It was probably the purring. Abel's sleeping purr was loud, and reverberated into Dar's chest from the close cuddling, and must have affected his brain somehow. As a result, Alptraum finds himself sitting on a cheetah-spotted pillow-hillock, looking down towards the pond, where a dark-furred Sphynx is taking a shower in the cream waterfall. At least, it's looks like a shower, even though Tulani is still licking herself to get the cream.
Alptraum shakes his head. "Right. I think I drank too much," the Eeee mutters at this very odd dreamscape. "Or, it might be Kaira messing with me. Still, could be worse. Free foot massage!" he quips as he bets back to his feet and heads town the hill towards Tulani.
Upon noticing the movement, the Sphynx rolls out of the cream-stream, and rolls about on the tiger-striped slope to dry off, which involves lots of luxuriant stretches apparently. "I guess this means you aren't dead.. or else we both are and this is the afterlife.." she purrs.
"No, I'm quite alive. Also, I suspect slightly drunk given the landscape," Alptraum admits as he flops onto his butt onto a nearby spot. "Everything is going fine. No signs of imprisonment or worse, and I'm being catered to by cute fnerfs and savanites."
Rolling towards him, Tulani finally comes to a stop with her chin on the bat's knee. "So, did things go well with Thath? Do I need to plan a rescue?" she asks.
Alptraum looks down. "Nope. I'm free to come and go as I need. It went surprisingly well. Also, he's going to be trying to actively determine who might be working with the General, or possessed. So there may be another gathering so we can try to 'sniff them out' so to speak," he explains and shrugs a bit. "How about you? Has Mave made you dress in a maid's outfit yet and serve her?"
"You told him about the General?" Tulani asks in surprise. "And Mave.. just gave me a makeover is all..." she adds with a bit of embarrassment.
"And you didn't have to do anything for her in return?" Alptraum asks in surprise. "As for Thath, yes, I did. He needed to know there was more than just a political threat afoot."
"How much does he know then?" Tulani asks. "Where you able to get anything from him that we need to know?"
"He knows enough; that I'm trying to deal with the threat. Doesn't know about you, or the Shadow, or the Light directly," Alptraum explains as he pokes the purring ground. "As for what we need? Going to try and get a list of those who are siding more wiht the General and such, to locate leads. Also, that he's willing to help try to lure the General out of the Forbidden zone when it comes time; to Mount Dronnel. Safer than going in after her."
"But no information on what she's actually got waiting in the Zone itself?" Tulani ask, rolling around some more. "We'll need to find out before confronting her."
"No, nothing on that. Not many want to go in there. I suppose we could. Or maybe I could find some Yodhbarada and ask them to find out," Alptraum suggests.
"What sort of price would they charge for that though?" Tulani asks. "Anyway, how much longer will you be staying at the Tower?"
"How much? No idea. Given Snowcora is favored by Barada, maybe free!" Alptraum suggests hopefully. "As for how long, a day or two maybe. He asked me to stay for a bit at least. I'm trying to mend things with him." The bat also shrugs and grins, "Why, miss me? Or is it you miss having Pierce around to torment?"
"Well, I worry.. wait, mend things?" Tulani asks, going up on her elbows. "He knows you're you then already?"
"Yes," Alptraum says and shrugs. "It was hard to not explain things once you've watched someone talk about their own family, or well, lack thereof and the failures of it."
"He actually opened up to you about that?" the Sphynx asks, looking even more surprised. "Maybe because you weren't from Babel.. or rather, your disguise wasn't.. Still, maybe it means he's getting tired?"
"I think it's that he's tired, and that I had information about, well, me. When he thought I was a messenger from Draco," Alptraum says. "I also think the letter Rose sent mentioned grandchildren, which may have started it."
"I forgot about Rikat.. he was the one Thath thought was his real son all that time," Tulani notes. "So, you sorta-kinda have some inside support then if can use it. Did you work out a means of communication, like a message drop?"
"Well, the dream way is one, and is pretty sure. The other is I know some of his direct staff now. I can further discuss it with him before I leave, though," Alptraum says. "And oh, he knows Rikat is safe; he was glad to hear that."
"What's his staff like? Savanites and Fnerfs, you say?" Tulani asks. "They can pretty much go anywhere unnoticed.."
"Also, I feel I should gloat, I have been assigned a savanite who gives one mean massage," Alptraum indeed gloats. "And you are stuck with Mave."
"They're all actually fairly nice and seem to think well of him from the best I can tell," Alptraum explains. "His secretary is a fnerf. Amusingly with his coloration."
"Well, let's not consider the secretary as a go-between then: too obvious," Tulani says. "Best thing would be a chain relay. We have a message drop, and one tertiary servant is the pickup person. They give the message to another servant who does not interact directly with Thath, but can interact directly with his secretary..."
"Honestly, probably through savanites. Which means me as Pierce delivering to a savanite, who delivers to another, then eventually reaches Thath," Alptraum agrees. "Many look very similar and they're very common servants in this city."
"Pierce is hardly common.. although without his face jewelry he'd probably be unnoticed," Tulani suggests, licking her nose for some reason. "Have you met anyone in Thath's entourage that you'd trust for something like that?"
"I'm not sure quite yet. That's one reason to stay around for a day or two. The savanite staying with me seems nice, but I don't know him that well yet," Alptraum says.
"Is he cute?" Tulani asks, grinning like a cat.
Alptraum has to think about that. "Very," he concludes. "And strong."
"You'll have to introduce me sometime," Tulani requests. "Or make a copy. Do you need me to do anything on the outside? How are you set for clothes and stuff?"
"If I got him drunk I could probably copy him. But you already have Pierce and you've decorated him to your liking, haven't you?" Alptraum has to ask. "As for clothing, I'm fine. I'm also pretty sure I can ask for more if I need to."
"Do you miss me?" the Sphynx asks next, lashing her tail about as if she's going to pounce from all fours. "Anything you need from me here?"
"Why would I miss you? I have lots of servants at my call," Alptraum teases and grins. "As for needing something .... maybe."
"You could rub my belly, or pet me," Tulani suggests. "Bring me more cream.."
Alptraum laughs as he reaches over and rubs Tulani's head. "Fine, then," he says as he gets up to go and get some cream for the crazy sphynx."
Tulani dutifully rolls onto her back to await her treat.
And to make the weird purring place that much weirder, while Alptraum is away, he's shifted in this place into his savanite form; complete with all his 'decorations'. Since there is no bowl to fill, he actually fills his mouth (after sampling some for himself), with the same cream from the 'waterfall'. The spotted cat then saunters back and slides down next to Tulani ... and with a wiggle of his ears, kisses her, and thus provides her both a surprise, and some more of the milk!
Of course, the Sphynx giggles halfway into it, spilling cream all over herself and Pierce. "Oh my.. what a mess! We'll just have to clean it up.." she suggests impishly.
And naturally Pierce waggles his brow ... and the well-practiced tongue-grooming commences. That little stud in his tongue is so useful...
When Dar opens his eyes, the first thing he sees is Abel's sleep face.. or his chin at least, since the cheetah is still slightly taller (or in this case, longer) than the Eeee. And just beyond the cheetah's cheek is a huge white eyeball staring at him.. except it's not, really. The eye is white, with a black pupil, but it's surrounded by a wide ring of white feathers in a scarlet head. "You awake?" the eyeball-bearer asks.
Dar has to resist jerking up hard from the bed in shock. BEing groggy helps with that. "Yes," Dar mutters sleepily. He actually kisses the underside of Abel's chin for whatever reason, then looks back to the bird-eye. "Is something wrong?" he asks.
"You sleep in late," the avian voice notes, as the Vartan sits up. Her cheek-feathers are also white, but her beak is black, along with her talons. The scarlet color extends onto her wings as well, but ends at a band of yellow before becoming bright blue. From what Dar can see, her equine lower half is white. "I'm your guide; Myrtle. Myrtle Bluetit," she introduces herself, and holds out a taloned hand. "You're Daft Seaport right?"
The Savanite has clearly just been pretending to sleep, because his ears twitch a bit.
The dark Eeee's ears twitch in annoyance. After the thumps Abel on the head with a spare pillow, he sits up and takes the offered talon. "It's Dar Seifert," he corrects the vartan.
"Didn't I say that?" the hippogryph asks, giving the hand a good old-fashioned 'who is the strongest' squeeze. While being a full-blooded Vartan, Myrtle is a bit on the petite side, and nearly as slender as Tulani. But Dar is also a Sylvanian Eeee, and a bit bigger and more robust than the typical non-soldier Babelite.
Naturally Dar squeezes back. "Not quite, which is why I corrected you," the Eeee notes as he gets out of the bed. "Pleasure to meet you. Did you have something planned that I missed because I slept in?"
"Not yet! Needed to get a look at you first," Myrtle claims, and then takes a moment to really look Dar up and down. "You're a big guy," she comments. "What you in the mood for? Food, fun, shows, food.. uh.. girls? Men? Petting zoo? Booze? What you Sylvanian's like to do? Why you got bumps on your thingy?"
Dar laughs as he stretches, then goes about the lazy task of getting dressed. "Fun, I guess. I ate late so I'm not hungry quite yet," he admits as he pulls his pants on. "And as for the bumps, to make things more enjoyable," he says. Nosy, this one. Next comes his shirt as he quickly pulls it on.
Abel is up and next to Dar in a flash, just in case he needs help with anything. Myrtle looks thoughtful, and asks, "You like ruins? Haunted ruins? Or sports? Or hitting things? Or bowling? Fun standing up or lying down? Theater maybe?"
"I like lots of things. Ruins can be interesting; haunted or not," he admits, "Sports .. not as much. Fun lying down, sure; if the person is attractive. Sometimes it's fun standing up too," he jokes, grinning, as he lets Abel finish dressing him.
"Well, which are you in the mood for like right now?" Myrtle asks, blinking her big milky eyes.
"Well, I'm not sure. I do have two very attractive people in my room right now," Dar says with a laugh, "But maybe I should go see some ruins first. It might be educational on Babel's history."
"There is a special ruin on the edge of the Wound that people can visit," Myrtle notes. "Strictly for guests of the Coalition, mind you. Closest you can get to it legally."
"A ruin of what?" Dar asks as he idly swats Abel on the butt for being mischievous earlier.
The Savanite remains stoic and respectful, for the most part.
"I know better," Dar tells Abel and even waggles his index finger at him.
"It was a tower, of course," Myrtle notes. "Got a big bite taken out, but not enough to make it wobbly and all. The original owner 'donated' it to the Coalition. Didn't want to pay for maintenance spells or whatever anymore, since it couldn't be used."
"Is there anything special about it, other than part is missing?" Dar asks as he stretches again. "Even if not, it would be worth seeing I suppose."
"Well.. uh, it's a Boomer ruin," the Vartan notes. "That you can visit. Without being shot."
"Might as well," Dar agrees. "Lead on, feathered fiend of the tower."
The Tower of Doom, according to the sign out front, is restricted access, but Myrtle has a special pass. Past the guards, Dar is led into a sort of museum. The whole place is set up like a still-life, with statues of people frozen in everyday tasks to show what life was like in the tower. At least, until they get to the first level that got bitten off. The statues here are expressing horror as they point out through the opening. There's even half-removed furniture, including the lower half of a chair complete with the sitter's legs.
Maybe it wasn't a good idea to come here, because Dar has a flashback to the night he briefly shared in the punishment of the man who dropped the weapon. The flash of anger and pain still echoes to this day. Enough that Dar actually stumbles for a second and holds his forehead. "Maybe this was a bad idea," he mutters once the intense flash passes. It also doesn't do much for his mood; it sinks a bit as the horror of what happened is re-presented in frozen glory.
Myrtle holds onto Dar's shoulder, keeping him steady. "Wow. Yeah, I see that reaction a lot. Place keeps you from forgetting what happened, y'know? You want to go someplace happier?"
"I can't imagine ever forgetting it," Dar thinks to himself. Once he's steadied he brushes the vartan's hand off his shoulder. "What did you have in mind?" he asks as he goes to the open edge and stares out into the gaping hole in the middle of the city.
"Dancing!" Myrtle says. "You like that?"
Dar has to actually think about that. "Sure," he decides. "Why not?"
The Scab is a deceptively named club on the same level of Cenesta Plaza as Slaves To Art, but down a different alley. It's also the most brightly lit place Dar has been to, if only the lights weren't in so many different colors.. including some that cause others to glow. It has a really weird effect on Myrtle's own feathers. It's full of younger Eeee, including Fnerfs and Naga, all gyrating or stomping to music that seems to be coming from two different bands at the same time. Luckily the volume level is low, since the Eeee clientele would never be able to handle it otherwise.
"Hey, check this out!" Myrtle notes when they're inside, and removes her tunic. It's clear where her surname comes from, since they are blue.. but in the odd lighting they glow.
Dar's ears twitch, then splay sideways. He soon can't help himself and laughs at the sight. "Okay, that's new. Of all the things I've seen, never have I seen glowing breasts," he wheezes once he recovers from laughing. "I can also see why you would like this place, vartans like shiny and colorful." As he looks about the club next, Dar also feels a bit, well, old. Most of the people here are probably close to twenty ... and he's pushing close to thirty now! Still, it is a lot happier than the museum!
Myrtle whistles loudly by putting some fingers in her beak (how is that possible?) and gets everyone's attention. "Hey!" she bellows. "This is Dar, from Sylvania, and he's got like bumps on his wand. Come be friendly!"
"She didn't have to say that!" Dar thinks as he rubs his forehead. The Eee then swats Myrtle in the side with the back of his hand. "Was it really necessary to announce that?" he asks. Not to mention Sylvanian Eeee aren't exactly popular in Babel.
"Wow, stuzzy!" one garishly made up Eeee says, coming over to give Dar a kiss! The girl is glowing with pink makeup. "So daaark. Are you like a zombie?"
"He ain't a zombie Fizz!" a Fnerf in a leather jacket claims. He's also wearing sunshades for whatever reason. "He ain't oozing. You gotta be more oozy than a Yodhgorphat to be a proper zombie, ever'one knows that."
A debate then breaks out about which would be worse to kiss, a zombie or a Yodhgorphat. "Does the zombie have knockers like Myrtle?" one Vartan asks.
Dar blinks several times. Now there is a question he has never been asked. Granted, he came close once and the status of his right hand is uncertain ... but he's still alive. "I'm not a zombie. I would be a lot thinner if I were, and smell terrible," he comments. The fnerf then gets a puzzled look and he asks, "Were the Yodhgorphat really that oozy? And that bad to kiss?"
"Who knows?" the Fnerf says, shrugging. "If anyone did, they never spoke of it!"
"We got to paint you up to be glowy," Fizz claims, and starts dragging Dar towards the bar. "I wanna see the bumps too!"
"Wait what? Paint?" Dar asks as he's hopelessly dragged towards the bar! "Is this really necessary? They aren't that interesting. It was just, well, I was drunk in Abu Dhabi!"
"Don't worry Dar, nobody steal your clothes," Myrtle says reassuringly. "You just have fun, yeah? Glow in dark bumps got me curious now.."
"Er, right, well, they had better not!" Dar says as he's dragged by a gaggle of young, multi-colored hooligans! There is a bit of a scuffle as he does try to keep himself clothed, but when a Naga sticks a forked tongue in your ear, you suddenly get very distracted! Before he knows it, the Eeee is now standing very naked in the group ... and his clothing is given to Myrtle. "Er, hi?" he says with an embarrassed grin.
Bowls and jars and brushes are brought to bear, as multiple people begin to decorate Dar at random, although Fizz goes for the bumps. "Hey, you have to be firmer," she complains to Dar.
IT doesn't take long for Fizz's inspection to get the area in question quite a bit firmer, though. "I'm not used to things like this!" he complains. Which is true, to an extent.
"That's more like it! Now.. colors!" the young Eeee squeals, and starts with.. orange! Which she spirals around and between the bumps, because she has green polka-dots planned for those.
Poor Dar ends up looking towards the ceiling. "Well, it isn't worse than what happened with Mordecai, I guess?" he tries to convince himself in thought. And admittedly, he doesn't seem to mind the green; maybe it's his attraction to Gorphat herself coming back to his mind. His toes also end up wiggling, because, well, brushes down there tickle!
The smiling flower face at the tip really might have been going too far, but since several others are drawing flowers on Dar in other places at least it doesn't seem out of place.
Dar now just feels really silly. "Were the flowers necessary?" he finally asks. Myrtle also gets a sad-looking Dar looking right at her!
"I think it cute, see!" the Vartan notes, and drops her own pants. Yup, there's a flower painted there..
"Well, at least that area looks like a flower," Dar points out. He also can't help but think about Inala's mark and where it is on Snowcora. He really has no place to complain!
"Now you can dance!" Fizz proclaims, after Dar is covered in glowing graffiti. Myrtle offers him a talon, which is nearly invisible in the odd light if not for some glowing nail polish.
"This is hardly dignified for a dignitary," the multi-colored Sylvanian remarks a bit dryly to Myrtle as he takes the offered Talon. And even with the fact he seems a little 'stuffy', it does turn out he can dance. And even after a bit, seems to loosen up out on the dance floor with the menagerie. I guess when in Babel...