Trog's Tavern: Roman Numerals Are Dumb

[Keeper]

Lenny shouldn't have to wait too long for a weird situation to appear. Within two minutes a shark-person walks into the bar. Average human height but with a bulky build, Henry Vadnova can't even really pose as a normal shark-person, as the glowing lights in his eye-sockets and tiger-shar-stripes give away his otherworldly nature. A nature he belies almost all moments of his life by even now humming quietly, smiling, and hopping onto a bar stool to order a cold bottle of water, at least half of which he immediately pours over himself, soaking his white tank-top and shorts as much as himself.

[quillpleasant]

Even in these parts, a glowing shark person makes for some interesting people watching. Lenny narrows their eyes, watching curiously. They can't help but grin as he douses himself, and after a moment they stand up and pad silently over. They give him a quick sniff to see if they can detect anything suspicious, then pull out the barstool next to him and sit down.

"So. Do you need water to breathe, like a frog? Or did you just run a marathon or something?" they ask by way of introduction, leaning on the bar and fixing Henry with a raised eyebrow.

[Keeper]

As a blessing to the entire Nexus, Henry does not smell like dead fish. He does however, not smell like much of anything at all. Except maybe a little bit of ectoplasm and salt. He turns to the human? with a toothy smile.
"Naw, neither of those. My skin just gets real dry if I don't keep myself damp every few hours. Problems with bein' a fish." he assures them.

[quillpleasant]

Ectoplasm is interesting. Lenny has sniffed a few ghosts in her time, but they're usually a lot less solid, and there's something rather down to earth about this fellow. She meets Henry's toothy grin with one of her own, displaying rather oversized canine teeth. It's definitely meant to be friendly.

"Huh, yeah, I can imagine. Like the reverse of if a human stays in water too long and their skin gets all wrinkly and bloated." Quite a pleasant thought. "Can you imagine if being in air made you puff up like a balloon? What if you drifted away instead of sinking?" Lenny scratches her hair thoughtfully.

"Anyway. The name's Lenny, pleased to meet'cha." She offers a rather sweaty hand to shake.

[Keeper]

”My name’s Henry.” cheerily answers the shark as he shakes Lenny’s hand.

”Before I died I could puff up like a pufferfish. So I can tell you that being a balloon sucks and I don’t recommend it.”
Being part Zamtrios was a weird experience. His new power set is somehow more straightforward.

[Thursday Violist]

It was still a few days before the heist, and opposed to his comrades, Mogzoku would rather spend that time doing the things he loves before potentially getting killed or wasting away in prison. He doesn't have much money to prepare with, anyways. Thus, he enters Trog's in his commoner's getup.

First order of business, he scans the room for some hot babes to pick up -anddddd there's Venus over there. In an instant, his impure intentions melt away as he approaches the deity. Hoping on the stool two stools over, he looks at her clothes with some trepidation for a moment before looking towards her face.

"Hey, V. Why so glum, kupo?"

And then June!

Or.

Wait.

No.

Venus?

Zee scoots Venus' glass of llamanaid to her. "Hey," says the Zee.

Initially, Venus doesn't register 'V' as her name. It's not really something she's beem called before, after all! But she does recognize the speaker's voice, which lets her make the connection that she's the one being talked to.

She lifts up her head.

Venus then takes a breath in, and another out.

"Hey, Mogzoku. It's...I don't know. It's complicated." She takes another long breath out.

Oh! Hey, llamanade! It arrived.
Venus looks up at Zee. "Thanks, Zee." And! Zee was actually kinda right in the first place. 'June' would technically be slightly more accurate than 'Venus' since she had, in actuality, left her 'Venus' name-mask-identity-thing whatever back at her church due to complicated reasons that probably don't matter, but since Zee probably doesn't care about that fairy mask name nonsense and Venus is perfectly fine with going by 'Venus' regardless of the nonsense that's going on, 'Venus' is also perfectly correct, too.

Whatever. Tangent aside, Venus thanks Zee for the drink.

Venus swirls the drink as she gazes down into it, and goes back to addressing Mogzoku.
"Well, basically. . ." She feels tempted to say 'I don't know' again, but chooses not to do so. "Well, I really don't want to go back home. I know I need to, but I just don't want to. I don't really like how I get treated, but everyone depends on me and I feel really guilty because I'm not meeting their expectations and...well, I guess the situation really isn't that complicated, in the end." Rather, it's her feelings that are the complicated part.

'Home', of course, refers to her church.

[quillpleasant]

Lenny raises an eyebrow as he shakes Henry's hand. Well, there's something you don't hear every day.

"Before you...? You're gonna have to explain that one bud," he says cheerily. "Were you resurrected or something?" Whatever it is, Lenny's assuming it's somehow tied to the ectoplasm scent in some way.

"I have a certain interest in that kind of thing. Of course, if it's personal, I understand." He's assuming it's not due to the casual way Henry mentioned it, but it's better to be safe with this kind of thing. Some people get really touchy about death.

[Keeper]

"Oh yeah, I got stabbed like forty seven times by some monster hunters or something. Long story. The trauma wiped it from my memory along with like, three months of my life." Henry waves a hand. It was weird, suffice to say.
"Then my sister tried to bring me back with her spooky dragon scales and my super cursed house binds everyone in my family to it so together that was enough to pull me back. Except the house re-rolled my curse so instead of a cold-spewing puffer-shark I got chubby ghost shark. I guess it's the same thing in practice." Round, cold, shark. Close enough.

[quillpleasant]

Lenny just stares at Henry for a moment, then bursts into laughter.

"Sorry, I'm not making fun of you," they say, waving their hands, "There's just so much to unpack in what you just said, and I wasn't expecting it." They did ask for an explanation, but this just raised about ten more questions.

"I feel you on the trauma buddy," they say, nodding glumly, "I been there. Well, not there exactly. I wasn't stabbed forty seven times. But you know what I mean." Can't really quantify bad stuff after all.

"But hey, we got more than a few things in common. Both got curses, and oddly enough mine is also connected to my sister. Although you kind of lost me with the rerolling thing." They consider for a second, reaching up to tap a nail against their teeth.

"So wait, you weren't always a shark? What were you before?"

[Keeper]

Henry nods, though in his case what he meant was that the actual physical trauma to his brain wiped all his memory from his second day with the Vadnovas to the time of his death. No need to clarify that.
"Oh, all my family members were human at some point. I was probably the odd man out, being half-halfling. But they decided the only way to figure out if I was actually their lost brother was to convince me to sleep in the house, which is how it hits you with the monster-curse. They meant well. I'm still a tiny bit mad. But at least I can be there for my twin sister. Her curse is...nasty." Insidiously so.

[quillpleasant]

Lenny might be talking about physical trauma too. Of course, most trauma has aspects of both.

"Well I can't blame you, I'd be pretty furious if my family cursed me. I mean they did and I am, so." She shrugs, cricking her neck to one side.

"So what's your sister's curse? And are these, like breakable? I'm kind of trying to figure a way to break my own, so. And by kind of I mean really." She won't say it, but being trapped in a big ghost shark body sounds like a pretty cool curse to have, if you have to be cursed at all.

[Keeper]

"Oh. Sarah visibly didn't change until she gets upset. Strong emotions make her turn into a dragon that sprays scales everywhere that makes everything trip out and go berserk." Henry nods.
"I'm immune because I'm dead. Kinda. Look, we don't really get it but she just likes having someone to hug. But don't tell her I told you that." Lenny may suspect that Henry is a huggy person.

"But my other half-siblings are a spider with a human face, a human with a spider face, one slime and one guy who's just REALLY TALL. It's all pretty random? There's a necromancer and a sort-of goddess who have gone on a quest to exorcise the demon outta my house but they're being slow because they need to make sure it won't just like, eat our souls the second they try."
Henry likes his soul where it is, thank you.

[quillpleasant]

"Oh man." Lenny considers the rage inducing dragon curse. Now that's a doozy. "Ya know, this is making me feel not half bad about my own situation. At least I don't drive people crazy."

He's also considering which fate is worse- the spider faced human or human faced spider. Spider, human. Human, spider. "Is the spider with a human face like, a giant spider, or just normal spider sized? Because being that tiny would suuuuuck." You could get squished so easily!

"Well geez, you seem to be handling it all pretty well, considering... everything." Lenny gestures expansively. There's a lot to feel down about, but Henry is just sitting here sipping his water. "You want a hug? You seem like you could use a hug." Lenny doesn't remember the last time he's hugged someone. It's been years.

[Keeper]

"Oh no she's like, the size of a couch kind of spider. She might be the biggest in the family but I don't know how to calculate that." In theory Sarah's dragon shape is bigger. And Henry does grow when he's upset, as rare as that is.
"My family are weirdos and have just been cool with it, even bringing me into the house. At least I have an aspect of a goddess looking into it. But I'm also like, bound in death and stuff. So I pretty much have all the time in the world until the House tries to eat me."

Henry does tentatively raise his arms. "Um. If you want? I'm wet and shark skin is all scratchy. Normally my girlfriend is the only one willing to touch me. Well, and my twin."

[[brackets lover]]

Initially, Venus doesn't register 'V' as her name. It's not really something she's beem called before, after all! But she does recognize the speaker's voice, which lets her make the connection that she's the one being talked to.

She lifts up her head.

Venus then takes a breath in, and another out.

"Hey, Mogzoku. It's...I don't know. It's complicated." She takes another long breath out.

Oh! Hey, llamanade! It arrived.
Venus looks up at Zee. "Thanks, Zee." And! Zee was actually kinda right in the first place. 'June' would technically be slightly more accurate than 'Venus' since she had, in actuality, left her 'Venus' name-mask-identity-thing whatever back at her church due to complicated reasons that probably don't matter, but since Zee probably doesn't care about that fairy mask name nonsense and Venus is perfectly fine with going by 'Venus' regardless of the nonsense that's going on, 'Venus' is also perfectly correct, too.

Whatever. Tangent aside, Venus thanks Zee for the drink.

Venus swirls the drink as she gazes down into it, and goes back to addressing Mogzoku.
"Well, basically. . ." She feels tempted to say 'I don't know' again, but chooses not to do so. "Well, I really don't want to go back home. I know I need to, but I just don't want to. I don't really like how I get treated, but everyone depends on me and I feel really guilty because I'm not meeting their expectations and...well, I guess the situation really isn't that complicated, in the end." Rather, it's her feelings that are the complicated part.

'Home', of course, refers to her church.

"Ah, I understand, kupo," Mogzoku says affirmatively, "That must be quite the struggle for you. Would you like some advice, kupo?" Mogzoku was in a unique position to speak on this matter, as inclined as he is to help the downtrodden.

[quillpleasant]

"Nah man, everyone knows sharks are smooth as hell. And do I look like someone who's bothered by that kind of thing anyway?" says Lenny, leaning over to give Henry a hug. It's true that their general dishevelment and griminess would likely be a little more unpleasant than just being damp.

Sitting back, they finish their coke and then begin to puncture the side of the can with a fingernail. "Having a big family like that sounds nice. Like, not to minimize the whole curse and potentially being eaten thing. I dunno, I just miss having people there, you know?"

[Keeper]

Henry nods.

"When my dad died I thought that was it for my family. Learning I had a whole different side of the family waiting for me was...something. They're weird and a little crazy. But they are family, curse or not."
The possibility that he may have retconned himself into the family with a magic wishing well is not something worth going into.

[quillpleasant]

"Yeah, that... that sounds pretty nice. I'd love to have a family like that." Lenny is slowly ripping the can in half. She's definitely not jealous.

"And hey, dead dad club. They should give us a discount at grocery stores for that. Ten percent off for each dead parent. Sweeten the deal, you know?" Her tone makes it more than clear that this is sarcasm.

[Keeper]

”Well, it would certainly help with the groceries. My family is so paranoid even before I got assassinated that they made Sarah get all the groceries. And she’s a biohazard!”
Being fair Sarah also goes to school and stuff. She’s exactly as stubborn on the matter as he is.
”But um. So it’s just you, then? I’m sorry. That sucks.”

[quillpleasant]

"Ha, yeah, I would imagine that assassination would make shopping a little nerve wracking," says Lenny, aware that it's the understatement of the year. It would certainly make him think twice.

Lifting up the bottom half of the can, he sips the remaining dregs from it. "You know, this fox cola is one of the only carbonated beverages I can actually drink. Stuff like coke is poisonous, because of the caffeine. Found that out the hard way." Learning that was almost as sad as having to give up onions.

"But yeah, no family anymore. Well, I have a little sister somewhere, but she's not really... family." Lenny smiles, but not in a nice way. More a showing his teeth way. "Let's just say I can't really relate to the loving sibling thing you've got going on, as nice as it sounds."

[Keeper]

Henry nods.
”Apparently I had a somewhat strict diet as a living shark but now I just kinda eat whatever. I could probably eat a ghost if I wanted.”
He could definitely at least bite one.
The other things makes him pause though.
”That bad huh? No chance of patching that up. Because my siblings did curse me and stuff. It wasn’t always this good. I kinda had to…accept some of what they do. It’s a little hard to put in words.”
Mostly because Henry isn’t sure if what he actually did about it is healthy.

[quillpleasant]

Lenny considers this. "What... would a ghost taste like? I guess you haven't eaten one yet. Maybe you should find an evil ghost to eat, for science." Definitely not just to satisfy their curiosity.

"And yeah, pretty bad. The cursing thing, I could also forgive. I mean, my life is kind of hell because of it, but whatever, I can deal with slowly falling apart and waking up covered in blood." Their lip curls. "But killing our parents is a little harder for me to get over. And by hard I mean impossible."

They sigh, crumpling up the remnants of the can. "I'd love to let go of stuff and make things work, like you've done with your family. But that's not really the kind of person I am."

[Keeper]

Henry nods slowly.
"No, I understand. Sometimes a situation is just absolutely beyond fucked."
The bottom of his tail taps against the floor as he takes a long swig of his water.
"I hope your situation gets less fucked." says the chubby cheery shark with a look of complete sincerity and seriousness.

[quillpleasant]

"Well, I appreciate it," says Lenny with a crooked smile. It's hard to brood around someone as pleasant as Henry. "I'm certainly working on getting the situation unfucked." Best not to speculate on how.

"So... I've noticed there's a lot more animal people here than I'm used to. Probably would have been hard to get used to, but my own deal kind of distracted me." While not obviously animalistic, the sharp teeth and nails do seem to suggest that. And the sniffing.

[Keeper]

”Well, yeah I guess so. Especially after the Blood Moon have a good chunk of the city lycanthropy. It’s a lot of people. Especially if you are including folks with just cat ears and stuff.”
Henry stops to consider if he does.
”In my family everyone is so inhuman that like I said: Sarah did the grocery shopping even though she’s a biohazard.
Plus side, being a shark means I finally don’t need shoes just like Da. It’s everything he said it would be.”
Henry happily wiggles his clawed land-shark toes. He has very much enjoyed not needing shoes anymore. Definite shark perk.

[quillpleasant]

"Lycanthropy... like being a werewolf? Hey, maybe I can find people to give me advice on handling my curse!" For the first time, Lenny seems genuinely excited by something. "I just kind of assumed it was a unique situation, there weren't any lycanthropes where I come from. Or much of anyone except humans." Of course, not all werebeasts play by the same rules.

Glancing down at Henry's feet, Lenny kicks his own, also bare. "Yeah, I haven't worn shoes in a while, just feels wrong now. One of the few perks I guess." It did take a while for his feet to toughen up, with a lot of stubbed toes and gravel cuts the first few weeks.

[Keeper]

"Well, it was kind of a shitshow, to be honest. Lotsa folks started turning into whatever bit them, and all the animals and werecritters were going nuts. Which is how you get Intersection needing their own little division now that a good chunk of their officers couldn't go an hour without turning into yaks, hippos, and ducks."
Henry nods, his eyes flicking over to the rack of brochures at the Trog's entrance.
"There's a couple support groups for lycanthropy, I think. Just gotta make sure you get the right one and not one of the ones for getting turned into animals-full time."
Magical Animals Anonymous is very welcoming but not the issue Lenny has.

[quillpleasant]

"Wow, that sounds... pretty awful." Lenny considers the story. Other kinds of werebeasts don't sound that bad- how much damage could someone turned into a duck really do? But on the other hand, their own transformation tends to result in multiple casualties, so even a few similar beings could cause absolute havoc.

"Well, it's good to know that people here have some experience in dealing with stuff, so they'll be able to handle it if I go feral and start eating people." It's half a joke, but only half.

And the idea of a lycanthrope support group is highly amusing. "God, a bunch of people sitting around in a circle, talking about how long it's been since they ate someone... I don't know if I'd be laughing or crying. Probably both. Nah, I think I'd just bring the mood down." It's a tempting thought, but it's just hard to imagine after dealing with the curse alone for so long.

[Keeper]

”Please get some help before that happens. I’d hate to have to run an investigation and have the person turn out to be a friend like you.”
Henry doesn’t really do a lot of investigations but he does get called in by Detective Michalson from time to time.

[quillpleasant]

Lenny waves a hand dismissively. "Don't worry about that. I have a place I've been hiding out when it gets bad, so I don't hurt anyone. It's just more and more frequent that I have to go there." And it would be nice to not have to spend half her life locked in a room.

"So you're an investigator? Do you work for a precinct, or are you freelance?"