GLoG

[Beans]

[Wormwood Cabin]

Nefila smiles a little. "Well, good to hear that the daycare seems nice. Won't be long before they can look after Sujo." But then Braon goes on and she winces. "That's... I'm sorry, Braon, that's a lot that just got added to your plate. Uh---you said one of your boys? You're carrying more than one, then?"

[Ironsmith]

[Wormwood Cabin]

"Three." Braon nods. "And two girls. Looks like I'll be a broodmother before you are." She gives a rueful, humorless laugh at that. The irony probably wasn't lost on either of them.

pupPApuppupuppa

Even that joyless laugh doesn't last very long. The implications of that particular revelation are still running through her head, raggedly at that. Her son is going to be born cursed. Nobody else seemed particularly bothered by that, and while she's sure the people here at GLoG will treat him just fine, outside the camp, reality is going to pin him to the wall.

And it's her fault.

Braon fingers her tooth necklace and scowls. "Stupid bitch." She whispers to herself.

[Beans]

[Wormwood Cabin]

Nefila nods, listening. "You're getting quite the head start on me, yeah." She pauses before she goes on. "You're going to have your hands full. Y'know, I could make you a more permanent version of the silk slings I put Sujo in---"" She remembers Braon's disdain toward anything that looks like handouts or charity and thinks fast. "---and maybe you could teach me how to make that soup of yours."

[Gullara]

[Infirmary]

"Mmhm..." Sakura winces again. "She did something to me or my clothes. Is there someone that can help me with that..?"

[Ironsmith]

[Wormwood Cabin]

PUNP!

Braon pulls the kettle off of the heat and frowns. "...In what sense would that be a fair trade?" She asks, momentarily bewildered by the offer. "Teaching you would require giving you a whole new set of skills, and when I'm done, you can use them forever. And what I get out of this is a sling? Ugh."

Besides, deal-making hasn't exactly worked out for her in the past. The Pit. Sekhmet. Sekhmet again. NarTheo- actually she got the better end of that one. Maybe that's a sign to try again.

"...What I'm saying is, one sling seems a little low a price for that sort of knowledge. I might be willing to teach you if you could nudge that up to..." She drums her fingers on her chin. "...Well, whatever I come up with over the next few weeks. You make me whatever I ask for between now and my delivery date, and in return, I'll show you how to make my soup. Deal?"

[Beans]

[Wormwood Cabin]

Nefila blinks at the response... but Braon turns it around. "Alright. Slings, swaddling, whatever you need. Might see if the cat lady with the bad leg will lend me some knitting needles for like, little baby hats if you want those." She smiles a little. Braon's putting in the effort to accept this tentative olive branch, it seems.

[Ironsmith]

[Wormwood Cabin]

"Well, if you're not willing to-" Braon stops mid-sentence. "...Come again?"

She actually took that offer? That hilariously one-sided offer? Just like that? No further negotiations, no doubts, nothing? A few weeks of on-demand servicd in exchange for the details behind a parlor trick, and she agrees?

...That's not a good sign. She must know something Braon doesn't. The silk's going to be faulty somehow, or she's going to be slow, or... well, there's really quite a few ways she could screw Braon over if she wanted.

Then again, Braon could screw her just as easily. It's not like the deal they made was binding or anything. And the way she phrased it, Nefila would have to offer her services first, so Braon could get the better of her simply by not holding up her end of the bargain.

No way bug-lady is outwitting her.

In the more immediate future, though, there's a small matter of popcorn. Braon's made a bit too much to eat it all herself. Not that she won't try.

[Beans]

[Wormwood Cabin]

Nefila shrugs. "I said yes. Perhaps we throw in some of that popcorn as a down payment, but... well, if you teach me to make that soup, that's not just something you've given to me. That's something I'm going to give to Sujo, and all my children, and my children's children---if I make them happen, and whether I do or not is my problem." She smiles, tilting her head. "Sounds well worth it to me, even if it's a lot of silkwork I've got to crank out."

[Ironsmith]

[Wormwood Cabin]

Oh.

Ooooooh.

Well, Nefila has a point. Not-screwed-up families do tend to leave inheritances. And even some of the screwed-up ones do that (Braon herself being something of an example of that). Nefila's not going to cheap out on her, she's just really going to get her silk's worth out of the knowledge.

...In which case Braon's on the lower end of the deal again. Hmph.

"...Well, I don't know what you mean by a down payment." Braon mumbles as she transfers the kernels from their kettle to a handy wooden bowl. "But if you're asking for a show of good faith, all right."

It's just popcorn. Braon can part with a little popcorn if it gets Nefila trusting her.

► Although, if she eats it...

Nefila might come to the conclusion that she doesn't actually want the popcorn. It tastes... fine. But she'll be reminded of the last horror movie she saw. Well, the last good one, at least. Sitting in the dark, watching people get picked off one by one from the shadows by the horrid monster stalking them. The vicarious anxiety of watching people she's sort of bonded to get torn apart while she looks on helplessly. Or, alternatively, she might be reminded of a real event following a similar formula.

Luckily, the sensation will fade as quickly as the taste. Though it's also going to come back if she has any more.

[Beans]

[Wormwood Cabin]

Nefila nods. "Probably a better term for it." She plucks a few kernels from the bowl with her chitin-plated fingers and eats them, and...

She clears her throat a little, doing her best to hide the fact that the popcorn half-reminds her of a horror movie, and half-reminds her of the eradication of her entire hive. "... Uh, anyway---so normally, I just make the slings uncured. It's nice and quick, but it won't last all that long. You can compost it when you're done with it, or---well, even eat it if you really need the proteins back. Curing the silk will take time, but it's time I've got." She peers at Braon, doing some mental napkin math. "Probably best if I make it adjustable---when I make slings for myself, I can gauge the size I need pretty easy based on how big Sujo is and my own size." Which is definitely bigger than when she first met Braon; she's molted a time or two, and dang if she's not a tall one.

"But for something permanent... you're probably not going to change in height---I think? Yeah?---but your babies are obviously going to grow, so... yeah, I think I know how to make it work. I'll have to pop by Miss Hys for some buttons and needles."

[Morty]

[Infirmary]

"Mmhm..." Sakura winces again. "She did something to me or my clothes. Is there someone that can help me with that..?"

Reelshka sighs.

"I don't know how Braon's magic works... go to Sophie. She's got an eye for this kind of thing. And she needs to know what happened anyway."

[Ironsmith]

[Wormwood Cabin]

Nefila nods. "Probably a better term for it." She plucks a few kernels from the bowl with her chitin-plated fingers and eats them, and...

She clears her throat a little, doing her best to hide the fact that the popcorn half-reminds her of a horror movie, and half-reminds her of the eradication of her entire hive. "... Uh, anyway---so normally, I just make the slings uncured. It's nice and quick, but it won't last all that long. You can compost it when you're done with it, or---well, even eat it if you really need the proteins back. Curing the silk will take time, but it's time I've got." She peers at Braon, doing some mental napkin math. "Probably best if I make it adjustable---when I make slings for myself, I can gauge the size I need pretty easy based on how big Sujo is and my own size." Which is definitely bigger than when she first met Braon; she's molted a time or two, and dang if she's not a tall one.

"But for something permanent... you're probably not going to change in height---I think? Yeah?---but your babies are obviously going to grow, so... yeah, I think I know how to make it work. I'll have to pop by Miss Hys for some buttons and needles."

[Wormwood Cabin]

"Not really, no. I'm not getting any taller." Braon shrugs, popping a kernel into her mouth and immediately cringing, as though she found the taste somehow offensive. "Ugh. If you want this stuff, you can have it. It's bloody awful." She mutters, scooping out another handful regardless. She probably should have seen that coming, given the context for making it.

Braon sets the bowl on the counter and starts toward her room, quietly going to work on the lacing of her dress as she moves to the door; Nefila might remember from previous awkward incidents that Braon has a tendency to sleep without it, and that habit does not seem to be limited to nights. "Do whatever you need to do. I'll be going down for a nap myself. Don't wake me for anything less than the house being on fire." She disappears around the corner for a moment, before poking her head back around to add "Sophie counts."

[Beans]

[Wormwood Cabin]

Nefila watches her go and nods. "House on fire, Sophie, got it. I'll avoid the former as best I can." She looks at the popcorn regretfully. Ah well.

For the time being, she checks in on Sujo---still happily asleep---and prepares to head out to get some buttons and stuff for the projects she'll need to hold up her end of the bargain.

[Morty]

[Wormwood Cabin]

And indeed, Sophie appears not long after. She's... quite angry, but you would never recognize it looking at her.

"Nefila," the therapist says when she sees her. "Is Braon in? I need to talk to her."

[Beans]

[Wormwood Cabin]

Nefila looks down at the Solar. "She's in her room napping. She kind of equated you showing up to the cabin being on fire earlier, if that tells you anything. Also, you didn't hear that from me." The tall vaess smiles ruefully. "Want me to wake her up, or would you rather?"

[Purple Countess]

► mortypost

[Sophie's Office]

"Don't worry, Dahlia. I'm not upset by what you say." Is this true? By all appearances, it is. But Dahlia is aware by now that Sophie's poker face is nigh-impenetrable. "She was telling me how she's been doing and then she said you'd tell me why she spends time and effort on others, despite her lack of empathy."

[Sophie's Office]

"Well, that's boring." Dahlia says, leaning back into Sophie's chair and crossing her legs. "Alright then. I'll be real with you for once." The smug unhinged smile fades, and what Sophie's left looking at is an empty expression, apart from a slight smile she can't seem to be able to get rid of. "Despite my performance in front of you so far, I am no crazed maniac, but a well-trained assassin with standards. When I said I wouldn't kill in the League unless needed, I meant it. Such wanton destruction is not an efficient use of my skills." That doesn't mean she wouldn't plan all the scenarios if she needed to, just for practice. "We both know actions have consequences. Cause and effect. Is fascinating, yes?"

She leans in, staring at Sophie for a little bit, then smiles a bit. "To answer your question, we share a strong work ethic, suffice to say. Anything worth doing is worth doing efficiently, be it murder or child care. How much of her backstory has she shared with you?"

► rebopost

[Lakeside - Arts and Crafts]

Khannie shifts a bit uncomfortably, the idea she had regarding her spell temporarily un-experimented with.

She's a little too distracted at the moment to do spellwork, anyway.

"Well, I mean, Bruce turned INTO the Hulk because of the gamma rays. But the Hulk was already part of him, just something in his own mind. The gamma rays made it an outward thing, too. He already had more than one personality because of..."

There's that uncomfortable look again.

"Because of the terrible way his dad treated him. It was a way to cope with the trauma."

The next question is left unspoken.

Did YOU suffer something traumatic that fractured your psyche?

[Lakeside - Arts and Crafts]

"Oh, that one. He's bullied as a child, has an imaginary friend and then gamma radiation turns him into it, now a monster powered by rage." Dahlia replies once Khannie's done talking, the uncomfortable look not escaping her notice.

"That story appears to have made a mark on you. Me, I never found it too..." She pauses to search for the correct word. "... relateable." That should suffice. "I can't get traumatized, if that is what you're implying."

That doesn't answer the question of why she has 2 personalities, but at least it should clear some of teen girl's worries.

[Morty]

[Wormwood Cabin]

"Braon seems to have a strange idea of how dangerous I am," Sophie quips, hiding a bubbling anger behind an easy smile. "But I won't trouble you. I'll speak to her myself."

[Sophie's Office]

"Not much," Sophie says. "Most of what I know is from you. Please elaborate on what you mean."

[Ironsmith]

[Wormwood Cabin]

Of course, that will soon prove more easily, or at least more painlessly, said than done.

It's been a while since Sophie's been in Braon's room, and a few things have changed since she was last here. Of course, most of the basic details are more or less unchanged; the bed's still where it would be, wardrobe, writing desk, all of that. But it's a fair bit messier than before. The desk is littered with crumpled-up balls of packaging paper and a few broken pens. The wardrobe is left hanging open with a few unopened dress boxes inside, one of which has a reciept from Talman's Tailory pinned to the side, itself marked with a hastily scribbled "Best of luck! -M". Braon's current dress is currently holding itself out the window, beating out dirt and grime so it can be readily worn again when its owner wakes up. It stops briefly when Sophie steps in, but does not otherwise acknowledge her presence. There's a small chest at the foot of the bed, shut and presumably locked, right next to a petrified bonsai, decorated with a number of tiny gemstone fruit. And in the corner, there's a small pile of timber, next to three intricately-carved but as-of-yet unvarnished wooden cradles, with a fourth halfway to completion.

And then there's Braon herself. She is, predictably, asleep. Curled up under the covers, in an awkward pose that is hopefully more comfortable to be in than it is to see. Her breathing is shallow and quiet, and she clutches at her pillow a bit when Sophie comes in. "...t away..." She mumbles groggily. "...not welcome here..."

[Rebonack]

[Fireworks!]

"A magic staff, I guess?" Khannie reasons, eyeing the staff in question a moment longer. "I dunno what it's for. Ches thinks it belonged to another human girl."

The gnome nose knows!

"It probably doesn't matter."

Just saying that makes it more likely that it DOES matter.

"Anyway, it's fireworks time!" she says, a huge grin spreading across her face as she opens up a pack of ground flowers, holds what looks like a tiny stick of dynamite with one hand, then SNAP!s her fingers. This causes a tiny little flame to ignite hovering just above her pointer finger! Not enough to really be used for anything other than lighting a candle.

Or, in this case, a fuse.

The fuse begins fizzling and sparking as she tosses the firework to the ground and hops away a few steps moments before-!

fffFFFTZZZZZ!

Brightly colored green and purple and red sparks begin shooting out either end of the firework, causing it to spin and bounce and dance in a rather entertaining display that lasts a good fifteen seconds before it finally gutters out.

This one wasn't very loud, thankfully for the goblins nearby.


[Lakeside - Arts and Crafts]

That statement right there?

It deserves a bit of clarification.

Khannie looks puzzled and asks, "What do you mean, you can't get traumatized? Anyone can have bad stuff happen to them."

As she has learned pretty extensively first hand.

[Ironsmith]

[Fireworks!]

Cheasadh might not have been entirely aware that she was touching the staff at first, but it becomes a little harder to ignore when those fireflies start landing on her hand, or on the staff itself, and start crawling around. They're quite harmless, both to her and each other; despite Tuskfang's earlier observation, they don't seem to be interested in eating each other. Rather, they're much more incline to set about trying to get to know the staff's new wielder, skittering up and down her arm and gently probing her with their tiny antennae. The ones on her arm also seem curiously unbothered by the fireworks, despite their volume.

[Morty]

[Wormwood Cabin]

"I'm afraid I can't just leave." Sophie's tone is deceptively chipper. "This is really quite important, so please wake up." There's a lot of urgency in her tone, even though she doesn't raise her voice.

[Fireworks!]

Tuskfang's attention is diverted from the fireflies and focuses on the fireworks. The little boy is quite transfixed by the pretty lights. Then, however, something else stands out to him.

"The fireflies really like you!" he tells Cheasadh.

[Ironsmith]

[Wormwood Cabin]

"...No... no, get away..." Braon mumbles into her pillow, clenching a fistful of fabric in her fingers.

That's about the only warning Sophie's going to get before that pillow is sent flying toward her face, where it will cling to her like a frightened cat if she doesn't get out of the way. Regardless, on the bed, Braon's sitting up, panting heavily, not seeming to notice at first that she has company (either that, or she's not modest enough to be bothered by her blanket falling off her chest).

At first.

When she finally does notice Sophie, she lets out an annoyed moan. "Gods darn it, Nefila, I specifically said..."

[Morty]

[Wormwood Cabin]

Merciful Prophet, of course she sleeps naked. Not her fault (this time), but it does make things even more awkward.

"I'll give you a moment to get dressed before we talk," she says. Seemingly determined to bulldoze through it.

[Ironsmith]

[Wormwood Cabin]

"...Which... means this is going to be a long one." Braon grumbles, pointedly ignoring the implied mandate to put her dress on and instead slinging her blanket over her shoulder, only half-solving the problem. Fine. Maybe if she makes Sophie as uncomfortable as she is, this'll be over that much quicker. "What do you want?"

[Morty]

[Wormwood Cabin]

"I came to check how your investigation into your mysterious attack of pain was progressing. But also..." Sophie reaches into her pocket and produces a small, glimmering pebble. "I pulled your enchantment out of Sakura's clothes. It solidified into this."

[Ironsmith]

[Wormwood Cabin]

"...Did you now?" Braon's expression shifts from disturbed to annoyed to coldly furious over the course of the few seconds of silence between them. "...Well, then you wasted a trip. That hex was never going to last, and that 'investigation' was done and dusted before you left your office." She lowers her hands from doing air quotes and fixes Sophie with an annoyed glare. "So, when you put all the practical stuff aside, you're really just here to yell at me, aren't you? Is that all you're good for these days?"

[Morty]

[Wormwood Cabin]

"An odd choice of words, given that I've never once raised my voice in your presence." Sophie rolls the pebble between her fingers, not putting it back into her pocket. "But I'm glad to hear it all the same. What caused the pain, then, if you've found out already?"

[Ironsmith]

[Wormwood Cabin]

"If you don't already know, I'm not going to tell you." Braon sneers. "What I will tell you is that I'm taking care of it, as I said I would." She crosses her arms and glares. "And frankly, what business is it of yours in the first place? I'm the one that has to live with my body flipping itself up, not you. If I tell you I don't want your blasted help in dealing with it, that's the end of it."

[Morty]

[Wormwood Cabin]

"How could I know? You said you can learn on your own, so I'm trusting your expertise. I wasn't going to investigate on my own," Sophie points out. "Your health is our business. You're in our care. As are your children. Anything that happens to you happens to them now."

[Ironsmith]

[Wormwood Cabin]

"And I suppose now you're going to tell me Sakura was justified in keeping me in the infirmary on those grounds." Braon frowns, rubbing under her eyes tiredly. "To hell with my judgement. You've got a vested interest in their place of residence, is that right? Don't trust me to take good enough care of myself to keep them safe?"