Goblin Town -- Logs

Cinnamon brings over the two cups of tea when they're ready, listening carefully the entire time to Shane... and sometimes sneaking quick looks at his face as he's talking, as if to reassure herself. But then again: he's Shane! He's not going to lie to her... which also means that on occasion she makes small startled or exasperated noises as she listens. Shane takes a deep breath -- his mother is a nurse -- so he says, "Okay. Is it alright if I get a little clinical, my love?"

When Cinnamon hands his teacup to Shane, he finds that, like usual, she's made his tea just the way he likes it. By now she's cuddled up next to Shane, quietly sipping her tea as she listens... and at his request, she nods wryly, "Yeah, you probably better. I'm already discovering, from what you're saying, that listening carefully on the school bus is turning out not to be the accurate source of information I'd hoped it was." She sighs and shakes her head once, adding, "I learned early on that just asking only made folks laugh at me for not knowing... or worse, tell me the most appalling stories that turned out to be as completely made up as the story about the stork... and I couldn't find anything real about sex in the library. I was too embarrassed to ask the librarians for help." She sighs again, then has another sip of tea as she waits for Shane to continue.

Shane smiles softly and nuzzles into Cinnamon's hair, "Okay. Well, Mum would be very wroth with me if I let this stand. So, I'm going to sound a little clinical. The penis and vagina were meant to fit together, so the idea of two adult people of vaguely humanoid size and proportion being able to cause enough damage during sex that it would be life-threatening? That's a chance so small that it's basically impossible. The blood you hear about is usually from the hymen, which is a vestigial thing that not even all women have, acushla. And even the ones that do? It's usually not covering the whole vaginal opening." Shane is very, very glad Janet made sure he knew all these things now. Plus, his knowledge of anatomy has made past lovers extremely happy. "And the amount of blood, if there is any at all, is minimal."

He sips his tea, then nuzzles her softly, "For pregnancy to happen, semen has to get to the egg. For that to happen, it has to be deposited fairly deeply most of the time, acushla." He's speaking quietly, "And for that to happen, usually it's going to be because there was intercourse. Just your hand on my co... penis would not have been enough to get you pregnant in the vast, vast majority of cases. Nor would me touching you, if you'd ever want that, okay? On top of all of that, it also has to be during the right time of your moon cycle." He shakes his head, "Sorry. Menstrual cycle. You have to be ovulating. And the biggest thing? I am never, ever, ever going to do anything that's going to put you at risk for something you don't want. If you want, at some point, we can have an anatomy lesson. We can have one on the male anatomy now, if you want. For instance." He clears his throat, "Some men are circumcised. I'm not. The... ah... extra skin that was sort of partially over the tip and partially bunched up behind it? That's my foreskin. The head... the part at the end with the ridge around it? That's called the head or the glans. The testicles are the sort of..." He snorts slightly, "Mum once said they look sort of blobby and fuzzy to some young women. So, testicles, balls... lots of names."

Cinnamon sets aside her teacup, then turns and carefully hugs Shane -- tightly. Her voice is a little choked, "Thank you, asthore! Thank you for -- for not laughing, and telling me the truth, and -- and for making it make sense now! I... it just didn't make sense to me, you know, that women would do... do things that were so incredibly dangerous to them! But... but I didn't really have anyone I could get good information from!" She just continues to hug for a moment, so relieved that she's almost tearful. It feels so good to just hug Shane, too. It makes her feel... odd, like... like he feels like he'll always be calm and accepting of her -- her foibles? -- and... and just there for her. She smiles and sniffs a bit so she's sure she won't cry... and then sits up again and tries a shy grin, "So, um... so, the -- the mushroom cap is the... glans? Is that right? And the... the foreskin is the tree trunk-like part?" She pauses as Shane blinks at her word choices... then giggles! "Sorry! Sorry, I, um -- I didn't have the right words, before? So, um..." She glances towards his lap, a blush rising up her cheeks, then shyly sideways back at his face, "...can we start over again? ...maybe?"

This time Shane can't quite help it, "Well, I've never had it compared to a tree-trunk before, but..." He nuzzles her and hugs her closely, whispering, "You can always ask me anything, acushla." His eyes are warm as he adds, "Oh, we can definitely start again." His hand guides hers to the hem of his kilt, "Do you want to do the unveiling, or shall I?"

Cinnamon squeaks nervously, and he can feel her fingers tremble a little in his... but then she takes a deep, brave breath, her fingers curling around his as she smiles shakily at him, "Maybe... m-maybe we could, umm... do it together?" She lets their intertwined fingers sort of slip under the edge of the kilt... and then, after another deep breath... she starts to pull slowly, carefully back. This time, even though she leans nervously into Shane's side... she looks more curious despite her embarrassment -- rather than scared and spooked.

Shane does murmur as the cloth moves upward, "The tree-trunk part, acushla, is actually called the shaft. The foreskin is..." He takes a deep breath as he's bared again, "...this part..." This time he uses his fingertips to show her what he means. Of course, with her looking on curiously, that does cause some reaction.

Cinnamon watches with intent fascination, completely unaware that her regard is causing the reaction. She leans forward a bit to study Shane's entire groin area as well as she can... then hesitantly starts to reach out again as she asks, "So it... it's okay to touch? It doesn't hurt you at all?"

Shane's voice is a little hoarse, "Acushla, you could possibly hurt me, but you'd have to squeeze really tightly to do it. If..." He clears his throat. He'd gone mostly soft during the long conversation, "Just... don't be shocked if I get hard while you're touching me, okay? It's a good thing. It means it feels nice."

Cinnamon glances a bit worriedly at Shane when he starts speaking... but she nods slowly and relaxes at his words. She turns back and blinks, pushing up her glasses as she exclaims in surprise, "It got... smaller -- it shrank! Are you, umm... wait. This is, er... what's it called... flaccid?" She reaches cautiously down to lightly touch part of the shaft with her fingertip, murmuring quietly, "Oooh, it's warm! ...and soft, too? Co-" and then Shane twitches slightly -- and Cinnamon yanks back in shock, with a squeaked, "Eek! I didn't -- I -- d-did I hurt- no, wait, you said it wouldn't hurt..." She tilts her head, watching the gentle twitches -- then glances up at Shane with a nervous but delighted grin, her wide eyes sparkling, "Did -- did I do that?!"

Shane laughs a little shakily, because the twitching is turning into thickening and lengthening as Cinnamon explores with such sweet curiosity, "Mmmhmmm. You did."

Cinnamon laughs delightedly, "That's so cool!" She turns her gaze back to Shane's increasing erection, cautiously (and gently) prodding the glans with one fingertip -- and then, after 'ooooh'ing quietly to herself at the reaction, she very lightly tries stroking it. "It's leaking, asthore! Or wait, I think I read about this once... isn't that called... something... oh, like precum?" She's clearly only read, not heard, the word, because she pronounces it 'PREHK-oom.'

Shane is holding onto the blankets very tightly with one hand and trying to keep his voice level, "Yeah. It's... uhm... it does that." His hips shift into the exploratory caresses and he licks his lips, "Pre... precum... like... come here... not koom." It's definitely getting more difficult to keep his voice calm, but it's dropped down a bit in tone and his breathing is slightly uneven, "Acushla, y'know how we talked about that whole ejaculation thing?" He's gritting his teeth. He did not start out this day expecting it to take this route, and he's not the kind of man to want to take pleasure and not reciprocate... but he's not sure Cinnamon's ready to be touched herself yet.

Cinnamon blinks interestedly at Shane, "Like come rather than koom? Okay, got it." She blinks again, studying his face more carefully, "Umm... are you feeling okay, Shaney? You're... a bit flushed?" Worriedly she adds, "It's not because of me, is it? Er, wait. Uh, ej-jaculation -- right, yes! Yes, I remember. Why?"

Shane reaches very carefully down and wraps his hand around Cinnamon's, stopping her exploration for just a moment and leans in to get his mouth near her ear, "Because if you keep stroking me like that, it's not going to be precum for very long, acushla." Cinnamon squeaks softly, a bit startled as his meaning registers... but then -- despite the hot blush -- she tilts her head and stares thoughtfully at where his hand and hers rest on his thigh. He chuckles shakily and nuzzles against her neck, "It feels really, really nice..."

Cinnamon says slowly, "Do you... not want to come, then, Shaney?" She can't believe, after all this, that he's somehow reluctant to... to enjoy her company that way too, though. Why would he stop her? She's never read anything about ejaculation being painful for guys, after all...?

Shane's voice is a low murmur, almost a purr, "A ghr�, I would love to come with you." He nips her earlobe lightly and adds, "I just usually like to have it be mutual." His hand rests lightly on her thigh, "Don't... don't want you thinking I'm... selfish."

Cinnamon squeaks at the nip -- then blushes and giggles nervously. A moment later she sighs softly as she considers Shane's words. She doesn't really know how to make herself 'come,' but... she doesn't want to admit to that yet, either. As far as her (extremely limited) reading on the subject shows, everyone knows how to have an orgasm... except her. On the other hand, she does know guys are supposed to really love having orgasms, and she already knows Shane isn't selfish -- he wouldn't help people out all the time if he was, after all! Well, okay then -- that, she can admit to! She smiles at Shane, even as she starts gently petting him again, "Don't worry, I already know you're not selfish, asthore!" She hopes he orgasms soon, though, so she doesn't have to 'fess up to not really even knowing what an orgasm for a woman is like. The only indicator she has on it is from a movie -- 'When Harry Met Sally' -- and that had been really loud, public, and embarrassing-looking, to her!

Shane nods and nuzzles into Cinnamon's neck, breathing a little ragged, and then slides a hand up into her hair, "Mmmmkay... then just..." He lets go of her hand and goes back to nuzzling and nibbling, voice hoarse, "Explore all you want. Just don't be too startled." His hips are rocking into her caresses and that leaking she mentioned is getting a little more prominent, "And we'll have a different anatomy lesson soon, hm?"

Cinnamon looks intrigued -- there's more to guys and sex than these parts? Fascinating! She'd not realized that! But for now... eeee, she just got permission to explore all she wanted! She happily replies, "Okay!" and starts lightly tracing the contours of Shane's erection. She draws a finger gently along the crease in the glans, oooohs interestedly at how wiggly it is when she touches the shaft under the glans crease, runs her fingers down to the base of the shaft, then curiously wraps her hand around it, "It's... it's warm and soft and hard, kind of... all at once! How does it do that?" She laughs as her fingers get slippery from the precum, "It's sticky too!" She has no idea just how deliciously sensual some of the things she's doing may feel.

Shane watches Cinnamon's face just as much as he revels in her touch. The joy he sees there erases some of his ingrained training about how one treats a lover. If what you're supposed to do is make sure they're enjoying themselves, then this certainly seems to fulfill that, given the laughter and smiles. "Bodies are just... like that. And good sex should be slippery, or you're not doing it right..." He strokes her hair off her face and almost purrs, "And you're doing things right, acushla."

Cinnamon beams delightedly up at Shane, "Really? Oh, awesome!" She looks back down at his erection, "Okay, is there anything I should be doing more of? Or less?" She happily continues running her small hand slowly along his shaft as she speaks, letting her fingers trail through the increasing wetness. Apparently sex is easier than she'd realized, for guys!

Shane reaches down and adjusts the tightness of her grip around him, then starts guiding her caresses in rhythm, "Like this." For a moment, with his hand over hers, it's easy for Cinnamon to simply imagine him doing this for himself, if he wants. She has the tiniest flash of jealousy -- darnit, why do guys get the easy body type to get to orgasm, but her... er, but women's orgasm-y bits are all hidden away somewhere inside? But then Shane's voice brings her back, and she listens carefully, excited to finally get to learn this strangely fascinating information, "Steady rhythm, like a heartbeat... then speed up, like how your pulse picks up when you get excited." His voice is getting ragged, and he's already flushed -- he knows it's not going to be long once she gets into a rhythm.

Cinnamon nods, clearly concentrating carefully on his words. Much as he suspected would happen, she's starting to get into a very good rhythm for him. She's quietly pleased, as she starts more carefully watching his body movements, and the sounds he makes. Some of them seem a bit alarming, as if she might be hurting him... but she reassures herself: he told her he'd say something if she really was hurting him! So she keeps going, cautiously but with slowly growing confidence -- that is a good sound, right, so do the thing again... yeah! Hey, maybe... maybe she's getting this? Maybe she might even... turn out to be able to make Shaney feel good? A lot? That'd be really awesome, if so -- he might even stay longer if she could do that!

Shane lets himself stop worrying so very much and just enjoy for a while. It does feel good to have her touch him and not be so anxious and worried and she... damn, she's learning quick. When it's at that point of inevitability, he curls his fingers in her hair and tips her head back, wanting to be kissing her when it happens. His lips press to hers so she can feel as well as hear the groan and gasp as he pulses in her grip.

He can feel her startled hesitation for a heartbeat -- and then she realizes everything's still good -- surely he wouldn't be just kissing her if she was doing it wrong... right? She grins happily against the kiss, and her hand continues her careful, warm exploration of Shane's erection. Oooh... does this mean she's finally someone's lover? No -- Shane's lover -- yeah! She likes this -- she really loves feeling like she's doing really lovely things for him... whoa! Wetness and throbbing and- ooh, wait, this is good -- this must be the ejaculation! Well... darnit, she wanted to see one. Hm, though... she grins again -- guess she'll have to repeat this sometime! Shane shouldn't mind, if she's done it right... right?

Shane breaks the kiss to catch his breath, reaching down again to wrap his hand around Cinnamon's wrist -- just to get her to stop when he gets oversensitive, not to pull her hand away. His voice is husky and a little endorphin slurry, "Mmmm... you're a quick learner, a ghr�."

Cinnamon beams, almost squeaky with her delighted relief, "Really? Yay!" She looks down at his hand wrapped around hers, adding curiously, "Should I stop after the ejaculation? Does it stop feeling good when it's smaller again, or is it just for a breather, or... or something else?"

Shane chuckles, glancing down, "It gets sort of oversensitive. But, uhm, I usually bounce back pretty quick. We'll talk about refractory periods another time, acushla." He makes plans for other anatomy lessons in his head. She's okay with touching him... so will she let him touch her? The idea makes things rouse slightly, but he takes a deep breath, "But cleaning up between is nice, usually."

"Oh!" Cinnamon looks down at the slight, sticky mess on her fingers -- eeeee, so cool, her Shaney let her do sex things with him! She's still beaming as she nods, trying to sound dependable and calm, "Right, right -- cleanup. Um... can we just use a... oh, like a nice, damp, warm washcloth? Or do you need something special to clean up with?" She's mentally flipping through options: if it's really sensitive... does he need, like, something silky? Or... hm, would a terrycloth washcloth hurt and be too scratchy? What do people clean up with? There wasn't much discussion of that in any of her urban fantasies, unfortunately. Well, to be honest, there wasn't much about sex at all, which was one of the reasons she liked them -- less confusing bits that everyone probably assumed she would know, that always left her feeling a bit slow and left-behind, in the story. Oooh, maybe... maybe a nice, soft, wet cotton rag would work...?

Shane nuzzles the side of her neck, "Warm, damp washcloth would be lovely." He's not about to suggest the more wicked and sensual modes of cleanup -- not yet! "And then cuddling up, I think."

Cinnamon beams again in relief, "Oh, I can get that! Hang on a moment -- be right back!" She rolls off the futon, trots to her bathroom, and starts the water running to warm it up. A few seconds later she's back, with a damp, warm, wrung-out washcloth, "Here you go! Um... can I watch? -- s-so I can learn how to do it too, maybe? Er, p-please?" She's not sure which parts of sex are the ones where guys get self-conscious and defensive, though she's heard there are things that cause guys to get that way. She hopes Shane doesn't do it often, though, if so -- because so far this sex-thing has been really kind of interesting and new to her!

Shane chuckles softly, "Acushla, you can watch anything you want. I'm not shy, but I'm just going to clean up." He takes the cloth and carefully cleans himself off, though it may be an unwittingly sensual thing to watch. Indeed, Cinnamon finds herself feeling oddly... tingly as she watches! She's not entirely sure why, though -- after all, her asthore is just cleaning up a bit, right? -- and she's supposed to be taking internal notes as she watches, so she can maybe help next time -- not getting all wiggly, sheesh! What is up with her today?!

Shane's trying hard not to think about cleaning Cinnamon up after a bout of lovemaking simply because he doesn't want to get too far down that mental pathway and get unwittingly pushy. Once he's done, he sets the cloth aside and rearranges his kilt and opens his arms with a lazy, post-orgasmic smile, "Thank you, sweetness." Cinnamon sighs happily, snuggling up close to Shane. Wow, it really is as nice as she thought it would be, to get to snuggle up with Shane when he gets that dreamy, delicious look in his eyes! As she relaxes against Shane, Cinnamon decides sex is much nicer than she'd been afraid of. She didn't even have to take her clothes off! She can certainly live with this... yay!

The next morning Cinnamon wakes up quite early, feeling very warm and cuddly and snuggly... she so likes it when Shaney spends the night! He really does feel like a delightful treasure, to her. As the two of them get ready for the day, and the celebratory breakfast for the new House Elgan members, the little dragon chatters excitedly to Shane about all the things she still needs to do before the Nusantara trip, "So Veles texted me and Spice that he's arrived safely and he's on his way to the volcanic island and hopefully that'll go smoothly -- he's going to ask them if they can please build a really big, strong raft or boat or something like that, that I can either drag or carry to the safe place where the rest of their people are! We figured we'd ask for the raft once they're done with it, and gift it to the nomadic sea Rom-equivalent who need more resources, y'know? But that means in hopefully two to three days he'll be zooming to me to ask the highland chief to please sign the peace treaty... which means I only have less than a week to get ready!"

Cinnamon takes a deep breath -- she does tend to keep going until she runs out of air, when she's excited! -- then adds, "So this morning I sent a message to Baird asking him if he recognized any of the supernatural hunter boys' names, and if he could swing by at some point so I could ask a favor of him about them, if he's got the time... and I need to ask Llewellyn for all the letters that were sent for Liam's help, that arrived after I started in his place... and I asked Himeko if she thought Aoi would be willing to teach me the Chinese tea ceremony before I left 'cause wow -- I would really love any wisdom she'd be willing to share! -- and I let Waylon know that I might be gone for up to a month or two so did he have any metals he'd like identified before I left... um, what else...

"Oh! Also I asked Spice for my house key so I can make a copy before I leave, and hopefully that guy Fraser recommended for backpack work will come back with an estimate soon and Jaeger is invited to lunch today so he can hear about what happened at the rez too and I'd like to discreetly find out if he'd like to go charm more info out of Russel but I'm not sure how to ask yet without betraying his confidence so I'm still working on that and I need to visit Iason for the blood draw for Elias-" she blushes slightly, "th-though I'm still a bit... a little nervous about that? -a-and talk to Bob the Na Tuk Kong and, umm... oh! I still need to talk to Brynn about what trauma is and the Akoesdi Ayvwi about underground island tunnels and, umm..."

Cinnamon pauses in her slightly whirlwind preparations, nibbling on her lower lip as she considers... then she grins with shy delight at Shane, "Well, that, umm... th-that's all I can think of right now? But wow! There sure is a lot that needs doing before the trip! How about you? Is there anything you need help with, asthore, to get ready?" She knows he has some sort of errand or thingie he has to do with or for Aisling this morning, before the celebratory breakfast, after all!

Shane smiles affectionately at his excited little dragon, giving her a kiss on the temple and assuring her that he's doing great. So, once Cinnamon has made him some coffee, and he's headed off on his pre-breakfast errand, the little dragon takes a moment to send off a note containing several points, via messenger, to Llewellyn. The first is a request to please add the following two items to the upcoming council meeting's schedule: 1) a request for all the councilors to please let Cinnamon know if their people have space for refugees, and 2) have any of the councilors heard of numbers of supernaturals dying suddenly, or being murdered recently? Finally, the little dragon asks Llewellyn where requests for justice, from supernaturals in other councilors' realms of responsibility, are currently being sent to, please?

Llewellyn messages back that he is happy to make the additions done to the agenda. Cinnamon hmms thoughtfully at his reply to her question about letters to Liam, though: They've been rerouted to this office -- since that makes it sound like there's at least two or more letters for the 13th Chair that have been waiting for her! She makes a note to ask about them when the former Lost Boys are officially welcomed into House Elgan -- then sends another message via courier to Diarmaid: does he know how one goes about contacting the Akoesdi Ayvwi that live on -- or rather, under -- Coblyn Street, please? Also, are there any more plans for exploring the underground? For that matter, is Shane right, and there's still plenty of room for others down there too?

Diarmaid takes a day or two to reply... possibly because he's busy dealing with his normal duties; possibly because of the unusual prisoner... or maybe he's just finding the answers. For the Akoesdi, apparently just politely going into the tunnels is her best bet. He believes there is likely more room down there too, though those living underground would have the best answer. There's a tone in the writing that hints they may think of it as their territory. Cinnamon raises a fascinated eyebrow at that! She distinctly remembers Diarmaid telling them all that the area belongs to Caradog, after all. Still, she'll take some time to go check things out there as soon as she can.

After the message is sent off to Diarmaid, the little dragon checks her email. Anything yet from the Havvarger re a brass navigation/altitude/barometric pressure tool for the harness, or a crafter for it... or how to do deep sea fishing? The reply from the Havvarger is actually from Fraser: You want a combination altimeter, barometer, and compass, lass? I can point you at an excellent, supernatural-aware artisan of the latter two, but I don't know who you'd go to for an altimeter. As for deep sea fishing, we do it with very large fishing poles. For some reason, I think that's not what you're searching for, but I'd be interested in knowing what you find out. He includes the contact info for the (fortunately supernaturally aware) person from whom they can purchase the equipment.

Cinnamon giggles at her abrupt mental image: her as a dragon swimming along underwater... trailing a long line from a fishing pole that she's carrying with her -- underwater! Yeeeeah... maybe not! But then she hastily types a reply a heartbeat later, when she realizes the note was from Fraser: Frazey! I owe you an apology -- I'm so sorry! You were right about Shane -- he's the absolute best! That makes her feel a bit better... she truly likes Fraser, and doesn't want him to think she's still grayrocking him, after all.

Fraser's reply is teasing -- and typically Fraser: This is why you always listen to the bosun. We keep order on the ship and make sure everything's moving together like a well-lubed... I mean -oiled... machine. Cinnamon giggles at the reply, though she's not sure why Fraser's repeating himself. After that the little dragon contacts the artisan Fraser recommends, with a very thorough description of what she'd like, and a request for a time and cost estimate, please? She adds in the altimeter simply because even if this person doesn't do those... maybe they know someone who does? As it turns out, the artisan can indeed recommend someone to sell her an altimeter, though it's less artisanal and more practical -- made for people doing kit planes. At that suggestion, Cinnamon puzzledly asks why, please? As in: why do they say it's practical? Surely the artisan does practical items as well?

The question about the altimeter returns, My work is handcrafted, looks vintage, and is made specifically for specialized communities to either not contain or carefully encase any harmful materials. The altimeter is a very practical, sturdy, and utilitarian piece, made largely of aluminum to add the least weight possible to kit planes and gliders. Cinnamon thinks about that for a bit, then smiles and replies in the email, If I asked you to include one in your work, would you be able to use the brackets to hold it into place to make it match at least a little more? If yes, I'm absolutely interested in getting this ASAP, as I have someplace I'm leaving for in less than a week. If not, I'd be okay with a quick job fastening it into place, and then later, when I'm back in town, having a better-matching version made. Also, the price you quoted is quite reasonable, and I'm happy to pay more as necessary to ensure it's ready on time. Is that doable?

The reply is quick: I'm happy to get one and include it in the work. The face will still look different, but it will blend in better. I'll push you to the front of the line. Cinnamon glees excitedly, thanking the artisan and agreeing to the negotiated cost. She them sends a note off by messenger to John at the Vault, asking for a human-world-style check for half the cost to be sent to the artisan, then checks her door -- hm, no replies yet to her other messages! No worries, though... she's got work to do now for the celebratory breakfast! Also, Shane promised to be back in time, so she should hustle -- eeee! She has so many wonderful friends now!

Elsewhere and earlier, Thorn wakes up, does his morning toilet, and prepares for another day. He also put in a request to Caradog to do a semi-regular medical exam of their new guest. He just wants to make sure the (bigoted, racist, asshole-ish) man is in good health... and in a way, to underline that the prisoner is likely going to be spending quite a while here. After that, Thorn heads out to the herbary, to make a large pot of herbs both medicinal and culinary. A message arrived from Cinnamon very early this morning for Thorn, asking him if he could bring that as a lovely gift for Navin and Tre at the celebratory breakfast welcoming them to House Elgan!

Spice and Josie are also headed to Cinnamon's cottage for the breakfast, though they arrive early to see if Cinnamon would like any help making the breakfast. They find the little dragon head-down in her messaging, and rather relieved they arrived early and interrupted her! She cheerfully accepts their offer of help, hugging them both before scampering off to brush her teeth and change out of her PJs and into her clothes, so she can work on breakfast as well. However, the moment her friend isn't standing right there, Josie turns to her sweetie and lowers her voice as much as she can. The wolf-shifter's eyes are wide with surprise and excitement for her friend, "It smells like Shane in here!"

Spice gives her girlfriend a bit of side-eye, but keeps her voice down as well, "Of course it fuckin' does. He's her guy. He's here all the goddamn time." She tips an eyebrow to convey the 'Why is this news?' attitude.

Josie looks around quickly to verify Cinnamon isn't back again. She's trying to keep her voice low, but she's not all that exceptional at it when she's excited, and her tail is wagging madly, "No! I mean it smells like..." she makes a motion around the front of her hips and puts emphasis on the half-beansidhe's name, "Shane in here."

Spice takes a half-second to realize what Josie means and then her head pulls back slightly and her side-eye gets more intense, "How the fuck d'you know what Shane's fuckin'... how he smells?"

Josie wrinkles her nose in an 'eww!' expression at the idea she might know this because she has some carnal knowledge of a guy she sees as a brother. Besides, he's a boy. She knows he's good-looking and can appreciate it, but that's just not something that's ever going to happen. "Because I know what a guy's seed smells like and I know what Shane smells like and this smells like Shane's seed, so..."

Spice's jaw drops as she gets past wondering how Josie would know what any sexual part of Shane would smell like... to put together the implication that something having to do with Shane and sex happened here, in this house. Then her eyes light up and she beams, hissing, "About goddamn time!"

While Josie and Spice are having their conversation, Shane is having one of his own. He has arrived at Aisling's apartment and is sitting at her little dining table. The beansidhe councilor and his trodmate may be quite open and vociferous about many things, but when asked or told things in confidence, she's a vault. She is also Shane's oldest friend here on Coblyn. Were his mother here, he would be going to Janet... but she's not.

The trodmates sip their tea and nibble the pastries Shane brought from Uta's bakery for a few minutes, talking about common inconsequentialities, before Aisling says, "Well, that's just about enough with the formalities and pleasantries, Shane. Why are you really here?" She's smiling over the rim of her delicate teacup at him and he flushes dark red.

"Who says I have to be here for anything special?" Shane asks. It's not a lie, but he was hoping to work around to the topic in a more organic manner.

Aisling tips her head, brows going up, "Lad, you forget that I've known you since you were seventeen. You do a fantastic job of having a poker face most of the time and with most people, but some of that has to do with those people having an issue reading beansidhe eyes. An issue I don't have." Then she grins her merry little smile, "The other thing is that you never come for breakfast mid-week. It's always Saturday or Sunday -- and you brought my favorite pastries and flowers. If you were a suitor, you'd be angling to get into my bed, but you're no longer a bedmate of mine, so I assume you need something from me other than idle gossip."

Shane sets his teacup down and rubs his face with both hands, "I need to remember I can just be blunt with you. You did, after all, grow up with me Da." He lays his hands on the table and looks across at Aisling, "You, me mum, and me Da all hammered a few things into my head about being a considerate lover and partner. No pressure, enthusiastic yes, clear communication... mutual enjoyment."

As Shane goes on about this, Aisling's brows are rising further. She's quite aware just how slowly Shane and Cinnamon have been going as their relationship has bloomed. "Yes, not that you needed it hammered very hard. You're giving and sweet and Janet raised you properly. I think I also tried to instill the 'ladies first' mentality because -- as much as I adore every one of the men I've had as regular bedmates -- every one of them has had at least a few times where they nigh on collapsed after they were spent. But I suppose that's just a part of the mutual enjoyment." She considers for a moment, "Though I will admit there have been situations in which I eschewed that meself, because the whole point was to do something nice for my lover -- either as a treat, or because he needed something to take his mind off something troubling or stressful."

Shane nods, "Mmm. Yes. Even the most considerate man sometimes has that post-orgasm coma." He smiles wryly.

"Shane, will you just get on with it?" Aisling laughs softly, "I know this has something to do with Cinnamon... and you know I won't spill a word of it."

He can hear the truth in her promise to keep it to herself, so he nods, "So, things are progressing between my acushla and me." He actually flushes slightly, "And I am fairly certain I qualify for sainthood for being so fu... uuully patient on it."

Aisling laughs, "Well, you may be nearly thirty in human years, lad, but since you're half-beansidhe, you've still got the hormones of a teenager -- so I suppose you are owed some credit, yes. I know you were celibate while you were wooing her. Go on..."

Shane smiles wryly, muttering, "Not that my hand didn't get a workout." He shakes his head, then admits, "Things... took a bit of a leap forward last night."

"Oh! Good for you! Good for her!" Aisling beams, "I hope you were as good to her as I know you've been with others."

Shane winces, "That's the issue." He smirks at himself, "Given my way about it, I would be amazing to her. But she's... let's just say her parents continue to leave me less than impressed. The lack of knowledge is massive." He rubs his face again, "Long story short, what started out as snogging progressed to a lesson on the mechanics of sex, debunking some really egregious misinformation, a lesson on male anatomy, and...." He makes a rolling motion with his hand. Aisling refuses to let him off the hook, simply smiling until he groans, "She got to explore. I got to have someone other than myself give me pleasure... and then she was skittish about me returning the favor. As in, she wasn't ready for me to."

Aisling's brows go up again, and she laughs, "Oh my. So you, my sweet and chivalrous lad, got your rocks off and you're feeling guilty?" She grins at Shane's eye roll when she uses the modern, slightly crass slang.

Shane winces, flushing again and nodding, hanging his head a little and muttering, "I'm feeling selfish as hell, Ash."

"Mmm... and... was she upset?" Aisling asks.

Shane thinks, "No... she seemed... excited? Like she was thrilled she got brave, got information, and got to do something for me..."

Aisling nods again, "Ah. Well then! So, let me put this in perspective for you. Your lover -- and she is your lover now -- is shy, naive, ignorant -- and I mean that simply in the way that she does not have the information -- and anxious. The two of you were having a very lovely time, and through some sort of convoluted process, she ended up doing something that ended in an orgasm for you, smiles for her, and clearing up some misconceptions. You also pushed past a line, and took a step forward in your relationship."

Shane nods slowly... and Aisling smiles at him, "And if it had been the reverse? If it had been you giving her pleasure and not taking any for yourself, simply because it makes you happy to make her happy? Would you want her to feel guilty about it?"

Shane looks indignant, "Of course not!" Aisling continues to smile serenely as Shane works that through in his head... then sighs, "Ah. Okay."

She nods and smiles again, "So your next step is to get her as comfortable with you touching her as she may be with touching you. Be her lover, be her teacher, and start it out without touching anything overtly sexual. You know how to touch a woman to make her shiver, Shane. I know you do. So, do those things. Get her tingling and whimpering, and ask every step of the way if it's okay. You know all this. You've just let your guilt get in the way. It's really okay to let other people do good things for you, my dear."

Shane smiles a bit and chuckles, "Okay. Okay. Thank you."

Aisling laughs, "You're welcome. Just consider this advice to be continuing education from the lessons that began in that bathtub in our trod."

Shane laughs and shakes his head, "Thank you, Ash. But I think we're going to stay hands-off in your tutorials now."

Aisling's eyes are tender, "Of course, Shane. I don't quite understand why people are monogamous, but I respect it. And the two of you? I think you're fated to be. I just want that dear woman to understand how wonderful she is."

Hilde too turns up for the celebratory breakfast to welcome the new House Elgan members, so it's a large and cheerful party for Navin and Tre! Cinnamon sent out discreet messages ahead of time, so there are gifts for the two as well -- all helpful and useful things they can use in their new home. Cinnamon and Shane have made, between them, a little basket holding salt, fresh-baked bread, and a small crock of fresh-churned butter from Uta's, along with a small mirror and a lovely little Brigid's cross, recently woven from new rushes. Hilde has new-made troll crosses for the windows and skylight, while Josie and Spice brought some sweet-smelling twists of sage and tobacco, and a very large bunch of fresh mistletoe. Finally, Thorn has a pot of useful herbs, all growing healthily -- for both cooking and protection!

Over a delicious and filling breakfast, the two former Lost Boys are given all their welcoming charms and gifts, and everyone cheerfully explains how to use all the various types of protection charms to make a cozy, safe home. Both Navin and Tre are deeply touched by their 'welcome to the family' presents!

As the breakfast is happening, there's a light 'rat-a-tat' knock at the door. Cinnamon blinks, wondering who that is, then grins at her celebrating friends as she sets down her plate, "Be right back!" Pattering over to the door, she calls, "Who is it, please?"

The voice from the other side is familiar, "Baird, lass. Keiko's down the way at Himeko's."

Cinnamon brightens as she opens the door, "Bairdy! Come on in! Want some breakfast? We're celebrating two new members of my House -- Elgan!" Waving a hand in folks' general directions, she introduces Tre and Navin, then smilingly adds, "This is Baird -- he's kinda like Veles used to be! Except he does, umm... ah, he and his teams are exfiltration specialists!" She grins at Baird, "Did I get that right? Also, any news on the Arab trip yet? Oh! Also, did you recognize any of those names I sent you?"

Baird chuckles and shakes the two new folks' hands, giving them a nod. Neither one seems to blink at the scarred face as he adds, "Of the racist, xenophobic arseholes? Oh, aye -- I did. At least I recognized the tech brother's name. Though he possibly doesn't realize I know his actual name. And I do have news on that trip. I'll get it to you."

Cinnamon brightens, "Oh, excellent! Er... what trip are you referring to, though, please?"

Baird smiles, "The Middle East trip. The one you just asked about." He arches a brow as he studies Tre, "I don't think I have any idea what you are, lad. But aren't you a biggun?"

Cinnamon nods, "Sounds good, and thanks, Baird." She grins sheepishly, "Sorry! Just have a lot on my mind right now with the Nusantara trip too -- so I wasn't sure which you meant." Tilting her head, she curiously adds, "What's a biggun? Is that like an ipotane?"

Shane grins and murmurs, "He's saying 'big one,' acushla."

"Oh!" Cinnamon looks embarrassed, "Sorry! I misunderstood."

Tre rubs the back of his head, "Well, I am part horse, so I guess that's to be expected." He tips his head at Baird, "Are you some sort of sidhe?"

Baird laughs, "No! No, I'm just your common or garden human who stumbled on this lot when I was double-crossed."

Cinnamon grins, "We helped him out after we stumbled over him and his guys!" She hastily adds, "Not, er... we didn't literally trip on them or anything -- that might've hurt them!"

Tre grins, "Didn't think you meant you literally fell over them, though that has happened before."

Baird looks around the room, asking, "Is there anyone here that shouldn't hear this?"

Cinnamon glances around thoughtfully... then smiles, "Hey, everyone? Could you promise please not to talk about what Baird says to anyone but us, him, and Keiko?" She adds in a quiet aside to the new Elgan members, "Remember promises are more binding here, of course."

No one in the room even hesitates to make that promise, so Baird nods and pulls some printouts from his ever-present messenger bag. Those that know him know the innocuous-looking bag is likely to hold several weapons, just as Baird himself likely has a few on his person. "Right, so this bloke is... well, his hacker handle is 'Redfire Dog.' But it's a bastardization of..."

Hilde's eyes narrow, since Baird said the words with a slightly Nordic accent. She asks, "Rettferdig dod? This... person called himself...?"

Baird nods, face expressionless, "Righteous Death."

Cinnamon goes into the kitchen and brings Baird a plate of breakfast and some hot tea. She sighs and shakes her head once as she settles down next to Shane and studies the paperwork laid out on the low table, her voice going a little flatter than usual -- the way it does when she's going into numbers mode, "Okay, so he has Scandinavian connections... Hilde, have you heard anything about any supernaturals going missing or dying unexpectedly? Spicy, have you heard of this Redfire Dog person?"

Spice blinks slowly, "So this Russel fucker's brother is Redfire Dog?" She snorts in disgust, "No big shocker there."

Hilde shakes her head, "No. The only Nordic connection is that some idiot humans believe the Nordic peoples are racist and hold that blonde, blue-eyed people are the master race." She wrinkles her nose as if she's smelled something horrible.

Spice nods, still sneering, "Redfire Dog has done shit like hack the website of the NAACP, and launch hate and cyber-stalking campaigns against POC public figures. There's a rumour this shithead helped organize a bombing and shooting at a synagogue in St. Louis. They planted a firebomb... and then when people ran out, several were shot by snipers." Thorn rubs his eyes. Putting this guy's brother in Caradog's dungeon is starting to sound like it was far too lenient. He has to take a slow breath; scum like this are still people even if they don't show that to others. Besides... there's a cloying soul-rotting when one starts to kill, even if they're doing it for all the 'right' reasons.

Cinnamon nods slowly, "Okay... so first step is to use Russel's information to bring in the other two brothers, and stuff all of them into Caradog's dungeon. Once that's done, we can get the information about their financials, and empty that... oh. Baird, do you know if they have any family? Anyone that'd be harmed by their disappearance?"

Baird shakes his head, "It's just them as far as I've been able to dig up." He snorts in disgust, "They tried to hire on at a couple of agencies, but none of them passed the psych eval. It's not that bigots don't make it into the agencies -- it's that when you're a zealot like these three? You can't hide the crazy long enough to sneak in."

Cinnamon nods, "Excellent; no dependents is good. Okay... how long have they been around, please? Spicy, would you be interested in helping me divest these guys of all their investments... and also tracking down their backers and doing the same to them?"

Spice snorts, "Interested? I'd be fuckin' eager." She crosses her arms and glowers.

Thorn hrms, "Well, they bragged about having funding. Is it possible they're not actually part of some network?"

Cinnamon nods once to Thorn, "I'm really hoping and praying for the supernaturals' sake that this is really just one or two disgruntled ranchers near Sparrow's rez. That, we can handle. A worldwide conspiracy?" She sighs, "Not so much."

Baird points out, "It's possible someone is funding them -- but it's not agencies like the one I contract through. You really may want to follow the money once you bring the Dog in." He looks around, "Do you need help?"

Cinnamon smiles at Baird, "I think we can bring them in okay, since Russel spilled all the info on how to get them to respond. Actually capturing them, though? Yeah, unless you experts tell me otherwise, I figure the more the merrier to grab them. What do you think?" Thorn's initial thought on Baird's question is 'yes.' He would very much like a professional around -- one who has proven able to control themselves and be pragmatic... at least in part because Thorn feels his hold on the Hippocratic Oath fraying a little after hearing about these... people. He nods at Cinnamon's question.

Baird rubs his chin, "I'm a known figure in some circles. If you have a way to call them in and sort of make it seem like the call is a job offer from me, it might help... or at least allow me and my guys to be the contact point. You all know exfil skills can work backward."

Shane leans in to murmur to Tre, "By which he means that he's just as good at kidnapping as he is as freeing kidnap victims."

Baird grins at Shane, "I heard that, lad!"

Cinnamon grins in spite of herself, but nods to Baird, "We'll get them into a grabbable spot if you're willing to help us figure that out." Her grin to Spice is a bit colder as she adds, "Then, once we've got 'em... we'll take all their money! I'd like to use it to help any families of the folks they've already killed, okay?"

Thorn nods; that sounds reasonable to him. Spice too nods, "Of course. We'll Robin Hood the absolute balls out of these fuckers!"

Baird nods, "A few of the lads would be happy to work this op gratis. There's some of them would love to see Redfire Dog permanently defanged." Several of the supernaturals present have encountered various members of Baird's normal crews, and know that quite a few of them are POC.

Cinnamon also knows from Shane and Thorn -- but doesn't repeat -- that twelve innocents died due to these jerks, too. She looks pleased at the responses, "Awesome! Okay, we can send a message to Sparrow once he's back. Hmm... though actually..." She grins mischievously at Baird, "Let's get together again, umm... day after tomorrow? Before the week ends -- and we can plan a way to get these guys before we have to take off for Nusantara. Sound good?" She beams, hugging Baird as she adds, "Thanks so much for helping too, Bairdy!"

Baird just shakes his head at the nickname -- only Cinnamon could get away with it! He hugs her back, "Oh, I'm quite certain we'll have good luck with it." He winks at her and bids everyone goodbye before he leaves.

Cinnamon beams and thanks him again as she sees him out, and hopes he enjoyed breakfast, and have a good day! Then she almost skips back to everyone else, "Well, that's awesome news! It'll be great to have such bad people off the streets, too!"

Hilde snorts, "Assholes." She's scowling, with her arms folded across her chest, "The d�kk�lfar would just loooove to get their hands these guys."

Cinnamon smiles quietly, "We'll get them. Promise." After a quick cleanup of breakfast, the entire group heads off to Currier's Hall -- and by now they're in a noisy, boisterous, cheerfully celebratory mood!

As the cheerful group walk along Coblyn, Tre quietly asks Thorn, "Why is Baird so sure you guys will have such good luck? And, uhm..." He rubs the back of his neck, and asks even more quietly -- as if he thinks it's rude, "How'd he get the scars?"

Thorn smiles to Tre, "Luck has a way of sticking to Baird, such that it's kind of a permanent fixture on him." That's all he really feels comfortable with saying, without giving away too much of Baird's personal life. "It's a really great story, though -- you should ask him sometime!" Speaking of... "As for the scars, he used to be in a street punk gang in Glasgow, and he pissed off the wrong people. Fortunately the police stumbled over them before his attacker could finish the job. It's called a 'Glasgow grin,' or 'Glasgow smile.'"

Tre winces and rubs one of his cheeks, "They look painful as heck. Kinda like the Joker, y'know? But he doesn't seem creepy."

Navin hmms, "Nah. Not creepy. Jes'... dangerous to the wrong people."

Cinnamon nods to Navin with a smile, "Exactly! Sometimes he asks Thorny and Shaney and I to come along on some of his missions, too!"

Shane chuckles, "I think he's discovered it's good to have something other than human up your sleeve on some of these."

Cinnamon nodnods cheerfully! "Plus we get to help good people, which always makes me happy. He and Keiko, his sweetie, have offered to help us in Nusantara too!"

A little bit later, Cinnamon excitedly greets Llewellyn, "Hi, Llew! We've got two new members for House Elgan, please!"

The leprechaun looks over his glasses at Tre and Navin and squints, "Registering with a house already? Lucky lads." He takes down a ledger and flips to the correct page for Navin and Tre's registration.

Cinnamon beams at Llewellyn's words -- that's so nice of him to say! She happily adds, "Plus could I please have any letters for Liam that arrived after I started?"

Llew nods, "Of course. But first, let's get these lads registered." He goes through the process of editing Tre and Navin's registrations to add their house name and, if they wish, modifying their sigils to include the Elgan symbol. Afterward, Llew goes through a handful of files, then hands over three letters to Cinnamon. Cinnamon beams as she hugs both Navin and Tre, congratulating them and welcoming them warmly to the House! After that she steps back so Spice can do the same... and smilingly thanks Llew for the letters. Once the official recognition of the new House Elgan members is completed, and Llewellyn congratulates them -- even as he's grumblingly shooing everyone out of his office -- some of the folks present have to head off on various errands. Those that remain head downstairs to where the experimentation with Marcus has been occurring.

Hilde and Cinnamon are present because they organized this little event, while Marcus is naturally there since it's experimentation done for and with him. Thorn too comes along to Currier's Hall, interested in the experiments Marcus has been going through. He wants to be on hand in case there's some problem, of course, but he's also just plain curious. Shane also comes along -- he's still quite curious about this evolution in Marcus! -and he wants to see just what's happening.

Currier's Hall is the best place for the experiment due to having rooms of differing sizes which can be rented... and in which a pile of different items -- including a large piece of steel -- can be safely kept overnight, behind a locked door. Marcus is waiting there, so Cinnamon hands him the little basket she brought for him -- it holds a small crock of honey and some fresh bread, all wrapped in a clean cloth. She misses his rather pleased expression, though, as he checks what's there -- because she's already pattered into the room after the others. They're all chattering enthusiastically together about how to organize today's testing.

Cinnamon sets up her laptop on the sturdy wooden table in the room, then looks up at everyone else, "So from what I'm understanding, Hilde and Marcus, you tried a bunch of different things. So... maybe we should take a moment to analyze what precisely Marcus needs first... is that okay? Like..." she types things down as she mentions them, "umm... he'll need a box with a clear 'up' and 'down,' that closes entirely, but is large enough that he can rest comfortably in it. It also needs to be something I can carry in a pinch, while flying as a dragon -- or else it has to be something that can be shipped in an airplane's hold, so... collapsible, maybe? Anything else you all can think of?"

Thorn makes his own notes as well, in his notebook. He wonders how many notebooks he'll eventually go through. Oh, well! So long as he keeps the codes and ciphers straight, he'll write all day long. Especially for this; if there's a way to make use of this, he'll try to find a way.

Hilde sits on the table across from Cinnamon, smiling, "We found some interesting things." She nods toward the items laying around the room, "Lead helps, but it's way too heavy to make a big box out of -- even a thin layer weighs like crazy! Gold might do the same, but we didn't have enough to test. Aluminium," she uses the British pronunciation, "formed a pretty good barrier, but only for a short length of time, so eh... wood, though -- specifically elm -- he was able to lean against the iron with the elm between it and him for an hour before he started getting iron sick. Elm with aluminium together? Three hours. We didn't get around to finding some aircraft-grade titanium yet."

"Oooh, cool! Okay, noting that down too..." Cinnamon types swiftly for a few seconds, then looks up. "Hmm... I don't want to be rude, Marcus, but... it's a twenty plus hour flight from San Francisco to Indonesia. Soooo... we might want to have some sort of sealable toilet for you too?"

Shane's small grin is wry, "If he's never flown in a plane, he might want something for in case he throws up, too?"

Cinnamon blinks at Shane... then glances at Marcus, her voice unhappy, "Ohmygosh, Marcus, are you absolutely sure you want to do this, dude?!"

Marcus is leaning against the wall by the door, nibbling the bread and honey as he replies, "Even if I end up not going, this could be useful for others. For instance, would rowan wood work for those of Rowantrod? And I think an air gap between the box and any iron would lengthen the time before iron sickness set in. As for... restroom and possible motion sickness, I'm quite certain that could be arranged. It sounds as if it might be quite uncomfortable, but... I believe it to be important that I expand my view on global council business."

Cinnamon sighs worriedly, but just nods once and continues typing and speaking her thoughts, "Okay, then... that too. Let's see... no steel or iron bindings -- probably brass only... a place for food, for -- er... excretion, and possibly for illness. Air circulation -- oh! A light! Comfy bedding so he can sleep if he wants... a means of opening the box from both inside and outside, so Marcus doesn't ever feel trapped or claustrophobic." She looks up then, considering... then nods and continues, "Bonus nice things would be a means of communication with folks outside... and something like a shelf or bag for books or whatever Marcus wants as entertainment during the flight... hmm, perhaps a fan so he's not overheated?"

Glancing at Marcus in his nice suit, she smiles a bit wryly, "Also? You might want to try some different clothing during the flight, dude. Like... I've heard silk has really nice insulating properties, so maybe a layer of that first, followed by... maybe thick, sturdy cotton or wool? Also, might wanna wear some leather over that... oh, and don't forget your hands and head need to be protected as well by your clothes, okay?"

Marcus looks down at himself, smiling, "This would be wholly inappropriate for a long trip like that. Just as I didn't wear this for trekking through the forest, I would not wear it for a trip such as this. But yes, silk and leather would likely help."

Cinnamon nods, "Okay, can you ask for a suit of that to be sent to you here, today, so we can test that too? Especially if we can test both cotton and wool to see what helps you more?" Marcus nods and steps out to send a runner to get clothes of other types and fabrics sent to the hall. A moment later Cinnamon blinks, turning to curiously ask everyone present, "Hey, peeps? Have we thought about different types of wood? Like... if we could find enough planks, would maybe layering different kinds of wood, with the trod wood being the innermost one, be helpful too?"

Hilde grins, "Oh, we tried different sorts of wood -- oak, elm, willow... the other woods didn't seem to cause any difference. But I think a thicker layer of elm would help."

Cinnamon nods interestedly, "Okay! Well, I asked for a few things to be delivered here," she points at the pile in one corner, "so we can try them too." She starts, with Hilde's instruction, by laying the elm wood against the piece of steel leaning against one wall. Marcus stands at the other side of the room, wincing only slightly, and each time Cinnamon lays something else against the layering test on the steel, the Germanic elf is carefully questioned for reactions -- which are noted down in Cinnamon's little spreadsheet. In this manner, layers are slowly added: first the sheet of aluminum, then a large and flat-hammered piece of brass, followed by closed-cell foam, a leather hide, and finally thick packing quilts -- or, as Cinnamon amusedly notes, "This is... sort of the reverse of what we're asking Marcus to wear!"

After some experimentation, the leather, wool, brass, and then elm, combined, seem to work best. If they put a gap of at least a foot between the layered elements and the steel, Marcus says he can barely feel the iron in the steel sheet at all. Cinnamon looks pleased, "Awesome! We can use the closed-cell foam to maintain the spacing, even if it doesn't help otherwise. Though... hmm. Marcus, will you be comfortable in a very close little space? Are you at all claustrophobic?" She does a bit of math in her head, adding, "This box will need to be longer than... twelve feet, after all! Good bet you won't be able to do more than sit up in it too, I'm afraid... since it will also need to be, umm... greater than ten feet wide."

Marcus shakes his head, "I'm not really claustrophobic that I know of. I've been in some quite tight spaces, and confined fairly closely." His eyes twinkle for a moment and Hilde grins. Neither of them is going to bring up the Germanic elf's predilection for rope, here!

Cinnamon adds in explanation, "It's the foot between each layer that really adds to the size." She gives Marcus a wry smile -- she's not entirely sure why he's so determined to effectively torture himself in order to come along to Nusantara with them -- but simply says, "Well, if you know folks who can get it made for you in time, then I'm happy to try to fly it to San Francisco. We've got about a week until departure. Does that work for you?"

Thorn frowns, "This is a pretty considerable-sized box."

Cinnamon nods wryly to Thorn! But then she blinks a moment later, "Wait... I think I got that wrong. It's an outer box of elm, then a foot of space... then a tight sandwich of brass-wool-leather... and then the interior, where Marcus would be, right?" She considers for a moment, then muses, "Well, I'd still make the box real large, so you have a bit of space to stretch if you need to. What do you think, peeps?"

Hilde hmms, "I think maybe an inch each of wool, leather, brass, and elm -- then put perhaps six inches of the foam and six inches of the aluminium. That would ensure the foot gap, plus it would provide some shock absorption." Thorn uses some scrap paper to sketch out the box that Marcus would be using. He stares at it; it's pretty darn big. It's going to cost a lot in freight charges... and freight has a way of getting lost by the airlines. He'll bring that up a little later -- but for now, at least in a basic way... this looks distressingly like it could work.

Cinnamon tilts her head in consideration... then slowly nods, "That... well, actually, it's up to Marcus." She glances inquiringly at the Germanic elf, "Want to take a break, guy? It's about lunchtime anyway, and you're looking a bit peaked." She grins at her friends, "Let's all go to my house and have lunch! I've invited Jaeger, Spice, and Josie to join us there too, since I figured they'd be curious about what happened at the rez."

Marcus smiles tiredly; he is looking even paler than normal. The pink that's normally in his lips is nearly the same color as the rest of his face, "I believe that would be quite helpful. I will have some more bread and honey and perhaps move to another room..." He doesn't presume to be invited... but Cinnamon firmly puts the kibosh on that! He's absolutely coming along, so they can keep an eye on him and make sure he's healing. She sends a messenger to ask Tre if he's free -- fortunately, the kind-hearted ipotane is -- to give Marcus a lift to her cottage. She also quietly pays for it!

In the interim, the rest of them head that way as well, meeting both Spice and Josie, as well as Jaeger, on their travel. Cinnamon is very happy to invite everyone to her little cottage for lunch, after a morning spent testing poor Marcus's steel allergy! She also hopes to maybe get a private moment somehow with Jaeger, to ask him a) does Marcus know his father is incredibly charming? and b) would Jager (and Marcus, if he's in the know) like to come visit the prisoner and get more information from that jerkface?

Once inside her cottage, Cinnamon is a cheery little whirlwind of organization in her small kitchen! She chatters happily as she's preparing food and organizing those who're willing to help. Marcus, however, is told to get comfortable on the futon sofa, and a tall glass of cool water is placed by his elbow on the small side table -- along with a fresh plate of bread and a small jar of honey.

As Marcus settles, he has a moment to unobservedly regard Cinnamon's little home. This is only the second time he's been inside, after all, so he's curious as to what, if anything, has changed since Halloween... and from the body language he can see, it would appear everyone else present (including his father!) is already quite familiar with the little cottage...? The first new thing Marcus notices is something which absolutely holds pride of place in the front room, prominently displayed over the futon itself: a gloriously beautiful kimono! It is carefully and properly hung behind a protective, clear pane, and is of a shimmeringly deep blue silk, with a sinuous scarlet dragon winding around it so the open-mouthed, golden-frilled head is centered on the back, between the shoulders.

The rest of the house looks much as Marcus remembers... though he hadn't been looking around that much, last time, since he hadn't expected to be, umm... well, let's be honest: he hadn't planned to be an arschloch to Cinnamon, at that time, and end up getting banished from her home and presence. Glancing around, he sees the small upper floor, still blocked by the pretty Japanese folding screens... and this time the kitchen looks smaller than he remembers, due to the number of people cheerfully bustling about in it... but it's already starting to produce wonderful smells!

The futon Marcus sits upon is the same thick and comfy one he remembers, with a simple, attractive printed cover and a plethora of bright, cheerful pillows on it. The low, round, beautiful marquetry table still sits before it, and is still surrounded by the comfy, jewel-toned ottomans and beanbag chairs. He's a bit surprised to see there are more new decorations on the walls now, though -- each remarkable in their own way. He's still quietly impressed Cinnamon has one of the extremely rare maps of Coblyn Street... but it's the three new framed pictures that grab his attention, right after his admiration of the gorgeous kimono.

On the far wall before him are three different framed pieces, arranged to show they share a thematic link. The first is a talented charcoal sketch of something Marcus does not know is a zmei: a long and coiling, winged entity with six legs along its length. The scales are iridescent white, while the somewhat blocky head has tendrils around the mouth, and feathers around the ankles and at the very tip of the tail. It is signed 'Taliesin.' The next piece is a very nice colored pencil drawing of a bipedal entity in shades of red, wearing an indigenously decorated leather housewrap. The head is a shaggy pony's, with a fluffy cat's tail, clawed humanoid hands, and eagle legs and feet... and the artist's signature reads: Ukaleq. The final picture is the largest, and is actually a photo -- a beautiful, colorful shot of Cinnamon, all lit up with joy as she gleefully dances in the elaborate, gorgeous decorations of the Lunar New Year dragon!

Marcus smiles quietly at the artwork. The first looks almost like an Asian dragon, but its head is perhaps a bit blocky. The tendrils, however, are quite similar. The bipedal drawing is, he thinks, from their trip to Iceland. The last, however, makes him smile widely enough for his dimples to pop -- it's rare there's a genuine smile on his face that makes them show completely. He turns as he finishes perusing them, moving in the direction he remembers Cinnamon's little lavatory being. He hasn't been inside it, but that's where Shane disappeared to when he excused himself on Halloween.

Back in the kitchen, it's no surprise to Shane, of course -- it probably amuses him, in fact -- but some of the others might be a bit startled to realize Cinnamon can easily handle about three or four threads of conversation/thought all at once! The little dragon rapidly makes sure everyone has their drink of choice to hand, and seats Jaeger (as the respected elder) across the counter from where she's working... then lets Spice, Josie, Hilde, Thorn, and Shane decide for themselves if they'd rather sit and rest, or help with the food prep.

Consequently, a few minutes later, Cinnamon is swiftly slicing a long French baguette for others to use in food prep, while cheerfully chattering in a sort of stream of consciousness, "-it's for everyone, so just arrange it however you'd like on the plate and set it out, okay? Thanks, Spicy! What? Oh! Yeah, that's right, Hilde -- and then, after the goat cheese spread thick on each baguette, spoon on the caramelized onions and roasted red peppers, then sprinkle the herbs over -- yeah! Perfect! So, Jaeger, we were on the butte and Sparrow said Marcus!" Cinnamon gives Marcus a severe glare, wagging the bread knife much like a mom would wag a remonstrating finger, "What did I tell you about just resting?!"

Marcus freezes in place. His poker face is absolutely magnificent, only a small twinkling of his eyes showing through -- not even a hint of a laugh in his voice or a smirk on his lips as he murmurs, "...restroom?" He is, after all, somewhat aware that mentioning bodily functions to Cinnamon will be enough to turn her at least a bit pink, so he's going to be as circumspect as possible.

Cinnamon does in fact turn quite pink! She hastily tries to look nonchalant as she waves the knife towards the back hallway, "Uhh, down that hall, last door on the right!" Focusing determinedly on the half-sliced loaf, she continues her swift, sure cuts as she continues, her voice trailing out of hearing as Marcus heads down the hallway, "Uhm, where was- ah! So Sparrow said he'd like me to use my odd vision to check all...."

Marcus waits until he's got his back to the kitchen before he lets the smile out. It's not the full-beaming smile he had at the artwork... but he thinks the blush was quite cute! Once in the bathroom, he takes a moment to look around -- and even though he's still a bit ironsick, his smile widens. The little dragon has obviously taken some pains to make the place pretty; it's rather girly. In fact, it's almost girl-ish... as if she didn't have this level of sparkle and fun in her life as an actual girl and is making up for it now. The sparkly, glittery little blue, green, and purple glass pebbles glued to the wall to form a sinuous wavelike pattern... the happy mermaid and porpoises on the clear shower curtain... the thick, fluffy aquamarine bath mat... somehow, it's all just quintessentially Cinnamon.

When he's finished the business for which he needed the restroom in the first place, Marcus moves to wash his hands. As he's doing so, his attention is caught by little notes tucked around the frame of the big oval mirror with the seashell-bedecked frame. He leans in close to read them -- they're all things like: "You are smart!" "People like and trust you!" "You have wonderful friends!" "You're good at your job!" and other such sentiments. It takes Marcus a moment to realize something, though: all those little self-affirmations... and none of them about her lovely eyes, her beatific smile, or her gorgeous auburn hair. Or, for that matter, her lovely breasts! -- though that might be a step too far for such a shy young woman. With a slightly mischievous smile to himself, Marcus takes his pen out of his inner pocket and plucks the "You are smart!" note from its place. Turning it over, he writes in his lovely, calligraphic script: "You have a smile that lights up a room!" -- then tucks it right back in its place. After that he exits the room and goes back to the futon to continue resting.

Back in the front room, Cinnamon (with occasional help from Shane and Thorn) relates the story of the capture of the supernatural hunter... then sighs and adds, "So now he's in Caradog's dungeon, and we asked that they'd be sure to have Brynn go see the dummy, if he's willing." She makes a small face, then adds, "Sorry... that was probably rude of me. Anyways, let's all sit down and eat and enjoy lunch, at least! I've been wondering, Jaeger -- do you know of any attempts, aside from the one today, where elves tried to figure out more about the steel allergy?"

Spice snorts, "Dummy is fuckin' mild. I'd call him a lot worse names."

Shane murmurs, "Sparrow called him a cockmunch. I thought Cinnamon was going to turn scarlet all over." Cinnamon does indeed turn bright red -- and very carefully doesn't look at Shane, after his comment! The only reason she doesn't squeak is because her mouth is full.

Josie scowls, "We should try to find out the species, and where these people took out the shifters, so we can let their people know. They deserve to have their spirits honored properly."

Cinnamon hastily swallows, nodding emphatically to Josie, "I thought so too! Oh, good -- I'm glad you think that as well." She looks a little guilty as she adds, "I... I know it's not nice of me, but I was kind of hoping Russel meant everyone he's ever caused the death of, when he said twelve... and not just supernaturals, you know?" It is only her own relative innocence which keeps her from realizing she herself may have quite the body count by now as well.

Shane sighs and leans back, "I think the twelve is just supernaturals. I'm a little sick to my stomach wondering if there are more humans or if twelve is a total."

Cinnamon gives Shane a very unhappy glance... then hastily turns to Jaeger, "So! Uhh... s-so, I was wondering if -- if y-you were interested in talking to him at all... oh, and Baird offered to help capture the other two brothers, since we know how to draw them in, though it might work best on Russel's phone, I'm thinking, though..." Her voice trails off as she considers -- then asks, "Shaney? We brought his backpack back with us, I know, but... I don't remember us handing it off to Diarmaid and Lorcan -- oh, my!" She glances around alertly, "Did it get left in the pile of stuff from last night?"

Marcus frowns, rubbing his chin, "Was he concentrating on the shapeshifters or on all supernaturals?"

Cinnamon blinks at Marcus, distracted, "Umm... I think he was concentrating on shapeshifters at the rez, since they found several regular animals that'd been murdered too?" She hops up and patters over to where her duffel and Shane's baggage still sit by the door -- it's been busy enough, since they got back late last night, that their stuff has yet to be unpacked.

Shane nods, "We brought the phone with us. Thought it might be important -- and because it would be better to call his brothers in with it. It's in the front pocket on my knapsack, acushla!"

Jaeger nods, "I'd be happy to speak with him. I'm sure Marcus would be willing as well."

Marcus nods gravely, "Of course."

Cinnamon nods to Shane, heading to his backpack to retrieve the phone... then blinks and glances over her shoulder at Jaeger, "Oh, yay! Thanks, Jaeger and Marcus!" She wonders to herself if this means Marcus knows his father's knack... or his father is just making sure no one suspects anything. For now, though, she checks for the prisoner's backpack, that she saw retrieved from his tent. Then again, Baird took a lot of the guy's stuff with him to be able to set up the things he'll need... but he did leave the phone.

Jaeger nods and leans back, looking thoughtful as he sips his tea. Seconds later, Cinnamon comes pattering back to the low table with the cell phone in hand. She curls up next to Shane again, and has another bite of food before she studies the phone... then turns it on to see if it's password-protected or not. Shane wraps an arm around Cinnamon and tips his head to look at the phone, murmuring, "We got it unlocked."

Indeed, when the little dragon swipes up, the phone opens to the homescreen. "Oh, awesome!" Cinnamon beams almost goofily up at Shane -- eeeeee he's hugging her in public this is so awesome eeee- wait, wait, focus! She blushes, hastily looking back at the phone, "What, uhhh... right! Right, let's see... what he has on his phone, and if there's any voicemails or googledocs or whatever!" There are no voicemails, and most of the text messages are in some sort of cipher. There's no browser history. There are document files of some sort in the cloud application, but -- once again -- they're encoded. Cinnamon brightens, grinning excitedly at Spice, "Oooh, it's encoded! Wanna see if we can download and break it?"

Spice holds out her hand, "Lemme see. I'll either have to clone the phone onto a computer, or download something directly to it. Just glad it's not a fuckin' iPhone. Androids are so much easier to fuck with."

Cinnamon laughs as she hands over the cell, "Have a blast, Spicy!"

Spice takes the phone and curls up against Josie's side as she starts poking around on it, snorting and muttering as she goes through the data. Occasionally she sighs, "Jesus... these guys are super fuckin' paranoid. I mean... not as paranoid as me, but pretty damn paranoid..."

People watch as they eat... but then Cinnamon curiously asks again, "So Jaeger -- do you know of any experimentation about the steel allergy?"

Jaeger mmms, "We have tried. I mean, every species has made some attempts, but I don't think any of us has ever wanted to be close enough to truly test long-term. Being ironsick is a truly miserable thing."

Cinnamon nods thoughtfully, "So... is what we did today relatively new data? Or has it been done before?" She really hopes it's new... because she'd like to hope Jaeger would keep Marcus from suffering unnecessarily.

Jaeger nods, "It's new data. The information about elm wood being more effective than other woods is interesting. Did you do any tests with other trods and their woods? I know testing rowan with Shane would be ineffective."

Cinnamon nods thoughtfully at that, flicking through what elves she knows who... "Oh! We could ask Lorcan, maybe -- he's oak, right? But yeah, that was a question I wondered about too. It'll be cool to find out. Marcus, are you okay with us sharing all this data we've gathered?"

Marcus nods, "Of course I'm sure -- and yes, Lorcan is Oak... and Aisling is Rowan." He tips his head back thoughtfully, then looks at his father, "Is Bri visiting town? Isn't she Willow?"

"Ooh, Aisling!" Cinnamon grins hopefully at Shane, "Do you think she'd be willing to try, if we can find some rowan planks, asthore?"

Shane grins and nods without even having to think about it, "And have something to tell Quinn that me Da doesn't already know?" He snorts a laugh, "She'll love it."

Cinnamon laughs at that, hugging Shane, "Yay! Okay, we'll ask her too then -- Hilde, didn't you say you and Marcus started yesterday with a variety of woods? We can use those to test, right?"

Hilde nods, grinning, "We did. Oak was actually easiest to get, and pine. They worked a little, but I think it was just because they added a layer of distance. Elm was a distinctly better shield."

Cinnamon nods thoughtfully, "Rowan's a tree of protection too, if I remember my readings correctly... okay! This'll be fun to try!" Then she grins wryly as she adds, "We'll have to slot that in with everything else we're trying to cram in before Nusantara... but hey, at least we get to do fun and useful things, right?"

Jaeger curiously asks, "Why before? If you are not needing to take a person of a specific trod, you can continue the testing after you return, yes?"

Cinnamon thinks about that... then grins at Jaeger, "Good point!"

Marcus takes a deep breath, "I may need to stay back as well... but it would be useful for another trip." He doesn't seem quite convinced.

Shane actually winces and looks at Marcus oddly... then takes a deep breath, "I think we can get the box done by then. It could be... I mean, you're a trained diplomat. Don't count yourself out due to thinking you aren't wanted."

Marcus blinks at Shane in astonishment; Cinnamon blinks confusedly between Marcus and Shane. She's... pretty sure she missed something there, though she's honestly not sure what! She blinks again as it registers: Shane wincing means a lie -- so that means... huh! Does it mean Marcus actually really wants to come along to Nusantara? After a moment, Marcus nods, "In that case, yes, I would very much like to come along. If nothing else, it would be an excellent test-case of the box. It could revolutionize travel for the various sidhe."

Cinnamon thinks about that for a moment... then nods to Marcus, "Tell you what -- let's do lunch tomorrow, since it's Shaney's errand day, and I can tell you more about the trip and what you'll likely need. Hmm..." she glances at Jaeger, "maybe you know -- do elves and sidhe and folks like that need to worry about vaccinations?"

Jaeger shakes his head, "Not normally, no. We have to be very badly injured or extremely iron sick to catch most infections. We are exceptionally hardy species, aside from the things we're deathly susceptible to."

Marcus smiles warmly and nods, "I would very much enjoy that."

Shane's hug around Cinnamon's shoulder tightens for a moment, but then he takes a deep breath and relaxes again. After all, Marcus is changing. Cinnamon grins as she adds to Marcus, "-and then afterwards, maybe you can introduce me to Bob!"

[Previous Log] [Index] [Next Log]

Last modified: 2019-Jun-12 19:53:32

All material on this site is
Copyright © 2019-2024 Reality Fault
unless specifically indicated on each document.
All Rights Reserved.
Administrated by Reality Fault Webmaster