| Logs |
2024 September 24
| Goblin Town |
| Realms |
Retired
| Reality Fault |
General Info
 |
| Realms: Goblin Town Logs |
Fighting Fire With Fire
At the casual dinner in Cinnamon's little cottage, Marcus ends up sitting between Josie and Hilde, with Torben on the other side of Hilde. The elf is feeling a little overwhelmed -- but in a good way -- that he's been invited into Cinnamon's home! These are all people he knows Cinnamon considers to be intimate friends -- except Torben. Marcus knows from the impromptu lunch invite, though, that Torben is very likely trying to court Hilde, so this is possibly part of that. After all, in the two ljósálfar holding's culture, impressing the intended's family is important. When Torben turns to speak with Shane about what it was like to train with some of the best fighters in the British Isles, Marcus leans in to murmur to Hilde in German -- which he knows she understands, but doesn't know if Torben does, "You make a good pair. You should accept his suit. You deserve someone that is smitten with you, and the way he glances at you, he most definitely is."
He gives her a playful grin, and Hilde rolls her eyes, giving Marcus a shove with her shoulder and hiss-whispering back, "Quit teasing me! We're friends! He's just getting to know my other friends!"
Marcus' impishness kicks in and he replies -- this time in English, "Is that so..." He leans across Hilde and -- taking advantage of Shane the Truthseer being right there -- asks, "Torben, can you settle an argument Hilde and I are having?"
Torben arches a brow, "Of course. If I can. What is the question?"
Hilde looks like she's trying to murder Marcus with her mind! Cinnamon giggles as she overhears Marcus, then grins as she leans to whisper in German to Hilde, while setting a plate down by the Nordic elf, "He is watching you more than anyone else, you know!"
The murderous glare doesn't even make Marcus pause, as he asks, "Are you or are you not trying to court Hilde?"
Hilde starts to open her mouth, looking rather like she'd like to slap Marcus -- and Torben blinks, looking slightly confused, "This is an argument?" He looks around the room, "Am I being too subtle? Of course I am trying to court Hilde."
Cinnamon laughs aloud at that! She grins affectionately at her friends, "You peeps are all marvelous, you know that?" To Torben she happily adds, "Your presents were absolutely beautiful, too! I put mine up right away, see?" Indeed, the pretty little Thor's hammer is facing the door so it's the first thing seen on entrance -- just as was explained to Cinnamon!
Torben smiles warmly at Cinnamon, "I saw! I am glad you like it. I forged them specially."
Hilde's mouth remains open, but now in shock, "But... you're... I mean..."
Torben blinks again, looking surprised and a bit confused, "I am what? Besides apparently not being obvious enough?"
Hilde shakes her head and blinks, "I think we... need to maybe discuss this later..."
Torben's brows draw together, "Is my interest unwelcome? If it is, I'll cease, of course."
Hilde blinks again, "Of... of course not, it's just..."
Shane is doing a valiant job of not breaking out into laughter, but Josie and Spice are both giggling madly. Cinnamon grins at Torben, "You are such a sweetie! I'm glad you're courting Hilde -- she deserves someone awesome!" She then smiles at Hilde, adding, "You can talk about it now, if you want, Hildy, but if you want it to be private -- which honestly I know I would! -- then let's eat, okay?" With that, she sits down and does her best to sort of smooth over any awkwardness for her dear friend... by being calm, cheerful, and relaxed during dinner. Internally, of course, she's almost squeeee'ing with excitement for her friend! -- but she also knows she'd be mortified, were she in Hilde's place right now. She adds in a whispered aside to Hilde, a moment later, "I know it helps me, when I'm not sure what to say, to write down some notes for myself. Maybe that'd help you too?" She can't help the shy grin at Shane, after that -- thank goodness, she thinks, for being able to write letters to cover for the stutters!
Hilde stares at Torben for a few minutes... then shakes it off and murmurs, "We'll talk about this in detail later."
Torben smiles a playful and rather warm -- almost heated -- smile, "Oh, we will, indeed." But then he settles, and the pair of them apparently tuck that conversation away. It's likely lucky Hilde is too discombobulated to point out that the posy Marcus brought for Cinnamon means 'Be gentle with me, I am thinking of you with devoted affection.'
Shane -- who isn't a diplomat, but was raised by a woman who was very good at making people comfortable -- asks, "So how did the talk with Aoi go, a ghrá?"
Cinnamon blinks at Shane, finishing her mouthful before she considers, then replies slowly, "It was... um... interesting." She gets a slightly wry expression, then quickly adds to Marcus, "Still gotta go see Bob with you, right?" Her voice is a little dry as she adds, "He's likely, umm... a bit more... up to date than Aoi... on Nusantara?"
Marcus tries not to frown, "How do you..." -- but Spice just outright growls, "The fuck, bosslady? Was Aoi being a bitch about it or something?"
Cinnamon blinks at Spice -- then blushes! She takes a deep breath, thinking quickly... then replies with care, "Well, umm... I would really appreciate it, everyone, if... this didn't go past this room? -- and no, Aoi was as courteously distant as usual, of course... but, well..." She's silent for a moment, then slowly adds, "Imagine... imagine you have an acquaintance, right? Someone who, say, was alive during, and fought in, the Civil War... and was from the South -- and they found out you were about to go help out some, um, black people -- and they very kindly gave you their best advice on, uhh... on how you could best help those people." She looks a bit nervous as she glances around at her friends and adds, "Does that, ummm... make sense?"
Spice rolls her eyes, "And they put it like: 'The best way to help thooose people.'" She snorts; after all, she's part Asian, so she's encountered people who were alive during WWII, when the Japanese were considered less than human by many people. Cinnamon nods ruefully to Spice -- then glances worriedly at her supernatural friends. She's not really sure if they'll get her metaphor at all! Well, Shane likely will... but non-American folks, or Marcus, who never attended public school? She's... uncertain. Heck, Cinnamon's not even sure if Josie attended a public school! Though... she'd probably get a reference to the Indian schools, maybe? Though again -- that seemed to hurt her, to talk about that... the little dragon dithers, waiting for reactions before she tries over-explaining or something similar. It hasn't really registered for her, after all, that her casual description of Aoi as 'courteously distant' is almost bitingly accurate.
Marcus looks perplexed, and Hilde's brows are going up. Shane, however, sighs and nods, "So, outdated and bigoted ideas of how the people in her own territory are? Infantilizing or... well, the term dehumanizing isn't quite right, but you get the gist... is that it?"
Cinnamon looks unhappy, but gives a tight nod, "I... I mean, I'm sure she meant well...?" She sighs with a hint of amusement, "She wasn't watching Himeko, but I could see her out of the corner of my eye, and... poor Himeko actually flinched at some of it! Like she was... a bit embarrassed for Aoi, you know?" She sheepishly adds, "I'm so sorry, Marcus -- I know she's an ally for you, and I don't mean to sound rude! I just... I don't know how else to explain this?"
Marcus' voice is slightly dry, "She was an ally. But it doesn't matter how well you mean if you aren't willing to listen and learn. I'm sorry I was a bit of an arschloch about humans, at one point."
Cinnamon sighs and shakes her head, "It wasn't... um, I mean, Aoi was actually talking about the Nusantaran supernaturals, you know?" She considers for a bit... but then firmly adds, "So I -- I think I did the right thing in asking -- I didn't want her to feel... left out, you know? Like... like she was being left behind? -- but... um, I also think I... may not take her advice on the Nusantarans." She grins shyly, lightly petting the little fire dragon-qilin tea pet as she adds, "The Chinese tea ritual was fun to learn about, though! It's surprisingly relaxed, I thought, to the point that I was thinking it might be fun to do one here with friends at some point. Does that sound like the sort of thing any of you might enjoy? Oh! Also, how's your box coming along, Marcus? Do you think you'll be able to come with us?"
Shane smiles, "I think it sounds lovely, acushla." His smile gets wry, "But I think you should throw out all of Aoi's advice on the Nusantarans. It's outdated, and she obviously couldn't care less about them." Cinnamon nods, with a wry smile to her sweetheart.
Marcus too smiles, "The box is almost finished. I'd like that." Just as he speaks, there's a knock on the door. Since his acushla is in the middle of the discussion, Shane courteously gets up to answer, returning seconds later with Thorn. The healer smiles and waves silently at everyone as Shane hands him a dessert plate, then settles in to enjoy the delicate flavors of the fruited brie torte while also listening to the continuing conversation.
Cinnamon waves cheerfully to Thorn, then grins at Marcus, "Cool! Just make sure it's a really good one, okay? We don't want you getting ironsick before we even start, after all. Oh, and I need to check with Sparrow too -- find out if he knows anyone that could take such a box. Maybe... a supernatural import/export company or something?" She grins excitedly, "-and if it's on the west coast, we can all fly there early, so we can have a day to rest and get ready! How's that sound?" Then she curiously adds to Torben, as her mind super-leaps from thought to thought, "Hey, have you ever walked leylines?"
Torben looks up from his plate and his brows go up, intrigue on his face as he leans forward, "And just where did you hear about walking leylines?"
Cinnamon grins puzzledly at Torben, "From... someone who actually asked me not to mention them; sorry? Why? Is it rude to ask?" She adds in explanation, "I'm just asking because it seems like a really nifty way to travel with friends who can get ironsick, you know? Like seven-league boots, in a way."
Torben smiles, "It very much is like seven-league boots... and like seven league boots, quite dangerous if done wrong. Very fast way to travel, though. The earth-creatures and those attuned used to do it more often."
Cinnamon looks fascinated, "What's attuned mean, please? I mean, how is one attuned?" She adds, after a second's thought, "Are you attuned?"
Torben smiles, "Attuned as in linked to it in some way. Just as you are attuned to fire and possibly air..." Hilde leans over and murmurs something in Torben's ear, and he looks curious, "You can identify minerals by touch?"
Cinnamon nods cheerfully, "Yuppers! Is that an earth thing?" She tilts her head as she adds musingly, "Though... I remember Taliesin telling me I was linked to Wales. Is that a, um... an attunement thing? Can you be attuned to Earth, but just a particular part of it?" She frowns thoughtfully, "For that matter... how many things can a supernatural be attuned to?"
Torben nods, "It is. Now I'm curious if you have a water affinity as well. It would make you quite powerful on attunements. But to answer your question: yes. I am earth-attuned. Many smiths are. We work very closely with metals, so we need to be comfortable with the earth. Beansidhe are more likely to be earth-attuned than gealsidhe, but gealsidhe are more likely to be air-attuned than beansidhe."
Cinnamon looks intrigued, glancing at Marcus and Shane, "Oh, cool! So can you guys tell your attunements, then?"
Shane actually looks fascinated, "Is... is everyone attuned to something?"
Torben shakes his head, "No, not everyone. Usually it manifests in some sort of unusual connection to one of the elements." He smiles at Marcus, "I know you are, aren't you?" Marcus nods but doesn't say anything else.
Shane blinks slowly and then mutters, "Holy fuck... that explains some shit..." -- then flushes as he realizes he didn't censor his language.
Cinnamon's eyes widen with excitement at Marcus' reaction... but just as she's opening her mouth to ask, Shane comments -- and she giggles in spite of herself! She grins as she adds fascinatedly, "What does it feel like, you guys?! I mean, I figure it's considered rude to ask what the element is, yes? No?"
Shane grins, "I may be wrong, but I think it may be why I'm so hard to knock down."
Torben nods, "Likely so."
Marcus smiles quietly, "It's air, but I'd rather not speak on how I'm attuned. It's just... part of me."
Cinnamon blinks at Marcus, wide-eyed, "Ooooh... that's why the Ezkurra asked you to be Air, right?! In their, um... the ceremony about -- about planting themselves in one place, remember?" She grins shyly, "I got to be Fire!"
Marcus smiles almost... is Marcus looking bashful? ...shyly, and nods, "It is... and it's why you were asked to be fire."
Cinnamon grins and shakes her head, "I've been Fire a couple of times now, in different ceremonies, but I'm not sure..." She pauses, considering for a moment... then adds with surprise, "Oh! My fire inside me that I can feel -- that must be what attunement feels like!" Her grin gets excited, "Wow, now I want to figure out if I can feel air or earth or -- or whatever else I might have!" She muses silently, then adds curiously to Torben, "So it was Liam's necklace that woke up the fire in me. Does that mean I have to... to touch some magic item or something, in order to wake up any other attunements?"
The little dragon opens her mouth to start to say something else as she's interestedly watching Torben and waiting for his reply -- but then she sort of freezes in place for a heartbeat. Those who know her well can almost see her thinking process going into fascinated overdrive! A few seconds later she murmurs absently, "Coblyn... which is Welsh... oh, wow! So... are they here too -- the leylines? That'd only make sense, to take advantage of the magical energy -- is there one from here to Wales, then, since the coblyns helped build the original street? Or... oh! Would it be Caradog's palace that's on the leyline, to root the street solidly? Ooh, or on a leyline crossroads, maybe? Oh! Maybe there's one at the mouth of the street too, to help hide it?"
A heartbeat later Cinnamon's eyes get wide behind her glasses, and her hands come up to her temples, "Oh my gosh, if they're in the earth, though... surely there must be a lake or two or rivers that have them too -- oh, wow, the ocean?! Wait, wait... so... if earth's leylines are in the earth, then... are there water leylines too?" The little dragon takes a deep breath, sitting excitedly up in the couple's papasan chair she's sharing with Shane. Her eyes are shining with elation and her words are almost tumbling over themselves, "So does that mean there's -- there's enclaves or trods or whatever they're called there but under the water as well and they're being maintained by the water folks like, um -- like lorelais and undines and -- and mermaids and whales and stuff? Ohmygosh that'd totally explain all those old legends too about vanishing islands because maybe one sailing ship might find one but never be able to find their way back when the supernaturals just changed the enclave's borders like Elm did that time! -oh, wow, and maybe that's why we still have phrases like sky castles or pie in the sky because it's really there but we just can't see them anymore ohmygosh that'd be so cool if there were like trod thingies or whatever up there all drifting along on the clouds though hmm how to find them to say hi..."
Cinnamon doesn't realize she's almost glowing with excitement, or that both the young men who're quite taken with her are watching her with quiet delight. She just takes a deep, almost gasping breath, continuing to speak her fervently passionate thoughts almost without pause, "Or... ohmygosh, is it the entire planet that's alive with the magical energy?! Oh, wowsers, that'd make so much sense! You have the, uh, th-the fire element as the core, and the pressure between it and the earth makes for that water production area I read about deep deep deep underground and that squeezes out all over the place to make oceans and rivers and lakes and stuff and -- and then the atmosphere is the air element, right? Which Earth helps hold in place, right -- and there's also more air and water molecules surging up from the oceans which is the water element up into the atmosphere and cycling around again through rain and snow and stuff, right, so... so..."
Cinnamon falls silent then, staring consideringly off into the distance for a moment before she murmurs thoughtfully, "I wonder... we don't follow evolution! So... is that us? Are we, all the supernaturals, children of the leylines' magical energy the same way humans are children of physical evolution? But... we're still sort of, of... tangled together with humans, so... oh, and there's supernaturals that are born of human fears too! -right, right, that makes sense if we're not evolution-based and we defy physics and we brush near the humans so... huh! In that case, I wonder why Earth made us, and what we give back to the humans that's so good that Earth wanted us and the leylines around?"
Cinnamon blinks slowly, entranced by her thoughts and with her lips still parted... then blinks again as if she's almost waking up. Pushing up her glasses and glancing around at all the people now watching her with various expressions... the little dragon blushes hotly, "Ohmygosh, I'm so sorry, peeps! I, I d-didn't mean to, to... monopolize the conversation with my babbling?!" She pauses again -- and then a slow, shy grin crosses her lips as she adds hopefully, "But... but, but does it maybe make a little sense?"
Thorn blinks, remaining quiet as he listens to the conversation about attunements. Inside, though, his mind is churning and chewing on this information. What element is healing associated with, then? Water, maybe? In the thoughtful silence following Cinnamon's word-blurt, the healer decides to speak up, "What element would healing be associated or attuned with?"
Cinnamon blinks at Thorn, her brain kicking into speculative overdrive again, "Wow, cool question, Thorny! Hmm... well, if it's all about the body then I'd guess earth, but if we consider that the body is like two-thirds water, then maybe water? Though... no, it's magic first, right!" She turns to grin hopefully at Torben, "So what element is just straight magic associated with?"
Torben smiles at Cinnamon's rambling digressions, then answers at least one of the questions, "All leylines are earth. They may cross beneath the ocean, but they are in the earth -- so they are earthen leylines. As for underwater trods: yes. They exist, though they're even more elusive than the ones on dry land. Especially the oceanic ones because tides and currents are so capricious."
Cinnamon brightens at Torben's answer, "Oh! So... so underwater holdings don't bother trying to attach to anything on the bottom, say?" She frowns consideringly, "But then... how do they not just, like... dissipate? Get pulled apart during the first big storm? -and are you saying there's no leylines that're actually in the oceans? Hm... so they... sorta... just dive down under water spots? Interesting!"
Torben takes a bite or two of the delicious dessert before replying to Thorn, "Yes. Water. Though it can also be air if it's mental health. There's some thought that it's water because water is the element in which almost all creatures are encased in the womb or the egg."
Cinnamon grins delightedly at Thorn -- there's his answer! Then she turns expectantly back to Torben, waiting for her answers too. The healer taps his chin thoughtfully, thanking Torben and thinking hard. This... adds a whole new spin to the histories of the council he's been reading. He wonders how commonplace this knowledge is -- though since he just learned of it, it's possible that 'not many' is the answer.
Cinnamon blinks a heartbeat later -- air is associated with mental things? Fascinating! Maybe that's why Marcus and Jaeger and many of Elm are so good at charming... weird, though, considering the elm tree itself is associated with water. The little dragon grins to herself: magic is so strange and contradictory and cool sometimes! Though actually... elm itself is a very, um... mental? -kind of tree, Cinnamon remembers. The article she read about it mentioned elm energizing the mind and balancing the heart, while also protecting and attracting love. Oh, and it's supposed to be found in the underworld and at the crossroads leading to the faery world -- that might be part of why elves are supposed to love it... that, and its aid in sharpening psychic powers, and protecting against lightning strikes! The little dragon grins to herself again... she's pretty sure Marcus isn't air-attuned because of the lightning-thingie, but it's still fun to know!
Thorn has been reading about the tuatha, so he's wondering about the old legends of when they came to Ireland, and agreed to a ritual war with the then-inhabitants. The tuatha dé danann had to go back out to sea, 'over nine waves,' before they could come back and eventually win the ritual war. He wonders if that's where he got his affinity for healing too... it certainly fits the profile after a sort, and would make sense. "Thank you Torben," he says. "That's... a heck of a lot to think about!"
Cinnamon grins at Thorn -- then turns excitedly back to Torben, "So, you didn't say! Can you feel leylines? Do you know if there are any associated with Coblyn Street?"
Torben mmms, "There are usually leylines associated with most of the larger -- or if not large, at least powerful -- enclaves, since they are indeed sources of great power. But the leylines aren't always directly inside or through the enclave, as that would make the enclaves too easy to find. It might be where supernaturals source the energy for the don't-see-me and the stretching spells, but if there were a leyline actually inside Coblyn, anyone who can walk or scry the leylines could easily find the street."
Cinnamon blinks thoughtfully, "Oh, like... like humans, right!" She nods interestedly, "Okay, that's cool and makes good sense. So, any idea if I'm right about needing to touch magical items to... to awaken... wait. No... that can't be right. I've been able to identify metals and stones for as long as I can remember -- and you said that was earth attunement!" The little dragon looks intrigued, "Huh! I wonder how I'd test other elemental attunements?" A heartbeat later she puzzledly adds, "So... was fire a special thing then, that it needed the necklace -- I wonder?" She laughs as she enthusiastically adds, "And what about air? Are there air holdings or enclaves too?"
Marcus smiles, "I know this one: the air trods are mostly just at high elevations or tree-cities, like in... someone said they were like some human movie with little teddy-bear creatures?"
Cinnamon blinks in shocked delight at Marcus, "There -- there's an air trod shown in 'Return of the Jedi'?! Ohmygosh that is fantabulously cute -- even if it was just an accident!" Thorn blinks and starts to ask what 'teddy bear creatures' Marcus means -- and then Cinnamon gets it. The healer still looks surprised at the idea, though.
Hilde laughs, "Oh my goddess, that's so right -- they're talking about the Ewok city! A lot of air holdings really are in trees, like the Ewoks! They can't exactly build on clouds, no matter how fanciful that sounds. So they settle for being 'in the sky' that way, or at high elevations like Kilimanjaro or Tahoma."
Cinnamon gasps excitedly, "Oh, wow, Hilde -- do you think maybe that's what sacred mountains really are?! -places where humans somehow recognize the presence of supernaturals? Like -- like Mt. Shasta and Mt. Fuji and all?!" She grins curiously as she adds to Torben, "Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt -- how do you test for attunements?"
Hilde nods as if Cinnamon's guess is just common sense, "Sure! I mean, Uluru, Waka-nunee-Tuki-wuki -- also know as Mt. Shasta... the US is doing a lot to try to give back the original names to the sacred mountains."
Torben picks up Cinnamon's other question, "I've never known someone to be exactly tested for them... it's more a case of the attunement just being recognized. Shane, did you say why you think yours is earth?"
Shane snuggles in against Cinnamon -- who beams proudly at her Shaney (hers, eeeeeeeSOcool!) -- she thinks he's so awesome! The half-beansidhe replies, "Because if I'm fighting with you..." he rubs the back of his neck, "well... ever hear that silly saying: 'It'll be two hits. I'll hit you and you'll hit the floor'?" Torben snorts and nods. Shane nods back, "I've got an uncanny ability to hit someone once, hard, and have them go down... when they normally wouldn't. Conversely, I'm really, really hard to knock down."
Torben's brows go up, "Mm, yes... that's an earth-type attunement."
Marcus glances at Thorn, "Your attunement, if you're attuned -- and I do think you are -- would be water." He smiles a bit crookedly, "For more than one reason, if I'm correct... both by heritage and inclination."
A moment later, as she considers her previous questions, Cinnamon muses thoughtfully, "Okay, maybe I should just test myself in the different elements, then... and also, I should be asking more like how you might figure out about supernaturals maybe coming from leylines and magical energy, and if there's reciprocity with humans about that too... since it sounds like none of us have heard of anything like- oh!" She giggles, flushing slightly, "Duh -- we should ask Elias, later!"
Thorn nods to Marcus, smiling quietly, "That would make a lot of sense, yes." He hasn't studied Chinese and Eastern medicine systems, but he's moderately familiar with them... so he asks, "Why no 'metal' and 'wood' element?"
Cinnamon grins at Thorn, "Metal's part of earth! I'd imagine wood is therefore part of earth too, since it's, um... like, earth's flora? Though I could totally see a sort of specialization occurring too. Like, I imagine just like sea creatures don't do well in fresh water, and vice versa... maybe the magics are that way too?" She grins and shrugs, "Dunno!"
Torben smiles and shrugs, "I'm not familiar with the attunements our Asian counterparts might use. For us, it's five: Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and Ether."
Thorn considers, "Well, there are a lot of interactions with a five-element model... but you're right, this'll need more investigation."
Cinnamon beams and nodnods cheerfully, and the very pleasant dinner continues. Across the table, Marcus sighs in quiet pleasure as he surreptitiously (or so he believes) admires the very happy little dragon. Internally, the elf is absolutely delighted at being invited into Cinnamon's home! However, as it turns out, it's not just Cinnamon herself who is part of an evening that (somewhat to his surprise) Marcus quite thoroughly enjoys. Once it was clear he was trying his best to be a pleasant dinner companion, everyone there treated him with casual, friendly relaxation -- and eventually it dawns on him: none of these people give a hoot that he's a councilor, or an Elder's heir, or extraordinarily wealthy, or anything like that. They're being nice to him simply because... he's being nice! It is, in fact, precisely the sort of evening he'd mentioned missing, to Cinnamon, at the tea party: 'sitting with friends around good food.' As the evening closes down, everyone pitches in to help with clean-up -- and Marcus realizes even these plebeian tasks somehow are more fun, and go faster, with laughter and friendship. Consequently he's also quietly thrilled, as folks are pulling on coats and hats to leave, to hear that these dinners are regular weekly affairs, and he's welcome to attend any of them that he can fit into his schedule. Naturally, he accepts with pleasure -- and makes a very determined mental note to keep this week-night always free!
In the message sent earlier that very same day, Baird tells the group they should all meet at a small farm near Quincy, MA, since there's a large barn there he wants Cinnamon to be inside -- it's roomy enough for her current draconic size. It's also a spot the brothers have apparently met at before, according to what Spice got from the information she data-mined. Cinnamon is happy to fly everyone there quickly and quietly at night... though she is curious: does Baird want her to stay a dragon, then? Turns out he wants her human for the most part, but wanted to have a spot for her to be draconic if it turned out to be needful.
Baird has a small crew with him -- just three men -- and explains he wants to be prepared if one or both of the brothers showed up early. The little group of supernaturals all recognize the men from Veles' family compound, during the first time they encountered the Scots mercenary. Cinnamon nods as she gets her instructions, and gets Shane's assistance in moving to a corner of the barn to change back to human shape. She comes pattering back a few moments later, beaming, "Okay! So, where are we putting Thorny so he's perfectly safe, please? Also: hi, guys!" She grins and waves shyly at the three men. She recognizes the compact Asian and the extremely nondescript black man, though she never got their names. She recognizes the also-nondescript white guy with sandy hair and blue eyes as Iliya, the sniper she grabbed out of a tree at Veles' compound. She remembers he was really not happy with her then, too... so for now she's trying her best to stay a short way away from him, and not make him nervous.
Baird points up toward a dormer window in the farmhouse building next to the barn, "There's a bedroom up there that's pretty secure -- out of the normal line of fire, and he can be back from the window pretty easily. I expect these guys to come in one at a time; sort of overwatch for one another. With what Spice got for us, I'm pretty sure we can make sure they don't send out any sort of abort code."
Cinnamon nods as she looks up that way, "Cool... and when are we expecting the brothers?" Curiously she adds, "Also, from what you're saying, I'm guessing you want me hidden unless things get messy?"
Baird smiles, "I want you hidden until after the second brother arrives. After that I want these fuckers as uneasy as they can be." His eyes are as cold as his smile is humorless, "I may have come to all this late, but I have -- as you Yanks say -- skin in the game now."
Cinnamon grins a bit uncertainly at Baird as she nods, then looks around, "Okay, then..." she points, "should I be in the back there? Behind the, um, that sort of... stall wall, maybe? Also, when are we expecting them, please?"
Baird checks the extremely high-tech watch on his wrist, "Brother numero uno should be here in..." His unsettling smile widens as the sound of a powerful motor becomes audible, "-and he's early." He motions to his men, then looks at Shane, brow arched. The half-beansidhe shifts his blades in their sheaths -- one at his hip and one down his spine. He's in trousers for this. He nods back to Baird and moves to be ready to help should this prove difficult. Thorn too nods, and moves to his assigned position up in the farmhouse... some distance from the window so as not to reveal himself. Cinnamon hastily darts for the back of the barn, barring further instructions! She carefully tucks herself down in place, making sure there's something camouflaging which she can still peek through, so she can watch as well. She doesn't quite consciously realize it, but she wants to watch to make sure Shane stays safe -- because if either brother takes a shot at him, she is absolutely coming out guns blazing! She's actually extremely relieved Thorn will be hidden safely upstairs in the nearby building, in fact.
It's likely unsurprising to anyone that the guy is driving an H2. It's black, with windows tinted to the point that there's no way they're legal. He pulls into the barn and is just visible through the windshield as he does something on a phone. There's a lull, and then he nods, opening the driver's side door to get out. It's immediately clear that Brother Number One has a gel-spiked flat-top, and wears the type of sunglasses Spice calls 'fratbro douchecanoe specials.' His boots have barely touched the ground, though, before Baird's Asian compatriot has the man face-down on the floor of the barn, arms bent in a fashion that absolutely can't be comfortable. Cinnamon watches fascinatedly -- wow, Baird's guy moves fast! She's impressed... though she can't help but wonder, with a happy little thrill, if her lovely Shaney can likely move faster. The brother struggles, snarling, "Where's Russel?! What have you done with him?"
Baird smiles serenely and glances at Shane, "Where exactly is this piece of shite's brother?"
Shane smiles back, "Somewhere very safe and secure." His expression is the one which anyone who knows the half-beansidhe for any amount of time would recognize as Shane's version of 'If you fuck around, you will most assuredly find out.'
The brother struggles even more, snarling, "Randall's gonna see right through this! No way Russel gave you all the right codes!" In her hiding spot, Cinnamon silently mouths, 'Randall,' then wonders wryly if the brothers' parents didn't really like them. What... boring names! Is this guy named something totally whitebread -- as Spice likes to say -- like... oh, Alfred or Wallace or something?
Out by the pointlessly enormous vehicle, Shane glances at Baird with his dark brows raised; the Scots merc chuckles, "Ah. You mean this code?" He holds his phone in front of the restrained man's face... and they all watch him go still -- then get frantic. He almost escapes the merc holding him down, he's struggling so wildly -- and Cinnamon's thought about Shane proves to be true -- because the half-beansidhe moves so quickly it's almost impossible to track. He gets Brother #1 in a semi-chokehold, murmuring, "I think he needs to be somewhere secure and quiet..." Cinnamon beams proudly as she watches Shane -- he's so amazing!
Baird nods, "See if Thorn can keep him quiet."
As the men are discussing what to do with Asshole #2, Cinnamon (in the back of the barn) glimpses something outside: a brief flicker of a large dot flashings scarlet, much like an infrared light does. It's well away from the barn's doors, too -- out past the edge of the clearing and into the forest. The way it twinkles gives the impression it was perhaps moving behind tree trunks for a moment. Cinnamon blinks at that... then stands up to see better over the struggling men by the Hummer. Cupping her hands around her face, she shifts to IR herself as well -- then gives a tiny, excited gasp: there's a man out there, just past the foliage of the forest's edge! That must be Brother #2 -- oooh, and she can help!
The little dragon bolts forward at her top running speed -- which, admittedly, isn't that fast -- but she's trying her best! As she darts past Baird she gasps, "He's out there -- number two -- I goddim!" A heartbeat later she's out the barn door and running for the edge of the woods, across the wide, beaten-dirt circle in front of the old barn. She can still see the guy standing just inside the shelter of the trees and bushes -- yay! Baird's gonna be so pleased with her! Best of all, this guy isn't p-p-pee- eek, don't think about that! He's not... wait, he's... putting a big plastic stick with a pointy-almond shaped end on his shoulder? Weird -- well, at least it's not a gun aimed at her!
From within the camouflaging cover of the trees the man shifts, putting down the IR goggles he was using and hoisting something up onto his shoulder. The silhouette is about three and a half feet long, and the end pointed toward the barn is vaguely cone-shaped. In fact, if Cinnamon knew anything about weaponry she'd realize the man is aiming a shoulder-fired missile at the top story of the barn. He doesn't hesitate; his stance and body are still as he fires the launcher -- and a small gout of flame shoots from the rear of the weapon as the missile takes off.
Almost simultaneously, Cinnamon reaches the man -- and she remembers Baird saying he wanted the brothers scared once they were both there. So she shifts into dragon-form -- and also cheerfully crows, "Hah! Gotcha!" -- as she grabs the man! The pounce throws the man's aim off just enough that the missile is somewhat redirected -- which means the barn roof is blown away, but fortunately the whole second story doesn't come crashing down on the people inside the old barn. Unsurprisingly, all the chaff and hay in the loft absolutely lights up on fire. Even some of the dry wood around the barn is set fiercely ablaze, while the boom of explosion, and roar of fire, is enough to even crack a handful of windowpanes in the old farmhouse building, some 50 feet away.
A heartbeat after grabbing the man, Cinnamon blinks -- that was a really big explosion-noise behind her...?! She twists her head around to look over her shoulder -- then gasps, "Oh, no!" She can see the barn is no longer either quiet or discreet: huge gouts of fire roar up madly from the incinerated (and very dry) hayloft, while bits of shattered planking are still spiraling madly as they fall back towards the ground. Were it not for Cinnamon's unwitting interference, this would have been a fabulous bit of cover for the first brother's escape!
Unfortunately for the supernatural-hunting brothers, they've never dealt with a Welsh dragon -- or, really, any dragons at all! Whirling, Cinnamon flaps her wings and bounds on three legs, returning to the barn in a mad rush as she anxiously shouts, "Coming, I'm coming! Sorry, so- 'm here!" Standing tall in front of the flaming inferno of a barn, she draws in a sharp breath -- and with startling abruptness... all the heat and fire whoosh heavily into the scarlet dragon!
Thorn is relatively hidden in the farmhouse's second floor, and doing his best to remain unnoticed by anyone outside. However, when he hears the massive explosion going off so very close outside -- and the rain of debris pitter-pattering against the roof of the farmhouse, and the sharp crick-crack of breaking glass... the healer immediately rushes to the window, hoping and praying everyone is okay. It looks to him as though the barn's hayloft has been almost completely bombed out. Considering the rest of the barn is upright, albeit on fire -- no, no time to figure it out! He scrambles down the stairs and out of the farmhouse as quickly as he can, bolting towards the barn with his medkit thumping against his thigh as he runs.
In the shockingly sudden silence of the complete absence of fire... Cinnamon hastily shoves her head in through the now-wide-open front doors. Her shout is louder than she realizes, due to anxiety, "Shane! Talk to me, asthore! Thorny, Baird? Is everyone okay?" Her relief at suddenly remembering Thorn's not even in this building is huge -- but then she glances around worriedly for everyone else. Though... is Thorn's building okay? Wait, wait -- check the formerly-burning building here, then check there!
It takes the asshole with the rocket-launcher a beat or two to catch his bearings... so it's not until Cinnamon has already extinguished the flames that he starts struggling and swearing, and trying to draw what is most likely a sidearm. It's almost impossible to do, though, what with his being mostly wrapped up by nearly-impervious talons. Cinnamon glances distractedly down at her paw-hand... then scowls and shakes him lightly as she snarls, "You are a very bad man -- cut that out or else!" Then she anxiously keeps studying the area, trying to gently nose aside debris as she searches for Shane... and everyone else too, right!
Baird is swearing and shaking his head as he sits up. He doesn't seem physically hurt, but the blast knocked basically everyone down. Shane is getting to his hands and knees, shaking his head like a dog trying to shed water. Asshole Brother #1 is trying to scrabble groggily underneath the H2... and Iliya is running in towards the barn from his sniper's nest.
Cinnamon sighs in relief, "Shaney! Asthore, are you okay?" She gives him a quick, gentle tongue flicker, then realizes she can both scent Baird and hear his annoyed voice too -- oh, good! She almost casually uses the second brother to shove back the first one, then glances around hopefully towards the farmhou- oh! Here comes Thorn, at a run! She grins with tired relief at him, "Awesome -- you're okay too!" It was really smart of Baird, she thinks, to put the healer safely in an entirely separate building! With that, she sticks her head back in the barn -- two more guys to find, right! Cinnamon tosses the brothers into a pile together, her head swaying back and forth inside the barn as she sniffs around to locate the other two mercenaries.
Shane is slightly wobbly as he gets to his feet, and rubbing his forehead, "Yeah, acushla... head hurts." Both Baird and the black merc -- who still hasn't told anyone his name -- look like they've been a bit cut about. The Scotsman is pulling debris off his companion merc as he asks -- in a slightly exasperated tone, "Lass, why didn't ye tell me you can fuckin' eat bloody fire?!"
Cinnamon blinks at Baird snapping at her, her ears tilting nervously back. Iliya shoves angrily between the dragon and his teammates, snapping, "And why didn't you fucking warn us the guy was firing off a fucking shoulder-mounted missile?" At that, the scarlet dragon hastily pulls her head back, her ears and crest flattening entirely as she stutters, "I di- b-but, uhh, n-no one asked? I... was it important? -a-and, umm, I -- I didn't know what the pointy thingie actually was?"
Just then Thorn barges into the barn, panting as he does quick triage: the people yelling and shouting are probably okay. Cinnamon is definitely okay. Shane looks the most wobbly, but Baird and the black merc look cut up. Thorn decides to check them first, bind any wounds, then check Shane for a concussion.
Iliya steps up to Cinnamon as if he weren't just a human and she a 40'-long dragon, and snarls -- almost yells, "How the actual fuck do you not know what a rocket launcher is? I didn't think you were st-!" That's the exact moment Shane steps firmly between the sniper and where Cinnamon is unhappily, tensely crouched in the doorway. The half-beansidhe is gently petting his beloved's nose pad with a warm hand... but the look on his face stops Iliya cold, before he completes that damning word.
Cinnamon can't help a tiny internal surge of relief when Shane steps forward! He gets a shyly grateful smile... and then she shifts her now slightly more confident gaze back to the sniper. Iliya had better not bother her Shaney! Shane's voice is calm, quiet, and level in a way that shows anyone who knows him well: he's deathly serious, "She's a councilor, an accountant, and a dragon. It's not as if she's memorized military munitions -- just as you probably can't tell platinum from rhodium by touch. Back. Off." Shane doesn't get loud when he's upset; he gets quiet... and if he's truly upset, he seems almost jovial.
Iliya hasn't been around the Coblyn contingent as much as the other mercs present... but he has been around soldiers, mercenaries, and warriors. The first two get paid for what they do; the latter has it in the blood. Despite still scowling and feeling his blood boil, Iliya realizes he's facing a warrior -- and he's just stepped the smallest of toes across the line onto Shane's bad side! The sniper is smart enough to grasp just how dangerous that might be too... so instead of simply blundering across that line, he decides on the better part of valor -- and takes two big steps back. Better to take several metaphorical breathes, before he gets his ass handed to him!
Baird rolls his eyes and almost growls, "Give it a rest, Il'ya. She's essentially a civvie -- and you bloody well know it. Go help secure the prisoners... tonight's not the night for traction." That's all the reminder Baird thinks he needs to give the sniper about the inadvisability of angering either Shane or Cinnamon about the other.
That puts the final nail in the coffin of Iliya's irritation; he goes to help secure the Bigot Brothers. Baird turns to Cinnamon after that, his voice more gentle this time, "That said, lass, we need to have a little talk about just what exactly you can and cannot do." He gives Shane a courteous nod, "With yer laddie present, o' course." He starts to turn -- then winces and hisses, "Fuck!" A sharp breath later, he calls over to Thorn, "Think the bluidy barn stabbed me!"
Cinnamon blinks at Baird and gives a tight little nod where she's still all tensely, tightly coiled up... then waits until he turns away to murmur-whisper to Shane, "Asthore? Am I... in trouble or something? Sh-should I... not have put the fire out? Or... or not grabbed the guy?"
Shane snorts, watching Iliya walk away... then he gently, comfortingly strokes Cinnamon's nose, completely uncaring that it might seem strange for a relatively small humanoid to be soothing a relatively huge but nervous dragon. His voice is quietly loving, "Of course you aren't in trouble, acushla. You did exactly right. Iliya's just pi... irritated he didn't get to shoot anything... and he's frightened. But most men don't know how to process being scared, so it comes out as anger. You were amazing." He's keeping his voice quiet, though... because he doesn't want to start a debate about toxic masculinity in the midst of an op.
Cinnamon sighs in relief -- a very warm, gusty sigh that eddies around Shane -- and whispers back, "Thanks, love!" She tilts her ears and slants her gaze back to make sure nothing else is moving around outside the barn... but after that she just settles and watches -- and stays out of the way, settled in the barn doorway.
Thorn has checked the other merc, so now he heads for Baird, checking him quickly, "Let me have a look. It most likely did, so hold still while I remove whatever it gifted you with...." Baird pulls up his shirt for Thorn -- and the barn has indeed 'stabbed' him -- there are a couple of large, bloody splinters of wood embedded in his side! By some miracle, though -- or that fact that his mate is a lucky Japanese crane -- all the splinters have missed every major organ! They're just going to be a bitch to remove and stitch up. Thorn lets out a breath, "You're lucky, but you're going to have to lie down for this. It's going to take a little magic to keep you on your feet." He looks around, "Where's the first brother?"
Cinnamon points with a wing-thumb from where she's comfortably crouched, "Right there. Baird's guys are tying them both up." She's careful not to shift her head at all, though -- nose pats from her asthore feel wonderfully reassuring!
Thorn sighs, "Oh, good -- excellent. Thanks!" He glowers at the two briefly, then turns his attention back to Baird. He takes in a quiet breath and closes his eyes, placing a light anesthetic over the area where the barn 'stabbed' the Scotsman... then focuses on visualizing the splinters working their way out, with the wounds closing cleanly behind them. "No organs injured," he murmurs to Baird. "Quite a bit of luck, that."
Baird has enough scars that are obvious stab wounds to indicate he knows not to argue with the medic. He lays back and grits his teeth, but when he realizes there's some sort of anesthetic at work, he lets out his breath in a relieved sigh. "Aye. Keiko laid a blessing on me before she'd let me do this." He smiles, eyes still closed, "She'll be happy to know it helped."
Thorn's voice is a little grim, "It absolutely is fortunate!" He purses his lips and collects all the bloody splinters -- he'd rather not anyone coming after these brothers have any easily-sampled, uh, samples of the mercs' DNA.
Cinnamon grins at Baird's comment! She's really happy Baird found a partner -- and that he chose to believe the little dragon, when she told him there were in fact supernatural women who really liked warrior men! She whispers to Shane, "You should go ask Thorny to look at you next, asthore! Then he can put the brothers to sleep and I can fly us all home again, okay?"
Shane starts to protest, but the protest includes shaking his head -- and that makes him wobble, "Uhm... you may be right."
Cinnamon hastily braces him with one paw-hand, then calls, "Thorny? Can you check my Shane next, please?" She gives Shane a worried, gentle tongue-flicker before adding to him, "Wanna sit down on me? Or... wherever you want?"
Shane leans against Cinnamon and mutters, "Haven't had a concussion since high school."
Cinnamon grins as she wraps a careful arm about him -- she's not about to remind him of Hans, after all! She just murmurs, "Well, you can relax with me for a bit for now, okay? Thorny'll be here soon, I'm sure."
Thorn has already checked both other mercs, so he moves on to Shane, checking him carefully for a concussion... which the man almost certainly has. Shane smiles wryly at the healer, "Glad you were in the house instead of out here with us."
Baird snorts, "Never put the medic near the actual fighting!" Cinnamon nods firmly at that!
Thorn takes a few moments to visualize the most harmful effects of the concussion fading and disappearing, leaving Shane with little more than a faint soreness about the noggin. "There," the healer finally says, "you should be fine now! Nothing to worry about." He looks around, "Anyone else need anything? If not...." He turns his attention to the two brothers, folding his arms, "So, sleep for the trip?"
Cinnamon nods firmly, "Yes, please!" To the Asian guy standing over them, she adds, "Did they get searched and stuff? Oh! The car too, right?" She tilts her head thoughtfully... then stretches her neck out slightly so she can stare directly down at the two restrained men. She's just checking for any metal on them; she has no idea it looks vaguely as if she's sizing them up for bite sizes! Thorn covers a grin as he takes this opportunity to gauge the two assholes' reaction to being looked over by a bunch of professional mercenaries... and a blessed dragon!
Baird's men have indeed patted down the prisoners -- and discovered quite the cache of weapons! Other than that, the only metal on the brothers turns out to be the fastenings for their clothes. The two men are, of course, scowling and trying to act tough, but Cinnamon is scenting something fairly acrid about them. In fact, were Thorn to run his diagnostics on the prisoners, he's find heightened pulses, blood pressures, and a surfeit of adrenaline. It takes Cinnamon a moment to identify the scent, since she's so rarely around the fearful... but eventually she realizes: the acrid smell on the brothers is due to their fearful sweating! She pulls her head back in perplexity... but then remembers that's actually what Baird wanted, right? For the brothers to be afraid? Well... okay then -- guess it worked? That thought makes her grin toothily.
Baird smirks, "For the amount of pretty toys you pair have, ye've not got near the smarts ye think you do." He crouches in front of the brothers and smiles, causing his scars to crinkle, "An' ye're about to go somewhere that's yer worst nightmare! It's good fer ye both that the people you think are the monsters are actually more humane than most humans... ye gobshites."
Cinnamon glances at the healer, still grinning, "So put them to sleep, Thorny, and let's go home!"
Shane is looking around, along with Baird's men, picking up everything they can find in the barn. Baird hmms, "We should check for whatever kind of vehicle Thing 2 came in."
Shane says, "I think there's a lake near here we could drop the cars in...?"
Cinnamon leans her head over the Hummer to sniff on the passenger side, to see if it carries Brother #2's scent -- maybe they traveled here together and #2 hopped out? Nope -- the H2 only smells like Brother #1. Cinnamon nods once at that, then turns to tell Shane and Baird, "Gimme just a moment, please? I'll track him -- be right back!" She rises and pads over to where she found Brother #2... then hmms. A little forest will be difficult for her to move through as a dragon. Plus... she glances around -- it's dark, so she should be able to shift discreetly now she's away from the barn.
Cinnamon beams proudly to herself, a heartbeat later -- that was a really easy shift! The young woman pushes up her glasses, then pads into the trees... with her tongue occasionally flickering for scent. It doesn't take her long to find the Land Rover, too. Cinnamon thinks for a bit, then shifts shape when she finds the vehicle... and a short while later there's a great deal of loud flapping, and a cheerful, "Watch out belooow!" as the scarlet dragon lands, then sets down a Land Rover in front of her. "Found it!"
Shane beams at Cinnamon, "Awesome work!" Thorn nods, then touches each of the brothers' shoulders in turn, putting the men into a deep, dreamless sleep... and the Asian merc mutters something about wishing he had magic chloroform. The half-beansidhe pulls out his phone, then says after a moment, "There's a lake about a half mile south of here that's deep enough to drop their vehicles into. Then Baird thought maybe a controlled burn of the barn?"
"Sure! Though do you want to check the vehicles over first before I do that? Just to be sure there's nothing important in them?" Cinnamon grins toothily, adding, "Spicy and I want to hack their accounts, so any info or other stuff is always good for that!" Shane nods, and he and the mercs do a quick search, pulling out a handful of laptops and tablets and some communications equipment that Baird seems to be happy about. They also find a pair of those heat-camouflaging tents.
Thorn feels more comfortable talking now, with both brothers out cold. He peers out the door when Cinnamon lands with the Land Rover, and at the stuff pulled from both of them, and whistles softly, "These boys are pretty well-equipped!" He thinks for a second, then shakes his head, [If some humans really wanted to kill all supernaturals, they could do it easier than by outfitting individual cells of useful idiots. Something stinks here, and I don't know what it is.]
Cinnamon is also pleased at sight of the laptops! She curiously asks Baird, though, "Did you find any tools in either car? I mean, the arrows Russel was using were really specialized, y'know?"
Baird shakes his head, "This weaponry is all human-graded. Or, well... at least not as universally dangerous as what the guy in Caradog's cells had. I wonder if they've an armory somewhere."
"They must... but that's okay. We'll get them to tell us where it is! -and then we'll empty it and destroy it." Cinnamon grins cheerfully, not realizing how potentially sinister she sounds as she adds, "Just like the bank accounts of their backers will be, once we finish with them too!"
"Speaking of...." Thorn gestures to the building around them, "Unless someone owns this plot of land, I'd like to ask Cinnamon to torch the barn to the ground. Mask any trace of our presence."
"Sure!" Cinnamon grins as she adds, "That'll cover up the stinky smell from the brothers too. They were really afraid, I think!"
Shane snorts, "Sweat? Because I don't think they pissed themselves..." Cinnamon nods to Shane. All the team's equipment, and the interesting things the mercs want to keep from the brothers, is gathered up out of the barn, and packed onto Cinnamon's backpack-harness. Lastly, the H2 is driven out of the barn so Cinnamon can more easily pick it up to drop into the lake.
At Shane's instructions, the scarlet dragon carefully pokes a hole into the Hummer so it's no longer air-tight, then waits for her sweetheart to climb up and buckle in. Scant moments later she's quietly letting both vehicles down into the lake, one after the other -- they don't want anyone searching for whatever made a loud splash in the night, later -- and then flying back to the barn. She lands and beams, "Thanks for the directions, Shaney! Hey, Thorny, Baird! Let's load up and go home!"
Thorn helps to secure their prisoners, and clambers up onto Cinnamon's back. He's relieved the operation is mostly done, though he knows not to fully relax until they're back at Coblyn. Cinnamon waits until everyone and everything is out of the barn, and Baird gives her the go-ahead... and then she takes a deep breath. A heartbeat later she gouts forth a spreading blanket of fire across everything inside the barn. Another deep breath, and she starts the lower walls burning merrily as well. Once that's done she sits back, tired but pleased, "That should make the barn collapse into itself! Look good?"
Shane has been enjoying having and learning to use the new navigational equipment attached to the harness. He sits atop Cinnamon's back and watches the fire, "We staying to make sure it doesn't get out of control, or leaving?"
Thorn replies to Cinnamon, "Looks good to me!" then adds to Shane, "We should wait a bit just in case the fire spreads to the trees."
Cinnamon nods to Thorn, smiling, "I agree." She hopes internally that maybe... maybe Iliya is just a little bit impressed? She's not stupid, after all, darnit! There's swearing from Cinnamon's back when the fire-breathing happens. Baird just gives a long, low whistle -- since after the fire-eating, he's just impressed instead of shocked. After all, he's from the British Isles -- dragons are meant to breathe fire! The scarlet dragon grins to herself, then adds to her friends, "We can call Spicy before we take off too, and she'll let Diarmaid know we've got both brothers for imprisonment."
Baird agrees with calling Spice before takeoff. They wait for the fire to take the barn down to the ground and for Cinnamon to eat any fire left in the embers... and during that time Shane gives Spice the call to let her know to alert either Diarmaid or Lorcan. After that, Cinnamon is happy to fly home with her friends, and the two prisoners. The flight is cheerful, with the little group singing together, or chatting about how pleased Sparrow will be, and so on. Cinnamon lands easily in the circle before the palace, glancing around to see who's there. Maybe Spice or Josie? Or Tre... or maybe even... wait, that's silly -- why would Marcus care?
In fact, the people waiting for her are Josie, Marcus, Diarmaid, and Lorcan. Cinnamon brightens, "Oh! Hi, peeps!" She beams as she flops into sphynx position so the folks with her can disembark, adding, "You're all so nice for coming out this late -- and guess what?! We got both of them -- yay!"
Baird's team were dropped off before they got to Coblyn, but Baird is still with them as they land. Everyone begins the disembarkation process, with Diarmaid and Lorcan helping to get down their two prisoners. Josie bounds over and hugs her friend around her thickly muscled neck, "I'm so glad you're all home safe!"
The burly Fomorian snorts, "They even smell like brothers."
Cinnamon beams and gives Josie a cheerful tongue flicker, "We are! Those guys tried to blow us up, but I ate the fire and Thorny healed everyone, so we were fine!" She's still working on remembering what will be shocking to others!
Lorcan arches a brow at Diarmaid, mouthing: 'Ate their fire?' at his captain of the guard... though he stays cool as he does so. The pair of them carefully strip the prisoners of any steel and iron... or rather, Diarmaid is, while Lorcan sings some kind of binding over the sleeping brothers. Diarmaid murmurs to Lorcan, "She's got a fairly rare draconic ability -- she can not only breathe fire, but also consume it. It's from one of the oldest Welsh draconic lines."
Cinnamon adds to Diarmaid, "I think the guys took all their weapons off them already?" then continues to Josie, "Spice is gonna be thrilled, I bet -- we found a couple of laptops and other things! Baird, can we have them when you're done checking them, please? We wanna empty out their bank accounts!"
Baird nods, "I kept the laptops and tablets and such with us; kept some of the comms equipment for meself. Not actually sure if those two realized what good equipment they had. If they did, it was wasted on their hatred and fuckin' bigotry." His lip curls in sneering disgust, "Hatin' for what people look like. Eejits."
Cinnamon nods and watches Baird for a few seconds... then blinks, "Uhh... is that a yes or a no, please, to our getting the lappies when you're done with them?"
Baird smiles ruefully, "The laptops are in yer saddlebags, lass -- I'm not keepin' 'em. I figured Spice would want them immediately."
Cinnamon brightens, "Yay! Thanks, Bairdy!" She swivels her head around to beam at Josie, "Awesome! Can you tell Spice- no, wait -- she's more computer-savvy than me. Okay, can you take them to Spicy, JoJo, and ask her if she'd be willing to bring them over tomorrow and we can work on breaking into their accounts? Oh! Marcus, can you tell Jaeger we got them all, yay! -and also, you and he are welcome to come over tomorrow too, and we can all go talk to the guys and maybe figure out how to get into their accounts?"
Until that moment Marcus had been simply standing out of the way and watching; he came to make sure everyone was fine. Rationally, he knows Cinnamon is a dragon and fairly impervious to injury. Still, this is part of 'being there'... and honestly, he wanted to make sure the entire party got back okay. He nods, "I'll be sure to let Vater know. We'll be able to talk to all of them at once, and separately. It's a good way to see if their communication style is different... or if they feed off one another."
"Thanks!" Cinnamon cheerfully adds, "If you guys want, we can have lunch at my place first, then walk on over? Let me know which you prefer, okay?" In the next breath she grins shyly, "Shaney, are you coming too?"
Shane, of course, has been helping unpack things, so he pauses, smiling, "Figured I'd sleep over tonight if you'd like, acushla."
Cinnamon can't help the happy little wiggle which sends her tail swishing back and forth across the pavement, "Yay! Okay!" Then she grins hopefully at Thorn, "You can come too, right? Please?"
Thorn blinks as he is starting to take off his medkit, "Oh! Sure, of course!"
Cinnamon beams, "Thanks!"
Once Diarmaid and Lorcan leave with the prisoners, Baird takes his things and heads towards the inn where Keiko awaits him. Marcus falls into step with Cinnamon, Shane, Josie, and Thorn. He's staying a bit quiet. Cinnamon is still bubbly about getting her change on the first try -- twice now, even! -- as they all walk Thorn over to the Infirmary and say good night to him. The little dragon hugs the healer, reminding him to come have lunch with them tomorrow, and then they'll go talk to the brothers! After that she yawns, then grins sleepily at her friends, "Okay, I think I've gotta eat something and then fall over! Wanna walk homewards with me?" Shane keeps his arm around Cinnamon's shoulders the whole way. He rather expects her to fall over quickly, but he's also got food waiting for her. Or, well... Josie used her key to get food into Cinnamon's cottage at Shane's request.
Cinnamon thinks it's kind of sweet of Marcus to walk with them! She doesn't say anything about it, though, since she's not sure he wants her paying that much attention to him. So instead she happily chatters with her friends on the way home, and gives Josie a warm hug of thanks for taking the bag of electronics to Spice. She's not quite sure what to do with Marcus, though! So... from the reassuring shelter of Shane's arm, she shyly thanks the elf for taking her message to his father... and will they both come over tomorrow too, maybe?
Marcus nods and smiles, "We will. I wanted to be able to let him know you all got back safe, and if you got both of the others." Shane's head twitches in Marcus' direction. That's true, yes, but something's missing in that explanation. His eyes narrow, but before he can say anything, Marcus adds, "I was worried about all of you, actually." That makes Shane blink. Because... it's true.
Cinnamon beams, "Awww! That's sweet, Marcus -- thank you!" She impulsively starts to step forward for a hug -- but then freezes partway. Is... is Marcus going to recoil? Or look disgusted? Or... or look pitying or force himself to respond or... Marcus wraps his arms around Cinnamon without hesitation and hugs her back, resting his head atop hers with a smile, "You're welcome." Cinnamon's eyes get wide -- but then she gets a surprised smile and warmly hugs back. Wow, this is... nice?! Shane and Josie both just... watch. And then they look at one another with one of those longtime friend moments of 'What the fuck is happening here?'
Cinnamon is still beaming as she steps back a few seconds later... and after cheerfully bidding her friends goodnight, she patters into the house with Shane. As she locks up, she sniffs happily, "Oh, wow, Josie's amazing -- that food smells wonderful wasn't it cool that Marcus didn't recoil in disgust are you hungry too asthore?!"
Shane takes a moment or two to parse all that out to the separate statements, "The food smells great. Yes, I'm hungry. Acushla... there's no reason Marcus would recoil in disgust. He's been trying to..." He sighs and pushes his hands through his hair, getting his fingers stuck because he hasn't taken his braid out yet. He stops pulling at his hair as he adds, "He's been trying to show you that he screwed up before. He's trying to do better. He enjoys being around you."
Cinnamon tilts her head puzzledly at Shane as she patters single-mindedly around him and into the wonderfully food-smelling kitchen, "'Enjoys'? Are you sure, sweetheart?" She has a big bite of food, chewing and sighing happily a moment later -- then a long draught of water before she adds, "I mean okay I can see Jaeger enjoying time with me sure but... Marcus? I figured he was just trying to be nice because he... I dunno, feels he owes me or something? -and once he doesn't feel guilty any more he'll be busy with his life again, y'know?" She giggles, adding, "Want help with undoing your braid, dathúil?"
Shane sits down and nods at the question about his braid, "Please, a ghrá." He closes his eyes, "No, beloved. I think Marcus himself enjoys spending time around you. You didn't see his face while you were hugging him."
Cinnamon patters happily over, collecting a brush, and setting her plate on the table next to Shane so she can keep nibbling on food while fixing her sweetheart's hair. She's still quite thrilled that Shane doesn't seem to mind her messing with his hair! Between slow, appreciative strokes of the brush, and bites of food, she replies, "Well, no -- of course not!" She laughs, adding, "I can't see yours either when I hug you, Shaney. Do you smile a lot or something then?"
Shane chuckles, "Acushla, I smile a lot in general when I'm with you. But Marcus doesn't usually smile a lot. He's got a very serious face normally... but he was smiling when he hugged you. Very content looking." He himself sighs and closes his eyes. The half-beansidhe loves having people play with his hair.
Cinnamon huhs quietly as she thinks about that... but then the thought slips, between her hunger, and the sheer pleasure of getting to play with her beloved's lovely, shiny, glossy, beautiful hair. It doesn't take long, in fact, for the two of them to eat and fall into bed -- Cinnamon has done quite a lot of dragoning today, after all! She's pooped... and sleeping with her beautiful, amazing asthore is the best sleep.
The next morning Marcus is actually the first one to arrive, and he lets them know Jaeger will be there soon. Cinnamon blinks when she sees Marcus at the door -- she'd half-expected Thorn, or Josie and Spice to be first! But she just smiles and nods and invites him in. She's still getting food ready for the small horde of hungry folks that she expects, so she's asked Shane to set the table. He's setting the table as requested, humming to himself.
Marcus has brought a basket of sweets which, he says, Ingrid made. They're little hand pies that smell of spices. Cinnamon brightens, sniffing interestedly, "Ooh, nice!" She beams at Marcus, "Please tell Ingrid she's a sweetheart for thinking of us!"
Marcus smiles, "I will. They're my favorites, and I asked if she'd make some for today. She was kind enough to say yes."
Cinnamon makes sure the hand pies are nicely plated and set out with the rest of the food... though she does cheat a little bit, by swiping one and nibbling on it as she finishes cooking! The pie seems to have apple, spices, and possibly some other fruit in it that's a bit toothsome. Pear, maybe? Cinnamon cheerfully sings along with Shane's humming, when she recognizes the tune. She's a small, happy whirlwind in the kitchen, making sure that several different lunch foods are cooked, prepared, and set out nicely by the time everyone is there. The next knock is Josie and Spice, and a couple of minutes after that, Thorn arrives. Cinnamon happily welcomes all three in! She's swiftly got them all seated, and with their drink of preference, as she sets food out for everyone.
Jaeger is last of all, and Cinnamon is careful to have a small note discreetly to hand when she opens the door -- and Shane has been warned ahead of time to not listen too closely to how she greets the elder, "Jaeger! Oh, thank you for coming. By the way, I have that information you asked for!" She hands the note to Jaeger, adding, "Sorry it took so long?" When Jaeger reads the note, it says only, 'Does Marcus know about your charming knack?' Cinnamon is somewhat worriedly watching Jaeger's face -- she doesn't want to accidentally betray the man's secret, after all! She knows how spooked she'd be if her mesmerism got out and was generally known.
Jaeger looks at the note discreetly and smiles, then looks Cinnamon and gives her a brief, almost unnoticeable nod. He leans down to hug the little dragon and murmurs very quietly, close to her ear, "But almost no one else does."
Cinnamon sighs in relief as she hugs him back -- excellent! That means having Marcus along to interrogate the brothers is okay. As a result, her brilliant smile is absolutely sunny as she walks in with Jaeger, "All right, everyone! Let's eat, and we can plan out what we want to ask the Bigot Brothers -- and then we can head up to the palace. Does that sound like a plan?" There's a general, cheerful chorus of agreement.
As is common when Cinnamon is hosting, there is quite a lot of tasty and filling food -- plenty for everyone! As they eat, Cinnamon muses aloud, "Spicy, it's my hope we can first empty the brothers' accounts, and then maybe track down their backers, and empty their accounts too. I think taking all their valuables is better than asking anyone to -- t-to, um... d-dispose of them?" She has a hasty bite to eat before adding, "So, um, what else should we be asking, peeps?"
Spice nods, "It may take a while, though once I get into their actual machines, I'm hoping they're arrogant enough not to lock stuff down behind the machine passwords. Sorta 'why lock a door that's already behind a fuckin' locked door' mentality. It's why people don't lock the doors that lead into their houses from their garages."
Cinnamon nods at that, "I've seen that with accounting too, yeah! Hmm... okay, do you want to stay here and work on the lappies, then, while we go question the guys? I can bring back everything they said, to you... or text it to you once we're out of the underground dungeon, if you want to try right away?" She's rather hoping Josie and Spice will agree to this -- and that way, the only folks there with Jaeger (as in Thorn, Shane, Cinnamon, and Marcus) will be folks that already know about his 'secret' knack.
Josie looks grumpy, thinking about the two men, "I don't like them. They could have been on my pack's land doing this too. They're nasty, but I understand not just wanting to kill people." Spice looks thoughtful.
Marcus clears his throat, "Bankrupting them is good, but even better would be discrediting them amongst other people that might feel the same."
Cinnamon smiles ruefully at Marcus, "Well, I figure bankrupting them will reduce their reach, and that will hopefully give us time to figure out how to discredit them... though from what little I've seen of rich humans, being broke when you used to be rich is a pretty huge check against them? Heck, if I can figure out a way to do it, I'd like to make them lose all their land too -- because honestly? If they're bordering Sparrow's rez-" she glances around curiously, "when's he due in... does anyone know? -- um, anyways -- if they're bordering the rez and having hissy fits over the water retention earthworks that Kestrel's been working on, then that says to me that they're either managing their land really badly -- or they're just incredible doodyheads that want to remain rich on other people's pain!" Cinnamon takes a deep gulp of her drink, feeling a bit self-conscious at her rather, umm... was she strident? Was she too loud maybe? She's a little pink as she focuses on her plate, mumbling, "So... um... yeah. W-what you guys said."
Thorn makes a thoughtful sound, "They'll have sympathetic ears, even if they get bankrupted. But yes, losing their land would help -- all their land. Honestly, I'm probably not the best person to ask what a suitable, measured response would be... because part of me wants to see them completely at the forbearance of supernaturals. Or even turned into ones, which... is a gross violation of their rights."
Cinnamon shakes her head wryly at Thorn, "We already have, um... not-good people who're supernaturals, right? Why should we sweep up all of humanity's jerkfaces, y'know?"
It's about then there's another knock at the door. Shane gets up to answer, and smiles, calling back over his shoulder, "Speak of the Devil, a ghrá." He steps out of the way and Sparrow saunters in... with Kestrel at his side.
[Previous Log] [Index] [Next Log]