| Doom Has Come to the Usual Restaurant! | ||
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Ari strolls on in, humming her own tune as she makes her way to the bar. "Hi!" she smiles. Gonfei nods to Ari as well. "Hel..." He frowns slightly. "Hello. How are you doing this afternoon, Miss?" Ari smiles. "Pretty good, actually! How're things with you today?" she tilts her head a little. "The frown isn't a good sign." Gonfei shakes his head. "While I'm fine, I think I should let you know someone was in last night that I think was more or less plotting your death..." Ari raises an eyebrow. "Purple hair, snake tattoo, didn't order anything alcoholic?" Gonfei nods a bit grimly. "Sounds about right... I'm guessing this isn't news to you, then?" Ari shakes her head. "That's my sister. I know it's coming." she shrugs. "I've pretty much accepted it." Gonfei doesn't seem to be about to lose his frown anytime soon. "And you're... not calling the police or anything about this? I've heard enough tall tales at the bar that I tend to not take things like that too seriously, but now I'm beginning to think otherwise in this case..." Ari shakes her head, sighing. "Well, without going into details, when she's like this, she's stupid powerful. She'd waste the police. Happily. But if I keep away from her, I won't be the start of it, if that makes sense." Gonfei holds up his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay. It was just a little disconcerting when she said it was starting to sound like a better idea. At any rate, what will you be having today? And no, I'm not getting you what you had last time. You clearly couldn't handle as much as you claimed you could." Ari chuckles. "Actually, I could have just fine if one of them wasn't.. accurate. I've had bottles of vodka in a half hour period and was perfectly cheery. But a beer would be nice." She thinks a moment. "Actually, hard cider sounds wonderful." she wrinkles her nose a bit. "She really said it sounded like a better idea, huh? Frag. She's losing it." Gonfei nods and smiles, though a bit grimly still. "A hard cider I can do for you! And if it that was drugged beyond just alcohol, it shouldn't have been back here." He ducks momentarily below the bar, then comes back up with a bottle of hard cider, which he places on the bar in front of Ari. "But yeah. She did." Ari sighs. "Fantastic. I mean, I know I'm going to get a bullet in my head at some point, I was just hoping it would be later rather than sooner. I'm actually enjoying life for once." Gonfei lowers one eyebrow while raising the other. "If she's really going to be that kind of trouble..." He frowns, then shakes his head. "Nevermind. Look, if you're under that kind of threat, why are you going out and about like this? Someone that you're fairly certain is going to kill you was here. Last night. If I were you I'd enjoy your life with a bit more hiding until the threat was dealt with one way or the other." He then winces slightly at his own words. Ari shrugs, sipping the cider. "Oooh, that's good. Well, for one, I'm tired of hiding. Two, I pretty much deserve what's coming. So if it ends up happening, it well, isn't unjustified." Gonfei narrows his eyes slightly and drolly says, "Well, aren't you a lovely pair, then... Do I even want to know why?" Ari bites her lip at that. "I was a stupid kid, I did a really really stupid thing. Because of it, her husband is dead, and didn't even get to meet their youngest child." Gonfei sighs and leans forward to rest his elbows on the bar top and his chin on his hands. "And you've not attempted to... reconcile with her at all? To do the whole... 'I'm sorry, is there anything I can do to make up for this egregious error in my past besides letting you kill me?'?" Ari nods slightly. "I tried. I focused her anger at me for the last ten years. To the point where it screwed up my cybernetics and I had to get them replaced, but it's no good. She won't forgive me like this. Maybe if we get to her sane side, sure. But her sane side hasn't been out since.. this all started. I'm not holding out hope that any part of the real Raven is buried in there anymore." she sips her cider again. Gonfei considers all this for a moment before sighing and placing his face into his hands for a second. When he looks up, he says, "Well, I think it sounds like an actual therapist or psychiatrist is needed in this situation. Bartender therapy isn't gonna cut it here." Ari chuckles a little. "Try an exorcist. I mean, I don't know if this is just her, or her psycho death goddess mom, or whatever. Something's got a hold of her, and there's nothing I can do." Gonfei tilts his head slightly. "Well, have you? Tried an exorcist, I mean. There are good goddesses around in this city, you know, they might be able to help you out with this situation." Ari wrinkles her nose again, thinking. "I hadn't, but... I don't want to risk anyone else's life for this, you know? I'd let her go ahead and shoot me if it didn't mean the start of a massacre." Gonfei shakes his head again. "That's just it though. It can still happen. What happens if she... I don't know, trips on a sidewalk and annihilates the block in anger? You might be able to get her help now." Ari nods. "It's worth a shot. But she's more cold and calculating. Always has been. She's got something planned. I know it. Gonfei nods a bit more slowly. "I'll keep my ears open, but I can't make any promises on any further help. I also can't promise I won't engage if she causes problems around here." Ari sighs again, taking a bit of a bigger sip this time. "I appreciate that, and she probably won't go killing patrons. Yet." Gonfei looks quite intensely directly into Ari's eyes. "Get her help before she does. Don't just let nothing happen and hope for the best. It won't work." Ari says, rather serious, which is something she doesn't do too often. "I am trying. There's a few of us that are. I just.. personally.. can't do much. It's out of my league." Gonfei nods and relaxes his demeanor, no longer leaning in towards Ari. He even smiles again! "Well, so long as you're working on it, there's nothing wrong with taking a break every once in a while, of course. Otherwise you're just gonna go nuts yourself." Ari sighs a little. "I already am, believe me. If it weren't for my girlfriend and boyfriend, I would have given up a long time ago. Gonfei raises an eyebrow at that. "Well, sounds like you either have a good support group already, or like you're asking for even more trouble." Ari blinks, a bit confused. "Even more trouble?" Gonfei raises an eyebrow. "Either you've got a nice, open relationship with two people, or you're cheating on someone. Guess which is the more trouble option." It takes a second, but her eyes go wide. "Oh! Nononono! It's a triad relationship. The three of us are all together. Sorry! It's so normal for me that I forget that it's not a usual thing." she blushes rather scarlet at that, extremely embarrassed. Gonfei laughs lightly, shaking his head. "If you can balance it, great. I've had some bad experiences with trying that kind of thing in the past, myself. I think I'm best off just being a one woman man, personally." Ari smiles a little, a bit relieved. "We were together before the... incident, and when this place appeared again, we found each other again almost right away. We have a house together by the beach. It's.. pretty perfect." Gonfei offers Ari a smile. "Well, it sounds like other than the whole someone out to kill you thing, you've got a pretty good life going." Ari smiles a bit brighter at that. "Yeah, I'm actually pretty happy. Just gotta get the family thing straightened out." Gonfei blinks, pausing a moment. "Wait, she's part of your family? And you're just... letting this happen?" He sighs, shaking his head. "No, no, I think I shouldn't pry any more into this." Ari nods. "I mentioned it before, Raven's my sister. Half sister, actually. We have the same mom.." she pauses for a second. "Well, her human mom is my mom. My dad was an elf, and her other mom is the one with the death issue." Gonfei raises an eyebrow at the 'two moms' thing, but then shrugs. Deities be deities, yo. "Well, I'd press you to try to reconcile even more then, but then again, we've probably got different perspectives on family." Ari nods. "I want her sane side back. I want my sister back. Especially for her kids." she sighs. Gonfei nods with a frown. "I can understand that, and I wish you the greatest luck in it. I wish I could help more, but I'm afraid I can't really, uh, do anything about possession." Ari finishes off the cider. "Thanks. It's good to vent about it, honestly. Maybe if I could get her a date it'd make her back off." she says jokingly. Gonfei frowns a bit at that. "While I'd admit she's attractive, there's a saying a friend once told me long ago that, while a bit crass, kinda fits the situation..." Ari smirks. "Don't date the crazy ones? Gonfei smiles back. "Close enough. His was a bit cruder, though." Ari chuckles a little. "Honestly, when she's sane, which you can tell she is if her hair's black, she's fine. Perfectly happy and normal and chipper and.. well, she's good. The um... incident I caused made her go psycho-purple and it hasn't gone back since." Gonfei raises an eyebrow. "...Ever? or it it just around you that it's always purple?" Ari sighs. "Not since that day. It used to fluctuate with her mood, but never full on purple before then. Gonfei frowns and nods. "I've seen some crazy stuff in my life, but this one is a new one for me." Ari hehs. "Welcome to the von Tilsen family. We've never been normal." Gonfei shakes his head. "I'm not so sure I want to really be in your family." He does offer a grin after saying that, though. Ari chuckles. "I barely do. Hell, growing up everything was all about Raven, really. My parents were married when I was born, but I have their last name as a middle name, and they made my name the same as Raven's. Gonfei frowns again at the minor tale of Ari's childhood. "Huh. That much favoritism? No wonder you acted out like that." Ari shakes her head. "It wasn't acting out.. I didn't trust her husband." Gonfei frowns a bit and nods. "Well, I suppose I really don't know the situation remotely well enough to judge. I just know that having more than one kid in a household tends to cause a lot more friction than one would like." Ari shakes her head. "The kids weren't the problem. He was out always wanting to play tragic hero, or telling me he wasn't good enough and kept telling me he was going to disappear." she frowns. "I think I rather her be mad at me for separating them than him. She was happy but... ignorant of his head, I think. I was trying to protect her. Because again, it's all about her." Gonfei shakes his head. "Not what I was talking about. I'll assume you were right to do something about the situation, but I'm also going to guess you went about it entirely the wrong way." Ari sighs. "Yeah, I did. I kind of secretly packed a bunch of the kids' stuff, shipped it, then drugged her while she was eight months pregnant and took her and the kids to France." she faceplants on the bar. "I was an idiot." Gonfei blinks, caught speechless for a moment. "Wow... you... Yeah..." He scratches at the side of his head slightly. "Okay. Yeah, I see I was right." Ari sighs again, head still on the bar. "After that, apparently Jack went nuts or something, and well, long story short, he's gone. And it's my fault. I may have just caused the coming of mass extinction, not to mention destroyed my own sister. Speaking of mass extinction and destruction, though probably not of the same kind as its being talked right now, in comes a Marine clad in green armor. Or perhaps its red? No, wait, that's just blood smeared all over him. The soldier trudges his way towards the bar and plops on a stool, elbows resting on the counter tiredly. Gonfei frowns, resisting an urge to pat Ari on the shoulder. "Well, what's done is done, and you'll have to live with the consequences." He also managed to resist adding 'or die'. But a newcomer has arrived at the bar. He says a quiet 'excuse me a moment' to Ari as he steps over to the marine. "Spending quality time in the Badlands? What can I get for you today?" Ari nods a little, picking her head back up to look at the newcomer. Her eyebrow goes up. Definitely not one she's seen before, but she just lets Gonfei do his job, not interrupting. The Marine doesn't bother removing his armor or helmet for that matter. When the bartender addresses him he quietly continues to stare at the counter unmovingly. Its almost as if he's purposely ignoring Gonfei. Or maybe he didn't hear him? Just as the silence is starting to reach uncomfortable levels, the Marine perks up and stares, almost as if he was just now realizing he's being talked to. "Is that what they're calling it nowadays?" A garbled voice speaks through the helmet. "Gimme a beer." He says simply afterward. Though not before glancing at the girl next to him and raising his head towards her having noticed she raised her eyebrow towards him. "What?" The doors fly open and Kibi jumps into the restaurant! In slow motion she just slowly flying across the room. while making dododo sounds. Gonfei frowns at the man's reaction, and nods slowly. To someone that's seen war as much as Gonfei, the marine seems to showing all the signs of having participated in a hellish campaign. Without a word to him, he goes over to pour a pint of lager from a tap before placing in front of the marine. "Here you go, man." For the moment, he's pretending to ignore Kibi's entrance. If she's moving in slow motion, then he'd not have had time to react to her yet, right? Ari smiles a little at the soldier. "Sorry, haven't seen armor quite like yours before. The little bits drawn in blood are a nice touch. I would have gone with paint, but hey, authenticity right?" She catches the sight of Kibi out of the corner of her eye and just chuckles. Kibi slowly floats in the air till she lands on a stool at bar. "Whoo! perfect landing!" If only Gonfei how accurate his statement is. Or maybe he's perfectly aware of what's the soldier gone through. Who knows!? The Marine is clearly only focusing on his beer right now. "You know it." He grunts to the half-elf as she comments about the authenticity of his blood painted demonic glyphs and turns towards Gonfei as he brings him his beverage. "Thanks brother." The Marine rubs his palms and stares at his drink as if he were a hungry wolf looking at a piece of bloody meat. "Man, I feel like its been--" And that's when Kibi jumps into the bar triggering every warning sense from the Marine. He whirls around, knocking aside his stool, and a large double barreled shotgun materializes on his hands which he then points at the little girl. Luckily he doesn't immediately pull the trigger, perhaps because he's surprised to see it wasn't actually a demon trying to pounce him from behind. Or at least, not the type he's used to seeing. Kibi mous. "Hey!", she tap the tip of shot gun. "Don't you know it not Kibi season! It's wabbit season!" Gonfei mocks shock as Kibi comes in for a landing. "My goodness! You caught me completely off guard!" The marine's reaction, however, gets a completely different response from Gonfei. A thin tendril of his vest shoots down his arm to his hand, where it widens to form a sword in his hand, growing and extending to be in front of the barrels of the shotgun. It might not stop a shot entirely, but it might deflect enough of the shot to minimize damage. "Put. The gun. Down. Now." Ari says in a calm, cool manner. "Friend, I suggest you do what you're told and put the weapon down, or he won't be the only threat to you." The Marine audibly grunts when Kibi touches his shotgun. Every fiber of his being is telling him to pull the trigger and shoot the kid, the action of -not- killing actually hurting him. The soldier even starts shaking with that inner struggle. It takes Gonfei's sword placed in front of his shotgun for him to raise it and move his index finger away from the trigger. "HRRG!" A gurgled grunt of frustration is heard from under the helmet before his shoulders finally stop shaking. "Aren't you a little too young to be in a bar?" He says with a perturbed voice to Kibi. The shotgun vanishes and he's once again unarmed. To the bartender and the patron threatening him to calm down, he says nothing. He simply leans down and pulls his stool back up before sitting again. "Sorry." Its all he says, purposely avoiding everyone's stares. He's just looking at his beer again. Yes, the beer is good to him, he doesn't judge him. Kibi looks a bit annoyed. "Kibi didn't do anything today to have gun pulled on her! Kibi is to young? over 600 is too young to be in this bar?? Kibi didn't know that!" Gonfei's sword vanishes seemingly absorbed back up the thread from his vest. With the gun gone, he's talking in a more normal tone. "We serve plenty of items here that aren't alcoholic. It's a family friendly place here... mostly." He then nods to Kibi. "Then there's that, too, of course." Ari chuckles a little. "It's all good, just a misunderstanding. But you really don't have to be on your guard here. The Marine isn't the talkative type. He sits there quietly while everyone starts talking and again seems to ignore everything around him. Hard to tell what he's thinking with that full helmet obscuring the entirety of his face. Finally he seems to react and strangely decides to address Kibi at first. "Six hundred? What are you anyway?" Having said that he gives somewhat of a sigh and reaches under his own chin. Air is released from the hermetical seals of his helmet as he opens the lock. Ominous groaning is heard too and what appears to be tortured souls escape from under the soldier's neck. The marine sets his helmet on the counter and beneath is the face of a normal looking man. Deep black hair and slightly brown skin. "I'm starting to see that." He grunts to the two now sounding more normal since his voice lacks the garbled noise from his radio. "Where am I anyway?" "Kibi is Kibi!, she leans over to the Marine and stage whispers. "But Kibi is really a youkai! don't tell anyone that! It's a secret.", thought probably everyone knows that. he smiles as she orders some ice cream. Gonfei nods as the two ladies continue to try to calm the marine down, and then moves off quickly to go get the ice cream for Kibi. Ari smiles a little. "You're in NeoTokyo. Basically a cosmic meeting point of worlds. Yeah, that kind of makes sense." she chuckles. "I'm Ari, resident half-elf from something you've probably never heard of." The Marine doesn't move away when Kibi leans closer and whispers to him but he does scowl in annoyance. "Hrg, I should've known you were going to say something like that." At this point, he decides that some beer is in order and he goes to do just that. Grasping the ear of his mug he downs the entire drink in several gulps like a man dying of thirst. "What the Hell's a youkai?" Is his next question to the so called Kibi. The soldier frowns deeply at Ari's explanation of where he is and before saying anything he simply pushes his mug closer towards Gonfei. "Keep that beer coming, man." Something tells him he's gonna need a -lot- more alcohol to get through this one. "Freaking Hayden, he could at least have the decency of leaving me in Hell." Mutters the mad marine morbidly and eyes Ari from the corner of his eye. "Nice to meet you." Another awkward pause as he thinks. "People call me Doom." Gonfei returns with the ice cream for Kibi. "Enjoy!" he says as he takes hold of the mug to fill it again. It of course doesn't take him long. Now that the customers are talking amongst themselves, he's backing away from the conversation. Kibi says, "Kibi is Kibi! Nice to meet you Doom!",she pauses. "That sound odd. Kibi is going to call you Mister Doom!" Minerva pushes her way in through the front door, looking very much like a college student. Her standard trench coat has been replaced by.. erm... crocheted lacy vest that goes down to her knees, and under that jeans and a nice blouse. Blonde hair's held out of her face with a crystalline headband that appears almost to be ice, because lazy mage is lazy. A large, muscled brown dog is at her side, wearing a vest that's mostly pockets full of stuff. "Afternoon, Ari," she greets cheerfully. "Kibi. Strange soldiery dude who looks in bad need of R and R." She takes her usual spot at one of the tables near the bar. Ari smiles. "Hey Mina!" she waves. She looks back to Gonfei. "Doom's beer for the night is on me. Least I can do for a fellow fighter." she claps Doom on the shoulder. She looks back at Mina. "What've you been up to?" Kibi waves to Minerva. "HIIIIIIIIII!" Gonfei offers Mina a wave, but doesn't move to serve her since she's at a table instead of the bar. "Whatever." Doom rolls his eyes at Kibi's antics. He's clearly not amused, though he's not getting angry at her either. He finds the girl's attitude very refreshing even though he's obviously not going to admit it, much less out loud. His eyes soften ever so slightly and there's almost the ghost of a smile when Ari offers to pay for his beer. It feels so very strange to him to have someone do him a favor. "Hey, thanks. I appreciate that." His mood is finally picking up and even raises his mug towards the new woman entering the bar and her dog. "Yo." Minerva blinks. Doom? Okay, either his parents need to be drug out and shot, or it's a chosen name. "Mostly practicing my tenuous control of explosions. See? Still have my eyebrows," she says proudly, gesturing to her face. "Which means I'm definitely improving my elemental control." She returns Gonfei's wave. "Soon I'll get good enough to do popcorn without a microwave, just you wait." Gonfei offers a smirk to Mina. "Oh... Please do. How many times have I told you not to hit the 'popcorn' button? I can smell it when that burns from downstairs, you know." Ari chuckles. "Nice! You may have to show the popcorn thing to your nieces and nephew when you get it down. They've been dying to hang out with you." she grins, then looks back to Doom. "Hey, it's no problem. We were all new and confused once. Plus, I've been in your boots before to a degree. Battle hardened and covered in blood. Nothing like beer in the downtime for that." she smiles at Gonfei. "Could I get another hard cider, please?" Doom's name is indeed chosen, though not by him. The marine leans back on the counter and watches the people talking quietly drinking his beer. "Yeah." He nods to Ari when she says how a good beer and quiet helps one get back to their feet after a blood soaked eternity. Doom doesn't question Ari's credentials, if she claims to be a warrior he'll believe her. For now, he just sits there and breathes deeply feeling like its the first time he's done that in ages. "This is nice." Minerva throws up her hands. "If I'm not supposed to hit the popcorn button, then WHY is it labeled popcorn and not 'do not touch this seriously don't'?" she smiles a little good naturedly. "I think you'd be more concerned about the fact that my last attempt to brew earl grey tea turned into actual soap, honestly." Her dog, Alastair, walks over to Ari and nudges her hand with his nose, obviously begging for attention, poor neglected thing. Gonfei says, "Sure thing, sure thing, Miss." It takes him but a moment to retrieve another bottle of hard cider for Ari. "Here you go." He slides the bottle over to her. He then looks back up to Minerva. "Because it's an advertising ploy for an idea that only works if every popcorn was identical. But the soap at least cleans itself, in a way. Granted, I don't know HOW you turned tea into soap..." Ari grins at Alistair, skritching the puppy behind the ears. "Hey there pups! Is mean old Mina neglecting you in the skritching department?" she giggles, then looks at Doom. "You can relax here most of the time. Yeah, sometimes the place blows up or gets crushed under a giant something or other, but usually it's pretty quiet." Kibi awww at the dog. She really really want to pet it. But ice cream comes first! nomnomnomnom Minerva shrugs. "No idea. The batch before that has been used to get rust off of swords. Effectively. And the attempt before that is why the drains flow like new." She makes a face. "Maybe I should just give up on brewing tea. It only seems to work for me when I'm trying for medicinal blends." Meanwhile, Alastair's wagging his stubby little tail so hard that if some cruel sob hadn't bobbed it when he was a puppy, there'd be very audible thumping, and he leeeeans his head into the scritching. The door to the Usual swings open, and a blonde girl in a red vest over a black qipao walks in, rings on her staff jingling quietly. The jingling makes an odd counterpoint to the tune she's humming - possibly recognizable as the opening theme from a fairly recent magical-girl anime - as the girl looks around ... a foxgirl, if you look closely enough to see the ears poking out on either side of her head. "I can handle the explosions just fine." Says the marine with the blood stained armor. "Its the peace and quiet I'm not used to." Despite saying that he continues sipping his beer and hearing the two girls talk about tea and popcorn and such. In fact, Doom even leans forward to try and pet the dog as well. Unfortunately, seeing as he reeks of demons, maybe Alastair won't appreciate Doom's presence too much. Gonfei offers a wave to the new arrival, but holds off saying anything to her unless she makes her way to the bar. And through the door bursts a little blue dragon. She is on all fours, speeding through the room under tables and dodging patrons until she gets to the bar, climbs up Ari's stool while she's petting the puppy, hops on the half-elf's head and looks at her upside down. "BOSSLADY!" Kibi look over at the blond girl she goes back to ice cream then at the cute dragon. Must resit petting it. musttt.. Ari nods at Doom. "Yeah, took me a while to get used to it too.." she then freezes mid-skritch as the dragon perches on her head. "Hi Nova. Was sitting on my head really necessary?" she chuckles, then resumes the skritching. The blonde foxgirl jumps to the side a bit as the blue dragon blurs past, almost taking her feet out from under her en route. "Well, somebody's excited!" she says good-naturedly, her humming interrupted. Then she waves to the rest of the group. "Name's Xiaomu, I'm still pretty new in the city ... good to meet you all!" Alastair sniffs hard at Doom, sneezes, and then licks his hand, going from relaxed puppy to slightly alert. He looks up at Doom with curiously intelligent eyes, as if asking, 'anything left that needs killing that I can take care of for you?' Mina chuckles. "Down, Alastair. I'll take you hunting in the badlands later. I don't think anything he was hunting is within city walls." To which the dog whiiiiines and gives the biggest shiny sad-dog puppy eyes. Mina chuckles. "Sorry, he was trained as a war-dog before I got him, Alastair still gets a bit bloodthirsty from time to time." She nods at the cute fox girl. "Name's Mina." Kibi waves to the blond girl. "HIIIIIIIII Kibi is Kibi!" Nova nods, albeit upside down, at Ari. "Well, at this moment, yes. Because I like being up high and since I had to talk to you this just made it easier." she grins. "Quark and I finished the repair on the rafter. All welded and done and you can hang the new speaker!" she says cheerfully. Doom actually smiles then. This dog's a killer, just like him. "Nice dog." He says up to Minerva when she calls his pet down. "That's all right. I'm an old war dog too. I can relate." Indeed he can. Its a pity he doesn't have any demon bits still sticking to him or he'd use them to treat Alaistair, the marine bets this dog would probably love demon meat. It'd probably forever corrupt him like it did him, but, details. "I'm Doom." He says introducing himself back to Minerva and the tone of his voice clearly says that he's not joking. To the fox girl arriving he raises his eyebrows and glances to the side while muttering and chugging some more of his beer. "Hm, good to know I'm not the only newbie around here." Ari smirks. "Yes Nova, thank you. Can you get off my head now?" she looks, carefully as to not topple the dragon, to Gonfei. "One more request, can you by any chance get a bowl full of Star Fleet communicators, heavy on the titanium?" Gonfei waves back to Xiaomu. "Gonfei Thri, at your service. A pleasure to meet you, Miss," he says simply from his position behind the bar. His attention is, however, drawn to the dragon sitting on Ari's head, a sight that causes him to chuckle lightly. Gonfei blinks at the request. "A bowl of... what? I'm.... honestly not sure on that one. Hold on a second, I'll go check the back..." Minerva smiles. "Pleased to meet you, Doom." She looks towards Gonfei. "Spinach salad when you have a moment, please. No rush." Alastair, meanwhile, tail wags and leans against Doom's leg, finding something in the old soldier that he likes. Or maybe he's just a sucker for head pats and ear scritchies. Could go either way honestly. Nova reluctantly slips off the elf's head and sits on the bar on her haunches, adjusting her shirt. "Thanks, Bosslady! I am rather peckish." she smiles, stretching her arms and too-small wings a bit. Kibi finishes her ice cream she looks at Nova. She can't reist anymore and reacher over and pick up the dragon. "Sooo cute!!!!!!!!!!" Doom is happy to indulge the war dog. He rests his heavy gloved hand on Alaistar's head and scritches behind his ears. "You're a real good boy aren't you?" Chuckles the old soldier haven't felt this relaxed in many, many years. Looks like Kibi isn't the only one latching on to cute things around here. A somewhat bewildered looking Gonfei comes back with... a bowl of communicators. "Don't know the mineral content, so not sure on the titanium, but...." He motions to the bowl to emphasize that the dish was available, a fact that seems to be confusing him. "Spinach salad I'm pretty sure we can do for you," he says to Mina with a nod as he sets the bowl down. Soon he's heading back to the kitchen to let off that order. There seems to be a conversation happening briefly, and Gonfei soon makes his way back. "I'm sorry, we, uh, seem to be out of spinach." Kibi says, "Popeye ate it all!" Ari chuckles a little as Kibi picks up Nova, and hands her the bowl of communicators. "They'll do, thank you." she smiles. Nova gets picked up! With an eep! then a chuckle. "Well hi! I'm Nova!" she smiles at Kibi. Minerva laughs. "Well, screw it. Hamburger, with avocado and a fried egg?" she asks hopefully. Xiaomu raises her eyebrow at Ari's order ... then again at Gonfei actually serving it. "Can't imagine Starfleet's gonna be happy about that, or are those all a retired model?" She turns her attention back to the marine in powered armor. "Have I seen you somewhere before? I mean, you're not the Doctor, that's the wrong armor design ..." She trails off, pursing her lips at first, then screwing her face up in concentration - just briefly, though. "Wait. Hold on. Doom as in 'invaded Hell single-handedly'?!" she asks, sounding more excited now. Gonfei looks up to Xiaomu and just shrugs. Really, it seems to be disturbing him slightly that the kitchen staff handed him a bowl of communicators when he asked. "Lemme give that one a shot Mina," he says to his housemate as he ducks to the back again. He seems a bit more relieved as he returns from that particular conversation. "It'll be out in a few minutes." Kibi snuggles the dragon. "hi nova! Kibi is Kibi's name." Suddenly, the demonic glyph in Doom's helmet begins to glow a dull red color, causing the marine to wince painfully. "Excuse me." He hurriedly stands up from his stool leaving some a wad of cash on the counter for his bill, not really caring if that's the right currency or not. He takes his helmet and starts going for the door when the fox girl starts questioning his identity. "Hmr?" What's this about him being a doctor? Doom frowns as the girl seems to guess his true origins and he simply walks past her. "No autographs." The marine puts his helmet back on and a combat shotgun materializes on his hands. "I'm gonna have a look around the Badlands. Be right back." Cue him pumping his shotgun and making a quick exit. The need to kill. It rises. Ari waves after Doom. "See ya around, chummer!" she smiles, then turns back to the bar. "Nice guy." she sips her cider. Nova gives Kibi a hug, because why not? "Hi Kibi! It's nice to meet you! Yay new friend!" Kibi yahhsh too! Minerva flinches at the feel of that energy from that helmet, then shakes her head. DEFINITELY Talk to Frey about this later, that felt... rather not healthy. Only then does she look at Nova and Kibi, and resists the urge to flinch harder. TWO OF THEM???? Alastair trots back over to Mina, and she absentmindedly pets his head, causing a great big doggy grin. "That's great, Gonfei." She flashes a warm smile. Gonfei blinks at the sudden exit, then shrugs, looking down at the money. "Well, I guess he forgot you had his bill..." he says before looking back up to Ari again with a shrug. He counts through it and frowns slightly. "And he overpaid... I'll open him up a tab with this as a bit of pre-pay," he says, jotting down the amount before putting it away. Now that things have seemed to calm down a bit again, he puts his hands on the bar top and looks about again, waiting to see what may happen next, or at least who might need something to drink next. Ari looks at Kibi and Nova and shakes her head, chuckling before turning back to Gonfei. "Should I tell Kibi there's another one?" she grins. Xiaomu adds casually, "Hey Kibi," as the youkai gives her name - and then does a very pronounced double-take. "Wait. Kibi as in Ko Kibi? Sister to Dakki ..." She trails off, adjusting her grip on her staff. Gonfei just silently shakes his head at Ari. Minerva finds herself shaking her head in time with Gonfei, ending up eerily synchronized. NOPE. Kibi keeps at hold on Nova. "You know of Kibi?", she sounding unusually serious... Nova blinks at Kibi. "Are you famous? Can I have your autograph??" she grins excitedly, little wings flapping. Kibi eehs at Nova. "Sort of.;. she oohs. "No one every ask for Kibi autograph before!" Ari chuckles. "Yeah, didn't think so." she smirks, drinking some more cider. Xiaomu says, "Once I get an autograph book going, sure ..." She's still eyeing Kibi extra-warily, but she turns some of her attention to Gonfei. "Do you serve inarizushi here?" Nova rummages in her satchel for a moment and comes up with a small autograph book and a pen. She smiles up at Kibi. "I would love it!" Kibi yahhs and hmms. "What should Kibi write??" Gonfei offers Xiaomu a smile. "Sure thing, I'll have the kitchen prepare you a dish right away!" He steps to the back again to place the order, then returns with Mina's burger. "Here you go," he says to her, before nodding to the fox-woman. "It'll be ready in a minute." Nova hmmmms at Kibi. "I don't know. Ummm... how about 'Hi?'" she grins. Kibi nods. "Okay sounds good!", she writes Hi from Kibi in the autograph book. Ari finishes off her cider. "I really want another, but I really have work to do." she nibbles her lip. "You know what? Pie sounds good." Gonfei raises an eyebrow at Ari's request. "You know you're going to have to be more specific than that, right?" Nova cheers and hugs her autograph book before putting it back in her satchel. "Thank you Kibi!!" Xiaomu grins to Gonfei before taking a seat at the bar, looking over the others who remain. Minerva and Ari seem to be the focus of her attention, almost as though she's trying to figure out if she's seen them somewhere before. Kibi says, "Your welcome!", she ohs. "Kibi has to go now! It's past Kibi bedtime!" Ari chuckles. "Yeah, fair. Boston creme, if you got it?" she smiles sweetly. Nova pouts a little but gives Kibi a hug. "Aw, okay. It was great meeting you!!" Xiaomu says, "Ah, sleep well, Kibi! Hopefully I'll be ready to get your autograph next time." Kibi nods. "Kibi will be back. same Kibi-time same Kibi-station!", and with that she leaves. Gonfei nods. "More'n likely," he says before stepping to the back again. Soon he returns with both dishes for Xiaomu and for Ari. "See you alter, Kibi." Xiaomu grins, picking up a pouch of inarizushi and chowing down with an obvious appetite. Don't expect much conversation out of her for a bit. Nova scoots back over to the top of the bar, and grabs one of the communicators, popping it into her mouth and munching happily. Gonfei watches Nova eat with a look of odd fascination. He's never seen someone eat electronics before. Ari chuckles as she notices Gonfei's look. "She eats metal. It's just her. Gonfei says, "Well, I've never seen anything eating metal before. Well, some carnival acts, but I don't think they actually ate the metal." Nova pouts at that. "I'm not a carnival act!" Gonfei nods to Nova. "I can see that. You're actually biting into them instead of palming them while pretending to shove the whole thing in your mouth." Ari grins at the dragon. "Nobody said you were, hon. He was just saying he's seen acts that pretend they do. Gonfei nods again. "Exactly, I'm saying you're the real deal." Nova looks down at herself. "Of course I'm real! I'm here right? So that must mean I exist!" Ari grins, looking at Gonfei. "She's a bit on the literal side." Minerva gets an amused look on her face. "Cogito, ergo sum?" Xiaomu pauses after wolfing down about four inarizushi. "I dunno, some people exist without evidence of thinking," she quips. "Check me on something - how hard is it to get a job with the local police department? I could use a steady paycheck, and it wouldn't be too far removed from what I dealt with back home ... bonus points if I wouldn't have to hide what I am. I mean, we've got elves and youkai and communicator-eating dragons, a sage fox shouldn't be much of a stretch. Minerva nods. "There's a police officer that likes to come here for some god-awful coffee, if you hang around long enough I'm sure you'll run into him for some tips on how to get into the police. They seem a little short handed when it comes to people on the force who can handle the extra weirdness." Gonfei looks at Minerva and shakes his head. "No. We are not going into that existential BS. And definitely not Plato's wall nonsense." He looks over to Xiaomu and shrugs. "Hard to say. We've got a regular customer officer that comes in here a lot, but he's never said anything about recruiting practices. He generally just comes in here to drink our ridiculously strong coffee." He nods to Mina as she makes the same point, though he pauses a moment before adding, "And to ogle women." Ari nods. "Yeah, Coffee Guy would know. Well, that's what I call him, anyway. Yeah. He ogles. A lot. Nova hmphs. "Well, he'd better not ogle me, I'm a happily mated dragon, thank you very much." she says before munching on another communicator. Xiaomu glances down at her outfit ... which, while technically not THAT revealing, does not one damn thing to hide her curves. "Or I could just look for the police station and inquire, right?" Gonfei gives a quick glance over Xiaomu's dress. "He'd like you. He's a leg man. But yes, that'd probably be the most efficient method." Minerva nods. "I prefer his cave nonsense myself. I figure spell casting is the equivalent of playing with shadow puppets." She contorts fingers into making a bunny head and holds it up with a wink. "But I take your meaning and drop the topic." Gonfei says, "I'll just stick to the fire spells, myself." Ari smiles at Nova. "You'll be safe from the ogling, I promise." Xiaomu smirks, "Yeah, but will Mr. Coffee be safe from the women he ogles?" She bites into another piece of inarizushi. Ari smirks. "He's not open about it. So I haven't whooped him yet. Gonfei shrugs. "Maybe you can explain the error of his ways?" He offers a smile. "Well, my shift is over soon, so is there any last minute things any of you ladies want? I can get for you?" Ari shakes her head. "I'm good, but thanks." she smiles. Xiaomu finishes her inarizushi, smiling at Gonfei. "Can I get a fried tofu parfait for dessert?" Didn't she just have a fair amount of fried tofu in the form of the wraps from her inarizushi ... ? Minerva shakes her head. "Thank you very much for the offer, but no." Nova happily chomps on a communicator. "I'm good!" she smiles cutely yet toothily. Gonfei smiles back to Xiaomu as he nods. "Coming right up, Miss Xiaomu." He heads to the back again, this time making the item himself at the ice cream station. It takes him a little bit of time, but he does make it back soon enough. "Enjoy!" Minerva resists the urge to hug Gonfei goodbye after he fixes the ice cream. "I hope the rest of your evening is pleasant." Ari stretches a bit, then smiles at Gonfei. "What Mina said. Have a good night and um.. thanks for the talk earlier." Gonfei grins to Minerva. "Relaxing at home on my couch in the basement. I'll be fine." He nods to Ari, though. "I just did what any good bartender should do, Ma'am." Nova waves to Gonfei, mouth full of communicator. Gonfei glances at the clock. "Well, I hope all you ladies have a nice evening. I'll be taking my leave now." He bows slightly before leaving the bar, his replacement already serving someone at the other end. | |
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