Outside the Timeline (OOC Hangout)

[Windra]

OoC

The following takes place ... well ... whenever.
Let's just call it the -out-of-character room, eh? Doesn't matter what the timeline is, or the current plot ... All characters can gather here for a bit of a breather, have some fun, and playfully banter as much as they want. Or stir up fights. Whichever! Remember Barbie's UV comic? Yeah, this is like that. Only in roleplay!

--

" ... I still think that movie's overrated. Warm Bodies? Come on, that totally destroys the concept of a zombie!"

"Well, if da pieces work ... "

Naira stared across the room at a devilishly grinning Scarlet. The V-ACT stuck her tongue out and leaned back into her spot on the comfortable sofa. Naira, leaning against the water cooler, returned the gesture in kind.

"You're dead. Your argument is invalid, Scar," said Naira pointedly, waving her cup of cappuccino at the zombie across the room. "Besides, coming from you who'd bang anything on two legs ... "

Juggernaut rose a claw in the air. "Doesn't have ta be jus' two! I mean ... four is interestin' ... " Sad fact: her tone was serious.

There was a collective groan as multiple pairs of eyes stared at her in disbelief. Felix, out of all them, was the only one laughing. He was leaning forward in his recliner, holding his belly as he burst into hysterics. "That was disgusting."

"With Scarlet, it generally is."

"Yer all jus' mad cuz I get sum action!" protested a broadly smirking Scarlet, arms crossing her chest in a manner that was almost belligerent.

Naira chuckled. "So's Felix." The dhole immediately covered his face in his paws and pressed against the chair as far back as he could go, almost like he was trying to disappear into it's cushion and away from the embarrasment. Scarlet cooed at him ("D'awwww!") while clapping thick claws together.

"You're all out of your mind," quipped Sheikka from the hallway. She had her back pressed against the wall and was watching them through the holes of her skull-helmet. Lazily, her gaze drifted to the window. It was nasty and gray outside. Rain was coming down in sheets. Every now and then a wild crack of thunder billowed over the house, the lightning so bright it illuminate the blackness of night. All electricity had gone out some time ago. Strategically-placed candles all about the room kept the place somewhat lit so that they could walk to and fro without stumbling (too much).; "And personally I think the concept of zombies never really changed. Fear of mundane life and being caught in a rut, not moving, not speaking, not changing your ways ... "

Naira interrupted her with curiosity, earning an annoyed glare. "Where's your accent?"

The Anubian paused thoughtfully for a moment before allowing her shoulders to shrug. "I don't know. Windra must have been tired of typing the hyphenated words ... Just imagine me talking like I'm Haitian."

[Gaeva Winged Unicorn]

The door opened letting some of the rain in, as well as a drenched Geaven. Shaking himself like a dog he caught Sheikka's last words, "I'm not supposed to know what a Haitian sounds like, I'm devoid of all Earth knowledge. Absolutely great with all the pop culture references going on all the time of course, makes me look like a moron half the time." He walked over to the couch and sat down (human-style) next to Scarlet, his manes still dripping.

"That said, is there any coffee yet? I currently don't have any scenes going on and I'm about to fall asleep from boredom not having anything to do."

[Sky Lily]

"You're bored? I'm gonna die of boredom!" an equally drenched Zeekie cried as he plopped down near the same couch. "I'm the most cooperative, sociable, and uncomplicated out of the three and I'm not even in any of the cool threads! Oh nooo, instead of the overeager angst-immune character Sky just had to go with the super-shy unicorn and the kind-of-snotty sea-cat." Arms sagging, the little dinosaur hung his head with a forlorn sigh.

"Maybe next time..."

"Oh please," another voice sniffed, and Neto padded into the scene. His half-bored, aqua-green eyes stared frankly at Zeekie. "Like it'd even be fair if I was the one who had to opt out. I'm not even going to be here anymore, retiring, you know. Might as well go out with a bang. Naira. Scarlet. Felix. Sheikka. Gaeven," he addressed them all with a curt nod before curling up in the center to groom his paws and tail, which were currently in 'water' mode; seal skin, webbed fins, and all.

"It's a shame I didn't get to show this lovely talent off with something heroic. You know, like saving someone from drowning or something. But hey, can't complain. It's been... fun, here. I guess. In its own frightening way." He turned a raised eyebrow at Gaeven.

"Nice job with the whole forest thing."

"Hey it wasn't his fault!" Zeekie intervened with a giggle. "You know, if I was gonna get involved, there was a whole funny gag that was prepared for me. It was going to have to happen while everything was still going crazy, cause I was gonna run into the scene trying to escape from an evil T-Rex, but just as it leaned down to eat me, it'd shrink into a stuffed animal and just fall onto my head, hehehe! ... I-It would've been funny to those who got it." The feathersaur scratched his muzzle with a sheepish grin.

[JunoZXV]

45 minutes earlier:

The clank of a chain being pulled, the rush of water swirling around in porcelian....

The squeek of a handle could be heard before the spray of water, and the shuffling of clothes.

30 minutes of scrubbing, washing, and overall pampering... then the brush of a towel, the adorning of a bathrobe and the finishing touch

Fuzzy bunny slippers.

After inserting the tooth brush and the infamous towel turban the Neko exited the bathroom scrubbing idly away and into th-

There was a pause people, on the couch.

A horse too.

Heck it was practically a set up for a bad story joke.

Of course Juno nearly dropped the toothbrush out of his mouth as he exclaimed at the top of his lungs:

"WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE!?"

Refrence

[Windra]

No time for pausing or awkwardness. The reaction was immediate and comical:

Naira, grinning, wolf-whistled.

Felix burst into laughter.

Sheikka rolled her eyes.

Scarlet cupped hands around her mouth, shouting, "TAKE IT OFF!"

The Anubian Reaver amongst them, strangely enough in her old biped form, looked upon Juno's feet with mild amusement in her otherwise humorless eyes. "Nice touch on the slippers there," she told the pirate chidingly, like it wasn't notable at all. Somewhere on the inside she was giggling like a child.

Naira finished off what was left of her beverage and waved the empty cup in Gaevan's direction. "I got ya," she told him, twisting towards the counter. She fumbled with some dishes before pouring a cup for the equine ... and filling her own up as well. "Cream or sugar?" Meanwhile she was spraying whipped cream onto her's ... piling it on until the white foam stood at least two inches.

"Got enough there?" Felix joked, pointing.

Naira lifted it to her lips and nibbled at the whipped cream mountain peak, peering above it at the dhole as if defending her hoard. Part dragon? Yes, we think so. "Hush, I need my whipped cream."

Scarlet turned her attention from the nearly-nude Juno to the puny dinosaur in their vicinity. Sharp teeth expressed themselves in an enormous smile. "Ya should toadally do eeeeeeeeeet. Though seriously ... a big ol' T-Rex is gonna look at ya like a toothpick!"

[Sky Lily]

"Heehee, true," Zeekie giggled. "Honestly it's probably a good thing it didn't happen!" On another note, boy did Scarlet have sharp teeth. He had to admit, they were enviable.

Neto was eyeing the coffee in Naira's hand quietly. His gaze wavered to a stray bowl on the floor and he opened his mouth as if to inquire something, before muttering a "to hell with logic" and grabbing one of the available cups with his paw.

"Where's the coffee again?"

[Gaeva Winged Unicorn]

Geaven looked back at Naira, "Sugar of course, and lots of it!"

He then turned his attention to Neto, "You're the one that's going to get offed, right? Any idea how they're gonna do it yet?"

At Juno's shout Geaven too turned to regard him, and caught sight of the slippers. He snorted a laugh, but did not make an actual remark about them. "Not much of an method actor if you don't know who we are, are you?" he said with a grin.

[Sky Lily]

Neto shrugged as he took a sip of his heavily sugared and creamed coffee. "That's the thing... I was supposed to venture off to other lands or whatever, but it seems as though she's reconsidering my stay here. I think she just enjoys seeing me miserable," he added, ears going flat with a grim expression on his face.

"Sides that.... I get the feeling I'd miss the place. Yes, this place. Frog golems, earthquakes, ancient angry demons, explosions and all. Hilarious, right?"

[Windra]

"To be frank ... ," a new voice emerged from one of the darker corners of the room - definitively female with a bestial, growling undertone. A figure of average height loomed just within range, her visage obscured by present shadows. Something flicked towards the stranger's waistline. It was long and sleek ... " ... I'm not happy that you're all having the coffee and never invited me." There was not a single trace of anger within the tone despite the uttered words. Rather, they came lined with a subtle hint of remorse - fully-mocking, lacking seriousness.

Naira scoffed into her cup, licking away a large glob of whipped cream. "Considering you were the one who put us here, you already knew." The Reaver chuckled. "Dummy."

The mysterious figure flicked an object towards the undead half-dragon. It beaned the woman in the temple and she stumbled backwards, precariously balancing the mug between fingers without burning herself or dropping it. With this, the being stepped forth. The clothes were human - gray hoodie, camouflage cargo pants, black tank top ... Everything else resembled a horned reptile, curved muzzle pulled into a sheepish grin, yellow-feathered crest fully-fluffed for the sake of a sharp display.

Windra stuck out her tongue. Unlike most reptilians, she lacked scales. Her flesh was forged from soft hide.

"Screw you, bro, I was trying to earn some sympathy points," she mock-chided, wagging a clawed finger in the undead lady's direction.

Scarlet barked a laugh. "Ya can earn sympathy fer yer looks alone!"

Game. Set. Match. Scarlet ran. Windra chased.

[Lanadyr]

Meanwhile, in a far corner of the room, three characters were situated around a small card table. Two of them were seated in simple folding chairs, and one was a large quadruped that couldn't easily be "seated," exactly.

Bottle played with the full cup of coffee before her with the garden forks that served as her hands. "So, what do you think we're doing wrong here, Orb? I mean, when you first showed up in the Deep Forest, someone started showing you around in a matter of days. Meanwhile, I've been languishing for well over a month in my joining thread! It's how I smell, isn't it? Our player decides to go overboard on the flavor text, and now I'm stuck with the most bizarre B.O. in the entire Forest! Good job, Lana-dork!"

Orb, her hands cupped around a similarly full cup of coffee, looked at Bottle with her expressionless head. "Actually, I'm rather fond of how you smell. And I don't think either of you are doing anything wrong. You both, unfortunately, showed up at about the same time that things get crazy out in the real world. August and September is late summer and early fall, at least in the northern hemisphere. There are vacations to be taken, school routines to be settled into, ends of fiscal years to be justified to employers, professional conferences and trade shows to be attended. My counsel, to both of you, is patience."

"Are you certain I don't need a rewrite?" Tourniquet's own full coffee floated lazily in the air before him. "What you say might make sense for Bottle, at least, because she's meant to be…a…uh…What's a good description?"

"Lovable, good-natured spazz, I think." Bottle shrugged and arched her eyebrows. "I mean, the exact details will hammer themselves out during roleplaying, but I'm pretty sure that's what Lanadyr's shooting for."

Tourniquet nodded his head once to no one in particular. "And being a lovable, good-natured spazz is, of course, lovable. It's a far cry from being a dour basket case with anger management issues."

Orb looked at the horse and patted him reassuringly on the side of the neck with a gentle hand at the end of a distended arm. "You're a good but conflicted soul with a couple of personal demons to overcome, Tourniquet. How many beloved fictional characters have that same general personality profile? Too many to count. Besides that, your thread's only been up for two weeks." She returned her arm to its default shape. "Again, just be patient."

"Well, I suppose, as far as advice goes, that's as good as any." Bottle sighed. "I will say this, though. Although Tourniquet doesn't seem to mind the possibility, I sure hope I don't have to undergo another round of editing. That was…I don't know…embarrassing."

"We're not the only folks in Deep Forest, Bottle. If we must change to better fit the community, then we must change. 'Needs of the many' and all that." Tourniquet suddenly looked at his coffee. "And why do I even have this? I don't eat normal food."

"At least you eat something." Bottle pushed her own useless coffee away to the center of the table, silently wondering why she had one herself. "Orb and I sure don't. I mean, that's going to make future social interactions a little tough, don't you think? 'Hey, Bottle, you're cute, wanna go get some dinner?' 'Sure, I'd love to, but I don't eat, so I hope you don't mind my staring at you blankly all night while you do.'" She shook her head in frustration. "I don't know, guys. I think Lanadyr might have some shame issues with food or something."

Orb continued to hold onto her own cup of coffee with both hands. "I just like the warmth, myself."

Bottle turned to Orb with a smirk on her eyebrows. "Which is interesting, considering your penchant for cold-blooded creatures. I mean, that feathersaur over there," she motioned to Zeekie with a jerk of her head, "showed you around the Forest in the first place, and now you're acclimating that one dragon with no name."

Orb remained still. "That dragon is quite warm-blooded, his reptilian nature notwithstanding."

Bottle giggled. "And just how would you know that?"

Orb turned to Bottle. "He embraced me." As Bottle's eyebrows arched themselves to a knowing angle, Orb shook her head. "It wasn't like that."

Bottle, chuckling, held up her hands in mock surrender. "Oh, hey, I'm not judging you, Orb. Whatever floats your boat."

Orb might have glared at Bottle if she had the facial features for it, and might have blushed if she had the blood for it. Bottle continued her light laughter at Orb's apparent discomfort. Tourniquet merely put down his coffee and tried to think of a polite way to change the subject.

[Sky Lily]

Neto nearly lost hold of his coffee as Scarlet and Windra sped past him. The clouded leopard's webbed paws fumbled frantically with the cup, and the little splash of sugary caffeine goodness that managed to spill out-- as well as the muffled "Mmpph!" that followed after-- spoke volumes of the pain the feline had endured from the ordeal. He licked his now coffee-coated paw with a glare at the two culprits.

It probably wasn't a good idea for those three figures in the corner to bring their presence to Zeekie's attention, for at the word 'feathersaur' the raptor turned his head and recognized Orb almost instantly. Green eyes widened as he brought his nails to his teeth, and in the blink of an eye, Zeekie was pelting straight toward the marble-entity.

"Orb! Oooorb!" Zeekie clambered onto the sorcerer's lap and stood tall to meet her eyes, forearms on her shoulders. "Orb I'm so glad you can make it how are you are you enjoying the forest and I didn't know you drink coffee!"

[Lanadyr]

"Oh, hello, Zeekie!" Orb tilted her head a bit forward to directly address the combination friend/welcome distraction. "Excellent timing. I was going to come find you after I was done advising these two, and I think we've just finished up. I'm happy to see you here as well, I'm doing fine, I'm settling quite well into my new home, and I just like holding warm mugs. How have you been? And could you please explain the T-rex joke to me? I must be missing that particular cultural reference."

Bottle glanced between the hyperkinetic Zeekie and the preternaturally calm Orb a few times, then addressed Tourniquet. "I can see why these two get along." It was only then that she turned and noticed that the hellmount was missing. "Tourniquet?"

Tourniquet, meanwhile, had made his way over to Neto. As he did so, he "grabbed" some napkins from the coffee table with his telekinesis and moved them before the leopard. "You need a bandage or something? That looked like it might have burned you. I know a thing or two about burns." The horse narrowed his odd blue eyes a bit. "We probably shouldn't get into why just yet. Name's Tourniquet."

Bottle shrugged. "Eh, I guess I'll go try to make some friends myself." She stood up and began to walk toward Geaven. "Pardon me, giant really-really-really-off-white killer unicorn! Interested in a crash course in Earth knowledge? Well, quote-unquote Earth knowledge. Should all be the same, though. I can start with accents and move on to…I don't know…lawn aeration?"

[Sky Lily]

"How have you been? And could you please explain the T-rex joke to me? I must be missing that particular cultural reference."

Zeekie beamed. "I've been doing great! Also, this is my first time outside of the timeline. It's fun, I really like it here! Oh--" the dinosaur paused with a little giggle. "The T-rex thing has to do with a tv show my creator watched when she was smaller. It was about this magical dinosaur toy that would sometimes come to life and sing to children and stuff. Barney! You know Barney? All big and purple with green spots and stuff? That's him." He tilted his head at Bottle and waved at her as she left, green-and-blue plumage ruffling along his forearm. "Nice to meet ya!"

Neto paused in mid-lick to stare at the approaching floating napkins, eye-ing them with unamused suspicion. Though when Tourniquet expressed his concerns and introduced himself, the clouded leopard relaxed a little.

"... Name's Neto," he replied as he pushed a couple of the napkins onto his wet paw. "Though I don't think enough of it seeped through the fur to burn me just yet. Thanks for the concern. So uh, you're new here right?"

"E-excuse me," said Simi as she gingerly stepped over the couch. "Just making my way to that soft looking rug."

[Lanadyr]

"Ah." Orb nodded at the feathered dinosaur in her lap's explanation. "That explains it. It also explains the 'It would've been funny to those who got it' caveat given previously. It would be difficult to explain something like that in the Forest itself. Speaking of which, do you have any plans on doing anything inside the in-character Forest in the near future?" She glanced around a bit at the two figures still chaotically chasing each other about the area. "Or are you having too much fun here?"

Meanwhile, Tourniquet addressed Neto again. "Nice to meet you, Neto. And I can't really say I'm new here, because I'm not really here here. I haven't been accepted at the Edge yet. You've been around longer than my player, so I'm sure you know better than myself how it can be sometimes. Though I also caught bits and pieces of conversation indicating that you might not be around much longer. I understand that there's a character archive around here somewhere, if your player can't quite decide whether or not you should permanently ride off into the sunset just yet."

"E-excuse me. Just making my way to that soft looking rug."

Tourniquet glanced up at the shifter unicorn heading in his direction. He was taken aback by her sudden appearance, and just as suddenly felt compelled to put the obviously shy creature at ease, as the rug was somewhat near Neto and himself, and the hellmount had a naturally unsettling demeanor. Quickly, he glanced out of the window in the fourth wall and flicked his eyes over Simi's character profile.

She's quite timid around new faces, especially when a large crowd is involved, but a kind word or a friendly joke could do wonders to bring her out of her shell.

Tourniquet swallowed hard and turned back to Simi as she approached. "Hello. My name's Tourniquet. I like your eyes, they're nice and dark. Uh…Three guys walk into a bar, and the fourth one ducks."

Bottle, still approaching Geaven, didn't even break her stride as she glanced over her shoulder at the horse and sarcastically deadpanned, "Smooth."

[Sky Lily]

"Speaking of which, do you have any plans on doing anything inside the in-character Forest in the near future? Or are you having too much fun here?"

Zeekie thought for a moment, then shrugged. "Well, I don't really know yet. I tend to jump into threads that seem like I'd really do well in, y'know?" he said as he clacked his two "index fingers" together. "If it's something that needs someone friendly and bold, I jump in! If it's something that's serious, it's usually Simi, and if it's something really inconvenient..." he giggled. "Sky usually sticks Neto in for those ones!"

Neto heard that, and the scowl that accompanied the flick of his ear was a clear and direct reaction to Zeekie's words, which he knew was the truth. "Aaand that's your answer as to why I have not yet left," he replied to Tourniquet. "She enjoys my misery. Granted, she's also waiting to see if I grow or develop any as a character, and if not, well... I'll have the archive to safely store my info in until the time's right again. Either way, I have here to hang in anyway." He paused to take a sip of his coffee, and didn't pay much mind to Simi as he and her were already used to each other's company, which was overall not all that interactive in the first place.

"Evening, Simi."

"H-Hi Neto."

Zeekie waved quickly at the unicorn before returning his attention to Orb and inquiring about what she would be wearing for Halloween, while sharing his own ideas. The raptor was considering dressing as a Murkrow and dying his feathers in the appropriate colors.

"Hello. My name's Tourniquet."

Simi had just stepped hoof onto the rug in front of the couch when Tourniquet made himself known. The Shifter had turned to face the new voice and, although startled by his presence (she couldn't help a small flinch from his ominous aura), she was quick to try and keep her emotional reaction in check. After all, he wasn't the first unsettling creature she had met in Deep Forest, and the unicorn knew better than to judge others on their appearances after having dabbled in other characters' joining threads of the past.

"U-um, I... H-hello--"

"I like your eyes, they're nice and dark. Uh…Three guys walk into a bar, and the fourth one ducks."

At this, Simi couldn't help feeling immediately flustered by the compliment. Being told directly that someone liked something about her? How could anyone possibly get used to that? She had responded by looking down, shuffling her forehoof onto her other forehoof, and stammering for a few moments before finally getting out the words "Th-thank you, Tourniquet, th-that's very nice of you to say, a-and I'm afraid I don't get the joke quite properly, I'm assuming the fourth man was too tall so he had to duck to go inside? And uh," she added as she quickly glanced up at his face. "I like your eyes too, they're nice and... blue?"

She quickly and awkwardly settled down onto the rug, folding her legs underneath her. "I-I'm er... I'm Simi, and it's nice to meet you. Are you new here?"

[Lanadyr]

"Oh, if you want a head start looking like something that looks like a witch, I can help." In a rare display of playfulness, Orb reached up, grabbed her hat, and dropped it on Zeekie's head. Though it ended up covering far more than his head, given the size difference.

***

Meanwhile, Zeekie's previous words echoed accusingly in Tourniquet's mind.

If it's something that's serious, it's usually Simi...

Well, at least I think I know where I tripped up, Tourniquet thought to himself. I should try to make things right, or at least right-ish, but flat-out apologizing would probably just make this gentle soul even more self-conscious. Still, I think I can thread this needle…

Tourniquet lowered his head a bit in the shifter's direction and kept his voice as casual as he could manage. "The 'joke', as it were, was a heavy-hoofed attempt to put you at ease. I will tread with more care in the future. And, perhaps, buy a joke book."

He then raised his head again. "It's nice to meet you too, Simi. And thank you for your compliment. I think my eyes are one of my best features, too, next to the sparks that fly up every time I take a step." He lightly kicked a front hoof into the ground to send up a small batch of them, which quickly dissipated into the air. "They're kind of neat. To answer your question, I suppose I'm new here, but, like I was just telling Neto, I'm not exactly 'here' here." He motioned toward the right side of the screen with a jerk of his head. "You'll note how I'm not listed under Lanadyr's name. Despite that, I'm glad I came to this place. It's giving me a chance to hammer out the details of my personality. In fact, just a bit ago, Lanadyr dialed back the…uh…you know what? Let's not talk about what Lanadyr did to my character profile." I'm already making her uncomfortable enough as it is, there's no need to get into THAT…

Tourniquet then turned back to Neto. "And speaking of changes, has your player thought about who or what might replace you in the roster? There aren't many aquatic creatures around the Deep Forest, despite an entire forum devoted to the River. It gives you an interesting niche to fill. Would your replacement be another water-dweller?" He narrowed his eyes a bit. "Also, is discussing your potential demise making you uncomfortable? Because we can stop if you want."

[Sky Lily]

Orb's rare display of playfulness had Zeekie giggling like a child undergoing tickle-torture; laughter that was both muffled and echoed until the feathersaur used his forelimbs to hold the hat up a few inches by the rim. "It's almost perfect, even if I can't see anything!"

"The 'joke', as it were, was a heavy-hoofed attempt to put you at ease. I will tread with more care in the future. And, perhaps, buy a joke book."

Simi's ears flickered with self consciousness. "O-oh, that's... very kind of you. But that wouldn't be necessary. It was nice of you to try in the first place," she said with a shy smile.

"It's nice to meet you too, Simi. And thank you for your compliment. I think my eyes are one of my best features, too, next to the sparks that fly up every time I take a step."

Oh, my. Those sparks were indeed a nice feature, although slightly dangerous looking. She was glad those sparks didn't fly out too far.

"They're kind of neat. To answer your question, I suppose I'm new here, but, like I was just telling Neto, I'm not exactly 'here' here." He motioned toward the right side of the screen with a jerk of his head. "You'll note how I'm not listed under Lanadyr's name. Despite that, I'm glad I came to this place. It's giving me a chance to hammer out the details of my personality. In fact, just a bit ago, Lanadyr dialed back the…uh…you know what? Let's not talk about what Lanadyr did to my character profile. And speaking of changes," Tourniquet re-addressed Neto, "has your player thought about who or what might replace you in the roster? There aren't many aquatic creatures around the Deep Forest, despite an entire forum devoted to the River. It gives you an interesting niche to fill. Would your replacement be another water-dweller? Also, is discussing your potential demise making you uncomfortable? Because we can stop if you want."

Neto made an almost dismissive wave of his paw. "Oh, don't be worrying about that. She had no plans to kill me off, but instead have me continue exploring the country, which is kind of how I came to Deep Forest in the first place. If I did leave, however, she had plans for an eastern dragon." That comment about interesting niches didn't escape him though, and the clouded leopard gave a flattered grin. "It does, actually. Thank you for noticing. I like those hoof-sparks too; fire's not too bad of an element to be well versed in."

"Y-yes, your abilities are rather impressive," Simi added. "As someone who can shapeshift into a phoenix, I know how important fire can be at times; even to non-human creatures like us. Mine isn't actually fire fire, though. It's more of a... fiery energy that only harms what threatens me."

[Lanadyr]

"Eastern dragon?" Tourniquet thought a moment. "Ah, the longer, thinner variety. Generally benevolent. I used to face them on the battlefields of my home dimensions, where they focused on misdirection and subterfuge, providing cover for their allies with fog, wind, and rain. Of course, there's no telling what they're like in the Deep Forest. Everything's so…different here. Especially the life." He stole a few glances at Orb and Zeekie's friendly interactions, at Windra running after Scarlet with (seemingly) no overly lethal intent, at the small group on the other side of the room gently mocking Juno. "And the diversity of the life here is only the most superficial example of why that life is so different from what I'm used to."

Tourniquet shook his head a bit to tear himself away from his private musings. "Speaking of diversity, I find myself intrigued by the fact that the two of you possess four distinct forms between you. I gathered already that the aquatic Neto has some sort of aquatic 'mode', and now I learn that the 'shifter' can indeed 'shift' her shape and become a phoenix, complete with mystical flames. I'm afraid I have no additional forms to share with the two of you. Which is one of the reasons I have telekinesis. Lanadyr didn't want a character that could be stopped cold every time said character came across a closed door."

"And the sparks are harmless, although I do indeed have some fire powers, as well as some ice powers. Perdition is portrayed as being both very hot and very cold, depending on the cultural backdrop and the specific work of art, so it's only fitting that a 'hellmount' have a bit of both power sets. Fortunately, I was not given additional powers tied to what else one could find in that particular genre. That could have ended up being…unsavory."