RP:Funny How Things Change

Summary: Onyx is back and Khitti's losing her mind. Both her and Brand finally get some answers, but they're not exactly comforting.

The Tranquility, Cenril Wharf

Khitti’d gone to bed almost as soon as the Catalians had left. “I’m really tired,” she’d said. It wasn’t entirely untrue, after all they’d been through that day. Dominic had been given over to Brand to deal with and hardly even a goodnight said to her son, fiance, and brother. And when everyone woke up? She wasn’t there. Khitti had barely slept. Gone before the sun even came up. She did leave a note behind, at least--she hadn’t -entirely- gone back to her old ways of avoiding people, leaving before they woke up, and not saying anything… just mostly. First, she’d walked Francis and her Tikifhlee. Then, she -might’ve- went on a stress-eating binge for a few hours by the sea (her bakery wasn’t going to make much money that day anyway and the food needed to be eaten up; at least, that’s what she’d told herself).

Khitti || If she didn’t keep active, Khitti was going to start thinking, and everyone knows the bad stuff that can happen when Khitti started thinking. Well, the thinking was happening anyway, much to Khitti’s dismay. How long had Onyx been alive? How long had they been here? Watching them? Gods, Onyx really -was- her child, considering the fact that they’d more or less done what she’d done in Frostmaw--that is to say that she basically stalked her loved ones while not even bothering to tell them that she still existed. It made the mom in Khitti want to come out and scold Onyx. “Don’t do the things that I do! After five thousand years, you should know that I can’t do anything right!” she’d say, knowing Onyx would agree with her.

Khitti || It wasn’t even the afternoon yet and Khitti was tired. Probably because, you know, she hadn’t slept. That anxiety was good for an adrenaline boost though! Her stomach twisted into knots as she set foot on the gangplank and headed up to the ship. Mmm, nope. Can’t do this. Not ready. So, she went swimming instead. In her normal clothes. As one does when they’re on the verge of yet another serious breakdown. Boots were removed, her hair braided, and then splash, right into the ocean, off the port side.

Brand || Hardly anyone would notice a single splash amidst the afternoon hubbub of the Cenril harbor. Probably just another pelican hunting for its lunch. The boots, though… those would be stumbled upon, possibly literally, if not for one very observant sailor. Dart didn’t know who they belonged to -- wasn’t around to see her jump -- but he knew to keep the gangplank clear of obstructions. He picked up the shoes and ran belowdecks. Dart darted through busy corridors and down to the crew’s quarters, where a box displayed the words “lost and found” in worn red paint. He dropped the boots inside and thought nothing more of the matter, save for some minor grumbling about inconsiderate coworkers leaving things where they didn’t belong. And Khitti was never seen again, The End.

Brand || Scarlet was absolutely scarlet with rage. Dozla wouldn’t stop pranking her. She knew the drill by now… something of hers went missing, Dozla would claim to have no knowledge of the affair, and Scarlet would later find her item hidden somewhere ‘hilarious’. Except this was the fifth time in a month and Scarlet was getting sick of it. What was it this time? Her compass, of course. Handed down the family line for generations, with her maiden name etched on the underside in an elaborate calligraphy. Well, this time, the joke was on Dozla. Scarlet knew exactly where to look. And so she found herself rummaging around in the Lost and Found bin -- not for the first time this month -- and, sure enough, her compass lay barely concealed under someone’s poor forlorn boots. Hmm. Stylish boots, these, and no one around to see her take something that wasn’t hers. And they were just her size, too. Scarlet discarded her fraying leather clogs in the bin and sauntered off with her compass and two feet of fashion.

Brand || “Where did you get those?” Onyx frowned down at a familiar pair of boots, then glared up at the face of the woman wearing them. Scarlet stammered and blushed, searching for any answer more palatable than the truth. Onyx had… a reputation, and that was -before- they’d been presumed dead. Their sudden reappearance, scar and blinded eye only added to the unsettling aura Onyx had cultivated on this ship. “Never mind. Don’t answer that. She’ll want those back, you know.” And Onyx was gone, no longer blocking her path. With one last shudder, Scarlet sulked her way back to the Crew’s Quarters. Time to return her ill-gotten gains.

Khitti || If Khitti only knew the things that were going on with her boots. Those boots had been with her a long time; from most of her journey across Dhavislaav to find a ship to take her elsewhere, across almost the entirety of Lithrydel, and they even stayed with her throughout her death and rebirth. They were well worn and extremely comfortable, the soft leather having been broken in several years ago. But… now they were gone.

Khitti’d been saved by the Onyx though. Again. Her precious boots had been mostly rescued by the undead and she’d likely eventually find them--but not just yet. Now, she’d return to the gangplank, having hauled her soaked self up a ladder on the side of the wharf, leaving wet footprints on the path that led towards Cenril. Here she was again, indecisiveness keeping her planted in one spot once she’d actually made it up to the ship. But then the lack of boots were noticed, “Whaa--? No no no!” Khitti peered over the side of the ship, down into the depths below, convinced that her boots rested somewhere at the bottom. A long string of curses followed this realization, the smacking of feet on wood sounding her frustration and defeat for all to hear. Dark makeup left lines down Khitti’s face, following the trails of sea water that leaked from within her hair. She looked like something out of a horror story--quite a bit like the one about the girl who died in a well--and her demeanor hadn’t helped her either. It’s no wonder where Onyx got their scowls from, because Khitti had much the same look on her face as she headed to the Captain’s quarters to change.

Brand greeted Khitti with a smirk. “Hey, look what the Khat dragged in. Herself. Lose a fight with the ocean?” The man had been in the middle of wrestling a clean diaper onto Dominic; the kid squawked at Khitti’s arrival and kicked the cloth onto the floor. With a weary sigh, Brand knelt down to retrieve it. He dodged another kick aimed for his head before successfully knotting the thing around Dominic’s bottom. “At least you kicked off the clean one.” And to Khitti: “He’s been like this all morning. I swear, it’s like he -knows- when you’re nowhere near to rescue me from him.”

Khitti glowered at Brand as she shut the door behind her, leaving a trail of water in her wake, like she was some sort of grumpy snail. “Does he know that my favorite pair of boots are at the bottom of the sea too?” Clean clothes were snatched up out of wardrobe, and as she made her way towards the washroom, she stopped and prodded Dominic in the stomach with a smirk, “Be nice to your father. Just because you were a jerk the first time around, doesn’t mean you get to be now.” She meant Dominic version 1.0, of course. A prod to Brand’s ribs were given before she continued on into the other room, “I think you’re doomed to forever fight with a Dominic.” It was totally his fault--he got her pregnant after all. Her wet clothes were draped over the side of the tub, the new ones put on, and her hair ever so carefully untangled with a brush--and by that I mean, it hurt a whole hell of a lot. She didn’t mention Onyx the whole time she went about her business; she didn’t want to talk about them, mainly because she didn’t know how to feel about the whole situation.

Brand || “Seems that way, yeah.” Brand stared down at his little spawn of mischief. Dominic grinned back, blew a large snot bubble, and giggled when it popped. Shaking his head in resignation, Brand reached for a tissue and scrubbed the kid’s face clean. Again. He’d lost track of how many times he’d done this so far today. “You lost your boots? I’d ask how, but somethin’ tells me you went for a swim not too long ago.”

Khitti || “Yep. Left them on the ship near the gangplank. Maybe the wind blew them just right or something. I don’t know,” Khitti said with a heavy sigh. She would eventually rescue Brand from Dominic, scooping the kid up off the spot where Brand had had him for his diaper change before falling over onto the bed with him. “Frak!” Khitti smirked at the kid as she poked at his chubby cheeks, “Yeah, that’s a good way to sum things up right now. But I’m gonna have to teach you some new words. That cousin of yours is going to surpass you in no time, if she hasn’t already. Poor, kid. You always wanted to be normal. Now you’ve got what you wanted and all the other kids your age are frakking werewolves.” The word ‘cousin’ peaked Dominic’s attention--so much so that he proclaimed,” Flew!” Khitti blinked a few times, trying to decipher just what he was saying: it was Fleur, his cousin’s name. “Okay. So I guess you know two words.”

Brand grinned his telltale grin, the one that said he was about to make a terrible pun. “I dunno, peach. It might’ve just been… a fluke.” Get it? Flew-ke? It didn’t matter if she did or not; Brand was pleased with himself regardless. “He’s been babbling all day and I haven’t been able to make heads nor tails of it. I don’t think he’s really saying anything but baby nonsense, aside from… y’know.” Frak.

Khitti || If Khitti wasn’t lying in bed right now, she’d probably punch him for that pun. Right in the jaw. And then she’d kiss him because she knows he’s dumb and can’t help it. She does her best to hide a smirk and focused her attention on Dominic and carries on, despite Brand’s horrible pun, “You talk about as much as your mother does, kid. I’m not so sure that’s a good thing. Especially for your dad.” She paused, eyeing the raven-haired child, before pointing over at Brand, “Who’s that? Can you say ‘daddy’?” Dominic did not say ‘daddy’. Instead, he blew a spit bubble-filled raspberry and proclaimed, “Frak!”. This teaching the kid how to talk thing might be a bit harder than it seemed.

Brand shrugged one shoulder. “Close enough. That’s how you got here, after all.” No, Brand, do not teach the kid about the birds and the bees before he can even talk. Do not do this thing. But he wasn’t going to; the matter would rest there. “So... can we talk about the sneaky five-thousand year old elephant in the room?” Oh no. That might be worse.

Khitti || Speaking of that frakking thing, “Can you say ‘your dad isn’t getting any for the next year if he brings that up’?” Dominic could not say this thing either. “I don’t particularly want to talk about Onyx, but I’m assuming we’re going to anyway.” Khitti could barely finish her sentence before Dominic got all grabby hands with her hair, “ ‘Nyx! ‘Nyx!” Clearly he wanted to talk about Onyx too. “Fine,” she sighed, “I have no idea how Onyx is back, but despite all the researching I’d been doing for awhile, their return isn’t of my doing obviously. And that is pretty frakking concerning because if -I- didn’t do it, then who the frak did. While I’ve got a million and one questions for them, I don’t even know if I can actually ask. That’s… why I’ve not been here all morning.”

Brand eyed the kid. He certainly seemed enthusiastic about his... cousin? Half-sibling? What do you even call a pseudo-relative that violates the laws of time and space? “For what it’s worth, I have a hunch we’re gonna hear about it one way or another.” And this would be the exact kind of moment Onyx would materialize into the middle of. Brand peered around at the corners suspiciously, waiting, but nothing came of it and he eventually had to move on. “The bigger question to me is: can we trust them? Are they who they appear to be? And those aren’t questions I think we can expect them to be the one to answer.”

Khitti shrugged and gave Brand a forced smile, “I don’t know, Brand. For all we know, maybe they weren’t even gone in the first place.” Which would mean that Khitti sort of grieved over nothing and that… sort of made her angry. It hadn’t just been Gabriel and Venturil that helped Khitti teeter on the edge of alcoholism for the better part of a year. “And we probably are.” Sitting up, she glowered at the end of the bed, “Might as well get it over with now, I guess. You’re probably gonna have to get all boss-like with them or they might not even tell us at all.” Khitti slid from the bed and grabbed Dominic along the way, “You can have your little reunion with Onyx later, kid. Your parents have to deal with business first.” Dominic got a little sniffly, but it was clear he needed a nap, after having been a little hellion all morning for his father--this was what Khitti’d be dealing with for the moment with the intention of putting off seeing Onyx for just a bit longer. Even if that ‘longer’ was only minutes.

“Well, clearly -something- happened. Otherwise, what’s up with the eye?” He drew an imaginary scar down the side of his face, mirroring the one that Onyx had mysteriously acquired. “I didn’t think it was possible, but that thing makes their stare even creepier.” Brand didn’t trust for a second that the mauled eye was actually blind. He’d seen Onyx fight. They wouldn’t have let anything get close enough to wound them, much less gouge out an eye. Right? Brand pondered this as he opened the door. He barely made it out into the hallway before a yelp escaped him -- Onyx was right there, mere feet away. By way of greeting, the undead held up a pair of familiar boots. “I suspected she’d want these back.”

Khitti stuck Dominic in his crib, but no sooner did Onyx announce their presence did the kid start calling for their alternate universe sibling person. This nap, unfortunately, was not to be just yet. Khitti sighed, pulled him back out of his bed, and wandered over to the door where both Catalian and undead stood. “Uh… thanks. Here. He missed you? I don’t know. I don’t even know how he knows you. It doesn’t really make sense. Then again, I guess nothing having to do with us does.” She shoved Dominic at Onyx, didn’t make any eye contact with them, and gingerly took her boots.

Brand had alarm bells going off in his head. No, what the frak, Khitti. Don’t hand our child over to the creepy undead we all hope is actually our friend from before and not some malevolent imposter. But apparently there was no need to worry. Onyx held the baby out at arm’s length, meeting Dominic’s gaze as the latter giggled and flailed his limbs about. What was that on the undead’s face? Was that… a smile? As far as Onyx ever actually showed any emotion, anyway. Brand could only tell from experience, and even now he wasn’t sure he was seeing what he thought he might be seeing. “So, uh.” Brand cleared his throat and pretended he hadn’t just been talking about whether or not they could trust the entity currently clutching their firstborn. “How have you been...?”

Khitti was too irritated at all the things to really care right now, unfortunately. Sorry, Dominic. She’ll make sure the undead won’t eat you, at least--if it does end up being some sort of Onyx doppleganger. While Brand made small talk with Onyx, she grabbed a new pair of socks, pulled them up to her ankles, and shoved her feet in the boots. “I’d give you your hat back, but the kid’s pretty attached to it at this point.” Said kid continued to flail his arms about “‘Nyx! ‘Nyx!” to which Khitti could only respond with a slight frown. It doesn’t take her long to get impatient. Khitti slipped in between the door frame, her pseudo-child, and her actual child, and circled around behind Onyx. “Okay. Happy Super Funtime Family Reunion’s over for now. We need to talk. In the room. -Now-.” Khitti had her mom face on, the one that said ‘if you don’t do what I say right now, thing’s are gonna get ugly real fast’.

Brand || “That’s alright. The hat isn’t mine.” At these words, Brand did a double-take. What kind of imposter outright spills that they’re an imposter? Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of imposter-ing? “The Onyx you once knew is gone,” Not-Onyx continued, ignoring Khitti’s mom-face. They were apparently content to have this conversation right out in the open. “That’s the price paid to condemn Facilier to oblivion forever. But there are new threats now, and dare I say deadlier ones. I was created to serve as what you might call... the contingency plan, if such threats ever came to be.”

Khitti just stared at this Onyx. The new Onyx. Or was it an old Onyx? Frakking oi. “You can never make your little plans simple, can you? How long have you been here? How could you just… come back and not say anything? After all of that? I don’t give a goddamn if you’re a different Onyx, you’re still -Onyx-.” A hand went up and yanked the lapis lazuli choker from her neck and threw it at the ground near the undead’s feet. “It’s bad enough I had to find out from Meri that you’re apparently my frakking kid in some other timeline--and I had to be the one to piece it all together because she doesn’t understand magic like we do. Don’t you -ever- put something like that on her again.” Okay, so maybe Khitti really wasn’t -mad-, but she was definitely hurt and it was starting to show. Prepare for the waterworks, Brand! Even Dominic started to sniffle a little. “You can’t just tell someone that and then just go off and frakking die.” She clearly didn’t care about “new threats”; Khitti, as always, still cared about the past.

Brand || Not-Onyx was unmoved. “I didn’t make those decisions, and I can’t speak to why they were made. I can only explain our present circumstance, which is why I came here just now.” Brand and ‘Nyx’ shared a look. Brand’s expression was guarded; he was clearly still deciding whether or not he believed the things being said. The undead bowed and turned to leave.

Khitti || It wasn’t often that Khitti was at a loss for words. Now was one of those times. Her mouth hung open for what seemed like forever before it was finally shut, her lips pressed together into a thin line. This Onyx was just as unfeeling and uncaring as the day Khitti and the undead had met. Everything had reset. None of the things she was made to feel, because of the other Onyx’s decisions, mattered. She’d take Dominic and go back into the room, where the kid was put in his crib once more and left to his own devices until he passed out. Sorry, kid. Momma needs a drink right now. And she’d go get that drink, in the galley, in silence, because her mind had been frakked with yet again. Thanks, Onyx.