ærik.
Ærik sighs a small breathe of relief and responds "Goddess help me... I will be much more careful with my English when talking to her. I just wanted to try to fit in this pack but I'm not doing very well at it." Ærik's voice falters a little when he continues, "I see now you must like her quite a bit. I never meant to get in your way. We need to all work together, maybe I'll see if I can stay with Nolan or Kieran tonight. I'll give you your space. I am sorry."
Liz opens her mouth to say something but quickly shuts it again.
Ryan's eyes widen at Æriks words. Of course, he thinks I like her. I keep running off to make sure she's alright. And then I get mad at him for coping a feel on her. It all makes sense. Gods why am I such an idiot sometimes. Ryan thinks so wrapped up in his own thoughts, he doesn't even realize he didn't respond right away until Nolan's car hits a bump in the road. "No, no, no, no, no, no. Don't do that Ærik. I mean, don't leave. You can stay at my place. I don't like Liz. I mean. I don't like her in that way. As a friend, yes. But I don't want to date her."
Ærik is beginning to think Ryan ended the call, so when he finally speaks again, Ærik listens and replies "Thank you. I will try to be careful. I promised to stay close until this was over, and I don't take my oaths lightly. Soo... You will forgive me then?"
"Yes, Ærik. I forgive you. Just try and be careful with your words. And know that I don't have a crush on Liz or Kall. Or Kieran or Nolan for that matter." Ryan explains, his voice slowly returning to its normal tone.
Ærik listens to the words Ryan is speaking but isn't quite following. He gets that Ryan doesn't appear to be mad at him any longer, but it's still confusing. "None of them have done anything wrong, why would you crush them? They are not our enemy." He asks after too long of a pause. Looking at his notes, and seeing the street they just crossed, he says to Liz in the front, "We should be close to our next left turn. Then the lake is a few miles down the street. We should recognize it."
Ryan can't help but lightheartedly chuckle at Ærik and his confusion. "When I say crush I don't mean to physically crush them. I mean I don't want to date them."
"oh... Ok, that makes sense. My English.." Ærik replies. His voice taking a tone of melancholy. "I've been a lone Wolf for too long. I would like to be part of a pack. It would be nice to Have someone to watch my back. I think I'm tired of being alone." His voice drifting off at the end.
Ryan, catching the sadness in Ærik's voice, replies without even thinking "I'll watch your back Ærik. You don't have to be alone. I'll be there for you, as long as you'll have me."
Liz glanced at Erik in the rearview. That's it then, she thought to herself. She sighed and pushed it from her mind.
Ærik nods his head, deep in thought. "I think I would like to stay for a bit. As long as I'm still in Florida. When we clear our names and this is over, and I've helped Liz find her parents, I may think about going home but I would like to be a part of a pack now." Ærik is still oblivious to Ryan's true meaning but wants the companionship.
“As long as your in Florida you're welcomed to stay with me. I think we’re making a great....pack.” Ryan says the word pack, not one he would normally use. Ryan then goes silent, not really wanting to the ending the phone call but not knowing what else to say.
Feeling confident that he had made things right with Ryan for now, and noticing they are close to the lake Ærik says "Thank you Ryan. I'm glad we could Kenna. We should see you soon." With that he closes the phone and starts to hand out back to Liz. "Liz, here. Thank you for the phone. Ryan is no longer mad at me. I think. I'm still staying with you two for now. Oh, and we should be really close to the lake now."
Ryan sighs and puts his phone back into his pocket. It’s been a rollercoaster of a day that’s for sure. He’s defiantly ready for that drink. But, at least he might possibly still have a chance with Ærik.
Liz nodded and took the phone back without a word. Soon, Liz pulled up behind Nolan's car. Turning off the vehicle, she said, "You should go talk to Ryan."
"I just talked to Ryan, but we need to decide where and how to hide, to hunt these Harpies. I'm not sure how to hide six of us in plain sight." Ærik says. "I usually hunt alone, with nature's full blessing."
"I'm sure you and Ryan have a lot to discuss," Liz said, hands gripping the steering wheel tightly. "I just need some time alone."
"As you wish" Ærik replies, "just don't start drinking without me." At that, he grabs her shoulder and squeezes it gently, once, before opening the door and getting out of the car.
Meanwhile, Ryan had been out of the car and closer to the lake. He looks deep in thought.
Back at the car, Kall pulls her waffle from the container, folds it, smashes it, then shoves it in her mouth. She tilts her head up momentarily as she swallows. After a few moments of repeating the motion, she smiles and states, "Waffles are great!"
Concerned that the group may be gathering a little too much attention,
Ærik says "I don't know that we need it, but I'm feeling a little exposed with all of us here. I'm going to try to use a little magic, to make us less trackable if we have to split." With that he reaches into his Duster, and pulls out a pinch of what appears to be ash, sprinkles it in the breeze, and mutters a couple words.
(Pass without a Trace, good for one hour on the entire group)
"There, I don't know if that was necessary, but we have a bonus on our attempts at stealth, and we cannot be tracked without magic." He says to the group.
“Ummmm....I don’t think that was necessary. Let me back away and try and get in contact with Liz.” Ryan says as he steps about 40 feet away and attempts to call Liz but there is no answer.
Ryan returns. “So, she isn’t answering.” Ryan pinches the bridge of his nose.
“I’m going to try something. Kieran do you think you can describe who called the cops on you.” Ryan asks
"Let's get out of sight of the restaurant real quick" Kieran says nervously, backing around a corner. Once out of sight, he relaxes a little. Once settled again, Kieran turns back to Ryan. "It was the waitress inside. Liz tried to pickpocket a guy we were talking to, he stabbed her in the hand with a butter knife, and we got out of there. Heard her calling 911 as we left, mentioning a man and a woman together, which is why we split up." He then proceeds to describe the waitress.
“Do you know if Liz got caught?” Ryan asks
With a shrug, "No clue. Like I said, we split up, almost as soon as we got out of sight of the restaurant. Haven't seen her since. We were going to meet back at the car at dark or something." Kieran says
Ryan sighs. “Okay. I’ll try and talk to the waitress and such to see if they’re going to press charges. And then go down to the Police Station to see if she’s been detained. Why don’t you guys go down to the Plastered Dragon in Nolan’s car and discuss what we all found. I’ll try and join you guys with Liz later. Kieran I’ll give you a text when I figure out where Liz is.”
"How long ago did you split up, before Ryan leaves to find her?"Ærik adds.
"A bit over an hour ago." Kieran asks
"Drinking, or talking to people, easy choice for me. I'll go with them." Ærik says, and then looks at Ryan. "We can discuss later, during Pizza." Ærik then attempts to get Kalls attention. "KALL, would you like your Bebe back, or can I carry it for you for a while?"
"I would like my Bebe back," Kall responds. "Bebe needs a drink." She pulls a water bottle from her pocket, which is far too small to contain such a thing.
Ærik holds out Bebe with both hands and says,"I have enjoyed my time with her, should you need someone to watch her again, just ask. "
"I will," she responds, accepting the plant. She sets it down and opens the water bottle, pouring the contents into the plant's soil. "Oh, Ryan found something," she says, standing. "A music device." There's a click sound like she's unbuttoning something and she pulls a lyre from her pocket.
"Nice. Why don't you go with all the others to the Plastered Dragon? I'll get Liz and then we can all go over everything we found. Now if you'll excuse me time to go talk to a waitress and see if people are pressing charges." Ryan says as he makes his way back to the Waffle House.
"I like waffles," Kall whispers after Ryan. And then as he’s leaving she shouts “Wait, Ryan!”
"Yes." Ryan responds.
She rushes over, handing him her trash and the empty water bottle.
"Oh, ummm.....thanks. I'll throw the trash away and recycle the water bottle." Ryan says
"Thank you," Kall says, returning to Bebe and the car.
As Ryan enters the Waffle House he gets rid of the trash. His phone ringing just as he does. Ryan sees that it’s Liz calling him.
Ryan answers his phone "Liz. What the ****?"
"Hey! Buddy!" Liz sounds like nothing's wrong. "Hey, I need a lift and you just *happen* to be the only other number in my phone that is currently taking my calls. Wanna hook a friend up with a lift?"
"Where are you Liz?" Ryan asks.
"Little place called the Police Station." Liz laughed. "Maybe you've heard of it?"
Ryan audibly sighs through the phone as he leaves the Waffle House. Then a grin comes across his face "Can I pick you up in your car?"
Liz reached into her pocket, and pulled out her keys. "No, I have the keys in my hand."
"What if I don't need the keys?" Ryan responds.
"Don't you dare touch my Sweetie! I'll kill you, Ryan!" Then Liz's voice gets distant from the phone for a moment. "No, officer, it's just a joke! I promise, I'm not *actually* going to kill anyone!" Then her voice gets closer to the receiver again, but is hushed. "I will *totally* ******* kill you," she whispered.
"Okay. I'll just let the tow truck take it then." Ryan tells her.
"No! Wait!" Rustling is heard on the phone, then more ambient noise as Liz stepped outside. "Don't you dare let them take my Sweetie!"
"If I get in they can't take it. And then I'll just pay off the tow truck and drive it to you. Does that sound good to you?" Ryan offers.
Liz growls. "What are you going to do?"
"Just hot wire it." Ryan says.
"****," Liz grumbled. She sighed loudly. "Fine, just... don't get in any accidents on your way here. I'm not joking Ryan, I'll ******* kill you right here in front of these cops."
“Thanks bye.” Ryan says hanging up before she can change her mind.
Police Station
Liz was brought in and thrown into a holding cell for 15 minutes before someone comes along and asks her to pee in a cup, saying they would be back in 5 minutes. Liz sighs, looking at the cup. Resigning herself to this humiliation, if there was a possibility it would get her what she wanted, she unbuttoned her jeans and began to pee in the cup, staring at the security camera the entire time. If she was going to be made uncomfortable by this, she was sure as hell making anyone else watching just as uncomfortable. Once she was done, she left the cup near the entrance of her cell. A second after she’s done, the same man returns and grabs it. Liz is left to wait there for about 45 minutes. Finally alone, Liz stretches out on the cot, determined to get a nap, since she didn't sleep well the night previous, and swiftly fell asleep in no time. An hour’s nap later, an officer raps on the bars and wakes you. “Scuse me, ma’am. Your lawyer is here.”
"Don't have no lawyer," Liz mumbled. Sitting up, she looked at the officer, and popped her neck. "Can't have a lawyer visit me if I don't have one. While you're here, I'd like to talk to someone about a couple missing persons. Would that be you? Could you help me?"
“Good afternoon, Ms. Remington,” an impeccably dressed man in a three piece suit greets Liz. “I am your attorney, Mr. Green.” The officer quickly left, leaving Liz alone with this man she'd never seen before.
"Hey, thanks for answering my question," Liz yelled after the officer. She frowned and looked at the man in the suit. "Mr. Green is the worst cover name I've ever heard. Who are you?"
“There’s something so classic about BEN cover names,” the man muses, walking over to the security camera and waving his hands in front of it. “They are so perfectly obvious, yet everyone chooses to just ignore them. In any case, I am the agent who has been assigned to your case, Ms. Remington.”
"What 'case?' I don't have a case." Liz looked at the suited man a bit longer then lay back on the cot again.
“Of course you have a case, Ms. Remington,” the man snapped his fingers and the camera gave a small spark. “Career hunter, such as yourself, who manages to become a person of interest in the Lake Buena Vista case and get picked up by the cops for causing a disturbance in the same day... you’re quite impressive.”
"What can I say," Liz said with a lopsided grin. "It's a talent. So, what's the case?"
“Mostly how to keep you from destroying the delicate balance between magical and mundane,” the man arches an eyebrow. “Things like bringing a partially transformed werewolf into a Waffle House go against what we stand for.”
"Right, because that was me," Liz said angrily, sitting up suddenly. "I did not transform anything. I wouldn't begin to know how. Not in my skill set, asshat."
“I said bringing, not being.”
"Oh, because I knew that would happen, right?" Standing, Liz crossed her arms over her chest. "You realize I only met him a few hours ago, and know nothing about the guy? Also, I didn't "bring a partially transformed werewolf into" anything."
“Ms. Remington, I am merely attempting to convey to you the situation you have put me in,” the man replies. “Your compatriot broke several secrecy statutes, which I would tell him if he was here. Unfortunately for myself, the local authorities were only able to apprehend yourself.”
"Yeah, well, good luck next time," Liz growled. "You done lecturing me, dad?"
“Not quite,” he replies. “Why were you investigating the LBV Case? And where are your parents?”
"Why don't you tell me?" Liz moved to the bars and leaned forward as far as she could. "What did you all do to them?"
“BEN currently does not know the whereabouts of either of your parents, hence why I am asking you.”
"If I knew... well, I wouldn't tell you," Liz grinned again. "But you could be sure I wouldn't be here, if I knew where they were."
"Fascinating," the man replies. "Well, Ms. Remington, here is my card," he hands her a thick business card that simply says a name and phone number. "If you learn anything, do let me know. I would very much like to help you."
Liz doesn't move, doesn't take the card. "Explain to me how you want to help me, before I touch that thing."
"Smart girl," he gives a half-smile. "We are both clearly looking for the same people. If I find them, I'd be happy to let you know. Conversely, if you make a discovery about the LBV investigation, I'd appreciate it if you gave me a call."
"Wait, are you saying you think my parents are involved with what happened here?" Liz pulled back, confused. "When I was in your jail cell this morning, I was told my parents weren't related to this at all. Now you say we're looking for the same people. I need you to tell me what happened here." Her heart racing, she didn't wait for a response. "They've been missing for two weeks. If they're involved, I need to know if there's a possibility that they're..." She paused, choking on her words.
“There are two separate investigations going on as of now, with the only thing linking the two being yourself, Ms. Remington,” the man said coolly.
Liz stepped closer once again, fear apparent in her eyes. "You'll tell me if you get even the slightest whiff of their presence? You'll tell me if they're... dead?" She squeaked out the word, letting it hang dreadfully in the air.
“If you agree to help me, then yes.”
"What are you expecting of me?" Liz asked, scared of the answer. "Tell me absolutely everything. No lying."
“Merely to keep me apprised of your own investigation,” Mr. Green replied. “If you find something that seems important, call me.”
Liz considered this a moment, then quickly snatched the card from his hand. She quickly wiped a stray tear away, acting as if it were never there. "You getting me outta here, or what?"
“You will be able to leave here with no additional charges added to your record,” Mr. Green says. “After I leave, an officer will be in to let you out shortly.”
"Thanks," Liz replied, then pressed her lips together, wondering how horrible of a mistake this was going to end up being. But she was pressed into a corner, with no other clear way out.
“Thank you, Ms. Remington,” the man straightened his tie. “Do try to be more careful in the future.”
"No guarantees," Liz mumbled, staring at the business card. It’s a black card, with in green writing ‘Mr. Green’ and then below that ‘(407)666-1234.’ Mr. Green leaves without another word. A moment later, an officer comes in and unlocks the cell."Finally convinced I'm not a crackhead?" Liz asks, snidely.
“Sorry about that, sugar,” a different police officer than before hands you a baggie containing all of your things.
"Oh, I'm sure you are." Liz double checked that all her belongings were intact, then quickly put Mr. Green's number in her phone. Once she has Mr. Greens number in her phone, she puts the business card in her pocket. Then, after staring at her phone for a bit, she dials Ryan's number. "Liz. What the ****?"
A dwarf with a canoe on his back? What could go wrong?
Waffle House Parking Lot
Once Ryan finished his conversation, Nolan offered, "You could take my car but..." he glanced over to Liz's car, "that's a nice ride."
“I don’t want to make a trip back her if I didn’t have to. And besides she gave me permission. Now Ærik, is your magic still up. I want to do this without drawing a lot of attention. So you and your magic can help hide, maybe you too Kieran. And then I get in, starts it, and we’ll pick up Liz.” Ryan explains
"Don't hurt Liz's Bebe," Kall objects.
"My magic holds. It will hold for an hour from the time I cast it." Ærik replies. "Now this kind of theft makes sense. What was she thinking...?"(edited)
"Ryan will be gentle. He won't hurt Bebe KALL. It will be all right" Ærik says, turning to face KALL.
“Alright let’s do this. But first....is anyone watching.” Ryan looks around to see if anyone is paying attention to them.
"I am watching," Kall responds, looking at Ryan's hands.
“Good job.” Ryan says as he looks to see if anyone is watching.
"I am watching too," Nolan added as a jest.
Kieran says nothing, just stands and stares at Ryan.
Kall nods to Nolan as they both watch Ryan.
Nolan looked to Kall, and then to Kieran, and then to Ryan with narrowed eyes. Then he looked back to Kieran, then to Kall, then doubled back on Kieran, and then returned his gaze to Ryan.
Ærik is watching everyone watch one another, and asks himself if he's made the right choice.
While waiting, Liz begins to pace impatiently, outside the police station.
[Per 20]
Not seeing anyone looking Ryan attempts to stealthily lock pick Liz’s car door open.
{lockpick 10}
"It didn't work," Kall says. She then turns to Nolan and whispers, "It didn't work."
Kieran leans in and whispers to Nolan, "It don't think it worked."
He chuckled to himself. Kall's oddities were quickly rubbing off on the group. He touched Ryan's shoulder and uttered a simple arcane phrase (Guidance).
Which was a wasted effort, as Ryan completely failed to pick the lock. He sighed and handed him his keys. "It's an automatic. 2014 Subaru Impreza. Shouldn't be too hard to drive. Don't wreck her. She's like a bebe to me."
[Lockpick 14]
“I got it.” Ryan says pulling open the passenger side door before unlocking the others and sliding over to the drivers seat. “Now comes the fun part.” Ryan says as he begins the process necessary for hot wiring the car.
With a roar the car comes alive. “We’re in business boys. Not let’s go pick up Liz.” Ryan says revving up the engine.
[Hotwire 20]
Kieran gets a nervous look again. "Might be better off if I don't go to the Police Station..."
“Ride with Nolan then. You guys can just go to the Plastered Dragon. We’ll met you there it shouldn’t be too long.” Ryan says.
"Works for me." Kieran replies, walking over to Nolan's car and trying the passenger side door.
"Shotgun," Kall states, scrambling into the passenger's seat with Bebe.
“If everything settled. Let’s go.” Ryan says driving those who are in Liz’s car to the police station while Nolan and the others go to the Plastered Dragon, which Ryan told them was only a couple blocks away from his apartment.
Ærik hops in the back behind Ryan. "Let's go get her, so we can chew on her a little."
Liz continues to pace, thinking of all the horrible things Ryan could be doing to her car right now.
The passenger side door was unlocked, allowing Kieran to sit down in the hot car. Nolan muttered to himself as he sat down, keeping the driver's door open as the heat slowly rolled out. "Should've cracked the windows." With that in mind, he started the car and followed Ryan.
As the engine roars, and Ryan starts driving to the police station, sitting in the back seat, Ærik has to suppress an almost irresistible urge to shift into a giant dog, and shed hair all over the back seat, while hanging his head out the window. Not trusting his current company quite enough yet, he holds back and settles in for the ride.
Eventually Ryan pulls up outside the police station and in his best Regina Jorge impression says “Get in loser we’re going to the Plastered Dragon.”
Liz stood there a moment, looking over the car. Finally satisfied that it hadn't been damaged, she looked at the passengers. For a moment, she considered telling Ryan to get in the backseat, but she frowned and got into the back anyway. "Thanks," she mumbled, staring out the window. It was strange to be in the backseat of her own car.
Ryan also looks confused but decides not to question it as he drives off to the Plastered Dragon.
"Hi Liz," Kall says. "I have shotgun..." As an afterthought she adds, "You tried to pick someone's pocket and got caught. I can teach you how to pick someone's pocket and not get caught. It's easy."(edited)
Liz sank down in the seat. "Thanks for the reminder," she grumbled, still staring out the window.
Ryan looks back at her through the mirror and says “So you got caught, big deal. It happens to everyone eventually. Cheer up. We’re getting pizza later.” Ryan says with a smile(edited)
"Sausage pizza," Kall adds. "Extra sausage."
"Yeah," Liz said, absently. She pulled the black card from her pocket and looked at it for a few moments.
Ærik sitting beside her at this point growls slightly, then asks
"We're your parents in that jail?"
Still looking at the card, Liz replied, "No."
Ærik shakes his head disapprovingly, and replies, "We agreed to doing "illegal* things. I don't give a shit about human laws. I care about right and wrong. Ryan borrowed your car, so we could come get you. That's illegal, but it was right. Stealing from an old man, is wrong if it wasn't to find your parents in jail, then why? It is going to be very hard to help you, when you don't seem to want to help us do that. I gave you my word to help, and I still intend to do that, but use your damn head girl"(edited)
Liz quickly shoved the card back in her pocket. "Yeah," she said, resting her head against the window, and continued to brood.
“Okay” Ryan says loudly trying to break the tension. “Why don’t I play some good music and we all relax for now?” As Ryan suggest it he changes the radio station to the first country station he can find in hopes they’re playing some Kenny Brown.
Liz scowls at the music choice, but decides she doesn't have the will to fight.
Ærik recognizes the signs of a caged animal, who is withdrawing from her captors, "Liz... I'm sorry. I lost my mother years ago, and made a horrible mistake in my rage afterwards. It is the reason BEN knows about me. We will help you. We can find them, but we need your help to do that."
"Yeah," Liz said once again, then frowned. "Getting arrested didn't effect anyone besides me." She took a deep breath then pulled the black card out again. "What I did to get out might."
"Well ****, " Ærik responds, "I thought they released you. What happened?"
"My 'lawyer' showed up." Liz handed the black card to Erik. It was a black card, with green writing stating ‘Mr. Green’ and then below that ‘(407)666-1234.'
"BEN... Mine was Mr. Black, on the same Black card." Ærik says, with a noticable tone of distaste in his mouth. "What did he do to you? Did he hurt you?"
Liz shook her head. "I'm fine. BEN knows nothing, or little to nothing, about what happened in LBV. He... made me a deal. Info on the 'incident' for info on my parents." She quickly wiped a stray tear from her face, hoping it had gone unseen.
"Info," Kall says, handing Liz the lyre they found.
Liz took the lyre, and looked it over. "I know nothing about this."
Ryan laughs, "I don't know if that is quite the information they are talking about but, we'll help Liz. I don't know what I would do if my parents we're gone so....I'll help."
"Ryan" Ærik says, "Liz might have something you can use. Mr Green was so helpful and left her his phone number. Can you use that in any way?"
"This was sitting at the bottom of the lake. There was a flute too, but it was in a crack Nolan couldn't wiggle into," Kall explains.
"No," Liz said quickly to Erik, snatching back the card. "I'm not dragging anyone else into servitude with BEN. They made me their ***** today."
"Maybe?" Ryan says, "BEN agents are a little harder to track and such thats normally why I go a roundabout way by using the local PD. But, I can certainly try. And don't worry Liz I'm good at making BEN work for me without them realizing it." Ryan finishes with a reassuring smile.(edited)
"Nolan needs to lose weight," Kall says, coming to the conclusion it would help.
Liz handed the lyre back to Kall. "Do you think I could get into that crack?"
"You can wiggle well?" Kall asks.
Liz shrugged. "I can try."
"They did that to us all long ago Liz, being caged this morning did nothing but remind me how useless it was to try and hide from them"
"I was doing well, for a while," Liz said, leaning her head against the window again, the black business card still in her hand.
"Maybe," Kall says assessing her body.
Liz caught Kall looking her over, and shifted uncomfortably. "Stop that."
Kall nods, then turns her attention back to the front, then looks back again, then back to the front. She then looks at Ryan and whispers, "I think her butt might be too big."(edited)
Ryan just gives Kall a weird look but decides to not comment on it.
(Meanwhile in the other car) Kieran looks to Nolan while they drive to the Plastered Dragon. "So, how long have you been a hunter?"
Nolan smiled, pulling out of some trance while he drives. He let out a nervous chuckle before responding, "Uhhhh... I'm not really a hunter. I just help the people who have been hunted. Sometimes it means I hunt, but it's never been anything large. Maybe a goblin in disguise as a midget, but that's it. What about you? You have any marks you're proud of?" @Kieran Bedford
“I have plenty of scars, but most of them aren’t from things I’ve fought.” He pulls@up the sleeve of his shirt to expose a long scar down the outside of his upper arm. “Worst of those is this one.”
He glanced over quickly before returning his eyes to the road. "You got a story behind it?"
“Werewolf,” Kieran responds, a far-off, pained look in his eyes. “it was my introduction to the magical world.”
“What about you? How’d you learn magic was real?”
He paused, uncertain of where to begin. "I... was in Poland. At least, I think this is why. I was walking in a forest when a centaur ran out of the brush and into me. I didn't realize what it was at the time but, I learned soon after. It scurried off and away, and I was too stunned to say anything. My hands started glowing a few days later, and after a few months, I'd learned to cast a few minor spells. Aaaaannnnndddd... now I'm here.
Getting out of the car, Liz hesitated. "I'll come in later." She went around to the trunk, opened it, and pulled out a toolbox, then headed to the driver's side.
Kieran notes Lizbeth's car parking ahead of them just before Nolan parks his own. Kieran steps out of the car and sees Liz remain outside, doing something with her car while the others go into the bar. He walks over to the driver's side door. "Liz! Are you all right?"
Liz gives Kieran a bright smile. "Yeah, sure! All peach-keen here!" She slides to the ground then leans in under the dashboard. "Just gotta... fix a thing."
Kieran chuckles, remembering the attempts to pick the lock, then Ryan hot-wiring the car. "I'll bet. Glad you're okay. I'll let you work." He heads inside and joins the others in the booth, ordering an ale when he can get the bartender's attention.
You arrive at the Plastered Dragon at about 3 in the afternoon. Thunderclouds loom on the horizon; it’s safe to expect a downpour in the next hour or so.
Hector, the bartender, is serving the other patrons when you arrive. A visibly half-elven woman sits at the bartop, an adventuring party of four occupies one table, and a flirting couple appears to be enjoying post-lunch drinks on the other side of the bar. It’s not super busy, but there’s just enough activity for you to fade into the background.
“What can I get for you?” Hector asks as soon as you sit down at one of the large corner booths.
“Hector” Ryan says as though they are old friends, “Why don’t we start off with some appetizers, mozzarella sticks, and I think we should lay off any drinking until we get a definitive plan made for tonight. We shouldn’t be drunk on the job.”
“What’s the job, Ryan?” Hector asks.
“Some strange stuff happening at Lake Buena Vista. Just trying to investigate and contain. You know the normal.” Ryan says.
Ryan sighs, “Really. Drinking when we might be going out for a hunt in a little bit.” Ryan says to Kieran after Hector leaves.
Kieran shrugs. "I'm not gonna get drunk off of one ale."
“You better not because we might be going for a swim.” Ryan says, knowing he can’t stop a grown individual from doing what they want.
Nolan's ears perked up. "Swimming? Are we going back to Disneyland? Oh!" He looked to Kall. "Did you show them the lyre I found?"
“Yes. We saw the lyre. And then we found this at the actual lake.” Ryan says showing the black feather. “It definitely comes from something magical. And the animals were talking about the incident at the other lake. They know that they didn’t do it. No animal did.”
Speaking of the lake, we haven't had a great opportunity to talk yet. Did you guys happen to notice a magical woman in the lake while you were there?"
Ryan shakes his head no.
"Before Liz tried to pickpocket the guy at the Waffle House, he said he saw a woman come out of the lake, totally naked, singing the most beautiful song he ever heard." Kieran says
Nolan hissed. "I knew Excalibur had something to do with it."
Kieran chuckles. "I did think of that. Though he didn't mention a sword. He even mentioned King Arthur and called her the Lady of the Lake"
“Hmmmmm......a luring song and the feather makes me think we might be dealing with something like a Harpy. But why? And what’s with the canoe being eaten at Lake Mabel.” Ryan ponders aloud.
"A canoe being eaten?" Kieran asks.
“It was in the news. It’s at Lake Mabel which is close-ish to the resorts so it kind of encompasses part of the whole LBV area. I first thought it might have been an alligator or something but they said it wasn’t them.” Ryan explains
"They said...you talked to the alligators?" Kieran asks Ryan.
Ryan chuckles “Not me. Ærik. He’s connected to nature. A Druid. I’ve ran into a couple in my own guild but they’re not super common.”
Kieran nods, looking over at Ærik. "I've heard of Druids, but you're the first one I've met."
"You're Kieran right?" Ærik asks. "We haven't had a chance to chat yet. Yes, I am what they call a Druid. What do you specialize in?" Turning back to the barkeep, he says "Hey Hector, can I get a pint of your finest Ale, and fill this guys cup back up." Sliding a ten dollar bill across the counter he adds, "please keep the change"
Nolan took in the scene around him. It'd been years since he was last in a bar. It was an Irish bar back in Orange County near his old home. "I'll just take water," he suggested with a smile.
“Yes, I’m Kieran. I specialize in hunting monsters,” he says, patting his longbow. “I’m a blood hunter.”
"Blood Hunter, hmm..." Ærik replies, "Is that like a blood hound, do you sniff out your prey?"
Kieran chuckles. “Something like that. I do indeed have increased tracking abilities, but only for certain kinds of targets, such as Fiends and undead, as well as creatures of “the Fey
"Or he hunts people *with* his blood." Nolan faked a shudder at the thought.
“As a matter of fact, I do also have better than normal senses of smell and hearing as well.” Kieran answers.
Nolan looked around warily before whispering, "Do... do you *drink* their blood? Like a vampire?"
Kieran gives Nolan a disgusted look. “Ew, not that’s gross.”
Nolan chuckled. "I know. Well. I was like... *82%* certain I knew. But there's gotta be *some* reason vampires do it," he added nonchalantly.
"That shall be something to see. I look forward to seeing you in action." Ærik turns to Nolan, "Human blood is definitely an acquired taste. I have rarely enjoyed the flavor." A big grin now on his face, bearing his teeth slightly.
Nolan’s light-hearted demeanor sours with melancholy as he absent-mindedly coughed nervously and shifted back in his seat, staring at his glass of water as the smile faded.
Ryan just laughs at the entire exchange.
As Kall enters the Plastered Dragon, she glances around briefly before approaching the rest of the group. Upon getting close, she starts kicking one of her legs out. With each kick her illusion melts down the side of her leg and into the ground. Eventually Kall stands with the group in their true form. A humanoid crow from head to toe, the Kenku wears a tropical shirt buttoned down the front side. Two large fanny packs are strapped around their waist with a carabiner clip holding the lyre in place. A pair of sandles is strapped to their feet and adorned atop the kenku's head is a fresh set of Mickey Mouse ears. Kall turns their attention to the group and listens, tilting their head as the conversation continues.
“Wow! JC wasn’t kidding when he said you were a tourist.” Ryan comments on Kall.
Nolan glanced over to Kall, more confused than ever. "Is this another one of your forms?" he asked, half-expecting to know the answer.
Kall nods to Ryan, "A tourist," they reply in his voice. They then glance over to Nolan and say, "No, my form." Kall's voice changes to Nolans as they answer him.
Kall places Bebe on the floor, allowing her to stretch her roots. She plops out of the planter and hugs the Kenku's leg, small eyes watching the group. At the same moment, JC appears atop the kenku's head, leaning against one of the Mickey ears.
"So nice to breath the smokey air of the Plastered Dragon again," JC says, flapping their wings in comfort.
Using Arial's voice, Kall asks, "How long can we stay? My buns are burning." Kicking off their sandles, Kall sits on a nearby stool. Bebe waddles over, lifting its branches to be picked up. After a moment, Kall complies and lifts the small plant into their lap.
"Long enough to eat, plan our next move, and wait out the inevitable 15 minute downpour thats going to happen." Ryan answers.
Ærik turns back to Nolan. "I've only had to kill a human a few times. Except for once, they all were sent to the nine circles of hell to repent for eternity."
With that he reaches out and takes the pint of ale placed in front of him by Hector. He raises the glass to the sky and says "Praise Valhalla. May Freyja bless us this day in our quest for truth". Ærik chugs the pint and slams the glass back on the counter.
"I mean... I try not to judge, but doesn't that seem a bit... *gruesome*? The whole viking lifestyle?" Nolan asked carefully.
"Ay, twas at that. I no longer embrace my Berserker blood line though. A darker God in darker times. I serve the Goddess Freyja and, I only use *those* gifts when really needed now." Ærik responds. "I haven't taken a life in a decade, but have saved any I could"
“A decade,” Ryan says surprised. “How old are you Ærik?”
"I'm only 28, so young for a *Druid* or so I'm told. My Teacher in school was over 200yrs. He had a plant like Bebe, but his was a nasty mean Ol' cactus" Ærik replies. "I have much to learn before I can *Awaken* a plant."
"I have killed monsters, but I have not taken a *human* life in a decade." Ærik adds after thinking for a moment.
Ryan nods along, “Sorry for the surprise. The way you speak suggested that you were older than I initially thought but, it seems your just wise beyond your years.” He says, apologizing as a force of habit.
"7 years basically in solitude, atoning to the Goddess, I forget how little time I've actually been alive, " Ærik chuckles, "Learning from a 200yr old gnome, affects how you treat others. I'm also learning. "
Ærik stands and says. "I was looking forward to the rain. I'm going to see if Liz split with the car, and hopefully see the sky cry for us. I *will* stay close, you talk to the others and come get us when we're leaving. " With that he grins at Ryan, straightens his Duster, and heads toward the door.
(Liz is sitting in her car, kinda hunched over her steering wheel)
Ærik strode out the front doors, paying no attention to the group he had just left at the bar. He was hoping that Liz hadn't taken off. As he opens the doors, he lets his eyes adjust from the smokey interior, to the outdoor day. He takes a couple steps and breathes in the electric air. It is charged and ready to release the impending downpour.
Ærik takes his time, appreciating the clouds, and makes his way to Liz's car.
He walks around to the drivers side door. Seeing Liz slumped over the wheel, he taps lightly twice on the window, and says. "Liz, I'm sorry I chewed on you. May I enter your car?"
Liz quickly rubbed her face across the sleeve of her leather jacket. "Sure," she said, not looking up.
Ærik walks around to the passenger side, opens the door, and slides into her car. "I hope it rains, I love the rain. I would rather see the sky cry, than you. I am sorry I was mean to you. We all do mistakes."
Liz leaned back in the seat, and smiled. "Hey, no problem. It happens."
"Do you have this car ready to go again? Ryan did appear to be very careful when borrowing it" Ærik asks, hoping to change the subject.
"Yeah, nothing I can't handle." Liz gave the steering wheel a gentle stroke. "This car and I have been through a lot together. She's got my back, I've got hers."
"The ale in there is pretty good, do you want to wait out the storm, and then go join the others?" Ærik asks. "I think I scared the little mage in there, and you can't feel much more connected to the Earth, than standing out in a nice rain storm. Whatya say.?"
Liz looked out the window. "Yeah, I like the rain. It reminds me that no matter how much ****ed up stuff there is in the world, it can be washed away."
Ærik thinks about her words for a minute. "Yeah, I guess it does. That's another way of seeing it. I can picture myself being bathed in the Goddess's tears."
Liz looked at him, her eyes red and puffy. "Goddess?"
Ærik responds quickly, "Yes, the Goddess. I serve the Norse Goddess, Freyja, said to have taught Odin himself the Nature magic he uses. It is she who grants me access to her magics." With this last statement, he makes a slight motion with his left hand, mutters something unintelligible, and Liz swears she hears the soft sounds of a waterfall coming from the back seat. It only lasts for a couple seconds and is gone.
Liz whips around to check her backseat. "Hmph... impressive. I always thought those old myths were... well, just myths." She shifted slightly, putting her back to the door and pulling her right leg up onto the seat, giving herself a better view of Erik. "I mean, I know there are crazy things out there, but I didn't know that the gods and goddesses of the old myths were real. You ever meet her? Like, face to face?"
"As real as a dream or vision in your mind can be. I feel her power in the Earth. I have heard her voice. I can picture her face in the light. She is beyond words." Ærik responds. "You fight demons, but don't believe in God's" He shakes his head trying to understand. "You are a mystery to me indeed "
Liz shrugged. "Never seen one. With what I've been through in my life, I can't really concern myself with things I haven't seen. If there's a demon, it needs to be killed, and that's where I come in. Never heard of someone needing to kill an angel or a god before."
"I've seen and done things I'm both proud of, and very ashamed of." Ærik says, his voice growing more somber. "I assure you, that they are real. I have lost the Goddess's favor, lost my magic, and spent many years atoning. I believe, and don't take my oaths lightly."
"Must be nice to have faith in something," Liz mused, gazing at him.
Ærik looks at Liz, trying to catch her gaze. "You must believe these monsters come from somewhere. Without the God's, then where? How can you have no faith.? You lead a stranger life than I thought" He adds, feeling saddened by her pain, but still confused by her lack of faith.
At that last statement, Ærik turns his gaze back to the clouds, hoping the rain comes soon.
"I honestly don't care where the monsters come from." Liz held eye contact with Erik. "I only care about keeping people safe. That's not a terrible reason is it? If I have to do a few illegal things to ensure the safety of others, and keep our big secret, does that instantly make me a bad person?"
"I don't think you're a bad person, " Ærik responds. "And I guess it doesn't matter where they come from, as long as we stop them. We have to do that without hurting those we are trying to protect.." His voice trailing off. "That's often the hardest part.
Liz frowned at Erik. "You ever hurt someone?"
Ærik turns toward her again, a lone tear starts to run down his face. "I have hurt many and I have killed many, they were all monsters, human or otherwise.... except the first. I learned that day, that i was the monster."
Liz frowned and leaned forward, brushing the tear from his face. "You're not a monster. You're trying to help people, right? A monster wouldn't do that. You feel the pain of guilt and a monster wouldn't. The fact that you're here, bearing your soul to a complete stranger tells me you're the farthest thing from a monster as you can get." She gave him a kind smile and patted his cheek.
Ærik shakes off the melancholy upon seeing her smile. "No, thank you. You are right. I am NOT a monster unless I choose to be. BEN kinda broke me again with the caging" His words ending in a slight snarl. He starts again, firm but no longer angry "I am blessed with a gift, I'm not a cursed beast with no free will. I choose to do the right thing and walk proud in this world. The question is, whether I trust you to do the same."
"I do what I have to do, Erik." Liz paused, glancing out the window. "Kieran... changed, right there in front of that old man. I don't know what he was thinking, honestly, but BEN knows what he did. I got blamed for it, and that's okay. I don't mind. They caught me and not him, so they couldn't punish him for what he did." She glanced back at Erik. "I told you, I'm not above doing illegal things to protect others."
A look of realization coming across Ærik's face. He looks down in shame, shaking his head side to side. " Oh The blindness of judgement." With this he looks back up, "You were protecting the shifter... That's why you picked the old man's pocket. Now I Kenna." Ærik gets a slight puzzled look on his face and asks, "You said he changed just his hand?"
"His arm," Liz said, noticing sprinkles on the windshield. "Right there, in the diner. I know the man saw it, but for some reason, acted like he hadn't. Denial, perhaps, I don't know. I'm not sure if the waitress saw, but there's no way the security camera didn't see it. I panicked and did what I thought was best." She shrugged and suddenly the sky let loose, rain pouring down on the top of the old car, reminiscent of rain on a tin roof. Liz leaned her head against the seat and closed her eyes. "That's the best sound in the world."
"Just an arm..... He told me he is a Blood Hunter. I will have to keep a better eye on that one." Erik says.
He then starts to remove his duster, and as he opens the car door and steps into the rain, he tells Liz, "I will enjoy the sound better out here. I'll see you in a few." With that he closes the car door and looks up to the pouring sky. He takes his time, enjoying the rain, and leaning on his staff.
Liz jumps out of the car quickly. "Erik," she called, running to catch up to him. "Do me a favor, please, and don't tell anyone why I got arrested. I don't want anyone to yell at him like... well, like you yelled at me. It's over and done, and I'm hoping we can all most past this." Some of her hair was clinging to her face, and she brushed it back. "Just let me be the stupid girl."
"Does that mean you forgive me for chewing on you?" Erik asks in response "I think I would like it if you did." His lips curling into a grin. "I can respect your wish, now that i understand it." With his right hand, he taps his staff twice on the ground, reaches up and taps her shoulder twice with his left hand. A faint electric sound being made at the point of contact with his hand and her shoulder. [Druidcraft (the faint elctric sound when he toucches Liz's shoulder touched your shoulder)]
Liz jumped slightly at the electrical sound at her ear. She looked quickly, but saw nothing. "Yeah, yeah, I forgive you. But honestly," she laughed. "If you want to chew on me, all you have to do is ask." She laughed again and began walking to the bar.
Happy to no longer have Liz angry with him, and glad he feels he can trust her, Erik finally relaxes. He leans back against Liz's car, and watches her go into the bar, while feeling the last remaining tension from being caged washed away in the rain.
Liz burst into the bar, huge grin on her face. She wrung the water from her hair and looked around. Once her eyes had adjusted, she spotted her newfound friends, and sauntered over to their table. "Okay *****es," she said, plopping down into a chair. "Where's my beer?"
"Well that invoked a slew of emotions," he mused at Liz's entrance as he finished the last of his water. Standing up from the table, he added, "I'll getcha one. Is your car okay?"
"Thank you, that would be wonderful," Liz said at the mention of beer. "My Sweetie is just fine. Nothing I can't handle," she said, giving Ryan a grin.
“She drove beautifully. And hopefully she’ll do just fine to our next stop. I think Lake Mabel is where we need to go next.” Ryan says back to Liz.
"She'll do just fine," Liz said with a wink. "So, we're going to go find the naked lady in the lake? Sounds like a party to me!"
“Yeah. She may be more than what meets the eye though.” Ryan says holding up the feather and the musical instrument.
"Oh, I'm certain she is." Crossing her arms over her chest, Liz sat back in the chair. "She's straight out of Avalon, which isn't exactly normal."
Nolan blushed like a red rose blossoming as he returned with Liz's beer, overhearing their plan. "We're uhh.... what?"
"Lady in the lake," Liz said, grabbing the beer. After a long drink, she continued. "King Arthur, Excalibur? Naked women in lakes handing out swords and forming governments. Well, Kieran and I were told by the old man at Waffle House that he saw the Lady in the Lake."
"Where's my beer, *****es?" Kall asks Nolan as he comes back with Liz's beer.
Liz burst out laughing, then stopped quickly, finally realizing just what Kall really was. "Well now," she said leaning forward. "You certainly much more interesting than your first appear. Impressive disguising skills." She took another long drink of her beer, while looking over Kall.
Bebe hugs onto Kall tightly when Liz leans over to inspect them. "Thank you darling," Kall replies in Arial's voice.
Liz grinned and sat back in her seat. "So, what did you all find? Surely nothing as exciting as naked women!"
Nolan sighed, feigning frustration with a sarcastic tone. "What am I, the Mormon bus-boy?!" He threw his hands up in the air to dramatize the effect before doing what he was told and grabbing a beer for Kall.
As Nolan returns again, Kieran grins at him and asks the same question.
Ryan rolls his eyes. “Stop teasing the poor boy. I’ll go get it you can sit down.” Ryan says getting up and offering his seat to Nolan.
"ANYONE ELSE WANT A BEER WHILE I'M STILL STANDING," Nolan yelled as heads turned.
Liz laughs and pulls Nolan into his chair. "Don't let them rile you up. Tell them to **** off, you'll feel better."
Kieran chuckles at Nolan and raises his ale glass, showing he doesn’t actually need a drink.(edited)
He chuckled after a moment. "Eh. It's not a big deal to me either way."
Ryan shakes his head and heads off to the bar, hoping to also chat with Hector about what a certain feather might be from.
Kall sticks their beak into the glass, feeding the beer into their mouth small bits at a time. When the Kenku comes back up, small foam lines outline their beak. "Thank you, Nolan," Kall says in Lillianna's voice.
Liz smiled and looked around the table at everyone. "You know, I never work with others. But I get the feeling that I'm going to enjoy working with you all." She sent a glance at the door. "I hope Erik joins us soon. I'd hate for him to miss all the fun."
Feeling quite relaxed and having truly enjoyed the rain fall, Ærik grabs his duster from the car, and heads toward the bar. He walks thru the door, and shakes himself off like an animal. He then flings his jacket over his shoulder, and heads back to sit with the others.
He stops before sitting and looks across the group once, Starting with Kieran and ending with Liz, and a giant smile on his face. "It was a very good rain. The sky cried for us all. So where did yall decide we're going next?." Ærik asks, while sliding into a seat.
"Lake Mabel to find naked women," Kall responds in a part Ryan and part Liz voice.
Kall dips their beak back into the beer and small clicking sounds are heard as they dribble up more of the liquid. Drips fall onto Bebe and the plant soaks up the liquid quickly.
"That's the lake where the kayaker was attacked right? Maybe the animals there actually saw something useful. The damn alligators where we were just kept saying that they all knew better than to eat a plastic kayak, and the attack wasn't one of their kin." With that Ærik notices that the voice came from a giant Crow, and he pauses to take in the feathered creature in all it's glory.
"Kieran and I were told there was a naked woman in the lake singing the most beautiful song," Liz said, grinning at Erik. "I figure it's worth a look."
"We started the day, half naked and caged, let's hope she's not an old hag. Naked or not, it'll be hard to improve on my earlier view from a cage." Ærik replies, matching Liz's grin.
"There's also another musical instrument underwater that I promised to help get, so it looks like I'm taking a swim." Liz looked at Erik. "Think you can keep the gators from eating me?"
"I can't take a form that swims, but I can handle a few Gators. Give me a minute to talk to them, but they made it clear they don't like trouble any more than we do." Ærik responds.
"Just as long as I don't become someone's dinner, I'll be good." Liz continued to grin at Erik.
Ærik just grins at her response. "I never said you wouldn't be someone's dinner, but I'll keep you safe at the lake from any normal animals."
Liz laughed loudly and took another large swig of her beer.
Ærik turns his attention to KALL, and says. "Wow. You are a beautiful bundle of feathers. Are you able to fly?"
He's never seen a bird creature like this before and is very curious about it's nature. Looking around the room, he has another thought and turns to the group.
"Has anyone tried talking to the other guests? Maybe that elf knows or has heard something. "
Nolan perked up at the thought. He hated talking to new people, but at least he was good at getting them to talk. 'I'll see if I can scrounge up any information," he offered as he stood.
At the Bar With Hector
Ryan approaches Hector at the bar “Hey, I have a question for you if you don’t mind answering it?”
“Anything for you, Ryan,” Hector already has the rogue’s drink of choice in front of him.
"Thanks," Ryan says grabbing the drink. "Now, I was wondering if you had any information about Lake Mabel. We think our investigation is leading us there but its best to know if the place has a history with the magical community first." Ryan says while sipping his Rum and Coke.
“I don’t think I’ve ever even so much as heard of Lake Mabel,” Hector replies. “You know how it is, so many damn lakes around here. I guess that sort of answers your question, though.”
“Yeah. What about a lady of the Lake kind of situation? You know an enchanting song to lure people in, speaking of enchanting. We also have this magical lute that’s oozing enchantment magic and magical black feather. Do you know any creatures with black feathers that hang out by the lake?” Ryan asks.
“The past month has actually been pretty quiet. Four months ago there was a string of harpy incidents, but they ended abruptly. Haley, there was super pissed she didn’t get to kill the buggers herself,” Hector replied chattily. “Sorry, I’m not more help. What I can do is cast Identify on that lute, that is, if you finally agree to go on a date with me.”
Ryan's face turns to beat red. “Now....now Hector. I...I already told you I’m not looking for anyone. I’m...I’m focusing on my hunting career.” Ryan manages to stutter out.
“How can you deny the electric chemistry between us?” Hector winked.
“I....I....Hector, you seem like a nice. I’m...I’m just not interested right now. Sorry. I’m...I’m really no good at this refusal thing.” Ryan says taking a long drink out of his glass.
“Well, when the time is right for you, you know where to find me,” Hector replied.
Ryan doesn’t move. He’s obviously having an internal debate with himself. Finally, Ryan finishes his drink and then looks back up at Hector. “One date. And you identify and tell me all about the lute and the feather.”
“Do I get to pick where we go?” Hector asks with a smile.
“Sure. You can pick where. But let’s do it Friday. It’ll give me the rest of today and tomorrow to close this case.” Ryan responds.
“You have a deal,” Hector grins. “Hand me the lute.”
While Hector is Identifying the lute Ryan look over to the group to make sure that everything is alright and then realize that if I should give Hector my number if I'm going to hold on to my end of the deal. Ryan takes a napkin and writes down his number for Hector.
A minute later, Hector stops muttering under his breath and looks up at Ryan. “Where did you say you got this? Because this thing has got some serious juice.”
"The others found it while we were looking for some clues near Lake Buena Vista." Ryan tells him.
“Interesting, interesting,” the bartender nods. “The closest thing I can liken it to is an Instrument of the Bard’s. When attuned, it makes enchantment based spells more difficult to resist. It also has enchantment magic of its own stored up in those strings.”
"More enchantment...." Ryan thinks for a moment. "Thanks, Hector. Do you think you can tell me anything about this feather as well?" Ryan says holding the black feather up.
“I’m not a nature expert, sorry my friend,” Hector replied apologetically. “But Friday night... can we meet up at around 8?”
"Yeah. Here's my number. Send me a text later and I'll tell you where to pick me up." Ryan says handing Hector his number and taking the lute back to the others.
“I’ll see you then,” Hector gives Ryan a wink.
Flirtations and Bathroom Visitations...
Nolan, spotting a lone half-elf sitting in the tavern, approached her with a warm smile, crouching down as he looks up to the sitting elf and asked, "Hey! Is it alright if I ask a few questions?"
The half-elf pulls out a dagger and slams it into the wooden bar next to Nolan’s hand. “What kind of questions?”
"... Nice questions?" he replied sheepishly with a smile, feigning humility. "It's not a bother if you don't want to answer them. I was just curious if you've been to Lake Mabel and heard anything about naked women throwing swords out of it."
“Why are you talking to me?” She narrowed her eyes, clearly on edge.
He chuckled. "To be honest, I only have a few options," he mentioned as he looked around at how few patrons there were. "And large groups intimidate me." He moved to stand and backed away, "Perhaps I should ask them though. I hate upsetting people..." He let the words trail off.
“What‘s your name?” She interrupted.
He paused and turned back to her. "Nolan. Nolan Dodge. I'm not even from here really. Do... I look familiar?" He asked with a curious face as he crouched back down to look up at her.
“No,” she replied, withdrawing her dagger and returning it to its place on her hip. “Do I look familiar to you?”
"Uhh... No," he remarked, showing confusion on his face. Is this what flirting is like? he thought to himself, his face turning a little red.
“Then why are you talking to me?” The half-elf raised an eyebrow.
This is definitely flirting "Beeeecause you looked like you might be able to answer a question or two of mine?" he reemphasized, blatantly confused.
“Merlin you’re slow,” she sighed. “Ok, ask your questions.”
"Wait," he interjected, using the moment to take a seat by her. "Is Merlin real?"
“You’re going to waste one of your questions on something that stupid?”
"You know what?" he countered. "Yes. Yes, I am."
“Merlin is as real as Harry Houdini,” she replied. “I thought everyone knew that.”
"I'm... new to the magic world. I only really came across it a few years ago." He quickly adds, "But you don't seem much for one to like small-talk and playful banter, so let's cut to the chase: have you heard anything about Lake Mabel and women throwing swords out of it?"
“That explains the Merlin question on two accounts,” the half-elf nodded. “I’m just back from a hunting trip down in Miami, but a week ago no one was talking about Lake Mabel or a Lady of the Lake.”
"So it's a new event..." he mutters to himself. His mind drawing blanks, he nods his head and stands with a smile. "You've been most helpful. Even if this conversation was like dancing through a minefield, it was like dancing nonetheless."
“I’m not sure if I like you or not,” the woman half smiled. “But glad I could have been of service, Nolan.”
"If it's any consolation," he mentions with a chuckle and a wave of his hand, "I feel the same way. Bye!"
As Nolan returns, Kall asks, "You get them digits? That ***** was fine as ****." The voice is somewhat recognizable as the one they used in the jail cell earlier. Kall looks past Nolan at the half-elf and raises their beer.
Liz laughs loudly. "I like you. You're my kind of... people!"
Nolan turns bright-red as he steals a look back at the half-elf. "Cool your pants, birdman!" he shouts with a whisper.
"I ain't got no pants, sugar," Kall replies in Arial's voice. Kall then sticks their beak back in the beer and washes more down their throat.
Grinning like a loon, Liz said, "Oh yeah, this is gonna be fun."
Ærik's grin turns to a slight frown, and he says. "You think this is fun after only one beer? I would have bet you could drink way more than that and still see clear." He turns to Kall and says "Hey KALL, Liz is driving, she can't drink anymore. Will you watch her for me?"
"Hey!" Liz feigned shock. "This is like drinking water!" She leaned forward, poking Erik in the chest with her finger. "I'll show you later just how much I can drink, buddy."
Ærik's frown turns back to a big smile and he says. "Ryan , JC and I are having lots of Pizza later, we can drink then. Besides, we agreed twice was enough today. The third time is not a necklace. You do not need a DUI."
Liz finished off her beer in one long swig. Sitting the bottle down, she held her hands up. "Fine, fine. I'll be a good girl."
"I'll be good," Kall says in Liz's voice, trying to finish the beer as quickly as possible. Most of it ends up on Bebe, but the plant doesn't seem to mind.
"So pizza and beer. Now that sounds fun." Turning to Nolan, he asks "You weren't over there long, did she know anything?"
He sat down, still visibly flustered, the redness not disappearing in the slightest. "No, not really. She just knows that there was no talk of... certain women, swords, and Lake Mabel a week ago. So this all is pretty recent."
"But you didn't answer the important question," Liz said, motioning at Kall. "Did you get her digits?" She gave Nolan a wink and leaned forward.
"Yeah *****, hook a brother up," Kall says in response, using the same prison voice.
He sighed and shook his head, sinking back into his chair.
"So go ask," Liz said, egging him on.
"I'm not getting her number," he mumbled as his stomach churned and he took some deep breaths. "Excuse me," is all he could say as he beelined for the bathroom.
"Now that's a man that can't hold his liqueur," Kall says in Lillianna's voice. Kall watches as Nolan heads over to the restroom.
Liz slowly sat back in her chair. "Well... that was unexpected." Beginning to feel bad, she turned to Erik. "Maybe you should go check on him? I would but... I don't think anyone wants me barging in on the men's room."
"I imagine that probably depends entirely on the person in question and the situation," Kieran says waggling his eyebrows suggestively.
"Well, okay then!" Liz promptly stood from the table, and began to walk to the men's room. Opening the door, she called out, "Hey Nolan! I'm coming in." Without waiting for a response, she walked in. "You okay? Sorry for... pushing you." From the table, Kieran laughs out loud as Liz barged into the restroom.
Liz walked in just as the squirts began leaving Nolan's bowels. It abruptly stopped, followed by a profound silence. Why me. Why now. Why here. "I think I just ate something foul, and this pressuring me to get her number... I don't want to. Too stressful," he confessed.
Liz leaned against the wall, keeping her eyes on the door. "Yeah, about that... I'm sorry. I don't work with other people often. When I'm drinking, it means I don't have much to worry about and can have a little fun. Honestly, I can't be held responsible for the things that come out of my mouth. I... I'm just trying to have a little fun, and I'm sorry it was at your expense."
Another shower of squirts leaked past his weakening anus. "It's.... it's fine. Can I just be alone right now?"
"Oh sure," Liz said, containing a laugh. She walked out and rejoined the group. "He'll be fiiiiiiiine."
Kieran shakes his head. "Wrong person, wrong situation."
Liz shrugged and raised her hand to order another beer, then quickly dropped it, remembering her promise. "This beer and pizza is sounding really good right about now."
With a nod, Kieran says, "Hard to go wrong with pizza."
"I vote pineapple, and I'll fight anyone who says otherwise," Liz replied, giving everyone a stern look.
"Lots of sausage," Kall replies in a tiny but confidant voice.
"Okay, I won't fight you on that." Liz smiled. "I like a bit of sausage from time to time."
“I’m a fan of pepperoni myself.” Kieran simply responded.
"We promised JC suasage" Ærik adds.
Ryan returns lute in hand, "Well, I got some information for everyone. My hunch was right, its probably some Harpys that have returned to the area. Also, if anyone one of you are particularly a bard or really good with enchantment magic this lute might best be used for you. Kall and Nolan, you two found it so you two should probably who get first dibs on it." Ryan says taking a seat amongst the group. As Ryan looks around, he realizes that Nolan was nowhere to be seen. Ryan looks around the bar, "Where'd Nolan go?" he asks the group.
"Nolan is hiding in the bathroom"Ærik replies. "He looked like he had a bad fever after talking to the elf over there. I almost forgot. Liz is joining us for sausage pizza and beer tonight. I hope it was ok to invite her, since she is staying at your place" Ærik adds. Liz smirked at Ryan.
“Yeah. It’s fine. The whole group is invited.” Ryan says. “I’ll go see it Nolan’s okay.” Ryan states before getter by up and rushing towards the bathroom.
Ærik shakes his head as Ryan rushes off, "Harpies... Nasty things in my experience, and not tasty at all. Their meat is way too stringy and has a bitter aftertaste. Fun to hunt, but theb ones I've encountered were just mean." He leans his staff on the table, and slowly starts cracking his knuckles, while looking off toward the bathroom where Ryan is headed.
As Ryan enters the bathroom he calls out, “Nolan. You okay in here. The others said you looked sick.”
As Ryan entered the bathroom, he sees Nolan washing his hands thoroughly. "I'm good!" is all he says as he dries his hands and then wipes his face and neck with the wet paper towel. "I'll be fine," he reassures as he exits the bathroom to join with the others.
Ryan just follows him out not questioning him since he seems okay. “If everyone is done here let’s head out. Lake Mabel is our last destination for the day. And then it’s pizza and beer at my place.” He says with a smile.
"Yes, let's finish quickly. That beer is calling my name!" Liz stood quickly, giving Erik a wink.
"We should go swimming before we eat Pizza. I'm ready to do this." Ærik says grinnng back at Liz
Liz nods. "I'm not sure swimming in a thunderstorm is the best idea."
“Is it still storming. Normally the rain only lasts like 15 minutes here.” Ryan says
Liz shrugged. "If it's not, I'll go for a dip!"
"What's a little thunderstorm? It's the Best time to go swimming when the fishes are out." Ærik says, his grin getting bigger. "Did we actually find something your afraid of?"
Liz shot Erik a look. "I'm not afraid of anything."
Ærik just smiles at her reply. "Then let's go swimming. I've had enough of the smokey air in here." Turning to Nolan he asks, "Nolan, are you good? You look like you could use some fresh air too."
He nodded his head. "I'm fine now. But yeah, let's go outside to get some air. I think I might want to get soaked again."
"Shotgun," Kall says in an unrecognizable voice. As they say it, their form shimmers and shifts, taking that of an average aged caucasian blue-collared worker wearing jeans and a wife-beater. A weeks worth of stubble is apparent on his hawk-like features. Bebe clambers down and back into her pot and Kall lifts it up.
"I'm totally down for getting soaked," Liz said standing and moving to the door. "Nothing wrong with getting a little moist."(edited)
Ærik watches Kall shift, and thinks to himself that he's a little jealous. They seem to be able to hold a chosen form for much longer periods of time than he himself was able to. Turning and following Liz toward the door he responds "I don't think you can get a little wet while swimming, but you might have a trick I don't know."
Liz snorts and puts a hand on Erik's shoulder. "You have a lot to learn, my friend. That one went right over your head."
As Ærik turns and looks back over his shoulder, seeing nothing there, he turns back to Liz, and quietly asks, "I didn't see you casting magic, do you use magic?"
“Ærik. It was a figure of speech. It means she made a joke that you didn’t get.” Ryan says choosing to end this before Liz chooses to take advantage of the man.
Liz gestured a hand over her head. "Woosh!"
Ærik smiles and nods his head. "Ah, thank you Ryan. Over. .. my head. " He chuckles lightly at this, "A short joke. Always with the short jokes..."(edited)
(he's only 5'6")
"Oh, honey," Liz said, throwing an arm around his shoulders. "I haven't even begun with the short jokes."
(Liz is 5'9")
“Leave Ærik alone. He’s just the right size.” Ryan (the 5’10’’ man) says.
"I pick on the ones I like," Liz said, winking at Ryan. "If I don't give you shit, it means I don't like you."
"I can reach quite high places when I need to. Don't you worry about me. Now Let's go find a naked lake lady." Ærik reaches out and gives Liz a quick squeeze, his arm below the one she has on his shoulder, around her waist. He releases his arm, and steps away from her, and strides out the door towards her car.
"Yeah," Liz said, winking at Ryan again. "Let's go find naked chicks."
Ryan rolls his eyes at the mention of naked women.
Liz wiggles her eyebrows and twirls the keys on a finger. She opened the door and jumped in, starting up the old beast. "Well, what are we waiting for?"
"Do you know where you're going?" Ryan asks as he slides into the backseat.
"Do you know where you're going?" Ryan asks as he slides into the backseat.
"Nope!" Liz looked in the rearview at Ryan. "That's why I have you."
"Lake Mabel. Hold on I'll bring it up on my GPS. Be prepared for any Harpys to attack as well." Ryan says taking his phone out and turning it on.
"Ummmm...." Nolan began. "I'll take my own car. You're drunk and shouldn't be driving."
Liz gives Nolan a look. "I've had one beer. It's been..." She checks the clock. "A while since I last had that one beer. I'm not even close to drunk."
He smiled defeatedly. "Okay! I'm still driving my own car."
Liz gives Nolan a wink. "Yeah, you are."
"You know you wink a lot Liz. You might want to get that checked out." Ryan says from the car.
"Must be something in my eye," Liz laughed. "Come on, lighten up a little, Ryan."
"Sorry. I'll be fine later. I'm just anxious to find these beasts." Ryan responds.
"Whatever they are, we'll kick their asses," Liz said, shutting the car door. "I'm pretty confident in this group. You all seem very competent." She rolled down the window. "Hey I got room for one more!"
Nolan sat in his own car and yelled out. "I'm good!"
Liz gave Nolan a thumbs up.
"Come on Ærik, get in and lets go." Ryan says.
"Join the dark side, Ærik!" Nolan countered. "We have cookies."
"We have Bebe." Ryan counters.
"And I'm here," Liz added. "Who wouldn't want to be with me?"
"Lyuboy s glazami." Ryan quietly says.
(Russian: anyone with eyes.)
"Don't be summoning demons into the backseat of my car, Ryan," Liz said, cocking an eyebrow.
"No demons. Only truth." Ryan responds
"Mmm-hmm," mumbled Liz, narrowing her eyes.
Ryan gives Liz a playful wink.
Ærik holllers to Nolan as he opens the door and slides into Liz's backseat, "Someone's got to watch out for these 3, you take Kieran, and will see you there"
He smiled in response to Ærik, closing the door and rolling up the window. "Looks like we're the misfits once again, aren't we?" he suggested to Kieran.
Kieran shrugs as he climbs into the passenger seat. Way less crowded this way anyway.
After piling into various cars, the crew makes their way over to the other side of Orlando. Half of Lake Mabel is bordered with a suburban subdivision, but a side dirt road on the souther tip of the lake leads to a secluded spot. While the afternoon storm has stopped, grey thunderclouds still hang heavy in the sky over this area.
PBP: DM of Titans of Tomorrow
PBP: Lera Zahuv in Whispers of Dissent
PBP: Evaine Brae in Innistrad: Dark Ascension
PBP: Cor'avin in Tomb of Annihilation
Once at the lake, Liz stepped out of the car. "Okay, if I were a naked woman, where would I be?"
“Alright. Let’s search for some clues. Ærik do you think you can talk to some of the local wildlife. I’m going to attempt to find more signs of harpies. Maybe they’ve dropped some feathers. The rest of you can either help me find more signs of harpies, this Lady of the Lake, or maybe if the magical barrier is weak around here.” Ryan instructs before he begins searching through the area.
"If you're talking to the wildlife in the water," Liz said, looking at Erik. "I'll go with you. The old guy said the Lady was in the water."
"JC," Kall says, summoning his familiar. JC pops into existence on Kall's shoulder. "Let's search for some clues." Kall leaves Bebe in the car for this, unsure how dangerous it might be. And follows Ryan.
Kieran stays nearby, but moves in a different direction from Ryan and Kall, looking for further signs of harpies.
Ærik hops out of the car behind the rest.
He gathers his belongings and prepares to commune with nature.
"I am going to talk to as many creatures as I can, and then we can try to look for weird magic spots also."
Ærik walks down towards the lake, and finds a nice spot to stop. He stands still under a tree, taps his staff on the ground twice and starts the process of casting spells as rituals. Ærik casts speak with animals as a ritual, and starts asking the alligators and birds if they've seen any Harpies, if they saw the kayak attack, and if they've seen any naked lake ladies. He will cast the spell multiple times, to talk to as many animals as possible for about an hour. (Charisma for talking to animals: 18)
Liz walks with Erik, but when he stops, she continues to the edge of the water. She looked around, remaining still, and listening to the world around her.
Ryan and Kall:
Kall shadows Ryan, looking at what he looks at, turning stones that Ryan has already turned. And generally studying Ryan’s demeanor.
“Look. It seems like our feathered friends really like the water.” Ryan says pointing out the trail of feathers that lead into the water. (Investigation: 17)
“Look at these feathers. They are more than a couple days old but less than a week.” Ryan comments to Kall. “I wonder how often they show up here. Maybe they’ll come back tonight. Though, Harpies seem a little too easy for something that involves BEN kidnapping people. Maybe there’s something bigger going on here.” Ryan ponders aloud as he begins making his way back to the cars hoping to run into the others and hearing about what they found.
Ærik and Liz:
Ærik turns to Liz, and asks "Will you stay close, I don't want to draw too much attention. Will you act like your taking pictures with your phone of me and the animals when I'm talking to them?"
Liz smiled. "Sure," she said winking. "I'll take pictures of you."
Ærik is having fun, posing with the animals, while Liz *takes pictures*. They stroll around while he points at the trees or a bird, looking like a typical nature enthusiast. Stopping to chitter with any who will chit with him. He scoops up a particularly friendly chipmunk, and it sits in his shoulder for bit. He makes little animal noises while feeding it some seeds from a pocket in his duster.
"It's ok little one, she won't bite you. Not today anyway. Run along now." Ærik says after a couple of minutes, lowering the little chipmunk to the ground, while giving Liz a grin.
"Well, that is interesting indeed. We may have another clue. Or three.... We should catch up with the others, unless there's something else you'd like to see or do out here."
"Personally, I'm not interested in biting a chipmunk," Liz said, grinning back. "Hopefully your clue can help us, because I haven't seen shit."
"We must have the Goddess's favor today" Ærik replies. "I've seen lots of shit. There were duck and goose droppings along the shore. At least one dog has been thru here recently. Was there a kind of shit you want me to ask about?" Ærik turns to see if the chipmunk has left the area.
Liz laughs again. "I like you. You make me laugh." She patted Erik on the shoulder. "Not the kind of shit I mean. I meant that I haven't seen or heard any naked women here. I'm not entirely sure the Lady of the Lake was a valid clue. Maybe the guy was just loony."
Ærik smiles back at Liz, while committing her odd saying to memory. "Oh he was wrong it would seem, but not entirely. Our little friends say that there are actually 3 women who aren't women, who come here together to sing. It has been very regular lately. They have been coming once a week and the last time was five nights ago at sunset."
Liz frowns. "Did your friend say if they were naked? Regardless, I don't think three non-women singing is any better than one naked woman singing."
"I didn't ask if they were naked. I'm sorry. I was too excited that there were three of them. I agree that 3 may not be better than 1 in this case, but they come once a week. They could be Harpies, but why here? It seems way too public of a place for their usual feeding frenzy. I have heard they have beautiful voices, they use it to draw in their victims. Similar to my Charm spell." Ærik finishes. He's very excited and talking rather quickly at this point.
"But if they come here once a week," Liz counters. "Then what does it have to do with this 'incident' that happened here? I dunno. Something just isn't quite adding up. You would think BEN could handle 3 harpies. I don't think the harpies are what we are looking for, to be honest."
Ærik listens to Liz, and scrunches up his shoulders, his left hand raised palm up.
"I dunno. It does seem too easy, Maybe they've seen something or are working for someone. Either way, at least we found *something*, the other lake Ryan took me to, had nothing but a feather that we don't even know came from a Harpy."
"There's that lake that Kall found the instrument," Liz suggested. "Seems odd that an item like that would be at the bottom of a lake. And there's another instrument down there, which I offered to retrieve. What are the odds of that?" Liz pauses a moment, thinking. "I think it's unlikely we're going to find these three non-women here today, or even this week. I think we'd be better off going to the other lake, grabbing the other instrument, then having some beer and pizza."
"We should go find Ryan and the others then. We can share what we've found, and head back to the other lake. I did promise to keep you from being eaten while you get wet." Ærik responds.
Liz nodded in agreement to Erik. "Let's go. I think we're wasting our time here." She pulled him along, back toward the group. "I did get a couple really good pictures of you," she said, showing him the only images saved on her phone.
As Ryan makes his way back to the vehicle he runs into Ærik and Liz. “So, what’d the animals tell us?” Ryan asks.
"Oh. I really like this one with the chipmunk.” Ærik just finishes saying as he sees Ryan coming towards them.
"Ryan, I'm sorry you missed the chipmunk. He was a sweet little thing."
He waits until Ryan gets a little closer and then quietly continues, "There are three women who aren't really women, who've been coming to the lake once a week and singing together. They were last seen here five nights ago at sunset. Could be Harpies, but it seems off."
“That connects to the feathers I found that lead into the lake. They’ve been there less than a week. Which means they’re do to return any day now. Do you think they’ll be back tonight?” Ryan asks
"The animals did say once a week. Five days puts it at tonight or more likely tomorrow." Ærik replies.
"You found more Harpy feathers? Leading *into* the lake.?" He then asks.
“Yes. Which has me complex since, unless these harpies are part duck or something, they shouldn’t be going into the water because wouldn’t it make it difficult to then fly?” Ryan muses aloud.
"Umm, did it look like there was a struggle? Did anyone look *in* the lake?" Ærik asks
“No. That’s where Liz comes in. She’s willing to go for a swim.” Ryan says with a smile.
"Sure, why not?" Liz said smiling. She glanced at the sky. "Doesn't look like I'll be getting struck by lightning." She walked back to the waters edge. "Just make sure nothing tries to eat me while I'm in there." Scanning the water for a moment, Liz slid out of her boots and began to peel off her clothes.
“Keep your undergarments on. We don’t need the police to randomly so up and you get arrested again for indecent exposure.” Ryan says as Liz begins stripping.
"Don't worry," Liz said with a grin. "That's the plan." She handed Ryan her heavy leather jacket, her phone safely tucked in a pocket. "I just don't want to risk losing or ruining things."
Ryan smiles and takes the jacket folding it over his arm. “Be quick. And don’t fight anything. This is just recon.” He comments as he takes all of her stuff for safe keeping while she goes for a dip.
"Got it, boss," Liz replied, while stripping the rest of her clothes off. "Eric, try to keep the wildlife off me. No sense in them getting mixed up in this. Wish me luck!" She gave Ryan another smile before diving into the water.
As soon as Liz is under Ryan searched her coat for her phone and takes it out. Something has been bothering him for a minute. Ryan goes into her contacts to see if he really is the only number she has. Ryan, seeing the photo realizes that it must be Liz and her parents, it dawns on him how close they must really be. However, seeing that she only has him as a contact on top of what he assumes is her parents Ryan quickly begins adding the others. The last thing he does before putting it all away is scroll through her recent photos of Ærik and Ryan sends the cutest ones to himself. Kieran hakes his head as he watches Ryan fiddle with Liz's phone as soon as she disappears, but doesn't say anything. Ærik watches with interest as Liz once again ends up in her undies before him. As he realizes that she is jumping in, before he's had a chance to talk to the animals, he rushes forward to the waters edge. He turns back to Ryan and says, "I'm being careful this time. This shouldn't affect your phones. I haven't asked the animals to look after her yet." Ærik reaches out with his staff, taps it twice on the ground and casts Pass without a Trace on Liz.
A few minutes later, Liz popped back up to the surface. "I can't see shit down here! Water's too murky. Suggestions?"
“Does anyone have the ability to make magical light?” Ryan suggests.
“You’re not supposed to be looking for ‘shit’ anyway.” Kieran says with a grin.
Nolan's right hand glew with a brilliant white light as he smiled. "I specialize in light and healing." Liz grinned at Kieran, and slowly raised a hand out of the water, middle finger extended. "And radiant fire that would sear the flesh off of bones," he added as a morbid afterthought. Kieran leers at what he can see through the water and winks back at Liz suggestively.
"Anything that can help me at this moment?" Liz continued treading water, waiting.
"I could light up your underwear, Liz," Nolan offered with a chuckle. "Unless you're wearing someone else."
"Nolan," Liz said with a grin. "Are you suggesting I should have a set of headlights?"
“Okay....ignoring that last part. Nolan make Liz glow.” Ryan instructs.
Nolan furrowed his brow for a moment, perplexed. His face suddenly turned red as he realized what she meant. "No... I... uhh.... Oh freak. And I just realized I have to touch the object to light it up." He began laughing out of pure nervousness and anxiety.
"This was your idea," Liz said, climbing out of the water and walking toward him.
"Oooooo-okay," he said between deep breaths. Moving behind her, he touched the clasp of her bra on the back, lighting up her whole bra with white light. As an added measure, he said with a bright red face. "And... have faith in yourself. There's power in belief!"
"Your future's looking bright," Liz said to Erik with a grin, then dove back into the water.
"You're welcome!" Nolan called out as she leapt into the water.
Swimming down, Liz is still unable to see past her own fingertips. Feeling something brush her foot, she's unsure if it's a fish, piece of trash, or her imagination. Surfacing again, she exits the water. "Still no luck. That water's disgusting."
“So much for that.” Ryan then checks his phone to see what time it is. “Well the sunset in normally between 8 and 9. It’s about 20 til 5 so...how do we feel about going to get that flute and then staging a stakeout here in hopes the harpies return tonight?” Ryan asks the group.
Liz began to put her clothes back on. "Hopefully we'll have better luck there."
“Sounds good to me,” Kieran replies.
"I guess i can wait for pizza and beer, to hunt some Harpies. We know what were trying to get in the other lake at least. We can make our own luck there." Ærik adds.
Nolan smiled and nodded his head. "Who thinks they're small enough to squeeze into the crack it's in?"
"You saw the flute Nolan, is that right? How big is the crack it's in?" Ærik asks
"Yeah, I swam down there. It was too small for me to fit in. A dwarf or hobbit could fit in, or maybe a goblin or similar sized again," he added the last part looking at Ærik, "But I'm not sure any of us could without risking getting stuck."
"I saw you hand Liz that jacket back in the prison, can you just lift it out of there? Not that I don't want to see Liz become a lake lady again." Ærik turns and grins at Liz, "but if you don't think she can reach it, can you get it?"
Nolan blinked, dumbfounded. "I should've done that in the first place." He looked down at the ground before looking at their faces. "Sorry guys! Now I'm just wasting our time." With a chuckle, he added, "On the plus side, you all get to go to Disneyland now!"
"Yay, we get to go to the number one tourist trap in America." Ryan says sarcastically.
"I don't really do crowds, but let's go get this flute" Ærik responds.
"Disney World," Kall corrects.
"Okay, Ms. Extraplanar Tourist," Nolan responded with a smile and a wink at Kall.
"Hey, I don't mind taking a dip," Liz said smiling. "I just hope the water there is better than this one." She pulled on her jeans then began pulling her boots back on.
"I think maybe I could try one more thing before we leave. There's something bothering me about the amount of Harpy feathers that are here." Ærik says. "Ive never tried this shape before, so... does anyone have a problem waiting a few more minutes so we can try to see what's down there?"
Liz finished pulling on her second boot and gave the water a glance. Looking down at her boots, she frowned. "Do you want help?"
"I don't really need help, I just don't want to be seen, shifting. I'm not going back in a cage today." Ærik responds.
"Shift in the water," Liz suggested. "I have no issues going back in the water, just in case something goes wrong."
"Shift in the water.... ",Ærik muses aloud. "That's a great idea. Ok if this works, I can only hold this for for an hour. I may have to come up for air, but I'm hoping to see thru the muck and find out if there's something living down there." With that Ærik takes off his duster, folds it and lays it on the ground. "Goddess bless me with your sight." He says, while holding his staff, firmly planted in the ground before him. He lifts his staff off of the ground and walks into the lake. Once he's deep enough to submerge himself completely, he Wild Shapes into a Giant crab.
Liz watched for a moment, sticking her hand into the pocket of her leather jacket. She pulled out her phone, checked for any calls or messages, then quickly stuck it back in her pocket. She watched the water, clearly worried.
Ryan picks Æriks duster off the ground before it becomes too dirty. He’ll then turn to the others “Hmmmm.... none of you are of Fae descent. Right?”
"I come from an old family," Liz said, continuing to stare at the water, waiting for Erik to return. "Why do you ask?"
“The lute is a magic item that requires you to be of Fae descent in order to use it. It allows you to cast some enchantment magic from it and increases any enchantment magic you might already posses.” Ryan explains.
"Better questions should be if anyone can even play a musical instrument," Liz said, distractedly.
“That is true but I don’t want a power magical item to go to waste if someone is of proper descent to use it. I mean, how hard is it to learn a musical instrument.” Ryan says.
"Seems like something you'd need a lot of time and commitment to put into it."
“It can’t be anymore difficult than learning a new language.” Ryan says with a smile.
"Yeah," Liz said stretching. "Still seems like too much of a hassle to me."
As Ærik concentrated on the shape of the biggest crabs he'd ever seen. He felt the power of nature course thru his very being and he instinctively held his breathe, as he became a giant crab. He started sinking immediately to the lake floor, and was trying to get the hang of seeing without seeing, thru this new creatures eyes. All the while judging how far he was from dry land so he could retreat for air if needed. Ærik did his best to try to look around and determine if anything was around. He was looking for any creatures that shouldn't be in the lake, and the remains of any Harpies. Ærik spends a few seconds getting used to this new shape. Not seeing the remains of any Harpies, or seeing anything threatening, he starts to relax a little. Noticing the kayak, he decides to make his way back to the shore, slowly lifting his face out of the water just enough to get a huge breathe of air. Turning to the deeper waters, he hurries as fast as he can scramble, to the piece of kayak. He grabs the piece of kayak in his claw, and hopes he has enough breathe left to drag the piece back to dry land to inspect. When Ærik is about five feet from shore, he grasps the piece is kayak tightly in his left claw and drops his wild shape. Pushing off the ground with his feet, he bursts to the surface and gets s huge breathe of air. He swims forward until he can walk, and walks out onto the land dropping the piece of kayak at Liz's feet. "That was a new experience" he says, shaking himself off like a wet dog. "I didn't see any Harpy remains, or creatures trying to eat me, but I brought this back."
Liz smiled, finally relaxing. "I'm glad you're okay. You were down there for a while." She glanced around at the others. "We were all getting worried."
“This is great Ærik. I knew you could do it.” Ryan says with a smile. “This can tell us if it was really a harpy. Let me investigate the claw marks.” Ryan continue to say as he excitedly begins to examine the kayak for any kind of unusual mark on it.
“Well. This is interesting. Look. No claw marks. It’s a clean break. Like it was sawed off.” Ryan says as he’s inspecting the kayak.
Liz looked at the piece of kayak. "That's odd, for sure. Guess the gators were right." Kneeling down, she looked closer. "What would do this?" She glanced up at Ryan. "Know if any magic that could cut this cleanly?"
“Yes. Kind of. It’s definitely magic. My guess is something that either heats up a blade or maybe a magical flaming sword. That what it looks like more to me. Like someone used a flaming sword to cut through the plastic that is this kayak.” Ryan says aloud as he spends a little more time investigating the kayak.
"I'm just glad nothing down there wanted imitation crab for lunch." Ærik says, while finishing wringing out the water from his braids. "Thank you Liz, I was really worried about you also. You jumped in before I could even ask the Gators not to eat you."
While Ryan described the lyre's magical abilities, Nolan thought back on his magical experience with the otherwordly creature in Poland. What if if came to him because his line was magical? It'd be straight out of a fantasy book if it was the case. And he did play the piano as a kid. But, drawing out of his own thoughts as he stared blankly into the water and seeing the current conversation, he held his tongue on the subject, instead mentioning half-sarcastically, "A magical sword? Ladies in the lake? I'm telling you, this screams King Arthur and Merlin and all their fantastic adventures."
Upon hearing Ryan mention a magical flaming sword, Liz stood quickly, and backed away from the piece of kayak. She sent a glance back out at the water. "Well, there doesn't seem to be anything happening here. Maybe we should go." Liz's seemingly obvious reaction to Ryan's casual mention of a flaming sword soars right over Nolan's head.
Ryan looks at Liz and her obvious strange reaction. “Liz. Do you think we can fit this piece of kayak in your car?”
"Yeah," Liz replied quickly. "Trunk." She turned and quickly walked back to her car, pulling out her phone and dialing. She stuck the phone to her ear as she walked and mumbled something.
“Hey, can you guys pick this up. I’m going to go help Liz.” Ryan says running after her.
Nolan shrugged his shoulders and picked up the kayak piece, moving it to the back of Liz's car. Ærik puts his duster back on, and asks Nolan "Are you good, or do you need help with that? I can bring it if you'd like."
Nolan grunted under the weight, but smiled, "Nope! This is just a reminder of the many trials I face and the need to persevere through them." Nolan struggled incredibly with the small and lightweight piece of kayak. "Huuuuggggghhh... I'm out of shape."
"I like your attitude. Now to get a flute." Ærik says heading towards the car, behind Ryan.
The strain of the kayak was almost too great as Nolan was forced to a slow crawl with the incredibly lightweight kayak strapped across his back, as if he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. Ærik turns and stops, listening to the grunting sounds behind him. He pauses and waits while Nolan catches up, carrying a smaller than skateboard sized chunk of kayak, that you would think was made of pure gold by the way he was straining to carry it. Ærik chuckles to himself as Nolan passes him, headed to the car. Ærik just grins, shakes his head, and takes a slower pace, following the little mage. Nolan looked on to the duo chatting with serious faces by the car. He stopped the crawl and collapsed on his back taking some deep breaths, still a ways away from the car. "I think I need a break. This kayak must be made of gravitanium or something."
Kieran shakes his head at Nolan and grabs the piece of the kayak. "Whiner. This thing can't weight more than a couple pounds."
A dwarf with a canoe on his back? What could go wrong?
As Ryan walks near Liz, he can hear her say, "...please just call me. I need to know." Upon seeing Ryan approaching, she quickly closed the phone and shoved it in her pocket. Giving him a smile, she pulled out her keys and opened the trunk. "It should fit in here."
“Liz. I didn’t come to see if it would fit. I came to see if you were alright. I saw how you reacted to the mention of a flaming sword. Is everything okay?” Ryan asks.
"What?" Liz laughed nervously. "Yeah! Everything's great! Don't know what you're talking about!"
“Liz. Don’t lie to me. I know we don’t really know each other. But, I trust you can at least tell me if something is bothering you.” Ryan says before looking down and saying in a quieter tone “It’s your parents isn’t it.”
Liz glanced past Ryan quickly at the approaching group. Pulling him close, she looked him in the eyes for a moment. It was evident how much worry she held within her. "My mother uses a flaming sword."
Ryan’s eyes widen. “That means she was here. Liz. That’s good. It’s a lead on them. I know you’re worried but a lead is a lead. And that just means we’re one step closer to finding them. Think of it like that. Okay Liz. Besides, if your mom has a flaming sword that means she’s a badass that totally fine right now.” Ryan says to Liz realizing that the excitement he felt for a clue was probably wrongly placed so he attempted to console her.
"Was there someone in the kayak? Did someone get injured?" Liz searched Ryan's face. "This might not be good, Ryan. What if..." She took a deep break, looking over his shoulder at the group.
“Liz. It’ll be okay. I promise.” Ryan says with the most reassuring smile he could muster.
Her eyes flicking back to Ryan, Liz gave his arm a squeeze. "I really hope you're right."
“Don’t worry. I’m not going on a date with Hector for everything to not be alright.” Ryan says attempting to keep the conversation light.
Liz gave him a grateful smile. "Just... please don't tell the others. Not yet. We don't know if my parents were here at all. We don't know if they're involved. Let me try to get more information from Green first. Then I'll..." She paused, taking another deep breath, releasing it as a sigh. "I'll let them know."
“I understand.” Ryan says giving her a moment before saying “Should we go back to the others. I think Nolan is attempting to be strong and carry the kayak.”
Liz grinned and looked over Ryan's shoulder again. "Hey, Mr. Strong-Man! You can put that right in here!" She motioned to the trunk, a lopsided grin on her lips.
A dwarf with a canoe on his back? What could go wrong?
Kieran walks to the car with the kayak piece then grins back at Nolan and pretends to strain mightily to lift it high enough to get it into the trunk.
"So," Liz said, with a smile. "What's the plan?"
“Go get the flute. Come back here for a stakeout. Then beer and pizza.” Ryan explains
Liz groaned internally at the idea of waiting even longer for beer and pizza. "Great. Let's do this. I'd love to swim in some cleaner water." She shut the trunk, diverting her gaze from the rest of the group. "Let's go, *****es."
“Why not bring the pizza and beer here for the stakeout?”
"Isn't it illegal to drink in public?" Liz opened the drivers side door, and slid in, not waiting for an answer.
“Tailgate party” Kieran says
“Yes it’s illegal. Especially while we’re in a vehicle.” Ryan says as he slides into the backseat of Liz’s car.
Once her door was closed, she said quietly, to Ryan, "Besides, I need some alone time."
“Do you want to get the flute alone? I can keep everyone here to give you some time to think.” Ryan offers
"No," Liz said, looking at him in the rearview. "I just want to get drunk and call Green." Then a thought hit her. "If I call him, do you think you can, I dunno, trace the call or something and hack him? See if he's got info he's sitting on?"
“Maybe. Definitely not here and now. I need my PC back home. I’ve never tried to hack directly into BEN before but I can try. They already arrested me once for I assume hacking into the Polices database to see what cases BEN took off their hands.” Ryan explains
"Then don't worry about it," Liz said quickly. "I'm not getting you arrested."
“It’s fine. I just need some hair pins. I almost broke out last time. Besides, if I wake up next to someone like Ærik every time I get arrested I might do it more often.” Ryan jokes
"He's easy on the eyes, for sure," Liz agreed. "Look. I don't care if I end up in jail, but I'm not getting someone else locked up because of me. I'll handle this on my own."
“Liz. I’m a grown man. If I end up in jail because I help a friend then I end up in jail. Don’t try and stop me. It never works.” Ryan says
"This is my shit," Liz said coolly. "Let me handle it."
“If you don’t let me help you then I’ll call Mr.Green myself and try it by myself.” Ryan says “I took his number out of your phone earlier.”
Liz pressed her lips together, but said nothing.
“We’ll do it tonight. After I kick a lot of people out. Too many magical people slows down my computer but it’ll be fine with just me and you. Ærik will be in the other room.” Ryan says, satisfied that she’ll let him help.
Liz started up the car, and rolled down her window. "Let's go," she yelled.
Ærik has been just walking around, trying to dry off his wet jeans. At the sound of Liz's voice, he snaps back to the present. "Shotgun," he cries and heads toward the passenger door. As he reaches the car and opens the door, he asks Liz and Ryan in the car, but loud enough for Nolan and Kieran to hear him, "Are we going to the other lake to let Nolan get that flute for us now?"
"Yeah," Liz said simply.
Ærik slides into the passenger seat next to Liz, reaches over and lays his left hand on her right leg. "You seem quieter than you've been, are you ok? Was it too cold in the water for you?"
Liz plastered a smile on her face. "No, the water was fine. I'm fine."
Kall hops in, taking whatever unoccupied seat is available.
"Liz will be fine after pizza and beers. Let's just get this flute and then hope these harpies come tonight." Ryan says to Ærik.
"I'm getting really hungry myself, I understand. Pizza should get rid of this weird hunger for seafood I'm currently having." Ærik replies to Ryan, his hand still on Liz's leg. He turns to Kall and asks. "Kall, did you, JC, and Bebe have a nice walk at the lake?"
Liz's fake smile softened and became a bit more real. She reached down and squeezed Erik's hand.
"I'm full," Kall says. "There were a lot of bugs."
“We’re not getting bugs on the pizza. This isn’t Lion King.” Ryan says
"What do lions have to do with bugs?" Liz asked, entirely confused.
“Have you not seen the Lion King?” Ryan asks genuinely shocked.
Liz stares blankly at Ryan in the rearview.
“It’s a Disney movie about lions. It’s loosely based off of Hamlet.” Ryan explains.
"Yeah, never have time for movies," Liz said.
“It’s a classic. I’ll get you caught up later.” Ryan says
"I like Pumbaa," Kall explains.
"Excuse you?" Liz turned in her seat, looking at Kall, appalled.
“The Bird has seen it Liz. We’re watching it later. You’ll love it.” Ryan says.
Liz looked between Kall and Ryan, flabbergasted. Turning to Erik, she said, "Let me guess, even you have seen this movie?"
In a perfect mock of the voice, Kall sings, "Hakuna Matata."
“It means no worries.” Ryan sings along
Ærik just shakes his head in amusement. "No, If I said I'd seen it I'd be lying. I don't watch much TV. I prefer a less tech form of entertainment."
"Good, at least I'm not the only one." Liz gave another look at Ryan and Kall, then turned back around in her seat.
“I’ll put it on while we’re eating pizza.” Ryan informs them
"Are you going to be singing in my car?" Liz asked. "I kinda need to know where I'm going." Throwing the car into drive, she sped off.
Ryan will give Liz directions to Downtown Disney but he sings the directions the entire way.(edited)
Kieran looks to Nolan as he climbs into the car. "Off we go again."(edited)
Liz periodically sends glances at Erik, making faces while Ryan sings in the back.
Nolan chuckled. "High ho! High ho! To get the flute we go!"
Taking Liz's hand, he briefly looked around at their surroundings before he guided her to the edge of the spring. "I'm going to dive in and retrieve the flute. I shouldn't be gone for more than two minutes." He pointed to where some water was bubbling out off in near the center of the spring. "That's where I'll be." Releasing her hand, a rock floated up from the ground before glowing brightly with light. "If you see anything dangerous, chuck this rock near where the water is bubbling out and hopefully I'll see it."
"Please be careful, Nolan," Liz said, giving his hand a squeeze. "If you get into trouble, I can't see you to help. I'll be right here when you get back."
Nolan smiled invisibly. "I'm always careful... Okay. That's a lie. But I'll be fine. Just throw the rock if you see anything, okay?" With that said, Liz heard him splash into the spring before going under and heading for the flute. Swimming for the flute, he cast mage hand to be ready to grab it. As he did so, his invisibility wore off, completely baffling him. Looking around for anything that might've disabled his spell, he saw nothing. Shaking his head, he cast invisibility once again and continued to the geyser, keeping his magical hand in tow.
Liz kept as a lookout up above the water but saw nothing to disturb her or Nolan either.
Reaching the geyser, Nolan's magical hand reached through the crack, grabbing the flute and pulling it back to him. He glanced over the craftsmanship before his body reminded him of his need to air. Swimming upwards, he eventually breached the water's surface and took a large breath of air. He swam to the shore, excitedly whispering for Liz. Once rejoined, they hurried back under the barricade invisibly and returned to their friends.
Ryan felt a wet tap on his shoulder, followed by Nolan's voice. "Hey. We're back."
Liz sneaks up beside Ryan and whispers in his ear. "Hey there, good lookin'!"
"We'll do the hug thing and you two can turn back in the middle." Ryan whispers to Nolan but suddenly jumps at Liz words. Smirking he says "I could say the same thing to you. You've never looked better to me."
Liz stuck her tongue out at Ryan, but realizing he couldn't see it, she pinched his butt.
"Ow." Ryan says before saying. "Don't damage the property." He then turns towards the others. "Okay everyone. Group hug time." He says pulling everyone into a group hug tight enough that others can't see inside of it but with enough room that Nolan and Liz can get in the middle and turn visible.
"Wouldn't think of it," Liz said, smiling to herself. She squeezed herself into the middle of the group hug, and positioned herself directly in Erik's face, a huge grin on her face.
Nolan's invisibility dissipated as they came in for a hug. He was still dripping with water, though the sun's radiating heat was quickly drying him off. In his hand, he held a fancy flute. "Here it is!" he exclaimed excitedly.
"EZ, GG," Kall says, dabbing.
Ærik joins in, connected to Ryan on his left side, in the group hug, after hearing the banter of his unseen companions. He is proud of the little Magi, for his gifts he thinks to himself. "Good job, Nolan you got it. Where's Liz?" He adds.
Kall looks around, then remembers their supposed to end their concentration. Liz pops into existence in front of Ærik's face.
"Good job Nolan. Let me see the flute. It might be related in some way to the lute." Ryan says excited to see that the group has been successful in this little mission so far.
"And you guys were freaking out someone was watching us from the shadows and would attack us when we least expected it." He nonchalantly tossed the flute to Ryan before looking around at the surrounding people's faces.
As soon as Ryan is handed the flute his face lights up and he immediately begins inspecting is for any indication that it is magical in nature.
Ærik steps back defensively, when Liz pops into being, but upon realizing it's Liz, he smiles, releases his grip on Ryan, and grabs her for a big hug. "I'm glad you made it safely and quietly this time. " He then releases the hug, and exclaims, "Oh, your not wet", looking over at Nolan, dripping next to her.
"Well, if you want me wet," Liz said with a laugh. "I think it can be arranged."
"No, I..." Ærik pauses, "well our Magi is soaked, I just thought you would be also."
Liz hugged Erik, then flung an arm around Nolan's neck. "Turns out he didn't need my help."
Ærik smiles and looks at Nolan. "I'm glad your safe. I think we were all starting to worry a little. I underestimated you Nolan, good job."
"We should go," Liz said, looking at the people around them. "Before we start looking suspicious. We can talk about what happened once we're out of here."
"Can I have chocolate?" Kall asks, wondering towards the nearby confectionery.
"You know what," Liz said, walk toward Kall. "You kept me hidden so well, I'll buy you some." She motioned for Kall to follow her, and went into the shop.
Kall's handsome illusion beams with joy as they follow Liz into the shop.
"Pick anything you want," Liz said with a smile. "You deserve it."
Once the line thins out and Kall is at the counter, they start pointing out the various chocolates. "This... this... this... this... oh, and one of those!" Kall points at a massive candy apple.
"And a bag of those to share with everyone," Liz said, pulling out her cash, counting it, frowning to herself, but placing the correct amount on the counter. She stuffed the rest in her pocket, and grinned at Kall. "Just enough for a case of beer."
"Magic can solve any problem," Nolan replied with a beaming smile.
“Except a fried computer, cracked cell phone screen, someone hacking into your private online accounts, or slow internet to name a few.” Ryan counters.
Kieran laughs. "Just about any tech problem is unsolvable with magic," he adds. "Unless the problem is how to break it."
Nolan shrugged his shoulders in response and said nothing.
After paying for their massive load of chocolate, Liz lead Kall out of the store and back to the group. She held up the bag of fudge she bought for the whole group. "I got us dessert!"
Kall stood behind Liz, moving their mouth forward as if trying to figure out how to eat the apple.
“I guess we’ll eat it during the stakeout. Unless you want melted fudge in your car Liz.” Ryan says
Liz frowned. "Just trying to do something nice," she mumbled, walking toward her car.
Ryan looks a bit confused. “Who said anything about it not being nice? I’m just saying you don’t want fudge in your car. It’s hard to get the stains out.”
Kieran calls out to Liz as she starts to walk away. "Hey! Where you going with that fudge? Some of us appreciate it!"
Liz shoved the entire bag into Kieran's hands and continued walking.
“****” Ryan says not knowing what he did wrong as he runs surprisingly quickly after Liz.
Kieran looks at the bag in his hands, then back up at Liz as she walks away. He glances around at the others. "What...just happened? Any idea what's up with her?"
"Anyone too busy to say thank you will get fewer and fewer chances to say it," Kall pipes up from behind. They pop the whole apple in their mouth, the stick sticking out of the side.
Ærik responds, "I don't know either, she seemed fine when they left to get the chocolate." With that he turns and starts heading to the parking lot. "I guess we're headed back to the other lake. I'll meet you at the cars. " He says. "I thought chocolate made girls happy..." Ærik mumbles as he starts towards the car.
As Ryan catches up he’ll try and get Liz’s attention. “Okay. I give. What am I doing to upset you? I’m getting mixes signals here on what kind of person you, what’s an okay joke, what’s not, and when I should just shut up and be appreciative of something instead of pointing out the flaw?”
Liz gives Ryan a quick side glance. "Don't worry about it."
“Really Liz. Don’t worry about it? I’m trying to be your friend but apparently I keep saying or doing the wrong things and I’m trying to figure out what’s okay and not. I was trying to do it just by reading you and how you interact with the others but apparently that’s been failing me so I’m just going to straight out ask you and then you practically refuse to answer.” Ryan replies growing slightly agitated.
"I..." Liz said, slowing. "I don't work well with people. Never had to in the past. Never had friends before. I'm just trying my best here."
“Well, Liz. Part of working with someone is telling them when they’re doing something wrong. Telling them if they are doing something to upset you. That’s what I’m trying to do Liz. Have you tell me what’s upsetting you so I don’t continue to do their things.” Ryan explains.
Liz ran a hand through her hair. "I don't even know, Ryan. I just want to find my parents, but nothing we're doing seems to be leading that direction, and I'm stressed and everything irritates me. I tried to do something nice for everyone, and you reminded me it was a stupid idea."
“I never said it was stupid, just not fully thought out. And I know this doesn’t seem like it has something to do with your parents but they might have been the ones in that canoe and maybe these instruments hold magic to help find them. I promise we’ll find them.” Ryan tells her his agitation having already vanished since Liz is opening up and making an effort.
"I appreciate the effort Ryan," Liz said, still not looking at him. "Next time I try to do something nice for you, say thank you."
“Will do.” Ryan says as he starts to let Liz get ahead of him towards the car. Before she gets too far ahead though he decides to yell out “By the way I’m gay.”
"Damn," Liz said to herself. She turned around and called back, "I'm sorry!" After a pause she followed up with, "Not that you're gay, but for... me."
Ryan just smiles. “I’m sorry for me too.” He responds back as he begins to walk towards Liz. “Now. Let’s hope the others follow us. I’m ready to shoot down some harpies.”
"I just want to go back to your place," Liz said. "Though now, maybe not quite as much."
“I’m sorry.” Ryan apologizes, realizing now Liz might be uncomfortable with staying at his place.
Liz looked confused. "Why? I'm the one who's been coming on to you. Thought there was some... action happening tonight."
“What!” Ryan says not expecting that response. “I thought you were uncomfortable because of our spat. I never intended to sleep with you. I just don’t like the idea of people not having a proper place to stay. So that’s why I offered a room to you.” Liz laughed at this, her laughter getting louder. She crouched on the ground, holding her head, and continued to laugh. Ryan puts his one hand behind his head and starts to scratch it a little. “I guess it is funny.” He says before he starts to laugh at the whole situation.
Liz looked up at Ryan, still laughing. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." She stood and walked over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I grabbed your ass," she laughed again. "At least I still might have a chance with Erik..." Then she looked at Ryan. "Wait... you..." Ryan faces instantly turns beat red once Liz figures it out. "Well shit," Liz mumbled, still holding him.
“I....I.....I actually don’t know if he’s into me or what. I.....I’m kind of hoping but, I don’t know.” Ryan mumbles as he attempts to look down and hide his face.
"Hey, stop. Don't do that." Liz gives him a gentle shake. "I've just been barreling in there. I'll back off."
“No...no it’s fine. Besides. I....I kind of all ready feel promiscuous after agreeing to that date with Hector.” Ryan shakes his head. “Why couldn’t I just say no and let the origins of the lute and feather be a mystery.”
"Promiscuous?" Liz snorted. "I'm the one who's trying to get in everyone's pants here. Do you like him?"
“Who? Hector? Not really. I mean he’s nice and cute but a little too straightforward and full-of-himself for me. Ærik. I believe so. I mean, it sentarte with waking up next to him practically naked. But he’s definitely the down to earth kind of person I like. And his social oblivion is just too cute.” Ryan responds. Liz smiled and nodded, but didn't say anything. Ryan looks back down, early embarrassed to ask this next question. “Do...do...you think he likes me?”
Shrugging, Liz released Ryan's shoulder. "I don't honestly know. I've been so focused on myself. I haven't even stopped to ask what does Erik want." She looked at the sky, a distant look in her eyes. "I'll cool it. Nobody needs me acting like a slut."
Ryan smiles. “Just don’t cool it too much. I get the feeling that if you start to filter yourself too much then I may not get the authentic you. Also, can you not tell Ærik this. I’ve only know him a day and I want to get to know him a little better as a friend before dropping the whole I have a crush on you think on to him.” Ryan asks Liz.
"I won't say a word." Liz said, snapping back to reality. "Not really my place, is it?"
“Good. I already have to keep JC quiet since he somehow figured it out.” Ryan says.
Liz nodded, that distant look crossing her face again. "I might need something stronger than beer," she mused.
Ryan laughs. “I’ll pick something harder up on the way to get beer.”
"That would be appreciated," Liz said, turning and beginning to walk toward her car again. Ryan will let her walk away. Choosing to give her some time to reflect on their conversation and he wants to make sure the others are coming as well.
A dwarf with a canoe on his back? What could go wrong?
As Ærik approaches Ryan, he asks, "Is everything ok? Did you figure out what's wrong with Liz?"
Ryan quickly attempts to compose himself after the unexpected direction of his conversation with Liz went. And of course, it was the topic of that conversation that showed up first. "Ummm...I think everything is okay. The friendship is still kind of new so we're working things out. But we talked and I think we're in a better place now. I'm just giving her a little bit of breathing room and time to think." Ryan says holding his face down for a moment to clear his blush before looking up with a smile.
Liz made her way to her car and got in. She started out the window a moment, trying to wrap her head around what had just happened. "The **** is wrong with you?" she asked herself. She sighed, closing her eyes, and rested her head against the steering wheel.
"Shotgun," Kall called, popping Liz's passenger door open and crawling in. Kall gives Liz a once-over and offers her a bite of the candy apple.
Liz jumps as someone climbs in, but smiles when she sees it's Kall. "No, thanks," she said. "I got that for you."
"Thank you," Kall says, popping the whole apple back in their mouth.
Liz gave them a pat on the shoulder. "You're welcome."
Ryan looks at Ærik, a smile still on his face before he looks behind him and calls out to Nolan and Kieran "Hurry up slowpokes." He then turns back to Ærik and says much more softly "Come on. Let's finish this stakeout so we can have beer and pizza."
"We'll take my car... again," Nolan replied, putting emphasis on the last word. He looked at Kieran and chuckled. "One of these days I'll ask about your past," he made mention in passing to him as he climbed into Sue and started her up.
Kieran climbs into the passenger seat of Nolan's car once again. He holds up the bag of fudge that Liz had given to him. "Fudge?" he asks with a grin.
"Yaaaaaaaassss," he replied, trying his best to imitate the velociraptor video as he dove his hand into the bag of fudge. It was clear he didn't care if his car got dirty.
Kieran grabs a piece of fudge for himself and takes a big bite.
Ærik smiles back at Ryan and replies, "Yes, I'm starving. Let's go kill some Harpies, so we can eat. " With that, he opens the car door and slides into Liz's back seat. He reaches out, places his hand on her shoulder and says "Thanks again for the ride, let's go get kill some Harpies."
Liz simply nods.
Knowing something is off, but not wanting to further upset her, Ærik removed his hand. As he lifts his hand off her shoulder, he uses Druidcraft to create the static shock sensation between his hand and her shoulder again. He puts on his biggest grin, makes a slight gesture with his hand, mutters something under his breath and filled the car with the sounds of little birds chirping, which lasts for a just a second.
“If your hungry Ærik I have some Cliff Bars in my bag if Liz allows you to eat in her car,” Ryan says before the car fills with the sound of birds. With a slight smile, Ryan says “Kall. I think your people are calling you."
Again Liz nodded. "I need alcohol," she mumbled to herself, starting up the car and putting it into drive without asking where they were going. She was confident she could find a liquor store. They were on every block.
"A cliff bar, those are great for camping. I still have this weird craving for seafood and was hoping that chocolate would fix it for a minute. I'll take one when we get to the lake" Ærik responds
“No problem. I always keep them on myself in case of a long night and for after my morning runs.” Ryan replied, a smile seemingly always on his face while he’s talking to Ærik.
Liz remained silent while driving. She pulled over at the first liquor store she spotted and got out of the car, still without speaking.
“Well. This isn’t the lake but, I guess we’re getting the beer early.” Ryan says confused as to why we’re here.
His hands almost crackle with lightning as he follows Liz's abrupt turn, abandoning his trusty Google-friend to get him where he needs to go. Once he sees the destination, he sighs within the-now-parked car. "This looks like a dependency stop."
Ærik hops out of the car. Instinctively checking his duster pocket for his wallet, and runs after Liz. "Hey wait up" he cries out. "You drive, I buy."
"No," Liz said, walking in the store. "Thanks anyway."
“I don’t know. But I promised everyone beer and pizza tonight so I guess I’ll get the beer now and order the pizza once we leave the stakeout.” Ryan says heading in to get enough beer for everyone for later tonight.
Ærik starts to turn back to the car, decides not to, and follows her into the store.
Liz heads to the aisle with vodka and starts loading up on the cheapest bottles she can find. She picks up the third, then pauses and grabs a fourth.
Getting nowhere with the apple, Kall pulls it from their mouth, snaps their fingers, summoning a knife, and starts cutting the candied apple into smaller pieces. Once satisfied, the small knife once again disappears. Kall licks the candied goo from their fingers before noticing that most of it got on the dash and seat.
Kieran sees where they're stopped and watches the others heading into the liquor store. "Guess we're stopping for the booze now?" He says. "Don't think they really need us in there with 'em, unless you have any special requests."
The kenku looks out the window to be sure she's not coming back out yet. Panicked, they wipe their hands over the surface and it shines like new. Kall leans back in the seat and pops an apple piece in their mouth.
Ærik approaches Liz sees what she's grabbing and grimaces. "A girl after my own heart. You like your firewater strong I see. Would you mind if we get something a little more, umm... Not cheap. I have plenty of money." With that, he reaches out and grabs two bottles of Stolichnaya, and two bottles of Polar Ice. Chuckling to himself when he sees the cute polar bear on the label.
Liz eyes the bottles that Erik picked up. "I was just getting these for me. Ryan's getting the beer for everyone."
You see Ryan at the cash register putting two cases of beer on the counter and some rum.
Nolan shook his head in their car. "No thanks. I don't drink. Feel free to pick up whatever you want though, Kieran!"
Kieran shakes his head. "I'm sure I'll be fine with whatever they grab." He reclines his chair and leans back, relaxing while they wait.
A confused look on his face, Ærik looks at Liz and asks, "Are you not sharing, or do you just prefer that kind? I really don't mind buying for us, if you'll drink with me."
Liz smiled, about to say something. She looked at Ryan and paused. "I appreciate the thought. I think I'm going to be drinking a lot tonight, and I don't want you to waste your money."
"If it cheers you up, it won't be wasted. I rarely spend much but like to enjoy it when I do. Grab whatever you want, but I'm paying and I'm getting these 4 bottles either way. " His grimace turning back into a slight smile, as she started to smile.
Ryan has already left the store and is putting what he bought into Liz's car. He then looks at the others "Besides booze is there anything else that someone would want?"
"Napkins and baby wipes!" Nolan called out extra loud, making sure he was heard.
"Do they have any chocolate?" Kall asks Ryan, peering out towards the store.
Liz watched Ryan leave, an internal struggling taking place within her. Her eyes dropped to the bottles she carried. "Really, I'm okay with what I have. I..." she paused, swallowing hard. "I can pay for myself."
"I can do all that. Anything else before I go back in? I really don't want to make another stop." Ryan says.
Nolan shook his head. "Nah, that'll do for me."
"You can save it for gas money. Really." Ærik sits two of the bottles down and puts his hand on her arm. "I don't know what I did to upset you, but let's drink ourselves stupid, together" He then picks the two bottles back up and heads toward the counter.
Liz stared after him, mouth open. "Erik," she said, stopping him. "You didn't upset me. I apologize if I made you think that way. I just... realized that maybe my personality rubs people wrong, that maybe I need to back off and cool it a little. I've discovered a few other things, as well, but... that's neither here nor there."
Ærik stops and turns to face Liz when she starts speaking. He listens to her and responds. "Apology only accepted if you let me buy... You are a mystery to me, but don't change too much." He pauses for about 2 seconds and asks "Are we good? The others are probably getting worried we're robbing the place by now."
Ryan, not hearing any more requests, walks back in to purchase some wipes and chocolate.
Releasing a sigh, Liz relents. "Okay. Fine. But you're buying me this, as well," she said, indicating the cheap vodka in her hands.
Erik turns his head back towards Liz, still walking to the counter. "As you wish." A huge grin on his face
Liz looked up as Ryan walked back in, and gave him an apologetic look.
Ryan doesn't say anything. He just looks down and goes about looking for wipes and chocolate. He doesn't reproach the front of the store until Liz and Ærik leave.
Liz frowned as Ryan avoided them. "Take these," she said, shoving them into Erik's arms, then turned and accosted Ryan. "Go talk to him," was all she said as she passed by him, and doubled back to the door. Getting back into her car, she sniffed. "What am I smelling right now?"
Ryan, unsure of what to do, kind of just stands there and stares at Ærik. He bites down on his lips, unsure of what even to say.
Noticing Ryan as Liz hands him the four bottles of generic vodka, he sits seven of the bottles down on the counter and tells the person running the register, "I'll be right back, I forgot something" he then turns and heads towards Ryan, with a big grin on his face "R Ryan, look what I found" holding one of the bottles of Polar Ice out, making sure not to cover the label.
Ryan's normal smile, whenever Ærik is around, cannot help but reappear as the druid starts talking to him. "Is that Vodka with a Polar Bear on it?" Ryan asks already knowing the answer. "This is the best. I've never had this brand before. My family is Russian so I've only had Russian vodka brands which, in the United States boils down to Smirnoff and Russian Standard."
"Then it will be both our first time trying it. I picked Stolichnaya over Smirnoff, is that ok? How about beer, Do we still need beer to go with it?" Ærik responds, matching Ryan's smile.
"Stolichnaya is fine. And no we don't need more beer. I think I got plenty. I actually came in for some wipes for Nolan and chocolate for Kall." Ryan answers.
Ærik is happy he chose well and says "oh I missed you getting the beer... Must have been when I was trying to feel up Liz. I think she's not mad at me anymore. Grab what you need, I haven't paid yet. Add it to my order and let's go hunt some Harpies. "
"Oh, yeah," Ryan says, his smile faltering into a frown at Ærik's words. He quickly just grabs the first thing of chocolate and wipes he can find and looks down, away from Ærik. As he walks to the counter to pay he attempts to mentally compose himself. No reason to let him know. It'll just disrupt the mission.
Seeing Ryan's smile fade into a frown, and not understanding what he said wrong, Ærik follows behind Ryan, and quickly slides his 8 bottles of vodka and 2 $100 bills to the cashier, as soon as Ryan sits down the chocolate and wipes. "Add his stuff to my check please," Ærik tells the cashier.
"I got it," Ryan responds a little harsher then he intended for it to come out as he slams a $20 on the counter and leaves the store with the wipes and chocolate. As he exits to the parking lot he practically slams the wipes into Nolan's chest and accidentally breaks Kall's chocolate as he does the same to the kenku before getting into the back of Liz's car.
"Wow. Ryan's pretty strong," Nolan commented to Kieran after he had left. He broke open the baby wipes, smelling them deeply, and then cleaned his fingers, handing them to Kieran in the hopes he'd do so as well.
"That... doesn't seem good," Liz said as Ryan slammed himself into the backseat. "You okay?"
Ryan attempts to take a couple of deep breaths. I have no right to blow up on them. They're adults and it's just some silly crush. Just calm down. he thinks to himself. Finally, when he feels like he can say something without pure anger coming out he says "I'm fine. But on second thought. I'm going to ride with Nolan and Kieran." Ryan then exits Liz's car and proceeds to get into the backseat of Nolan's Subaru.
Liz stares in the rearview, mouth hanging open. "Wha? I... what?" She turned confused to Kall, mouth still open.
"Woot, woot!" Nolan chanted. "Look, Kieran! We recruited a third! Welcome to the Batmobile," Nolan remarked, turning around to shake Ryan's hand vigorously with clean fingers. "Would you like some fudge?"
Ryan doesn't shake Nolan's hand. Instead, he says, attempting to maintain his cool, "I'm not in a very good mood right now Nolan. Can we please just get back to the lake?"
His usually smiling facade cracked slightly. But only slightly. "Yeah! Uh... sure." He left the bag of fudge by Ryan and glanced quickly to Kieran before starting the car and pulling up next to Liz. "Hey, you lazy... lappers. We going to the lake now or what?"
Liz looks at Nolan first, then at Ryan in the back seat. "Uh... Erik's still in the store..." She left the statement hanging, unsure of what else she could say.
"Oh!" Nolan remarked, looking into the store. "Well, we'll just meet you guys there, okay? I'd like to take a short swim there, if possible."
"Sure," Liz said, still looking at Ryan, not thinking about how she was going to navigate back to the lake.
Ryan is just staring straight down at his hands. Seemingly not paying attention to anything.
Nolan nodded his head, rolling up his window and began driving to the lake.
Kieran takes a wipe and cleans up his hands. “These things are so useful.” He looks back at Ryan as they start driving again. “Anything you want to talk about?”
Ryan takes a while to respond. "No. It's nothing. Just me being stupid. Let's just get these harpies and then get some pizza." He says, in a very monotone voice.
Kieran watches Ryan for a moment, then nods his head. “All right.”
In Nolan's car, Ryan opts to put some headphones in and listen to music. Of course, the first song to come out of his phone was Moving Parts by Kenny Brown. A breakup song.
Liz watched the car drive off, her heart sinking. "Whatever Erik said to Ryan, he'd better have a good excuse for it," she growled.
"He broke my chocolate," Kall whispers, not even noticing the scene play out.
"You have plenty of chocolate," Liz said quietly, still staring in the direction Nolan drove.
Ærik finally gets his goods bagged up and exits the store. He doesn't understand what he's said to upset Ryan. He approaches the car and sees Liz and Kall in the front. He opens the door to get in, noticing Ryan isn't there. He finishes putting the bags in the car. He sits in the seat, cradling the bags in the floorboard between his feet. "I didn't see the others, "Ærik says. "Where's Ryan?".
"He broke my chocolate and got upset. I should be upset, not him," Kall answers.
Liz whirls around in the seat. "What did you say to Ryan?"
Springing back in the seat, and raising one hand defensively, Ærik exclaims "What the **** is wrong with you two."
"Erik," Liz said, reaching back and taking him by the hand. "This is very important. What did you say to Ryan? Exact words."
Kall begins peeling back the wrapping of the mushed chocolate bar, unsure how they're supposed to get all of it in now that it's in pieces. Kall pecks at it, and small bits fall to the ground. Cautiously, Kall looks to Liz, then pecks at it again seeing her attention isn't on them.
"He said I chose really good vodka, then I asked him if we needed more beer, and he said he had plenty. I told him I hadn't seen him buy the beer, because I was trying to feel you up to see why you were mad at me. Then he stormed off and left.
Kall pecks again, this time dropping the wrapper and the bar. Cautiously they reach down and lift it up, pecking a few times more, and quickly, while they can.
"Feel..." Liz said, in disbelief. "Feel me up? You told him you were trying to... cop a feel?" She paused, shaking her head. "You were trying to grab me. My ass, my tits?"
Not able to get to all the nougat, Kall lets out a small whine before gesturing over the wrapper and the seat, cleaning everything up with a soft whistling whisper.
"What. What. No." Ærik shakes his side to side with a look of shame on his face. "That is not what I thought that meant... Goddess helps me... I'm so sorry." He drops his head in his hands, pauses, and looks back up. He slowly annunciates "Size you up, feel you out."
"You said Feel you up," Kall helps. "It's different."
Liz releases his hand and closes her eyes. "**** me," she mumbled, turning around in her seat. "Shit."
"I see why you would be mad. I would never try such a thing on you without asking first." Ærik says. Not thinking about why that would make Ryan mad, just that it would offend the "lady" in the front seat. He had been raised better than that.
"I'll never touch you like that either, Liz. Can we go now?" Kall asks, wondering if they already ate all the fudge in the other car.
"I'm not mad," Liz said, taking a deep breath. "We need to get to the lake. I'll... I'll figure it out when we get there. If we get there." Liz turned the key, starting up the car. Immediately Bon Jovi's "You Give Love A Bad Name" begins to blast from the speakers. Quickly, Liz turned off the radio. "Don't need that right now." She wasn't sure exactly where the lake was but started driving in the same direction she had seen Nolan go.
Kall begins looking for crumbs, knowing there's got to be a few pieces left somewhere. They don't even notice where Liz is driving.
"I wasn't paying enough attention when we came from the lake. I can't really help. And Ryan hasn't gotten me a phone yet. Wait, you have Ryan's number, can we call him for directions?" Ærik asks. "I want to apologize for my bad words. Maybe I could call him while you drive" Ærik says after thinking for a moment. Ryan must really like Liz, Ærik thinks, to be that mad at him for the improper words. I hope he forgives me. I'm really just no good with muggles sometimes he thinks.
"Yeah. Good idea," Liz said handing Erik her phone.
Ærik takes the phone from Liz. He has used one like this before at least, he thinks. He flips open the phone. finds the green call button, searches for Ryan in the list and hits call. I'm glad this call is coming from Liz's phone, he likes her, maybe he'll answer, Ærik thinks.
Ryan glances down at his cell phone as it starts to ring. They have already reached the lake and Ryan was walking around a little bit trying to figure out the best plan of attack for these harpies. He lets it ring at first, debating whether to answer it or not. Eventually, he takes a deep breath and accepts the call "Yes, Liz. What is it?" he says in a very monotone voice.
"Ryan, it's Ærik. I'm sorry I said such a bad thing about Liz. My words are wrong. Size her up, feel her out, . Will you talk to me." He blurts out rather quickly.
Ryan is stunned. He wasn’t expecting to hear Ærik’s voice. Let alone what he said Size her up, feel her out. ...a bad thing about Liz. What does he mean? Ryan can’t help but think. I can’t think about this now. They called me about something. Ryan takes a deep breath and just continues in his same monotone voice “Why did you call me Ærik?”
"To apologize, I'm really sorry I messed up my words again. and because we need directions to the lake. Liz's phone doesn't have a map thing in it, I don't think. We don't know how to get there." Ærik replies.
Ryan sighs. Of course, they need me for something. That's why he called. he thinks before saying in the same voice "Tell me where you're currently at and I'll direct you to the lake.
Ærik watches the street signs and tells Ryan the street they are on and names the last two streets they crossed.
Ryan begins giving Ærik directions to the lake. His voice never leaving the monotone range.
Erik pulls a small journal from his Duster and makes notes as Ryan is talking.
Liz holds her breath, hoping that Erik can smooth things over with Ryan.
Once he is done giving him directions Ryan asks, "Anything else you need help with?"
"English... But we don't have time for that right now. I am sorry I made you angry with me. I just don't speak right sometimes." Ærik says, his voice carrying a definitive tone of shame.
Ryan lets out a shaky breath. "So, you weren't trying to cop a feel with Liz. Then what were you doing?" He asks, the part of his brain that has to know overpowering the part that's telling him to just hang up the phone.
"NO.... ****, I would be angry with me too. I wouldn't have blamed you for punching me when I said that. I wanted to feel her out. I wanted to know what I'd said wrong to anger her this time, but she said she wasn't mad at me at all. I really just... I'm sorry" Ærik replies.
Ryan begins to fit the pieces together. So, he wasn't trying to feel up Liz. But Liz is acting differently enough that Ærik is noticing. Ryan lets out another shaky breath followed by a half chuckle. "Ærik. You really need to choose your words carefully. And....and...Liz was never mad at you. Our conversation gave us both a lot to think about and she needs to be alone to think." Ryan responds, the monotone leaving his voice but its not at his normal chipper sound it normally takes while talking to Ærik.
Ærik sighs a small breathe of relief and responds "Goddess help me... I will be much more careful with my English when talking to her. I just wanted to try to fit in this pack but I'm not doing very well at it." Ærik's voice falters a little when he continues, "I see now you must like her quite a bit. I never meant to get in your way. We need to all work together, maybe I'll see if I can stay with Nolan or Kieran tonight. I'll give you your space. I am sorry."
Liz opens her mouth to say something but quickly shuts it again.
Ryan's eyes widen at Æriks words. Of course, he thinks I like her. I keep running off to make sure she's alright. And then I get mad at him for coping a feel on her. It all makes sense. Gods why am I such an idiot sometimes. Ryan thinks so wrapped up in his own thoughts, he doesn't even realize he didn't respond right away until Nolan's car hits a bump in the road. "No, no, no, no, no, no. Don't do that Ærik. I mean, don't leave. You can stay at my place. I don't like Liz. I mean. I don't like her in that way. As a friend, yes. But I don't want to date her."
Ærik is beginning to think Ryan ended the call, so when he finally speaks again, Ærik listens and replies "Thank you. I will try to be careful. I promised to stay close until this was over, and I don't take my oaths lightly. Soo... You will forgive me then?"
"Yes, Ærik. I forgive you. Just try and be careful with your words. And know that I don't have a crush on Liz or Kall. Or Kieran or Nolan for that matter." Ryan explains, his voice slowly returning to its normal tone.
Ærik listens to the words Ryan is speaking but isn't quite following. He gets that Ryan doesn't appear to be mad at him any longer, but it's still confusing. "None of them have done anything wrong, why would you crush them? They are not our enemy." He asks after too long of a pause. Looking at his notes, and seeing the street they just crossed, he says to Liz in the front, "We should be close to our next left turn. Then the lake is a few miles down the street. We should recognize it."
Ryan can't help but lightheartedly chuckle at Ærik and his confusion. "When I say crush I don't mean to physically crush them. I mean I don't want to date them."
"oh... Ok, that makes sense. My English.." Ærik replies. His voice taking a tone of melancholy. "I've been a lone Wolf for too long. I would like to be part of a pack. It would be nice to Have someone to watch my back. I think I'm tired of being alone." His voice drifting off at the end.
Ryan, catching the sadness in Ærik's voice, replies without even thinking "I'll watch your back Ærik. You don't have to be alone. I'll be there for you, as long as you'll have me."
Liz glanced at Erik in the rearview. That's it then, she thought to herself. She sighed and pushed it from her mind.
Ærik nods his head, deep in thought. "I think I would like to stay for a bit. As long as I'm still in Florida. When we clear our names and this is over, and I've helped Liz find her parents, I may think about going home but I would like to be a part of a pack now." Ærik is still oblivious to Ryan's true meaning but wants the companionship.
“As long as your in Florida you're welcomed to stay with me. I think we’re making a great....pack.” Ryan says the word pack, not one he would normally use. Ryan then goes silent, not really wanting to the ending the phone call but not knowing what else to say.
Feeling confident that he had made things right with Ryan for now, and noticing they are close to the lake Ærik says "Thank you Ryan. I'm glad we could Kenna. We should see you soon." With that he closes the phone and starts to hand out back to Liz. "Liz, here. Thank you for the phone. Ryan is no longer mad at me. I think. I'm still staying with you two for now. Oh, and we should be really close to the lake now."
Ryan sighs and puts his phone back into his pocket. It’s been a rollercoaster of a day that’s for sure. He’s defiantly ready for that drink. But, at least he might possibly still have a chance with Ærik.
Liz nodded and took the phone back without a word. Soon, Liz pulled up behind Nolan's car. Turning off the vehicle, she said, "You should go talk to Ryan."
"I just talked to Ryan, but we need to decide where and how to hide, to hunt these Harpies. I'm not sure how to hide six of us in plain sight." Ærik says. "I usually hunt alone, with nature's full blessing."
"I'm sure you and Ryan have a lot to discuss," Liz said, hands gripping the steering wheel tightly. "I just need some time alone."
"As you wish" Ærik replies, "just don't start drinking without me." At that, he grabs her shoulder and squeezes it gently, once, before opening the door and getting out of the car.
Meanwhile, Ryan had been out of the car and closer to the lake. He looks deep in thought.