[RP] The Inn of Peace - IoP (Open to all)

[Gren_Eckener]

Gren folded his arms, looking skeptical. "Somehow, that doesn't seem wise to me...I mean, I can understand why it's being asked after, but testing the limits of the demi-deities isn't generally a safe idea, especially when it's just for records. Isn't it taxing on you, anyhow?"

Malachai's brow furrowed in concern. The business of actually loving someone was a strange and new thing to him, utterly foreign. This was the fist disparaging thing he'd heard of it from someone who wasn't a slighted lover. Perhaps she was sad because she wanted one? Still...lucky, or foolish...

"How...can you tell the difference, between the lucky and foolish ones?"

"Whaaat? It's not like my slip's showing, is it?" she hummed, glancing down, cooing as the heart was removed. "Wooow~...it's so beautiful!" Charlotte trilled, watching it be weighed. "Last time, I broke the machine...good thing we found the converter, right? What's it say, what's it say?"  

[Azana Brown]

"I can probably get away without a full invocation, but it does wear me out..." Azana frowned. "I wouldn't dare actually summon her in there. Maybe just channel some serious lightning, and call it a day."

"It can be hard sometimes," she chuckled bitterly. "They look an awful lot alike...but you get a feel for it after a while."

"It's giving you quite a hefty sum," Orrin grinned, showing the stack of brass coins finally weighing equal with the heart. "You do a good job of managing and spreading chaos, it seems..."  

[Gren_Eckener]

Gren rubbed his chin. "I would hope that'd suffice...wait...you haven't gotten your grades yet, Vi?"

Malachai pouted, tail drooping. "But I'm really new at love...I don't know much about being in love; I've never done it before. Am I lucky, or foolish?"

"Of course." she said proudly. "I'm quite good at what I do; I've had plenty of practice, you know."

She then snickered. "Managing chaos...eeee hee hee! I love a good oxymoron!"

Straightening up, she rubbed her chin. "Still, what to do with this...I've everything I want. Suppose I'll buy thing for others. Is it a one-to-one with karma for coinage?"  

[Azana Brown]

"N-no..." Violet frowned. "I wonder...if they sent them to my parents, instead..."

"Well, then you're definitely foolish," she smirked. "Don't worry...everyone is, in the beginning. Nobody exactly gives you a manual. The question is...are you lucky, too?"

"Not quite...I think the exchange rate is two to one, since otherworldly beings live longer and have more time to accumulate," Orrin answered. "It's been a while since I've done the whole operation." He slid the coins into a pouch and presented it to her along with her Dharma sample.

"Oh, and you can have fun with the weight, too, now, if you'd like."  

[Gren_Eckener]

Gren rubbed his chin. "....Did you check them online? Because they really should have sent them to you, if you didn't ask to send your parents a copy..."

He looked doleful at having his suspicions of foolhardiness confirmed, but nodded. "I am lucky. I know that. Felix is really good to me. He lets me wear his robe and sleep in his bed and sit in his lap when he's busy. If that's not lucky, I don't know what is."

Zippo yawned with a squeak.

She accepted the pouch, humming in appreciation at the weight, and pocketed it before taking the weight, trying to see how she could make it whistle. "You want to have a go, then, or shall we get Mal?"  

[Azana Brown]

"Online...! Max, may I borrow your laptop?!" Violet asked, rushing over and minimizing the floor plans. Why hadn't she thought of that? Oh, yeah...she didn't take up the offer to get a laptop. She hadn't taken any digitial graphics courses at all...

Fool. Completely. Elizabeth thought, though it softened a little. At least he's a happy fool...he'll find out soon enough, I guess. "Well, congratulations, then," she said at last, nodding and raising her glass. "Cheers to you and this Felix fellow."

She patted the chibi. "You ate a lot...you should take a nap."

"I would rather measure myself in relative privacy," Orrin said, still clearly hesitant about it. Having to gauge his own performance...maybe Law was at odds at him for a reason. He never truly knew. He dug through the bag of weights, pulling out "ORDER" and placing it on the filter plate.

"...can I even do this...?" He asked quietly, one hand rested on his own chest.  

[Gren_Eckener]

Gren smiled a bit, looking back to Azana. "Still...when's testing start?"

Malachai smiled. "Well, thank you! I might be a fool, but I'm a happy fool, so that's what matters, right? I mean...I don't know how other incubi handle love, but I think I'm doing a good job, right? I mean, I'm even doing the monogamy bit okay."

He leaned on the bar, peering at Elizabeth, sniffing again. A touch of apple vinegar. "You're no fool, though...so you must be the lucky sort."

Zippo nuzzed up, trilling. "Natarat. Jas suriipii."

She thought a moment. "If not you...Nirro could, perhaps. There's only so many unbiased judges about."  

[Azana Brown]

((And thus, my characters will be taken care of for Gen Con...))

"Looks like they start next week," Azana huffed. "Way to give me notice, guys...Sol, I'd recommend calling up Stella and getting these fixed. If James' new course promises not to be a deathtrap...I wanna run it."

"Already dialing," he grinned. "Stella? Yes, it's Sol. Listen, there were some problems with our schedules..."

"Tch, hardly," she chuckled, shaking her head. "If I were lucky, I wouldn't be in this mess...but I'm working through it."

"I'm...not entirely certain he knows to extract the Karmic heart and not the real thing," he said sheepishly. "I'm just nervous...I always assure everyone else that it's fine, but I've never felt it myself."

"You big softie," Nirro's voice echoed as Orrin's shadow grew red eyes and one hand went dark. "I'll be gentle, for once. You are, after all, me." It was quick, but not entirely comfortable, as the lighter half shuddered. "There you go. One non-beating heart. You're welcome."

Orrin held it gingerly, a crystal neatly split between pristine diamond and deep garnet. "Thank you..." He muttered, still a little shaken from the sudden extraction. It wasn't often the two of them co-existed in such a manner. It was one side of the coin, or the other. "The scale will weigh without bias, so there should be little worry there."  

[Gren_Eckener]

(Clever~!)

Gren smiled crookedly, finishing his cornbread as they chatted, and discreetly wiped his fingers. "I'm sure you'll do fine, even if it is. Goodness knows you've maneuvered plenty worse."

"Mess?" he hummed, tilting his head. "What mess? You look clean."

Charlotte giggled a bit at the exchange. If he didn't know, he could've asked ages ago; it didn't hurt, per se, but was certainly a unique sensation.

"Why wouldn't he know? Surely he was paying attention when you've done it a hundred times before." she grinned, admiring the gemstones entwined. "Wooo~! Yours is magnificent! Not a flaw to be found in either side!"  

[Astra_Senpai]

The white fox slipped out of the kitchen carrying a lemon in her teeth as she pranced over to a chair and made herself comfortable. Tail curled around her, dainty paws crossed poshly, she neatly tore open the lemon. Delightful!  

[Azana Brown]

"Yeah, but I wanna hear about this. Catapsi is still in effect, yes?" Azana asked, tilting her head curiously.

"Yeah, but everything else has been--waitaminute," he glared at her. "You're trying to get me to geek out...no spoilers!"

"Rats," she chuckled playfully. "You caught me. Well, I guess if you can stop yourself like that, it can't be that good..."

"Not literally," Elizabeth sighed. "It's more of a situational mess...trouble might be a good word. I've come here hoping to get some of it solved, though things are a bit slow-going..."

"Hey! I got your plans, prissy-pants," Max stuck out her tongue. "This guy's got sweet digs, but the owner name is a dead-end pseudonym. Obviously. John Doe doesn't mess around, does he?"

Orrin beamed, setting it down on the plate and picking up a few coins...but the scale didn't move. It was perfectly balanced as before.

"...z-zero...?" He shook his head. "That...that can't be right..."  

[Gren_Eckener]

"Is it visible from space?" asked Gren innocently.

Malachai, now quite lost topic-wise, merely admired Max's wig. "Do you like a man named John Doe?" he asked politely, hoping to help. He was at least good at romance.

A brown brow slowly rose in a port-wine sea. "...I...didn't think that was entirely possible." Worried, she glanced to Orrin. "Is it?"  

[Azana Brown]

"Not yet," James laughed. "I wanted to keep the hazards, but I didn't want to give it the opportunity to be hijacked again...or to throw people to the healing wing for weeks if they botch it. I'm pretty proud of it! The cybernetics, the holography...I just wish I could make the whole thing that way. We could just load up the level, like those holodecks in Star Trek!"

Azana just listened and smiled. "Talk nerdy to me, Tech..."

"What the--oh, crap...!" He gave a squinty-eyed pout to Gren. "You evil, evil man."

"It's okay...I didn't understand half of what you meant. Are you taking vague lessons from Kristen?" Azana smirked. "I don't know how all of that would improve the FAST."

"Wh-what?!" She sat upright. "Heavens, no! He's a condescending p***k...! He just happens to have something he shouldn't. I'm helping those folks get it back...hopefully in return for a little security from someone who really doesn't like me."

"It's...rare," Orrin answered, frowning. "Usually, people have a little, or owe a little...if I were doing a terrible job, my plate would rise to show my debts." He tilted it slightly, watching it right itself on the even balance.

"A plain zero...an entirely neutral review. Either that, or something's wrong with the scale. Maybe someone else should weigh me...?"  

[Gren_Eckener]

The innkeep chuckled impishly, leaning on the bar by his elbow. "Not quite sorry...hijacked? Again?"

Mal pouted. "Is this one of those times we have t be sneaky and play capture the flag with some bully?"

"Well..." said Charlotte, raising an eyebrow. "Could Nirro? Or would this be a sort of problem that involves your co-workers? I mean, to make sure it's not the scale, we can test someone else to see if it's just being wonky."  

[Azana Brown]

"You know, when Sybil had a third of the GMO under her spell? She sabotaged my FAST test, knowing I'd be under a catapsi field...would've worked, too, if Stella and James weren't quick to the draw," Azana shuddered at the thought. All she got out of it were a few burns on her arms, and a bit of singed hair.

"Ugh, I don't wanna think about all that...I'm never smoking. Ever," James groaned, a hand to his throat even if it was entirely healed. "Whatever happened to her, anyway? Last I heard, she was staying here with some crazy monster-hunter."

"The mushi thing...? They talk sometimes, but I don't think she lives here," Violet chimed in, surprisingly calm even though it was a thinly veiled happiness.

"Capture the flag...? Well, if a gifted young woman qualifies, then yes," Elizabeth nodded. "The Knights seem to think there's a bigger baddie at work, too...same guy who'd love my head on a silver platter."

"Y-yes...let's test it...we were going to try Malachai, yes?" He replaced his Karma Heart, gingerly placing the Order Weight in the bag. The scale...it had to be the scale, right...?