| Don't Drop the Chalupa! | ||
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TASK BUILDING Or more specifically-- the Kitchen. Kotal Kahn has been in a very good mood as of late thanks to the all the wanton violence and slaughter that's been happening. That last demonic invasion really helped to scratch that itch he was having of needing to split monsters in half with his giant serrated sword. As such, because he's been feeling very satisfied with himself, he felt like he could indulge in one of his other hobbies; cooking! Humming a merry song, Kotal emerges from the kitchen carrying an enormous plate of food. "AT LAST!" His booming voice trembles across the entirety of the TASK building. "My all organic chalupas are finished!!!!!!!" He exclaims with the same passion a maniac super villain would cry about a world destroying weapon finally done. The Aztec warrior/cook then pushes the door leading to the dinner open with his shoulder and begins to walk out, still wearing his chef hat on top of his Eagle helmet. Looks like lunch is served. Being part of TASK has been a new experience for sure, but Mayumi is definitely fond of having her room right by the kitchen. Coffee anytime she likes! What could be better? Though she's only joined a few days ago there have been some epic battles. All of which she's missed, unfortunately. Much of her time has been spend practicing against a dummy to learn sword moves. Being fit helps, but the motions are foreign and she feels awkward. Not something she's used to. After nursing some sore muscles with a shower she's decided coffee is in order. Only the kitchen appears to be occupied by a seven foot tall God... in a chef's hat. O-kay. "Taichou," she calls in greeting while inhaling the scents in the room. Should she be scared? That cheerful little hum was infectious, because Silencia soon found herself humming along to that very tune. She had noticed Kotal's good mood lately and that made the priestess happy as well. She had been making progress with her training, so that put her in a good mood as well. All around a very happy morning. Silencia skipped out on going to the Usual restaurant for lunch when she noticed that Kotal had cooked, she was curious, of course. When he entered the dining room victoriously, announcing the creation of his organic chalupas, she chuckles at his enthusiasm. "They already smell delicious!" The priestess couldn't help but get distracted by the comical look of a chef's hat on top of that Eagle helmet though. She stares for a moment before bursting out in laughter. "C..couldn't you have taken off your helmet before putting on the hat?" She then notices Mayumi and smiles at the girl. "Hello Mayumi!" Never one to miss a chance to eat Kotal's kooking, Rayne soon arrives from her office. There was no need to call over the radio or wait for the smells to reach her office... Kotal took care of that with his yelling. "Oooh, what have you concocted this time, boss?" she inquires, inhaling deeply. The chef's hat on top of his helmet doesn't seem to phase Rayne... He must do that all the time, from her complete lack of reaction. Why yes, Mayumi SHOULD be scared. VERY. But it also helps to be hungry, particularly when working with a being such as Kotal Kahn. "Mayumi!" The warlord greets her since he sees her as soon as he walks out into the dinning room. "You are just in time to try some of my cooking. I hope you like Aztlan cuisine for you will find plenty of it here." Not surprisingly, Kotal cooks almost exclusively Mexican dishes and some variants here and there. As Rayne arrives he nods and explains what he has planned for this day. "Today's dish; a blend of jicama and avocado chicken and beef chalupas. Even with some vegetarians options available." Because it seems like Kotal likes to be prepared for the varied tastes of his employees. Who knows why he keeps making vegetarian though, since its quite clear most of his personal Krew are almost exclusively carnivores like D'vorah and Reptile. Then, Silencia is approaching and complimenting the good smell of his food. He nods, though gives her a skeptical look when she laughs at his insistence of wearing a chef hat over his helmet. "Absolutely not! The helmet and the hat are symbolic and represent the expansiveness of my abilities. Soon, I will not only be known as Huitzilopotchli, god of war, but a wide array of domains as well!" "Besides, it's a pain to take off the helmet. I try to leave it on if I can help it to save time." At least he's honest. Mayumi inhales deeply of the mixture of scents in the air. Some are familiar and others foreign, but they all smell delicious and immediately her mouth begins to water. Of course that she could hide, but just then her tummy rumbles loudly even over the rumble of Kotal's voice. "Hello, Silencia," she calls cheerfully while moving closer to the food. If there is some procedure before eating she really aught to wait, but that smells really, really good. After flashing a grin at Rayne she slips around to see if she can snag a chalupa or ten. Good thing Kotal knows how to cook for a group. Grabbing a beef one she takes a large bite and moans in gastronomic pleasure. "Oh, yeah... That's good." Silencia just chuckles and shakes her head at Kotal when he explains the symbolic reasoning behind wearing a chefs had over his helmet. "Next time, just ask and I'll help you with that... that can't be comfortable!" She then notices Rayne entering and waves at the colorful female. "Couldn't resist either, heh Rayne?" She also takes a beef chalupa, following Mayumi's example. Before tasting it herself, she just watches, amused, as Mayumi so obviously enjoys hers. Her reaction to the taste of the unfamiliar dish is very similar, the girl letting out a delighted hum. "These are delicious!" She almost sounds surprised at how delicious they are. Rayne says, "This probably wasn't mentioned in orientation-" Was there an official orientation? Rayne doesn't know. "-but Kotal's cooking is considered one of the best perks of working at TASK." She grins slightly, taking one of the beef ones as well... primarily because they seem to be the fastest going. She takes a bite, then remembers something. "MMmrph!" She swallows her food before trying to talk again. "Serenity and I made contact with Muradin. If we trade a way of making it so people don't have to bang on the dock to get Morgana's attention, he agreed to make the armors. We were thinking setting up some tablets and a hard line for video chat capabilities." Thankfully there's no such procedure before eating. Kotal likes to take a moment of silence before shoveling food in his mouth but he really doesn't enforce it at all. As he goes to sit down he waits quietly whilst his TASK officers begin to snag chalupas by the dozens, there's plenty to go around really, particularly because when you have someone like Ferra/Torr in your group you learn to cook as much as you can. He leans back and smiles approvingly as both Mayumi and Silencia seem pleased with his cooking, though at Silencia's insistence on him taking off his helmet he just sighs and relents. He removes the chef hat first and then pulls the colorful plumed helmet off revealing his bare face. There might be another reason why Kotal doesn't like taking off his helmet. He has really short curly hair that makes look unnervingly boyish, lets just say its not the look one would expect from the God of War. "Ah, very good, Rayne." He continues as Rayne says her report. "A few tablets sound more than acceptable for a few armor sets. Have Minu write them up as work expenses so that we can have the armorer start working on that post haste." Good food and coffee! Boy did Mayumi luck out with this gig. The first chalupa vanishes quickly and she peers at the feast spread out before them, finally picking out a chicken version. "Perhaps a chef's hat with feathers attached?" she offers by way of compromise. That is, until she sees him switch hats. Kawaii! Not that she would ever comment on that out loud. Her fingers twitch to play in the soft looking curls. Instead she grips her food a bit tighter. She is in the middle of a large bite when she hears Rayne mention a familiar name. "Muradin... Short, bearded man with a really big hammer and a hot girlfriend with a sexy voice? I met them on my first day here. Can I go with you to talk with them? I owe them a thank you." Silencia doesn't take long with finishing her chalupa while listening to Rayne. "Oh.. that sounds great... I think." She wasn't exactly sure what tablets were, but she was soon too distracted to ask about them. When Kotal removes his helmet, Silencia lets out an excited squeak. "Oh my, your hair is adorable, Kotal!" The priestess has extreme speed when it comes to reaching cute things because before anyone can react, she's already standing next to Kotal, petting the war god as if he were a puppy. "It's so soft! Why do you hide it all the time!?" She seems to have forgotten her promise to Kotal from before. She had promised to not dote on him in public, but this adorable sight was screaming for it. Dorian's much like a wizard, in several respects. Not just with the magic stuff. But he is not early, nor is he late; he arrives precisely when he means to. And it just so happens that Dorian arrives PRECISELY THEN. Right about when Kotal's getting his helmet off. Dorian is in his usual, the leather armor, but minus his white cloak. He also seems to have left his staff somewhere. Of course, the first thing he notices upon entering is Kotal with his helmet off. Placing his right hand over his heart and feigning shock, he comments, "Maker's breath, it comes off. I had no idea it actually came off." Yes, he is referring to Kotal's helmet. Apparently he feels comfortable enough with the god of war to tease him a bit. Mind, it's just a gentle tease, not so bad as OTHERS Kotal has experienced in the past. And he's certainly not trying to hug Kotal. Which would probably end badly for Dorian. A moment later, though, he drops the act, and chuckles good-naturedly. "Greetings, all. It appears I've arrived just in time." He looks over the assembled crowd... and then pauses when Silencia begins to coo over Kotal's hair. And he starts to laugh. "This, my friend, is the curse of being wildly attractive. Welcome to the club, and know that I share your pain." He smirking though. Having greeted everyone, he notices there's someone he hasn't met-- Mayumi. He looks in her direction, inquiring, "I don't believe we've properly met, have we?" He places a hand to his chest again, much less melodramatically this time, and bows elegantly. "Dorian Pavus, Altus mage of Tevinter. How do you do?" Rayne says, "Honestly, I didn't get a good look at him...He was wearing a diving helmet at the time, and I saw him through the camera on Ren's tablet. But hot girlfriend with a sexy voice does sound like Morgana. I don't see why you couldn't come along." She takes a glance at Kotal without his helmet on, but doesn't react until Silencia does. She backs away eeeeever so slightly from the two as Silencia starts petting the god of war. "Yeah, you should have seen him when he dressed up in a costume. The rest of his usual attire can be replaced with other clothing as well, surprisingly. Why, I've actually seen him wearing a shirt once." What a novel idea! Kotal hmms thoughtfully and rubs his chin as he actually considers getting a chef hat with feathers. "Perhaps.. I believe I saw one at the magic shop once." It's hard to tell if Kotal is ever being really serious or he's joking since he very rarely changes facial expressions. Even when in battle he maintains the same stoic stone face look and as such, it can be hard to tell if he's being sarcastic or not. Nevertheless, he's not immune to being surprised, and just as he was about to respond to Mayumi's inquiry of who is Muradin, Silencia moves with a speed that takes even the god of war himself by surprise. "Hng!" He gives a grunt of being startled and jerks sideways. To be fair, Kotal isn't Rayne, and he doesn't have some kind of social anxiety that makes him reel back when being touched. However, as Silencia perfectly knows, Kotal hold his priestess not to dote on him publicly and the head pettings seem to irk him. "Control yourself, girl." Demands the deity and does the only thing he can think of to get the girl to stop petting him. He grabs Silencia by the sides and? Starts tickling her!!?? Kotal is truly cruelty personified. Of course, the Aztec's good fortune just keeps giving and luck would have it that none other than Dorian would show up to prod him a bit more about his hair. "Ngh.. et tu, Dorian?" Kotal's not sure if Dorian knows Latin or if he's even going to get the reference, but Kotal's betrayed look to the mage might indicate that he can't believe he's joining in on the teasing as well. Now all that needs to happen is if Kotal's entire krew jump out of nowhere and they all start petting his head too. Fortunately, none of them seem to be around, not even Reptile.. how suspicious. Finally managing to control Silencia with a relentless assault of tickling, Kotal straightens up and addresses both Mayumi and Rayne. "But yes, that does seem like the armorer known as Muradin indeed. The woman that accompanies him is no doubt Morgana, and though I have no quarrel with Muradin, his wife has proven to be.. hmm.. opinionated. I see no reason why you should not accompany Rayne if you wish, Mayumi, though do take care that Morgana does not try to charm you with her siren song." Mayumi comes very close to spitting out her food while she tries not to laugh at Silencia's reaction to Kotal's hair. Apparently she isn't the only one with the urge to touch him, just a bit more willpower. With some difficulty she manages to swallow the last of her chicken chalupa before gives a hiccup of suppressed laughter. Exhaling the last of her amusement she turns to Rayne, the only safe direction to look, and grins (mostly at the thought of Kotal in a frilly pink apron). "Cool, just let me know when. They seemed, um, interesting and invited me for drinks and sushi. Well, fish of some sort. Is that what was wrong with her voice?" Babbling. Babbling will help to counteract the desire to burst out laughing at the pair who look rather couple-like at the moment. Not that she knows what relationship they have. Maybe they are, um... Huh? Another voice calls out and she turns towards the door, happy to have a bit more distraction from the need to laugh or tease or something that would likely put her on the wrong side of her commander. Answering the bow with one of her own she introduces herself to what she assumes is another TASK member. "Mayumi Shaw. A pleasure to meet you. You're just in time for a home cooked meal and a show." Loud and helpless laughter escapes Silencia as she is attacked by the mighty tickle forces of Kotal. The girl doesn't stand a chance. "W..wait... stop! C..can't breathe..!" Silencia seems to be really ticklish, because it doesn't take much to make her breathless with laughter. She tries to push his hands away from her, even tries to step away, but there is no escape from the War God. When Kotal finally stops his assault, Silencia is red-faced and panting, shaking her head with a chuckle. "Worth it!" She waves at Dorian with a wide smile. "Greetings to you!" She straightens when she finally notices the name 'Morgana' floating around. "Ohh, was that the same Morgana as you mentioned before, Kotal? The mermaid?" She had been curious about Morgana for awhile now, so the thought of finally meeting the mermaid was intriguing to her to say the least. Rayne's comment about Kotal actually wearing a shirt gets an obviously mock swoon from the mage. "Andraste's blushing buttcheeks, next you'll tell me he was dancing. Not too much, I'm not sure I can stand the revelations~!" And then he straightens up and starts to chuckle. To Dorian's credit he doesn't tease Kotal too much. Kotal's 'et tu?' gets a response too, in something that isn't quite Latin, but close enough to be understood. "Recte dicis, ita vero." It comes through as 'You speak rightly, it is so'. "Though I didn't know you spoke Tevene, Commander." Mayumi speaks, and Dorian turns his attention to her, with a pleasant smile. "It's good to meet you as well," he says as he finds a place to sit. And he nods to her words. "Indeed, your commander's quite skilled in the kitchen." Notably he does NOT tease Kotal about making someone a wonderful wife. He does however, note, "He puts a good many of the best chefs in Tevinter to shame." Aside to Kotal, "That is extremely high praise, I should mention. Tevinter has some of the best food in Thedas, and I grew up on it." But of course he'd say that, he's from Tevinter himself. He is pretty sure that Kotal wouldn't hurt his own priestess, so he doesn't seem too concerned for Silencia's fate. She did bring it on herself, after all. But when Kotal finally stops tickling Silencia? He starts right in on teasing her! Gently, mind. "Do be careful, Lady Silencia. 'War' can take many forms, including tickling. And I'm sure Kotal Kahn knows them all." A smirk. Yes, he's making a very slightly naughty joke, but it's subtle enough not to be crass. Though then he's serious as he observes a name floating around. "A mermaid?" Pause. "I honestly don't know why I'm surprised. This place seems to have everything else I've always believed fictional. Why not mermaids? But I warn you, if I find a temple to Mutinus Titinus in this place, you will probably never see me again. I will probably be kidnapped for rituals." Though he's probably kidding, given the smirk. Rayne says, "Wellll, she's a siren, not exactly a mermaid... So she has some voice based powers to go along with the sometimes fish tail. How you doing, Dorian?" she finally asks of him. It seems for once Rayne is at a loss for words at the current situation." Hopefully, that'll teach Silencia not to cross Kotal Kahn or suffer the wrath of the God of War!! Kotal even dusts his hands looking satisfied, as if he had actually managed to overcome some great challenge. "That is correct." He agrees with Dorian when the mage warns the fairy girl that a god of war such as himself is well versed in all manners of Kombat, and that includes tickling!! "Dare not challenge me again, puny mortal." Though he says that warning with the utmost seriousness, even staring down at Silencia with glowing fierce eyes, all tension from his threat is lost when he pokes Silencia's nose with his index finger gently and goes; 'Boop'. Without skipping a beat, Kotal moves back to Dorian as he questions how he speaks his native tongue. "In my realm that language is known as Latin. I learned it in my time amongst the Romans, to whom I was known as Mars." To those that may know it, Kotal is the god of war of all cultures in his original realm, not just the Aztecs. Kotal can't help but get a little haughty when Dorian says he cooks better than the bests chefs of his world, and he even straightens up in his chair a little. "Even the best mortal chefs pale in comparison to a God." Although for all of Kotal's claims for godhood he has quite a many mortal flaws and tendencies, though that is a matter best left for another time. Mayumi's concerns about Morgana and Rayne's explanations give him some pause however, its clear that Kotal has an extensive history with this siren, and its one he's not quite willing to let go just yet. "I admit that she has seldom done it ever since she ascended as lady of the oceans. However, in the past, Morgana was notorious to enthrall people with her song and try to feast on their flesh. It is unlikely she would try to do that now, much less with an officer of TASK as doing so would incur my wrath. But do be aware of what she's capable, Mayumi." He'd hate to see his newest officer hurt so quickly when out in the field. Lastly, he glances back at Dorian and arches his eyebrow at him. "What is this Mutinus Titinus? And why would they want to kidnap you?" Then, a VERY uncharacteristic grin flashes across Kotal's mouth. "Besides because of your irresistible sense of fashion that is." Wow, is Kotal actually joking back now? What were in those chalupas anyway? Mayumi grab a vegetarian chalupa and begin to nomble happily. When Kotal speaks to her she nods her head in understanding. "Hai, taichou." No comment on the fashion crack. Really the commander isn't one to talk since his outfit is just as odd compared to others. Silencia pouts at Kotal as he dusts his hands, looking all smug. When he taps her on the nose, a little plan starts to brew in the mischievous little priestess' mind. She peeks at Dorian when he warns her, her words directed at Dorian as well as Kotal. "Oh, but this is a war that I can participate in!" She grins at Kotal, her voice holding a rather foreboding tone as she warns the god. "Be wary, my liege, for you will not know when I strike, or how, this battle may be yours, but victory shall be mine!" If one had not paid attention to the content of the threat, one could actually be fooled into thinking that this was a serious threat toward the War God. The corners of Silencia's lips are already twitching though, the girl is in way too giddy a mood to properly hold her expression. "Siren?" Dorian questions. "I know Sirens as bird-women. You might call them harpies, I believe. Though instead of the horrible crone faces, they had faces of beautiful women. I'm also not altogether certain they had the bodies of birds." He's probably talking about Thedas, mind. As for how he's doing? "Reasonably well, thank you," he returns, with a smile. "I've been monitoring the situation where I could, hoping to catch any more Fade rifts before they start spitting demons out into Twisted. Everything seems stable." Pause. "Well, no less unstable than it usually is. It makes my teeth buzz to scan some of this place." The mention of the language being called something different gets a nod. "I noticed that," he confirms. "The bookstore here has a selection of books in Latin. I noticed almost immediately that it was close enough to Tevene that I could read it without much trouble. I'm actually pleased to find this out, truth be told." The mention of 'Mars' gets a thoughtful 'hmmm'. "Aside from the Maker, the only other gods in Thedas are the Old Gods, that tried to rebel against the Maker, and take all that He had created. So goes the legend. One of the Old Gods may be a god of war, but... well, as you might imagine, information on them is rather sparse." The question of Mutinus Titinus gets a smirk, though. "A marriage deity venerated by these 'Romans'. Apparently his portfolio included teaching brides not to be embarrassed on their wedding nights." Dorian is, however, not crude enough to go into details. He mentioned rituals, that should be enough to explain. He does pause to offer a smile to Mayumi, even if she doesn't speak. Costs him nothing to be polite, does it? Silencia, however, gets him very slightly leeeeeeeeeaning away from her. "...Maker help us all," he says, placing a hand on his chest again. He may or may not be serious about that. But he's not laughing, to note. Even if he does look amused. Rayne says, "Well, in my experience, Morgana has been nothing but decent if creepy. Very creepy. Extremely creepy." She really is doing her best to just ignore the tickle war and its follow up threats of reprisals. This is something she absolutely does not want to get into. "Yeah, sometimes certain things in this universe just make me want to roll my eyes around backwards and foam at the mouth. I try to just roll with things, since I don't know enough about any specific threats from my universe to really be of help." She frowns. "Really, if we had a full scale attack from draygons or myssyrians, there's not a whole lot we could do with what we have... Not much we can do about orbital bombardments from down here, right? That's assuming Twisted even is on a planet..." Of course, Kotal's first reaction is to answer Silencia's threats. He glares at her with a very intense look to his glowing, burning eyes and pretty much regards her as if she was some great enemy of his. "Will you now, o' priestess of war?" He gives a dark chuckle. "As they say in Earthrealm." "Bring it on." Then he very gently bonks his forehead with Silencia's giving her a playful headbutt. He leans back on his chair afterwards and finally decides to partake on one of his own chalupas, munching on it thoughtfully as he listens to Dorian and Rayne's concerns. "Morgana is half fish, not bird." The war god explains. "And we had a multitude of gods in my realm. There were the gods who were guardians of certain realms, self made gods such as the Dragon King Onaga and my predecessor Shao Kahn. Above them all were the Eldergods, and even above them still was the One Being. I imagine those are not unlike your Old Ones and Maker, Dorian, though they had less direct ways of interfering with mortal matters." Namely, that they had everyone participate in martial arts tournaments rather than rely on all out invasion. And no, it doesn't look like Kotal wants to know the details about what that god did to newly wed brides. He even makes a face at it, like he has trepidation on what that entails. Instead he focuses on matters that he does know, like war!! "I've pondered invasion from space before." He answers to Rayne. "The possibility of a highly advanced species attacking Twisted from orbit is quite possible.. although.. I am not certain what lays up there past the sky." Kotal could certainly jump to outer space but he thinks that there's possibility its just another version of the wastelands and ends up being frozen in time. "Nevertheless, if space ships do appear over Twisted at some point, I've already made the proper defenses. The sun itself will act as our personal orbital defense platform." Of course, what challenge could space ships present to someone who can literally turn the sun into his personal death star. "Then again there's the matter of what would Diablo do if something like that were to happen.. but.. I would not rely on him for anything." Its completely possible that Diablo could do something about invading space ships, the real question here is 'would he bother to do anything?' Mayumi nearly chokes on her chalupa at Dorian's depiction of one of the Gods of old. Wait. Did Kotal just say he used to be Mars? Nah. That's silly talk. She moves over to the coffee machine and sets it up to make the largest amount possible. It'll have to be refilled if anyone else wants some too. "Ground to air magic missiles into the darkness?" she suggests to Rayne. Doubtful anyone not from her realm would catch the bad joke in there, but she couldn't resist. While she isn't ignoring the dire threats make by Silencia, she isn't planning to get involves either. Watching is much more fun and a lot less likely to get her into trouble. Of course there is always the possibility of instigating further fun from the sidelines. The thought makes her chuckle to herself. "Who is Diablo, Taichou?" If Kotal was mentioning this person in response to potential defense of the entire realm of Twisted then they must be someone of note. Maybe she aught to ask for a library so she can catch up on the local history. A devious smirk dances across Silencia's lips as Kotal answers her threats. His glare doesn't hurt her or make her cower, she just grins right back at him. "Oh, I will... you best prepare yourself!" Her act is quickly dissipated by the gentle headbutt, that still makes the girl take a step back as she clutches her head with a pout. She was just exaggerating though, as she's quickly back to her cheerful ways. Though the conversation around is rather interesting, Silencia feels the need to go out and get some training done. She had been slacking off the last couple of days because of various reasons, but she shouldn't make excuses now. She gives a wave to all involved while rushing off, needing to catch as many hours in the sun as she can. "I will see you all again soon! I'm afraid I should get some training done before it gets too late!" Dorian adds to Kotal's note to Silencia, "Don't forget 'come at me, bro'." The common Earth phrase sounds so very strange when said with his accent. Kotal mentions Morgana is half fish, and Dorian nods thoughtfully. The talk of gods from Kotal's world(s) makes him raise a hand and rub at his chin. Though he smirks a bit at comparison. "They might be quite a bit different, I think," he offers. "Unless your Elder Gods overthrew your One Being. Or attempted to. The Maker defeated the Old Gods when they tried that, and put them to sleep inside the earth." He says 'earth', but it obviously doesn't mean the same as 'Earth'. But Dorian does have a very important question. "'Space'? What sort of space? Another world?" He's clever, so it's sometimes hard to remember that he comes from an archaic world. As far as he knows the skies are the gods' domain, and all that lays beyond it is the Fade. Mayumi's choking gets a concerned look from Dorian. "Are you all right?" he inquires. Though he also smirks. "Not to worry, that's not a god from my world." Airly he notes, "I might have actually gotten married if it was. Livia would have been utterly appalled at being made to straddle an oversized representation of a phallus." And he starts to laugh. But he does mention, "Not to worry. I'm quite adept at casting spells at distance. With enough of a boost, who knows how far I could cast?" Silencia's mention of going to train gets a nod. "Do take care, Lady Silencia. It was good to see you again." As she departs, he turns to Kotal. "I must say, the two of you make an adorable couple." More teasing, yes. Rayne waves to Silencia as she leaves. "Using a star as a weapon? Yeah, that'll do it." She nods looking a little pale at the thought. "Well, if it weren't for there being a horizon, I'd not be convinced Twisted wasn't round. For all I know, it's a dome, still." She peers at Dorian's questioning of space. "Oooooh.... Another one, eh? You know how bright the sun is? How warm it feels on your skin? Now think about the fact that it's more or less a ball of fire that is so large and hot that you can feel that heat from it from around a hundred million miles away." She pauses to let that sink in a moment. "Now, think about the night sky. Every single one of the stars is like another sun, and the ones with worlds around them tend to be the small ones." She grins for a moment. "In my universe, traveling between them is pretty common, actually." She's going to leave the explanation of Diablo to Kotal... Because she really doesn't know anything about him, either. As for the discussion of wives to be straddling a giant phallic object... yeah, she's ignoring that. "Diablo.." Kotal mutters and his tone will let Mayumi know that he is a topic of much annoyance to the war god. "He is the self proclaimed leader of Twisted. It is he who rules this land and has placed many a ward to maintain his control, mainly the power restricting barrier." After all, Kotal only ever claimed to be the minister of defense, he's not the real leader of Twisted. Also, this would mean that technically Kotal works for Diablo, but the Aztec sure doesn't seem to think of it that way. "Diablo has much power but he seldom uses it, preferring to stay hidden within the Town Hall. At best, I would describe him as conniving and lazy, and he knows perfectly well how little I think of him." The Aztec clenches his fist and looks down angrily at it. "Long have I thought of challenging him to Mortal Kombat, and take the throne of Twisted for myself, though this would only plunge Twisted into anarchy and civil war." A scoff. "For now, he is being dealt by another. Lady Setsuna, the guardian of time, has already set in motion plans to have him dethrone and place a new council in his place. Though I've yet to hear anything more about that." Oh well, its always either feast or famine around here anyway. So, after that bit on Twisted who's who, Kotal turns to Dorian and frowns. "The Eldergods did overthrow the One Being, though in the case of my realm, the Eldergods were benevolent whereas the One Being wished for nothing but the end of existence. It seems that the opposite happened where you are from, my friend." How curious, but it shows just how different dimensions are. As Silencia leaves, Kotal waves and smiles at her but it seems now it's his turn to choke on something when Dorian teases him about his relationship with his priestess. "PFFT!!" Actually, Kotal does more than choke, he spits out a bit of food. "She's not my girlfriend!" Well.. that was an oddly specific denial. Kotal clears his throat and attempts to look dignified afterward, cleaning his mouth with a napkin and listening to Rayne's explanation about space and the stars. Yep, he's just gonna pretend that didn't happen. Mayumi can't hold back the giggle that leaves her at hearing the pair of men say phrases from her home world. "I'm fine," she chuckles. Getting her own personal coffee mug, something rather like a large soup bowl with a handle, she adds milk and sugar, stirs and returns to the table to grab another chicken chalupa. "Space is what my world called the vast realm beyond the clouds. Once you get past the layer of the sky where clouds gather it is considered another place. That is where stars, moons, and other planets can be found, but they are long, long ways apart from one another. Further than the beings of my world have learned to traverse before death would take them." Her explanation is rather truncated, but delivered without any attempt at sarcasm. One thing she's learned about this world is that knowledge is relative. What she knows about magic Dorian could likely surpass in one finger. So not touching the phallic object comment. After waving to Silencia she takes a seat, right near the food. Peering at Rayne as she discusses the possible shapes of this odd world, Mayumi considers a place where there truly is a 'edge of the world'. If that existed this would be the place to have it. The thought leaves her mind as she listens to the God of war talk. Her brows rise at what is said. "I see..." She really doesn't, but whatever. Watching Kotal squirm at the teasing is far too entertaining to miss. "She does seem rather, er, comfortable with you, Taichou. I think you would make a cute couple." And then she returns to her chalupa and coffee to cover the cheeky grin. Drat, she hadn't intended to tease him, it slipped out anyway. The little elf was walking into the kitchen just as Silencia was walking out. She nods politely at the priestess. As she crosses the threshold to the kitchen just as Kotal makes his denial and she sighs softly and pushes her glasses up onto her nose and quickly dips her chin pretending admirably to busy herself scribbling something onto her note pad. A tiny bit of color stains her nose , cheeks and ears and she makes a bit of a wide path around the assembled folks to reach the fridge and pull out a bottle of water. Rayne's explanation of space gets a raise of Dorian's brow. He looks rather confused by it all. But then... "...Well, I suppose a burning castle looks like nothing more than a tiny torchlight when viewed from the horizon..." he reasons. "Traveling between worlds seems like something only gods would be able to do. But then... there is the Void," he remembers. "No being or god can exist in that place. Well, except for the Forgotten Ones. Elven legends, I'm afraid I don't know much about them, other than they're... bad news." Kotal explains a bit about Diablo, and Dorian listens. He doesn't comment on this-- if this fellow has enough power to keep the chaos of the wastelands at bay, it's probably more power than Dorian has. And Dorian rather likes not being dead. Besides, he doesn't know the man well enough to make any judgments. However, Kotal gives him another thing to concentrate on. The talk of Elder Gods and the One Being. "I see," he says thoughtfully, rubbing his chin. "That does seem to be the case. Though the legends say that, because the Old Gods gained enough followers to give them the power to get into the Golden City-- that's where the Maker was said to reside-- he threw all of the Old Gods out and turned away from Thedas entirely." And then Kotal's very specific denial. "Oh, but I said nothing about Lady Silencia being your girlfriend, Commander," he points out. "Though I wouldn't blame you if she was. She's quite beautiful, isn't she?" He can't help but smirk at this. Mayumi's explanation of space gets a nod. That's a little clearer. "Sort of like the wastelands?" he asks. He's getting it. But without a lot of basic planetary and geological knowledge, he's going to find this one a little difficult to fully grasp. Minu's appearance gets a broad smile. "Greetings, Lady Minu. I fear you've missed the bulk of Kotal's cooking, but I've left you some." He's made chalupas, it seems. Rayne says, "Of course Silencia isn't Kotal's girlfriend. That'd be Miss Deis." She tries so very, very hard not to look at Kotal's expression as she says this. But no, she has to take a quick peek before nodding to Mayumi. "That's another way of putting it, yeah. But I really must emphasize the sheer distance between stars. You have to have a way to literally travel faster than light to get from one to another. Or bypass space entirely... Really, there are... four? Five ways of doing it in my universe?" She frowns for a moment, trying to recall them all, but in the end shrugs, watching as Minu takes some notes. Hrm. She shakes her head and looks back to Dorian. "No. Nothing like the wastelands. It's very literally a void. There's not even air." For a god, Kotal seems remarkably twitchy about relationships. Maybe not to level of Rayne who flinches when people so much as enter her personal space, but it seems almost uncharacteristic that a man that pretty much walks around half naked would be so shy. Maybe it's something a bit more personal for him. Nevertheless, he makes an annoyed face when it seems clear that Dorian and Mayumi are not going to drop the subject and he clears his throat, still trying to maintain his dignity as a good and not bust out with a blush or anything too embarrassing. "I am not the god that takes advantage of his priesthood." He explains, muscled arms cross over his chest. "It is entirely up to Silencia whoever she wishes to pursue." And he seems content on leaving it at that. Except the Rayne just -has- to bring up Deis which causes Kotal to choke on his food a bit again. "Deis just enjoys torturing me with her constant flirting, I doubt she's serious." He says and idly drinks a glass of water, finally noticing that Minu walked in. Oh great, she heard all that too? Now he's definitely not going to hear the end of it for sure. "Hello Minu," Mayumi calls as she struggles desperately to escape the laughter bubbling up at the continued teasing going around the room. Having to forgo her coffee so as not to spill it or die from inhaling it, she instead turns to Rayne and gives her a thumbs-up. Even if she doesn't know who this person is rayne must have made a good joke there. Locating the ever efficient Minu she does her best to waylay her from her note taking by offering food. "There's still the veggie ones left and a few of the chicken... Wait, there's more beef too. And coffee." Mmm, coffeeee. She's pretty sure she can see Kotal blushing, or maybe just being a bit twitchy. No way is going to point out to him that crossing one's arms across one's chest is considered a defensive motion. Or that Silencia seems happy enough to pursue him even if he doesn't notice it. Laughter under control she takes a long draw of her coffee and happily settles into her seat. Oh, why not!? "Even if your priesthood wants you to take advantage?" Eyebrow waggles at the big, blue, blushing God of Adorable Denial. Minu tucks her pencil behind one ear and holds her note pad under her arm as she opens her water bottle and focuses intently on taking a long drink. When Dorian greets her she lowers the bottle and dips her chin in a little nod of greeting "good afternoon Dorian. How are things going? I trust all is as it should be for you? I thank you for your quick return of your in take packet." The little elf blushes more as the others tease Kotal. "oh food..yes..thank you." She offers a little shy smile and looks for a plate. When May greets her she smiles and offers a little wave of her hand. Finally finding a plate, the elf gets a chalupa and makes a wide berth as she walks around Kotal and finds a quiet corner to nibble on what she took. Dorian snickers at Rayne's casual mention of this 'Deis'. "Oh? I've yet to meet her; I look forward to when I can." Noting Kotal's reaction to the name, he adds, "Someone who can so easily fluster our good Commander is someone I'd like to meet. If only to congratulate her." He also snickers at Mayumi's counterpoint to Kotal's regarding taking advantage of his priesthood. "Consenting adults and all, yes?" Minu's words of turning his intake packet in gets a nod. "No sense in not being punctual about that. Less work for everyone else. Also less chance of getting fired upon when arriving at the site of trouble." Rayne says, "Honestly? I doubt Deis is serious about anything." She then frowns, looking down at her finally emptied plate. "I've not seen her in a while." She then blinks and looks up at Minu seems to be avoiding the group. "Are you okay, Minu?"" Kotal seems like a complete loss of what to do under such unrelenting teasing. Put him in any kind of battlefield and he's sure to come on top. Anywhere, and he starts to show considerable amounts of struggle, and it seems that social interactions is a sure fire way to confuse the war god. He grunts and sighs as Mayumi begins to tease him about Silencia and Dorian only ends up egging her own, Kotal finally has to put his hands up to the side of his face, as if he were surrendering. "Can we please change topic? I feel as though you've drilled me enough about this." "And Rayne brings up a good point, Deis might as well be the goddess of chaos considering her personality." He may be on to something there but deities are a complicated subject, even to other deities. Minu is being more stand offish than usual though and this is sure to be noticed by Kotal who echoes Rayne's sentiment. "Minu, why do you not join us at the table?" It is awfully strange that she doesn't perch on his head like she usually does. "Are you feeling ill? I can call for the healer." Mayumi goes back to her coffee and finishes off the half pot it contained. Minu takes her food and goes off to a corner where more than one set of eyes follows her. Not knowing the woman well she can't say if this is odd, but she hasn't taken her as being particularly shy in a social setting. Plus the movements speak of something being wrong. Rather than stare Mayumi gets up and pours the other half of her pot into her "mug", adding milk and sugar. Best to let Kotal handle that. "So you've joined TASK as well, Dorian?" The little elf is of course mid bite when Rayne speaks to her. She freezes and lifts her golden eyes, looking for a moment like a deer in headlights. She flushes bright and chews then swallows as she nods . "yes,..yes.fine.. thank you Rayne." The little elf offers a sketch of a smile until Kotal speaks and she freezes again. Closing her eyes briefly she straightens herself and a cool air of politeness slides over her features. A breath is taken and then let out. No thank you MR. Kahn. I am fine, there is nothing a healer would be able to assist with at this time." There it is, that perfectly brisk and quit efficient little assistant. Dorian can't speak to Deis, since he doesn't know her. And yes, he does like teasing Kotal, but yes, something else has everyone's attention. Including Dorian's own. Minu. She seems to be giving them a lot of room, and that's a little confusing. Maybe she just doesn't know him well enough to come talk? Mayumi gets his attention, though, and he looks to her. He gives a nod to her question. "Yes." Now he's more serious. "I'm told that, with my being here, there's a greater possibility that evils from my world will find their way here. He frowns a bit. "I won't sit idly by while those things run amok in this world as they do in mine." Minu's reaction gets Dorian's attention. Yes, it does look like there's something wrong. But unless she wants to say, she won't. So he nods. "I know I've just joined, Lady Minu," he begins kindly. "But I'd like to offer an ear if you need to talk to someone about anything." Rayne frowns and nods to Minu, not believing it for a moment. Still, she gets the feeling that it's best not to pry in this situation, and goes for one of the last of the chalupas, then for some... oh, there's no coffee left. Her gaze slowly makes its way to Mayumi. "I think we're going to need another coffee maker." Yeah.. Kotal doesn't believe that everything is alright for a second. He'll have to investigate what's going on soon enough and take some manner of action. After all, Huitzilopotchli is not the kind of deity that thrives in not doing anything. He lets Minu be for now though, knowing that despite not being a fighter the tiny elf girl is remarkably good at putting on a brave face. Besides, there are more pressing matters at hand-- like the lack of coffee. "What?? The coffee is finished already??" Well that is annoying. "Sssshall I go get some more???" That's Reptile, who appears hanging upside down behind Rayne. Looks like he was there the whole time. Mayumi nods to Dorian, glad she isn't the only new recruit on the team. Another person to train with is a bonus too. "What sort of creatures are those? Like the gods you speaking of?" she inquires of him. Returning to the table she sets her coffee before her seat then turns to put on another pot, just in time to see Rayne looking at the empty one. "Yeah, sorry about that," she replies to Kotal before giving Rayne a shrug. "Probably a good idea," she agrees amiably while setting up the machine to brew another round. Reptile's voice makes her jump and she turns towards him with narrowed eyes. "I've got it, thanks." But really though, who hangs from the... Oh, never mind. While she is by no means ignoring Minu, Mayumi does try to give the elf some privacy. At least one person is not asking her to share probably personal stuff. Once the coffee is ready to go she returns to her seat and her own cup, inhaling the aroma. "Nectar of the Gods," she murmurs and takes a big gulp. Minu returns to nibbling at her food until Dorian speaks to her and offers his ear should she need it. Licking a crumb off her lip she tilts her head and really looks at the mage. She was there the night he arrived but other then having that first battle together they really had not had much time to talk other then when she got his information for his contracts. The small elf smiles and nods her head softly "Thank You Dorian. I haven't anything pressing to speak of but I would not mind getting to know you better. We have so many new TASK members and to work well we should truly be a team." Dorian looks to the empty coffee maker, chuckling as the various horrified reactions to a dearth of coffee occur. "A state of dire emergency, to be sure," he says with a smirk. Mayumi asks about the things that may come from the Fade to harass Twisted. "Not exactly," Dorian replies. "There was an incident not too long past where a rift opened in the courtyard, and it began spitting out demons. There's a report on it, if you'd like to read it. You see, demons from my world are... actually spirits. But when discharged into the real world, they are confused, since they perceive the world differently. It drives them mad. They become awful, demonic creatures, and then they require killing. Minu's statement gets a nod. "It would be a good idea, I think," he agrees. "A team that doesn't know each other well can't as effectively use its members' abilities to its advantage. That can spell disaster in the right situation." Rayne causally glances at Reptile. Wow. She's actually starting to get used to his sudden appearances. "Eh, Tea it is, then." She goes instead for a tea bag and the hot water dispenser. "While I do prefer coffee, tea will do in a pinch." She still adds cream and sugar to it. "Well, that's what the break room is for. We come here for a break, we socialize, we learn about each other. Maybe pass ideas back and forth, like how I think we might want actual departments, including a welcoming department and maybe some actual detectives for the more mundane crimes." "Very well, yesss." Reptile gives a hissing smirk to Mayumi as she offers to get the coffee herself. Then he's going back to stick to the ceiling and turn invisible, moving silently above them all like some kind of oversized ninja chameleon. "Actually." Kotal perks up as Mayumi mentions the Nectar of the Gods. "That spots goes to pulque. I should know." He says somewhat haughtily before getting a hungry look in his glowing eyes. "In fact, I thirst for some of it now. I will return shortly." Grabbing his helmet and placing it back on, he stands and makes a quick exit to rush to the UR for some of that drink. Hey, when the craves hits, it hits hard. Mayumi fights the desire to poke her tongue out at Reptile. He'd win that battle easily. Instead she sips her coffee and leans closer to Dorian, curious about spirits and darkness. "I heard about it, but was off running errands at the time and didn't get back till it was over. My abilities allow me to purify spirits, and sometimes other things depending on how deeply the dark energies are embedded. Maybe I could find a way to cleanse them and they can be put to rest without turning evil?" Kotal's sudden desire for a drink of something she's never heard of turns her head and she watches as he dashes out. Probably tired of all the teasing. Smirking after him she glances at Rayne and recalls the conversation about a greeting committee. "Can't we just have a rotating schedule of greeters or ask volunteers of the populace?" Mayumi chooses to leave Minu to her thoughts for now. "Do mundane crimes even occur in Twisted?" Dorian inquires. He's probably at least partially kidding, but the question is a serious one. And he can't help but laugh at Kotal's suddenly leaving. "That odd advert I've seen comes to mind," he notes. Though he leaves it vague as to what exactly it was. Mayumi's mention of purifying spirits gets a surprised, raised-brow look from Dorian. "Oh?" he intones. "That would be something. I'm not sure it would work permanently though. Generally one has to build up enough energy by killing the demons that fall out of the rift before it can be closed. Though... I suppose if the spirits were purified, they'd contribute their own energy rather than require killing to release it..." Dorian, too, seems to be leaving Minu to her thoughts for a bit. Rayne says, "Hopefully if another Rift shows up, you're there to try your idea, Mayumi. I doubt it's something we really can tell if it will work or not until we try it." She then nods to Dorian. "We've had a report of someone stealing parts from a parked car, for example." She holds her tea in one hand and a plate with a chalupa in the other and sighs. "At any rate, I've got to get back to work. I really don't know where all this paperwork keeps coming from..." She holds up her tea cup as an impromptu wave. "See ya later," she says before turning for the door to head back to her office." That is an interesting question so Mayumi looks to Rayne for an answer as well. Considering how many various creatures and societies are thrown together here it is highly likely. "Ah, that sort of stuff." Yeah, that makes sense. She waves her off to enjoy all the dead trees. "Call if you need help." Once the Second leaves she turns back to Dorian with a light in her eyes. "Kill them to gain energy. You harness their energy after they have been destroyed and use it to close to rift?" Okay, that could work, but it seems wrong somehow. None of the creatures asked to come here after all. "I suppose we'd have to see how it worked. If it works at all. If they are released would they return to the other side of the rift? How are these rifts created in the first place?" Yes, so many questions. Now now she is curious about the possibilities. | |
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