RP:Ghost Gets Inked

From HollowWiki

The Jolly Roger

Satoshi is far from bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, but she's alive (relatively), here, and it's tomorrow.


Cerinii is tinkering, as always.


Leoxander looked well rested. That was the good news. The bad being the fact the pirate was bowed over a cleaning drain trying to constantly rise and wash his mouth out with rum, water... basically whatever he could find. He was spitting that foul taste into the grate at the bottom of that basin, giving a rapid, irritated shake of his head, then trying to spit and rinse again. Tongue fell from his mouth with a terrible face before he'd risk a glance at the metal doors, brow furrowed, particularly if he caught any approaching scent.


Satoshi staggers through the doors in a manner not unlike the sailors that wander these wharfs, but the kit's far from drunk. Judging by drawn and pinched features, and a vague gaze, she's instead had a less pleasant night without rest, sans booze to ease the aches. A moment is taken to blink at Cerinii, futilely trying to puzzle out her reason for being here, before she seeks out Leoxander and rasps out, "It's tomorrow, like promised."


Cerinii offered a little wave and muffled 'hello'. It's hard to talk when holding a cog between your lips. Cerinii then proceeds with her tinkering, not taking much notice of the two.


Leoxander was the unlikely company for the engineer, but they didn't interact, much. She did her thing, the captain dealt with his own dilemma, which seemed to be that terrible taste. "Yeah..." This remarked low before he spit one more time and washed away the saliva, taking one more drink of water before he'd stand upright from that basin. "We'll be setting up in the cove. Ships docked in there for escape if we need it, otherwise there's only one way to get in, and that's through my men." Merchants, thugs, the sort he conspired with. They weren't an army but most of them could fight to survive. "Parasite's due here, soon enough. I don't blame you if you'd rather take your chances elsewhere."


Satoshi leans against the doorframe as Leoxander speaks, not quite in an attempt for that air of casual 'coolness', but simply because something else holding her up is a much appreciated relief. Absently she nods, a slight frown cutting its way across her brow. "I'll take each day as it comes. They're all full of risks and chances currently. For today, I'll take the chance, and see if we can't find some grain of magic into that wolfen mind of yours. As well as see just how good you are with those." She jerks her chin toward the needles and inks that make this establishment what it is.


Leoxander wore a solemn look, anyhow, but her jerk of motion to draw his attention to his work station caused a frown of his own. There were wars at hand, enemies surfacing, and the last thing he wanted to think about was creating something pleasant to the eye in ink. But considering it was for knowledge that might help those near battles, he'd nod, and try to burn away the mind block he felt lodged in his skull. "What do you want?" Bluntly questioned, meaning her design of choice, since he really just wanted to get it over with. Hands would be rinsed and wiped on the stomach of the shirt he wore.


Satoshi allows herself a faint smirk, curious if she's managed to start coaxing the wolf toward distraction from his current worries. By way of answer to his question, however, she hurriedly produces the scrap of paper from the night before, now inked and bearing the image of an elaborate, snowflake-esque Arcane circle. Pushing herself off the doorframe, she shuffles to where Leoxander stands to offer him the page. "I don't expect my job to be easy, so I hope this isn't easy either. Easy tasks let minds wander dangerous paths."


Leoxander took a step or two to meet her and take that scrap of parchment he'd noticed her sketching on, the night before. His eyes graze over the fairly complicated design, and although far from easy, the task would not be so difficult since he was simply copying something already created. A silent nod given in acceptance of the challenge, and wandering off with that slip of paper, he'd call back. "Black?" She could request color, too, and he would let her know what could be done. Reaching that station, the sketch would be placed on his work table near a stone skull motif, and drawers opened to remove a case that held one of those Alaine-created steam inking machines.


Leoxander snapped the buckles on the front to lift the lid, taking the main component of the piece out. The rest of those interchangable parts would be plucked out of the soft lining and lined up in a fairly intimidating display. Those needle heads weren't tiny.


Satoshi eyes the peculiar machine warily, but all things considered... she had honestly expected a handful of rusty needles as the tool for the trade. This one, while intimidating, is likewise reassuring. Following the lycan, she corrects his question, "Blue." As an added explanation, she continues, "My magic always works best through that color, I find."


Leoxander nodded in understanding, without looking her way. For customers, he'd learned that his rough hands weren't always pleasant, so he'd pull a black leather glove over one: the hand that would be doing most of the touching on skin. Three different shades of blue vials would be taken from a separate drawer and stacked out amongst the rest of those supplies - navy, a calm royal, and clear day sky shades, easily mixed to create whatever she deemed perfect. Another look at that design while he gathered gauze, a small box of mandrake, a clean knife, and a towel that looked clean but perhaps stained from the past, and eventually, Leo would motion her over with a jaw to ask. "Where you want it?" He'd continue while she answered, snapping metal fittings into place and checking the water levels to make certain the steam would power properly.


Faramond was musing to himself, the rogue walking around Cenril in search of something but there was not much to be found this day, he discovered. Almost as if mesmerized, he found himself standing in front of the Jolly Roger, seems he had been spending more time here recently than anything, and with that thought, the jolly ol' gambler pushed is way in, whistling a merry tune to himself as he approached Leoxander's bar.


Satoshi watches Leoxander's preparations with blatant intrigue, for once looking like a proper magely scholar as her gaze inspects the various tools being compiled. The jaw motion brings her over, as intended, and with a shrug the kit shreds her weighty coat to be left draped over a chair. "Left shoulderblade, if you please," she indicates with a nod over said shoulder, the location picked for convenient reasons the kit doesn't readily offer.


Faramond was musing to himself, the rogue walking around Cenril in search of something but there was not much to be found this day, he discovered. Almost as if mesmerized, he found himself standing in front of the Jolly Roger, seems he had been spending more time here recently than anything, and with that thought, the jolly ol' gambler pushed is way in, whistling a merry tune to himself as he approached Leoxander's bar.


Faramond commented idly, though not very loud at all, something to the effect of, "Why, no one's gonna look at it there."


Satoshi answers Faramond without looking his way--it's not like he cares about seeing her -face- anyway, "The ones that matter will see it~." Insert tail wiggle here.


Faramond chuckled, clearing his throat, sitting up a bit further in his stool, "Funny how you say I don't matter yet..." Well, he'd leave her to finish that thought, "Long time no see, eh? A tattoo this time on the island, eh? Too cold for ink where you are from?"


Kirien probably nudged Faramond on the way in. With a boot; the movement almost had him toppling over but the fox somehow managed to right himself, despite being currently weighed down with a good few wooden boxes. Carrying them huffily past the gambler, he disappeared briefly into the kitchenette behind the bar to set down his burden - which was giving off the tantalising aroma of freshly-baked goods that would slowly begin to fill the shop. White-tipped ears perked up at the sound of Satoshi's voice, someone he had not expected to find present here. Kirien peeked back out of the kitchen, curious.


Leoxander set the inking device down on the soft lining in that case with a glance at the door, regarding Faramond's entrance in silence. The other rogue was welcome enough, and Leo didn't particularly have the will or patience to bicker with the man, today. "Be easier if you lose the shirt. I ain't gonna look." There was a towel in reach to wrap herself with if something beneath her clothing didn't suffice, and even as he said this, he turned to that custom build chair, Allanon's and Alaine's collaboration, which would not only recline but shift upright, adjusting lower enough on the back rest that it could be a 'front rest', this time around. Arm rests would be unlocked and swiveled out of the way on their mechanics, so she could straddle the padded seat backward, fairly comfortably, to cover the front of her torso and still relax while he worked. Before she'd be allowed to do any of this and settle herself in as she saw fit, he motioned his knuckles toward those vials. "Any of those look right?" Another draw opened, Leo retrieved a small container of what appeared to be fine, sooty black dust, the lid opened and that parchment designed turned face down. He'd layer that dark charcoal substance on the back of the paper, so that the symbol traced out exactly the same, and not in a mirrored effect.


Leoxander noticed Kirien, as well, but he'd do no more that acknowledge his presence with a glance that followed the fox a few steps or so.


Satoshi blinks once at Leoxander's directions before pulling her sweater over her head with her good arm and likewise tossing it aside to join her jacket. Never one to be perturbed by mere 'lookers', the kit is perfectly comfortable in wearing just the breastband--and hell, she'd remove that too without a second thought, if it got in Leoxander's way. Grinning, she leans down to peer closer at the vials, eyes flicking from the royal to sky blues. "Can you mix them to get one closer to my eye color?" A clawed finger points to the paler ink. "A hint darker and it'd be perfect~."


Satoshi doesn't immediately notice Kirien, or respond to Faramond. The mage's attention is clearly on the inks and the quickly approaching inking.


Kirien hummed a quiet, thoughtful sort of tune as he took note of Satoshi's current position over by the tattooists chair; seemed she was about to be inked, from what he could make of it all. Grinning, the empath reached to idly scruffle up chestnut locks, then raised that same hand in a salute to either the magus herself or Leoxander (maybe both) before he turned to meander back to the kitchenette. Various items and instruments were poked at, and he had an new batch of savoury and sweet pastries to unload.


Leoxander wasn't phased by the revelation of icy toned skin, and he seemed to just continue with those preparations, turning over a bit of antiseptic on gauze before mismatched gaze shifted to the woman's bared left shoulder. A frown was given when he started to swab the spot clean, and he murmured low. "I'ma probably gonna have to shave you, Cat." However fine those little silvery furs he felt, they could potentially cause a mistake in what needed to be very precise and well shaped lines. So, when he turned back toward that table and retrieved a small wooden dish the size of a coaster for mixing those blues, he'd also take out a folded straight razor (this looking a little rusty near the base, but the blade sharp), even if she protested with an expression of ears or voice. She'd feel his rougher fingers of his ungloved hand on her jaw after a moment, her head turned briefly so he could squint a look at optic hue. He'd let go to finish up those tasks, while she swallowed down the idea of a little bald spot on her shoulder, for a few days.


Leoxander noticed the bits of amber in her eyes during that look, but he would say nothing about it.


Satoshi, once her head is released from the rogue's grasp, twists it around to peer at the offending shoulder and the near imperceptible fur upon it, grimacing. The razor, once produced, is given the same look, but nonetheless she nods. "Fur grows back." She does, however, make a mental note to see if she can't force a bit of fur off Leoxander during later lessons, for the sake of easing a vengeance-loving mind.


Leoxander was glad to hear her comply so easily, and so that razor was unfolded against his thigh and the backs of his leather clad fingers brushed that silvered fur the wrong way so it stood on end. Despite how thick his facial hair had become over the last week, Leo was pretty good with that sort of edge, too, and a few expert swipes would clean enough area for the design. He didn't hesitate to go on from there, one more cleansing of the spot offered before he'd pick up that soot dusted sheet of paper, and stuck it right there dirty side down against the damp skin on her back. At once, a small square of black would shape to the form of that stuck parchment, and picking up a thin, fine point but not sharpened utensil, the captain traced over the lines of her arcane snowflake, carefully. Somehow, despite the hair that hung in his vision, he seemed to see what he was doing just fine, and although she'd had no visual of what he'd done so far, that parchment would be peeled off in an inverted design where the marked lines were clean, silvery blue skin void of charcoal, but the rest was darkened to show Leo just where to put those needle tips. A click and twist of parch of that machine when it was taken back in hand, and he'd pour the newly mixed blue of her eyes into a tiny vial that fit and snapped into place, to feed slowly and steadily to the business end. One more pop of sound when that switch was clicked, and there was enough energy conjured to start the engineer's invention, with a low hum vibrating through and small spouts of steam escaping a slit of vent now and then, as it worked.


Kirien could be heard sneezing from somewhere in the kitchenette. It seemed he'd decided to inspect the seasonings again.


Leoxander didn't look, but he was aware of the Fox's every move and antic.


Satoshi resists the urge to twist and squirm in an attempt to see what Leoxander is doing, instead trying to occupy her hands with keeping her hair well out of his way. She doesn't need the lycan annoyed by a wriggling fox when he's about to use the business end of a needle-filled machine on her. Once he's done his tracing however, she at least ventures to nod toward the waiting chair and ask, "That's not just for decor, I hope?" The idea of standing during this doesn't sit well with a mage that hasn't slept in... how many days?


Leoxander had been completely unaware out of character that she was standing, but the rogue is totally with it. "Waitin' on you, kiddo." He'd reply to the woman neutrally, gaze taken in hand before he'd lower into a seat in the more simple chair beside her readjusted place. "Sit still, a'right?" He'd already noticed the flinch of a wanted squirm. Resting a towel over his leg, Leo dragged himself closer to his victim -... er... customer, once she settled in.


Kirien , it seemed, had been trying to find the cinnamon - only to grab hold of the pepper jar instead. Their containers felt relatively similar to the blind empath after all, and he'd only discovered his problem upon sniffing at the dust inside. He was grumbling about it all as he stood with the cinnamon pot in hand, his tail a lazy swish behind him as he began dusting the tops of a couple of pastries with an extra little hint of seasoning. "G'damn pepper…gonna have to label them all somehow.."


Satoshi accepts the invitation readily, damn near collapsing into the chair with a grateful sigh. With her face down, her words are muffled but still coherent as she replies to the directions, "I won't budge. Aside from the tails. I don't have say with those three." A short laugh follows before the kit simply sinks into the comforts of the seat and awaits the rogue's leisure with that steaming contraption. This fox is definitely not going anywhere any time soon, likely.


Kirien was just glad he'd not sprinkled pepper all over his apple pies though.


Leoxander paused in a glance back, hearing Kirien's curse. "If you were clever, you'd use your tongue and not your nose, ears." Though Leo might laugh when the fox found his way to the cayenne. The rogue happened to be a fan of those mouth burning spices, and had stocked them well.


Leoxander hopefully would not have to worry about swatting any tails away or brushing them out from tickling him while he worked. His attention returned to the ice magus and he'd regard her fatigue with some understanding before she'd feel his hand rest to her back, startlingly warm in contrast to her icy feel, even though the leather of his glove. The first lines he would start with would be the most difficult, but he'd touch that vibrating, piercing point to her skin first, to let her realize what it would feel like, and adjust. An icy burn, really, that most people's endorphins dulled down within seconds, usually. Once he was certain those muscles in her back were done twitching to the foreign feel, he began to outline what he hoped to be perfect circles, capturing the 'cording' of the device under his thumb knuckle to use that taut pull of tube to contract the correct, even shape, all the way around. A little slack offered to that technique, and a second circle would follow just a mere half inch outside the first, relatively flawless line of azure, but by the time he'd finished those first two parts of a twenty six part sitting, he'd give her a second or two to breathe, and recompose herself. Between touches of impressed ink, bits of antiseptic'd gauze would be used to swap extra color and blood away.


Kirien flicked an ear at Leo's remark but he might've been grinning as well. On his search for the sugar just a few moments later, the unfortunate fox did discover that cayenne and gave a yelp of surprise and clear displeasure, rushing to fetch himself a glass of water. "Neither works!" he complained after a good long drink to quench the burning in his tongue, which now felt almost singed.


Leoxander almost grinned a little himself, without looking away from his bloody artwork.


Satoshi can't stop the initial twitch that comes with the start of the process, but being chewed on more than once by a vampire proves a valuable form of preparation as she wills the tension out of her form once more. If she had to be honest, Satoshi finds the work almost pleasant, the pain--far subdued from what she usually endures day to day--providing the stinging distraction needed to bring her weary wits back on track like a crop coaxing a horse along. An ear turns toward the distant complaint, recognizing the voice, and the kit smirks to herself. "Bright Eye~."


Leoxander would push her harder once he realized she could handle it, drilling that ink in so that it would not fade upon her tinted skin, over time, particularly since it had to resist those frigid temperatures. More blood would leak than blue ink in that method, and it would bite a little harder, the skin would swell a little more before it healed, but those lines would stay as true blue as her eyes for some time. The circles, the bits of circles, the inner lines of intricate designs, these were placed first to get the general size and shape of the sketch into view, and as the minutes ticked by, he continued to subject her to that painfully pleasant sensation. She'd feel the moment he crossed into 'david' star pattern, his A angled lines well practiced given his own symbol of 'Bane' and the way he signed his name. Slow, steady drags of needle points would bring the arcane and elemental of the insignia together, gradually, and those small gaps in the break of outer edge would be next on the order of process. Tiny circles created with firm wipes of stinging medicine to follow up every one, the antiseptic likely not offering that 'cool' and relieving sensation with her flesh so naturally cold. "You wanna get me a drink while you're over there, Ears?" This was called out randomly over that hum of steam machine, and whether he realized it or not, he -was- distracted from burden and worry. So focused on this creation, it kept his mind occupied and his head steady, it was even soothing, in ways, watching that piece come together with tints of red and blue in 'wounds'. He took a deep breath in a pause and forged on, so long as she didn't tense or seem to be too uncomfortable. He entirely planned to finish that in one simple, swift and uneventful sitting. He was about on part fifteen, by then - over half way done.


Kirien , being the chef, figured he was free to pilfer a pie or two of his own stock here and there. After extra light dustings of cinnamon and the sugar he eventually found had been added to the tops of the sweeter pastries, the empath plucked one up to nibble at while he sought out a bottle of rum and a tumbler following that call from the Alpha. The response was a muffled, "Aye," spoken round the pie and then the empath was meandering across to the tattooist's station, drink in one hand and pastry in the other; the former, he set down somewhere stable enough the glass wouldn't fall, but close enough for Leo to reach. "My sister's gettin' tattoos, eh?" he murmured, curious gaze flickering back and forth between Satoshi and the work Leoxander was focused on. At least he seemed to be concentrating on it enough that Kirien was not tempted to force another shoulder massage on him. "You look far too relaxed about it all," he said with an amused little smile to Satoshi, licking sugary cinnamon from his lips.


Satoshi is silently thankful that the scent of her own blood doesn't awaken that vampiric hunger as more of the liquid is spilt by the increased pressure, enough to provoke her into biting her lower lip. But Kirien's words require that action to end so that she can whisper a growlish response, "You would be too, if you had a husband like mine, Bright Eye." Thinking on that, and Kirien, is not the wisest of choices, however, as both involve thoughts of blood that elicits involuntary tension throughout Satoshi's frame. Instead, the foxkin devotes herself to listening and feeling, her mind's eye tracing the lines Leoxander's engraving into her back as the arcane circle is slowly built while the hum and puff of the inking machine lulls her, soothing away darker images and releasing the knotted coils of muscle along her back.


Arien 's arrival would be announced by that lean-long shadow that broke up the light which was spilling into a shop where rogue artist was busy at work, and it was be a sight so long unseen that it might almost have been forgotten that stepped through the doors. A long eared general surveyed the scene with an expression just neutral enough to be unreadable, though that skull that still glinted in once naked ear, and the softness that ghosted across emerald gaze for a beat as she watched a blonde head bent over labor would betray that the warrior was not who she once had been. A long sword sat low on her hip, icy mate to the fire that was the possession of her ex husband, and the elemental forged daggers that remained hidden for now in braces against her wrist offered a remembered and familiar comfort. Fiery mane was tamed and tapered into the strip of leather that formed a low tail at her nape, and she had the air of once who had just come from council. Two thirds of the forces of the Fold had been called in to man the garrison at the plateau. Their presence here, would mean war. The elf had conceded. The governer, mother and lover had closed her eyes in the arms of her mate, and the warrior had woken there, once more. The elf's tones floated into the room from that doorway, touched with that cool formality that had branded this version of herself in the past.


Arien said to Satoshi, "Payment up front, Sato?..You always drove a hard bargain."


Arien might have spolied that impression when she moved across the room, booted soles echoing on the wood, to find the artist's side and lower her head to rest a kiss on his temple there.


Satoshi resists the urge to shrug, just barely. "It'll wake me up. I assure you, lessons in magic given by a dozing mage is not a good thing."


Satoshi tries to take a peek at Arien without moving excessively. The sounds of the woman's footsteps were heavier than yesterday, and the kit's curious if she's armored and in the midst of making preparations. "Calling council..?"


Faramond fell asleep earlier, so if Sato ever said something back to him he missed it, not that it matters, he's just sitting at the bored, making faces at Kirien or something to that extent.


Arien would speak for the moment from her place at the males side, though she'd answer that question offered. "It cannot be avoided. My commanders had already given the order for redeployment given our drow nuisance. the advent of open war declared makes it only sensible to consolidate our forces. the compound is too vulnerable, the island more defensible." Her voice rippled melodically into that quiet work environment. Ganjimu remains to facilitate a siege status in Sage with a skeleton crew. We will make a stand here, otherwise." A glance down at that alpha's head and thoughtfulness touched her gaze. "I shall likely sit in council with the order, and do what I can to facilitate co-operation with the other forces who choose to hold the line on the island. Your continued support in air cover is welcome. I know Leo will likely take point with the pack, along with its leadership. Council, will defnitely be needed.."


Leoxander was a lycanthrope, supposed enemy and opposite of the cold, deathly things vampires were, so perhaps he spared a stern look for the back of Satoshi's head when she remarked on Kasyr - almost as though he could sense what she was thinking. A pause of ink and a nudge of her opposite shoulder, and she'd hear the Captain behind her, returning the favor of distraction with a gruff, "Sit still." Not that she was really moving much, but maybe she'd consider talking and thinking a possible cause of a twitch. Leo progresses to a point closer to finished, now, every second to pass another mark of permanent ink impressed. Just after Arien's entrance caused a momentary check at the door, those snowflake 'tips' would be added in, perfected and checked over. By the time Satoshi's shoulder blade was really achy and tender, and she was possibly rethinking this whole idea, he'd go to the very center for the 'wing', almost flower like symbol at it's core, which would take no thicker lines than the rest and balance out well. Precise but nerve wracking touches of needle points would be the final stretch of that grueling task for both parties, a repetitive rhythm taken to fill in the squiggle-dot border along that first ring he'd drawn (freehand and even, since he hadn't bothered to trace these) and at last... Leo was putting in those specific runes at the obtuse angles of that six pointed star, each carefully done over an agonizing twice so they would showed up a little better, tiny as they were. When the buzzing, steaming sound finally stopped (probably reaching a level the foxkin was entirely over it, unless it really was so pleasant) he'd grab a fresh gauze to dip in antiseptic and clean the design up to a glossy state. There'd be swelling, a tint of red or whatever color the vampire's skin irritated to, but once he found a plaque of polished, reflective metal and glass to hand her way for rear view vision, she could take a glance into another looking mirror behind her to get the general idea of how it had turned out. The rogue stood, uncaring of her reaction, and peeled off that leather glove to throw it and the used linen into a bin, on his way to that washing station where he'd been spitting and rinsing a foul taste in his mouth, all morning.


Leoxander listened to this conversation as he rinsed off his hands, eyes grazing over the elf's form and expression solemnly.


Kirien 's tail flicked in quiet amusement, a smirk finding its way onto fine features that curved lips up round the edge of that pastry. "True. We're such a lovin' family~." Free hand extended to rest lightly atop the magus' head, between those large ears, and he'd ruffle her hair some. "Looks good," he added with a pointed glance to her exposed shoulder and the marking being inked into pale skin; an absent musing and a subtle compliment to Leo, too, though how exactly Kirien could see the forming tattoo to comment on it in the first place was entirely questionable considering he was blind. Maybe he could feel the pattern that was slowly but surely sketched out in azure. Blind gaze lifted from his sibling to travel round the shop at the new arrival, amber finally coming to rest on the approaching Arien, who earned herself a friendly grin and wave from the empath. "Aight. Wanna drink?" He might not be a tender at the bar here, but he figured he could fill in when none of the Roger's waitresses were around. "Or a pie. I gotta few." Though he did pause at mention of councils and open war, a momentary look to Leo following before he finished off that little pie of his.


Leoxander picked up 1 gauze.


Leoxander said to Satoshi, "Dont put your shirt on, yet."


Kirien probably nudges his post above Leo's huge one, come to think of it...


Any response she might have made to Arien is put from her mind by the pirate's words and renewal of that scrapping pressure upon her shoulder. The kit has endured pain of countless sorts in her predatory life, but this particular one is beginning to get to her, be it because of its consistency or that fact that her following along with the lines has told her it's near completion. Biting back a hiss where the runes' lines are doubled over, Satoshi burrows her face into the chair and waits, enduring. It'll all be worth it, she tells herself. Something that makes her reluctant to look up once the machine has stopped and the throbbing area of her shoulder is wiped clean, although eventually she does accept the reflective item so that she can survey the damage. And augmentation, if the lycan's hands were as steady as she hoped.


Satoshi eyes the reflection, wary at first but expression brightening with each lingering moment until she's outright beaming. No flaws that she can see. Her Mage Mark is safely in place. With that, she nods to Leoxander, "Right-o. And thanks."


Kirien pondered fetching a drink for Satoshi as well, actually. Maybe she needed one.


Satoshi possibly reads Kirien's mind. Or just weasels her way into the invite he's extended to Arien already. "Something wine-ish, Bright Eye?"


Leoxander shook his head at the offer of pie, and hands wiped mostly dry on his shirt, he'd cross back over to his customer, pausing with a bump of his mouth and nose against Arien's for a stern, simple kiss on the way. "I've got some of Ganji's due to set up in the cove, if they're not already there. He sent a man here last night for ale." Everyone had their conditions. Some wanted ink, others wanted booze, training, love, or freedom. So long as he got his end of the bargain as well, there was never a problem in his mind with that. Reaching the Kit Vampire, knife and mandrake would be taken in relatively clean, if still soot stained hands and he split open the root until it bled, thick and dark red, but spread on mostly clear when he took some of this on his fingertips to rub over the tender, branded skin. To her thanks, he only replied. "I want to start soon." That's how she could thank him.


Arien considered that drink, but would shake her head in the negative to the offer. There was a good chance that she might get off the stuff for the duration of what was almost certain to be tense times ahead. She had ever preferred working with a clear head. "All of the defenses put in after we claimed the island exist still. The land entrances from Archmosian Gamorg are defended, as are the sewer ways. Polybolos and your dragons Sato hold the air..and I shall likely have the armada on high alert and sailing patrols. I am considering having the city put on lock down. Martial law for the duration. I don't want strangers in my city." Her expression was grim. "Citizens and residents..allies might be provided passports of a sort, if I can come up with something practical and quickly." Arien had turned her temple into that kiss when it came during her commentary.


Satoshi winces at the mandrake essence being pressed into the marking, biting back a curse at that sting. "Right. Tonight, at the cove? Your seas are a fickle bitch, I prefer to work around her when she's cold. The sun makes her less than amiable with me." In truth, it's the salt that interferes most with Satoshi's manipulating of sea water, but the warmth is an added, an unwanted, bonus.


Satoshi said to Arien, "Eyrie can only spare the wing I sent to Mahri. We're spread thin defending our own borders in Frostmaw, and the post near Gualon. I can't send anymore."


Kirien nodded, carefully chewing up the remains of his last bite and licking residual sugar from his lips. "Wine-ish. Right." Did they have wine? He thought they did - Roelstra seemed to favour that particular alcohol if he recalled correctly, so there should be some hanging around the place somewhere. With another nod in acknowledgement to Arien, the empath was moving back toward the bar in search of 'wine-ish' bottles. A couple were uncorked and sniffed at before he eventually came across a particularly good red, an amount of which would be swiftly decanted into a glass and brought back Satoshi's way with a swish of sleek tail. Another glance flitted between the three, curiosity evident in both his eye and his voice when Kirien spoke. "Trainin'? An'…I got Nameless, if you need some kinda…extra air defences? Is it really that bad?" He was a little out of the loop, having not been present during the last invasion - that much was clear.


Leoxander muttered to Satoshi. "Only when you piss 'er off." He wiped the gunk off his fingers with a towel and turned away from her to partially clean up the mess from his station, pulling the device apart to be cleaned. Leo ran a pretty strict business, for a grungy pirate. "You an I'll meet on the ship. The rest'll be stationed around the cove. We'll set up some training and weapon sites on the bay through the tunnels." Unless of course the governor protested these ideas, which he doubted she would. To the elf, he'd remark off handedly. "I'll have the Runner drop off some rations and supplies when I catch up to him."


Arien said to Satoshi, "It wil do. Certainly more than we had without them. We are not without dragon allies, though that Council has been quiet for some time on the mainland. I shall do what i must to call in a favor.." Arien had lost a platoon of men to that alliance with dragons. They would not fail her now."


Leoxander picked up that drink Kirien had poured him as he cleaned off that table surface, downing it in a hard swallow.


Leoxander said very quietly, to sensitive elf ears. "Bastard can't fly in there."


Arien said to Kirien, "Bad enough. We have drow on the ground, a time lord with a vendetta and a more than competent foe waging a proxy war. And they're all headed..here.."


Arien might have smiled..faintly, then.


Satoshi accepts the glass from Kirien, sipping from it while peering over the edge at Leoxander, eyes glittering with quiet mischief. "I've pissed her off more than once, and she's killed me once for it." She isn't exactly relishing the idea of dancing with the waves once more, but she needs a starting point for this attempt at training Leoxander, and if any element might hold a grain of potential for him... she suspects it's the sea and all her wild moods.


Arien glanced Leo's way. "Where?..the coves?"


Leoxander almost smirked at Satoshi's reply, and he simply said, "Yeah, she'll do that." But she did seem to love that rogue, for all eternity.


Kirien 's features creased briefly in bemusement as he handed off that glass. "Drow, here? An' after they just won Sage…" The mentioned lime lord concerned him more, however, the movement of his tail ceasing.


Leoxander nodded toward Arien. "If he goes there, he's on our ground. Literally." Hence why it seemed a safe bet, particularly with a back escape and many hiding places for children and such.


Leoxander glanced at Kirien's concern on drow. Stinging ants, compared to the parasite that was infecting the world.


Satoshi pushes herself to her feet after that and drains the glass in the following motion. Moving to collect her abandoned articles of clothing, she tucks them beneath her frozen arm and looks toward those gathered. "It's still hours until nightfall. I'll be on the island resting until then." Her focus flicks to Leoxander specifically then, "Any instructions of care for this thing? Or is it well enough on its own?"


Arien noodded Leo's way, then, though her brow would furrow slightly. "You'll need bodies on the water Leo..to guard the entrance to the Bay. It opens to the channel.." The one between Cenril and the island. To leave it undefended while they literally set up shop on the beach would be to leave an open flank wich could cost deeply. "Pehaps the captains in the rows will privateer for the right price.." She needed to lock down their loayalty now, anyway. Before tendrils of betrayal could snake their way in on golden backs.


Kirien was not concerned about the drow. He huffed a bit though; they'd likely prove themselves a bit of a nuisance somehow. Mention of coves had him perking up though, a small smile forming. Being rather well-connected to the earth and, of course, with his terrmancy abilities, he'd a thing for areas like that.


Leoxander shrugged Satoshi's way. "Keep it clean. Come back if it starts getting dry or scabs up. Don't bloody trust a healer with it unless it's Lotus, they'll sponge the damn ink right out."


Leoxander narrowed his eyes at Arien's suggestion. "Can't I just throw a couple ogres in some barrels out there? More reliable than those two..." He wasn't exactly comrades with the other Captains on that isle, and Schalk had since forfeit any alliance they might have had.


Kirien turned toward Satoshi then, white-tipped ears pricked up in interest. "You can crash at mine if you wanna. It's nearby an' pretty well-hidden." Mostly.


Satoshi said to Leoxander, "I avoid healers for anything but the worst of injuries, have no fear. Their sponges won't come near me." What the kit needs is a good feeding to speed up the healing process and restore the energy she's overspent in the past few days. And that's just what she's going to do before falling into a short coma for the remainder of the day. With a salute--and a wince at the flesh pulled taut on her shoulder--Satoshi departs. "Nightfall then, Wolf~. I'll pay you for the ink."


Satoshi adds to Kirien, "If I find it, I shall, then?"


Leoxander said to Satoshi, "If you don't show up, I'm hunting your ass down."


Kirien grinned to his sibling. "I'll open the door for you." He pointed a finger none-too-subtly toward the west, where a pathway from the wharf that slowly smaller and more overgrown as it carried on led to the crossroads and his home.


Leoxander would do that for payment, and... because he worried, a little.


Arien shifted the rogue a look that was far more dry lover than general for a moment before her lips curved slightly. "Unless those ogres can take down an incoming fleet, I'd say the answer to that question would be no.." If he was close enough, she'd not be able to resist the desire to touch, somewhere. It was as if the contact assured he was still there..and that there were things worth fighting for to make those sacrifices of pride.


Satoshi duly notes Leoxander's words and Kirien's point before departing.