RP:Holy Naked Mages, Batman!

Part of the Do You Believe In Magic? Arc

Summary: A wild Linn appeared! And...he's naked? Come on, Raiez. Seriously? Give the guy some clothes.

Raiez's Cave (Dead End)

A new jar with its occupant has arrived in Raiez’s glorious collection! It found itself onto the shelf with surprisingly little ceremony, kicking, or screaming from the occupant within. Rather, Linn was simply sitting against the wall, sending Raiez a murderous glare from where he was as she went about her business. Even with everyone shrunken to be set in the jars, he looked a little… small, maybe half the ‘normal’ size compared to the other occupants. It’d take him some time to simmer down and be sure she wasn’t watching him so closely anymore. With a sigh he drew his hands down his face before looking around to see what else was going on, maybe find a way out. As part of his kidnapping, Linn was stripped of… just about everything he had and wore. The only thing he had left was some underwear to keep his most basic decency; thank god THAT wasn’t enchanted. Or ornate for the purpose of doing so. Despite being shrunken more than seemed normal, his relative nakedness still put on display all the markings he bore. A few scars here and there, but the ones that stood out was the chaotic pattern they formed all over his entire backside from head to heel. That, and there was a markedly handprint shaped area on his chest that lacked any hair. He should really just shave the rest off, to be honest. Even the parts of his body that weren’t marked in one way or another could be considered unsettling; he was lean and defined to the point that just about every move he made was compounded by those of the muscles that made it up. A certain murderous hunter-cat summed his appearance up best: Stringy. Very much so. Appearances aside, he didn’t get to look around his jar for very long before his gaze landed on Khitti and Dominic in the adjacent jar. He managed to faintly recognize the vampires, bringing about an awkward wave and a squeaky “Hey.” That’s the fun thing about size manipulation, it screws with one’s voice, and there isn’t much to be done about it.

Khitti, well, Khitti should've known someone like Linn would've gotten kidnapped. I mean, he's about as much of a beacon as she was, both of them the magical oddities that they are. She'd been reading, as usual, trying to keep her sanity. Dominic was there of course, but then there was also -another- redhead in the jar with the couple that was affectionately known to some outside the fourth wall as KhittiDom. She was another oddity to be sure, but that was because she wasn't wearing a shirt. To be fair, though, she was wearing armor, but it didn't suit a female at all. She was also bouncing around a lot. Like someone that wasn't exactly used to their own skin yet. If only Linn had been stolen sooner, he would've seen the reason why Khitti was trapped with that snarky vampire with a penchant for lightning and murder. He probably would've recognized her too before her change. But, that time had come and gone. Now, Khitti did her best not to look in the other female's general direction, though her exposed chest really didn't seem to phase the dark ranger anymore. It took her a moment or two to realize that Linn had said something, to which she responded with passing glance over her shoulder. She thought she'd heard something but...Oh. Of course. He's in his underwear. Khitti would then look at the fourth wall camera with that look of 'I should've known' before getting up and setting her book on the massive pile that Raiez had left for her. "Uh. You're late to zhe party, Linn. And, you're almost naked. I feel like I should just accept zhis as my fate to be surrounded by zhe nearly nude."

Dominic looked up from his own book to award Khitti with a skeptical expression. “ ‘Party’? Is that what this is, now? I wish I’d known; I would have brought more cake.” A wry smile made its way from Khitti to Linn. “...Hi.” And then his nose was back in his book again. He’d barely even registered the guy -- he wasn’t the first to come in after Dominic, and there were surely more to come. Better not to focus on that, though. Better not to think about how many more people were likely to meet this same fate. He’d already been ill-tempered enough lately as it was. Or Brand was, and he was bleeding through. Anyway, he was just going to shut everything out and ignore it until an opportunity for escape presented itself. That was the closest thing he had to a plan right now. And in the meantime… how many more times could he read through this same book before the lines were permanently seared into his brain?

Linn had taken to averting his gaze from the other mostly nude female nearby by the time Khitti commented back. He quirked a brow as she spoke, finding something about her voice –off-. “Khitti? Well then…” he trailed off with another sigh before quickly glancing back around the other occupants in the room. Eventually he managed a shrug. “She took all my damn stuff. So, these are the kidnappings that have been the news as of late. All here… in jars.” His voice came out fast and squeaky due to his small size, but it was still understandable, at least for the most part. Unfortunately, he had no books or objects to keep him busy, bringing his idle thoughts crashing down on Dominic who had just managed enough of a response for Linn to bring him into the conversation. “Just how did you two find your ways down here? Plucked right off the mountains like I was?”

Khitti's lips twist into a smirk at her beloved human's remark, a shake of her head accompanying it. "You keep up zhat attitude and you'll sound more and more like Brand every day." Apparently she'd had the same thought. Looking to Linn again with a bit more seriousness, "Yes, vell, you vere covered in ninety-nine percent of zhat one zhing she likes, so of course she's going to take it." The vampiress wasn't much better off in regards to mood; she was starting to feel particularly bitey now with the lack of food on Raiez's part. That gnawing hunger in the back of her mind was getting to her now, as if she really needed something else to try her sanity. The enclosed space had already made her irritable, and in turn Dominic as well.

Plucked off the mountain? ...Well, he hadn’t actually told Khitti yet that he’d gone -looking- for Raiez. So, sure. “Something like that,” Dominic replied to Linn, his eyes staring a hole into his book. Bother. Who was he kidding, anyway? He wasn’t going to get any more reading done for now. Snapping the book shut, he stood, stretched, and moved over to stand by Khitti. “No, you don’t understand,” was muttered into the vampiress’ ear. “He. Is. Driving. Me. -Bonkers-. You ever tried to read with someone shouting in your ear the whole time? This is worse. We need to get out of here.”

Linn huffed as Khitti explained why he was stripped nearly naked before circling around his jar to look for that fabled dragon’s hoard, and his stuff that would probably be in it. “Gems, shiny metal, crystallized magic. Yeah…” He crossed his arms over his chest with a twitch of his eye, gaze still directed out into the cave. “It’s actually a wonder I wasn’t taken sooner.” He blew out a quick sigh, “Damn it.” He was clearly unhappy with the situation he landed in, but he was still a little too shocked for the full irritation to set in. It’ll come eventually. Eventually he turned back towards Khitti and Dominic, clapping his hands together in that nervous faux cheer in an attempt to stave off further anxiety. “Well. I guess I should have known who it was, given you were the first one of real news. Too late for that now though… just how long have you been stuck down here now? By now it’d be… a while.”

Khitti first listened to Dominic and his complaint about Brand, then Linn's inquiries. She goes to open her mouth to say something, hesitates, then puts up her index finger to Linn as if to say 'just one moment'. She then turns towards Dominic, eyes wide with irritation, though it wasn't directed at him and he'd soon know that. The vampiress grabs ahold of Dominic's shirt, lifting him slightly off the ground, and then proceeded to shake him, "BRAND, I SWEAR TO GOD IF YOU DON'T STOP IT NOW I'M GOING TO MAKE HIM FORCE YOU TO COME OUT HERE SO I CAN BITE YOU SO HARD ZHAT YOU'LL FEEL IT THREE VEEKS FROM NOW!" Of course, she didn't even think about whether or not Brand might actually like that sort of thing. Needless to say, Khitti was agitated...and hungry. Oh so very hungry. Once that bit of anger washed away, she puts Dominic down, gives him a sweet, almost innocent kiss on his cheek, then resumes her conversation with Linn, "I don't really know how long it's been. A couple week? I've pretty much lost all track of time. It's not like she stuck a calendar in here with me." Maybe she should ask for one.

Khitti’s words did not exactly have the effect she was going for, nor the one Dominic would have hoped for, either. The man stood staring at Khitti, tense and trembling. A momentary glance was sent Linn’s way before swiveling over to the bitey one and finally once more back to Khitti. And then whatever silent battle he’d been fighting in his head was well and truly lost; a step closer to his love was taken and he snaked around behind her, crossing from her right side to her left and trailing a hand behind him that grazed the small of her back. As he moved, his form changed; a series of what looked like ripples across his skin cascaded, heralding the shift from Dominic to Brand. If they hadn’t just witnessed the change, only the eyes and the clothes would give him away as belonging to the same body -- this man had short, blonde hair to Dominic’s longer black locks, a slightly taller, broader and more muscled frame with tanned, battle-worn and weather-worn skin, and an entirely more confident way of carrying himself. As he came upon Khitti’s left the hand on her back moved to squeeze her at the hip and pull her against him; those green eyes he shared with Dominic contained a mischievous glimmer before he brought his mouth to her ear. “How do you know I’m not into that, kiwi?” Smirking, cocky bastard. He even followed it up with a nibble at her earlobe just in the hopes it would make her squirm a bit. Payback for all the times she'd managed to make -him- awkward.

Linn was about ready to ask names of the stranger until Khitti threw them out into the – there were two? Slowly he gestured around between the figures in the adjacent jar. Khitti he knew, Dominic was definitely a guy, so that left Brand to be the… the other mostly-naked woman? “Makes sense.” He answered back to Khitti about the time with a quick look up to try and find the sun, probably not happening. “So you…” he trailed off, scratching his head and trying to decipher her outburst until Dominic began… changing. His own eyes went a little wider during the shift as he took a breath and an “ummm…” Okay, three for four on the magical-freaks department already. Had he known the story behind the bitey one it would probably be four for four. He’d try to do what he could to spare Khitti… which was talk. “So… you are…” he sent Brand a sideways look; even with what he knew about shapeshifting this was just so uncannily –off-.

Oh. This -was- awkward. What was this feeling? Was she actually okay with this close proximity to Brand? She felt like she might melt into a puddle. This was...new...and probably not good. For a second or two, her body stiffens up in his grasp, the vampiress' line of sight shifting to side-eye him as he whispered in her ear. Nope. No. Nuh uh. This wouldn't do at all. Those were not feelings that Khitti would -ever- come to admit and despite that weird fluttering of butterflies in her stomach (not the Amarrah kind, of course), she wasn't exactly comfortable with it. But yet, she plays along with it, using this odd mood that Brand set to catch him off guard. She'd turn her head just a bit as her arms moved to his shoulders to keep him firmly rooted in place as if getting ready to embrace him in a kiss, whispered in his ear "I'm not your 'kiwi'", and then POW!, her knee jerks up right between his legs. Yeah, you know the spot. Sorry, Dominic. It's not like the two of you were ever going to be able to have children anyway. Once justice is swiftly given, she shoves Brand away from her and angrily spouts off curses in her native tongue while actually looking quite a bit hurt at his actions. With a 'hrmph', she turns her back to the blonde male, brushing herself off and straightening her nice, dark blue hooded dress and returns her attention to Linn. She's composed herself enough to be able to speak now to the nearly naked male, her expression stern and brooding. Like Batman. "You vere saying, Linn?" For Love and Justice, Sailor Khitti has punished Brand in the name of the moon. Or...something.

The man shot Linn a lopsided grin from his position still holding Khitti. “The aforementioned Brand, at yer service.” But not literally. Don’t actually ask him to do anything for you. Unless it involves fighting or setting things on fire; -that- he’d gladly do for free. Brand might have even followed his words up with an exaggerated flourish and bow, if he were not rudely! and for no good reason! kneed in the nethers. He’d barely needed to be shoved, as he was already crumpling anyway; an undignified groan rose its way up from the vaguely Brand-shaped heap of jerkface garbage on the floor. When he could begin to breathe again, his croaking voice would sound out, muffled behind his arms from where he was now curled up in fetal position against the glass, a string of curses that put Khitti’s to shame and crossed several languages. He -would- be the type of person to only bother learning the dirty words from other cultures.

Linn’s eye twitched as this ‘Brand’ gave his name out with that uncanny swagger. One of THESE guys it is. His head was left spinning as to what the true nature of this guy was: First a nervous bookworm, now suddenly a brazen swashbuckler type (That totally played the part). Was it a ruse? Was it a legitimate change? His thoughts were cut short as Khitti probably made Brand’s voice jump a couple octaves with that knee jerk. A slight empathetic wince was the only sympathy he got before the miniature Linn would speak up through the string of curses with a mischievous grin. “Ahh, walk it off. I’ve had worse.” A small, satisfied sigh followed with a shake of his head. What a way to lighten up being in a jar other than watching a well-deserved ball-crushing! When Khitti focused her attention back on Linn he jolted from his little bout of entertainment. “Huh? What was I saying?” A pause as he furrowed his brows. Blanks were being drawn. And more blanks. He looked back to the other jar for a cue. Right. The shapeshifting human. “Uhm… you seem to know what that was all about… care to explain? Cause I doubt he can at the moment.”

Khitti's lips twisted into a frown at the question that was presented to her. A brief glance over her shoulder was given to Brand, regarding him with a faint bit of sympathy, but not much. He -did- deserve it, regardless of what he thought. Boot heels tap against the glass beneath them as Khitti makes her way to the fallen blonde, her words still directed towards Linn, "Zhat's not my place to say. Zhat business is both of zheirs and zheirs alone. If zhey deem you vorthy, I'm sure zhey'll explain one day." Khitti moves to stand at Brand's head, though in a position so that he can't actually look up the skirt of her dress. Because he's a lecherous dirtbag and he'd likely do that sort of thing. But then, much more than a kick to the family jewels would be given to him. "Get up. You deserved it and you know it. Quit being such a damned child. Shall I start calling you 'Baby Brand'?" She makes that universal gesture for 'crybaby' with her hands up at her eyes in quite the anime girl fashion, "Poor Baby Brand. He did something naughty and got punished for it. Boo hoo." She nudges at his shoulder with her foot. "Get up and pretend to be an adult for once."

Brand would roast her alive on the spot if she were anyone other than Khitti. Damn her. And you know what, damn Dominic, too, just for good measure. He’d at least moved enough to lean his backside against the glass, hands to his knees, taking in slow deep breaths and exhaling them in slow, muttered curses. Damn all of them. “You’d better gorram hope,” he managed at length, glaring at Khitti and pausing every few words for another shuddering breath, “that the spell Raiez used on her--” a headjerk in the other vampiress’ direction, here “--never gets used on you.” Linn’s quip and later line of questioning was ignored for the moment; he was conserving the bulk of his energy to cope with the pain still shooting from his groin. There was -always- enough left over, though, for a disgruntled stare and an eyeroll.

Linn tilted his head before nodding as Khitti shifted the burden of explaining to the figure doing the (shape)shifting. The rest of her statement chiding Brand only brought a light chuckle. He didn’t even have to crouch down to go to eye-level with the jerkface sitting in the other jar, courtesy of the extra shrunken-ness. A brow quirked as the spell was mentioned along with the bitey murdery vampiress. Not that he could know that story with when he came in. “Can’t be that bad. So long as I’m not dead.” He’d probably eat those words if he knew the particular spell played, but that was for another time and place. Maybe. “So… we’re in jars for… who knows how long. Could be forever. I’d actually prefer it to not be forever.” Walking around in his jar he looked back out into the rest of the cave. “Definitely easier said than done.” Idly his foot tapped, trying to figure some way out.

Khitti called out to Linn as she stopped making fun of Brand and stared down at the blonde male at her feet, "Oh, I believe he vas speaking to me. Zhough perhaps if I vas male, I'd be a little harsher and put you in your place in a much more masculine vay. Some sort of fight club-style match? You and I could duke it out for hours on end until you get tired?" She continues to inspect him for a few more moments, and finally lets out a sigh. "Here." is said as she holds out her hand to him. That bit of hurt she'd let show after she effectively crushed his family jewels like a hammer to some rocks slips out again. "You did deserve it." Even her tone was sad as she whispered to him, "I zhought you vere better zhan zhat, Brand..." Apparently, she was wrong. "I'm not sorry zhat I did it, but I am sorry zhat it hurt so much," her words strangely heartfelt. Whether he'd take the offered help to get up or not, she'd retract her hand from his space and take a few steps away, taking the moments it took to part from Brand to compose herself again and shake her head. Another sigh emits from her and she looks to Linn again, "I don't know. I'm sure she'll be back soon to feed you at least. She's made sure to do so vith you mortals. Her and I-" She motions towards the other redhead that she shared a jar with, "-have not been so lucky."

Brand gestured at Linn, speaking exasperatedly, “And -finally- someone actually frakkin’ agrees with me that we not just stay cooped up in here forever. The rest o’ you are content to sit here and rot, for all the gorram effort you’ve put into gettin’ out.” A side-eyed glance darted to the murdery redhead; at least she’d -tried- at one point. Better than he could say for Dominic or Khitti. And speaking of Khitti… well… ugh. He did indeed take her hand and accept the assistance in standing again, though he made sure to do it alongside quite the eyeroll and amused quirk of a brow. “You thought wrong, apparently. And better’n -what-, exactly? You can’t handle a little teasing?” He asked the question while making very, very sure to stand out of Khitti’s leg range.

Linn blinked as his misdirected response was pointed out, though he still didn’t catch on to exactly what the spell was. Still, Khitti’s chiding brought an approving chuckle. He went back to looking out into the cave as Brand spoke, though he didn’t seem to be –entirely- ignoring everyone else. “Just gotta play the part while we figure something out. This isn’t the kind of thing you want to screw up at, is it?” Idly he wiped his thumb on the wall of the jar as if to test it before shaking his head. “Glass.” Despite being captain of the absolute obvious, he said the word with an odd distaste. With a sigh he sat down as Khitti talked about the food. “Well, could be worse. Depends what the food is.” He cocked a brow at the mention of his mortality, slowly things began to click. “Vampires?” he asked curiously; wouldn’t be the first time he’s dealt with them.

Khitti, for once, didn't respond to Brand in that sarcastic fashion that the two usually bickered in. That trick of his--the holding her close, nibbling her ear, and making her feel...whatever the hell that was--did not sit well with her. Now, as he berated her and Dominic for not trying very hard to get out, and then telling her she was wrong on her judgement of his character, only furthered the hurt she felt. His 'kiwi' looked like she actually might cry. Hadn't they gotten past all of that nonsense? Weren't they friends now? It was probably the lack of feeding that made her moody and a bit more sensitive to the going's on around her, but that didn't exactly stop those emotions from pouring out. The vampiress would stand there, listening to all the things that he said about her, her hands clenching into fists, tears welling up in her eyes. "I hate you..." was whispered to him before moving further away towards her stack of books. She'd pick up that black leather-bound book that she treasured so much and hugged it to her chest. The entire time that she'd known Dominic and Brand, she'd never once told Brand anything like that. From the very beginning, she'd tried to understand why he was so harsh, so cruel at times because Amarrah had been the same way. But, none of that mattered now. He was every bit an awful person as Dominic said he was. Nothing more would be said to Brand for the time being, Linn the sole focus of her words now as she steps over to the glass wall closest to his own prison. "Yes. Vhile together, ve probably could have come up vith some vay to get out of a single jar, it's better off zhat ve are not. For safety reasons, you know."

Brand’s trademark smirk was quickly wiped off his face. What the gorram blazes was that about? Khitti was so… indecipherable sometimes. Nearly anyone else he could pin down after a while and figure out what made them tick, but Khitti? Khitti confused the hell out of him. He chewed on a lip and glared angrily out the glass, not at Linn but out to the cave wall beyond. Even if they got out of the damned jar, who was to say they’d be able to find their way out of the cave? Or from the cave to somewhere recognizable from… wherever they were? Moodily, he banged a fist against the glass and then set about creating a field of ice that would begin to stick to and chill the glass in a circle in front of him -- right about exactly the time Khitti was talking about -not- breaking out. To hell with ‘safety reasons’ or not knowing what was beyond the limits of the jar, Brand needed to get the frak outta here. Away from that gorram befuddling woman. Away from the nagging buzz in his head trying to act like some sort of conscience or something -- oh. Wait. That was Dominic. So just away from Khitti, then.

Linn caught wind of the nearly deafening quiet that followed Brand's quips, eventually turning his attention back to the other jar and - oh damn. Things were going to hell in there. Physical chaos could at least sometimes be fun, but that emotional stuff? Really, really exhausting, enough that he was preferring to keep it suppressed until he got the hell out of here. Breakdowns come later. Hopefully later. As Khitti mentioned the 'safety reasons' Linn pursed his lips. "Safety's kinda out the window, to be honest. She mentioned 'pets' needing food. Don't know if that's something else around here..." he trailed off, would that dragon have referred to her captives as pets? "With luck it'd be you. Course, that depends on..." he blew out a sigh. "What the 'food' is. Always depends on that doesn't it? I'd rather it not be me..." Brand's little magic trick caught his eye as he glanced over before speaking up again past the vampiress. "Careful not to look too competent. You'll make her suspicious." snorting, he rolled his eyes as he sat down and traced the base of his jar, rolling his eyes as he muttered to himself. "Glass. Course it's glass. Never thought it'd be a problem... not like this. Not EVER like this."

Khitti could say the same about Brand. She'd never properly understand him. What was his problem? Why would he act like that to her? She'd do her best to ignore him, even as she felt that surge of magic from his side of the jar. She also didn't do much to hide her dismay and disappointment in regards to the human. Linn though, well, she tried to be as polite and attentative to as possible. It was really the only thing that she could focus on without being sucked into her thoughts again. That was a whole maelstrom of awful--even without Brand mucking things up further. "I'm certain she means us." Her head motions towards the other redhead in the jar. "I zhink vere zhe only vampires. Most seem to be human or elf." She side-eyes the other jar around them, frowning faintly, "As for safety, I meant your own. I can't..." She pauses, her frown worsening, "I'm so hungry, Linn. I could feed from Dominic. He even insisted, but..." Another glance towards the bitey one. "I don't trust her as far as I can zhrow her." Which, it probably wasn't far, considering the amount of muscle on the other woman. That's if Khitti could even get close enough to her to even grab her. Probably not the best idea. "He's already at risk. Even vithout zhe scent of blood tainting zhe air." She turns her head away, eyeing Brand quietly over her shoulder, "If Raiez doesn't feed us soon...I don't know vhat's going to happen..."

Brand turned from the wall and gave the other vampiress a twice-over glance from over a shoulder. As much as he wanted to respond with his typical machismo… damn, look at the muscles on that woman. And she’d been training pretty much this whole time. In these close quarters, he was pretty sure he didn’t stand a chance against her, blow to blow, if it came to it. “Hey now, peach, at least I’ll get a good fight before I die. Can’t ask for much more’n that.” And then, as if he -hadn’t- just admitted he was capable of being beaten, he nonchalantly returned to his work. Ice crystals were beginning to shroud the wall ahead of him, obscuring him from outside view.

As Khitti talked about Linn’s own safety he shot her a look of ‘I know.’ As she spoke of what else was likely to happen should blood get spilled he looked the other vampiress another time over. Yeah, it’d probably get ugly. “Well, if she feeds us, and leaves you in a jar with another human, she better have something in mind for feeding you. Course, food for you probably is a lot harder than food for this ‘Brand’ or I.” Quirking a brow he looked past her to the man playing with ice on the jar, trying to change the subject before his recklessness got them into something worse. “What does she give you for food anyway?

That surge of magic was felt again, stemming from the blonde's side of the jar. She was going to let it go. Going to just let him do what he wants. But then, she'd caught that look as he eyed the other redhead and studied those muscles of hers (and likely certain exposed fluffy chest pillows) and then his words soon followed. A dagger through her heart would've hurt a hell of a lot less right then. With the sadness, there's a flare of jealousy. How could he not get it? How could he not see? It's not like she was proud of these stupid feelings that had somehow formed. But, the way she saw it, he was just as much Dominic as Dominic was Brand. Right...? Regardless, she takes a few steps to the side, so that she can properly see his profile. Khitti stares at him for a few seconds, and then holds out her left hand. Those oh so familiar tendrils of hers shoots out of her fingertips, headed in his direction. They're not to harm though, as they wrap around left wrist. The vampiress would give it a good tug, as if to alert him to her presence and the predicament he was in currently, and then as if he were a fish on a line, would begin to reel him in. Whether he tried to resist or not, more tendrils seeped from her right hand, moving to snake around his waist, aiding in pulling him close. Once he was right in front of her, she'd stare up at him with those big emerald eyes of hers. For once, though, they didn't hold that typical mischief. They were sad. Disappointed. Hurt. "How do you like it?" was all that's said quietly as the tendrils faded and she was left holding his wrist with one hand and his waist with the other. She didn't force him to stay there, the woman soon moving away from him and heading back to her books. Meanwhile, the other redhead (you know, the bitey one), had gone to say something, but instead chose to zap Brand a bit for what he had said. Her attention doesn't stay on Brand long though, shifting towards Khitti--or more importantly, Khitti's magic. This is all taken into consideration in that scheming mind of the other female before she resumes her training as usual. Once that's over and done with, Khitti's focused on Linn again. Did he really not understand how vampires worked? "Zhe food vas supposed to have been you, dear, from vhat I can gather about vhat Raiez said to you." She offers him a sad smile with a look of 'I'm sorry', though quickly added on after that, "Lucky for you, you vere covered in so much magic zhat she changed her mind."

Brand had finally iced the wall of the jar to his satisfaction and begun taking to it with a small, concentrated flame -- trying to shatter the glass via an abrupt temperature change, because physics -- when his work was interrupted by those shadowy tendrils worming their way around his wrist. Why was she -- ? He barely had time to process what she was doing before the tendrils were at his waist, too, and he was pulled to meet Khitti, entirely too close for comfort. Only now did he struggle, anything to try to avoid acknowledging this intimate position he’d put her in -- but then he caught her expression and froze, staring back. The faintest glimmer of realization dawned his face and was just as quickly gone again, and his line of sight with it. As she released him he looked at anywhere but her -- Linn, the outside cave, the bitey one -- ow! Hey. Not cool. When he’d recovered from the zap of lightning sent his way, he only turned back to the frozen bits, cursing under his breath. The flame returned and he set back to attempting escape. Focus, Brand, focus. Get it together. Mind off -her-.

Linn awkwardly looked back and forth between Khitti and Brand to the cave outside. Yeah, staring was bad, but it was also the only thing going on! Only when she finally addressed him did he look back with a half-smile of recklessness and a nod at the notion of who the food was supposed to be. “Yeah. She talked about that quite a bit. Time and time again though, this damn magic’s saved me. Course without it, I wouldn’t be here…” his vision wandered off to somewhere in his own mind; that statement could be interpreted several ways, all correct. “Worst comes to worst, we improvise. But I think I can bet on her getting something for you.” He tilted his head towards Brand. “Otherwise she wouldn’t be taking that risk with him if she wants us mages all alive.” When the fire lit up in the other jar his attention flickered back to the woefully failed loverboy. “You have an idea where to go next after you bust that jar? We’re gonna have a long way to go even if we get off this ledge.” Despite the relative hopelessness of his statement, he had taken to sitting and looking out into the cave, clearly pondering possible escape routes of his own.

"You're so stupid..." She muttered under her breath to Brand, shaking her head. "You really zhink zhat's going to vork, Brand? Do you? Do you know vhat -she- did before she vas put into zhis jar vith me?" She motions angrily towards the bitey one, the other redhead seemingly satisfied enough with her own skin now to start training with the stockpile of weapons Raiez had given her after she was put into Khitti's jar. "She lit up zhat cage of hers like it vas a damned jar of fireflies having an orgy in a thunderstorm." Khitti, what does that even mean? Sorry, guys. Please, pretend that you know what she's talking about. She's crazed and apparently has really weird analogies. "If -she- couldn't get out by doing something like zhat do you really zhink your efforts are going to work? She's clearly more powerful zhan -you- are. You don't zhink anyone else here, zhat's been here longer zhan us, has tried zhat at all?" A sweeping hand motions to the rest of the jars; other mages were still trying desperately to use their chosen magic to get out, while others were not so excited. They sat there, clearly defeated and accepting of their fate. An irritated look is shot to Linn, though not entirely directed at him, "Vhen zhe jar breaks, or she deems you vorthy enough to let you out, you return to your normal size. Zhere'd be no having to climb down zhe side of zhis cave to get to zhe floor."

Brand huffed a sigh and turned away from the wall; the flame flared and then was gone. “Well, you’re right. It’s not workin’ like I thought it would. Gorram thing should’ve at least cracked by now.” He sank to a seat on the ground and drummed his fingers along one knee. Antsy, much? “There. I admit defeat. For the time being. Happy?” With one final roll of his eyes, he turned his attention to Linn. “If we’re our proper size once we’re out, it can’t be -that- hard to figure a way out of the damned cave. Obviously, there was a way in. And sure, dragon. But there’s enough magic here that someone could -create- a way out even if we couldn’t find one, I imagine. Can’t be that hard.” He grumbled something inaudible, scowling at Khitti a moment before turning back to Linn. “And -- say. Why’re you naked, anyway?” He’d only just bothered looking at the mage long enough to really register that particular oddity.

Linn passively listened to Khitti as he kept looking out the jar, bringing him to glance over to the jar beside him and the bitey one within. He quirked a brow at the crazy analogy, an eventual sigh signaling that he at least had some kind of idea what she meant. But when she mentioned returning to normal size, she had his whole attention. “Well then. That’s good to know, for better or for worse.” How could it be worse? Ehh, there’s always a way for it to be worse. “So we’d at least be able to run and fit into our own stuff that she took.” As Brand conjectured as to just –what- laid out there in the expanse of the cave, he’d find Linn… nodding approvingly? “Very likely. That’s going to take a lot of resources and a lot of people, and a lot of power though. It depends on how much you trust your odds if everything blows up into something you can’t predict. Maybe that’s what will have to happen.” He shrugged. “Maybe we’ll be able to figure something out to do this with a little more precision. Make some luck of our own.” When asked about his relative nakedness Linn looked down again, lips pursed. “She liked my armor for whatever reason. Either for all the enchantment I had on it.” Whimsically, he rolled his eyes. “Or she just liked the smell.” It was an awful joke, but he couldn’t help but crack a faint, suppressed smirk. He’d revel in it being awful if he had to.

"In Raiez's defense, it vas probably zhe magic." Khitti seemed a bit grossed out by Linn insinuation, making a face at him. She briefly glances over at Brand, eyeing him carefully, though her words were still directed at Linn, "Zhat's -if- you can find your zhings. Guess it's a good zhing I'm not a normal mage zhat collects trinkets and such. Zhe only zhing she could take from me is my sanity and freedom." That last statement held a bit of heavy, bitter sarcasm. Obviously that was worse than the belongings and armor that her fellow magic users had lost.

Brand’s face cracked into a broad grin. “That’s implying you had sanity in the first place, peach.” He’d wink at Khitti, assuming he caught her gaze. Yeah, he totally said it just because he knew it would likely anger her. How rude. To Linn, the man simply shrugged. “I’d welcome the chaos, if that’s what it comes to. More interesting that way.”

Linn grinned a little more as Khitti made her face before it got wiped away by her statement. Sick burn. At the topic of sanity and freedom, he just let out a weak laugh. Though she took his stuff, the two weren’t exclusive. “It’s in there somewhere. I marked some of the stuff so it wouldn’t get lost. Should let me retrieve it if I can reach it…” At the chaos, he tilted his head in an iffy statement. “I prefer being alive to being entertained in these circumstances.” Trailing off he looked back out into the cave, searching a little more carefully. Those paths were all he’d ever get to know. Eventually he turned his focus to Raiez and tracking how she went about the cave, doing his best to put on that façade of hopeful looking for a way out when she remotely had a chance of viewing him in his jar.

Khitti let out a soft hiss in Brand's direction, but she actually didn't argue with him. Did she ever have sanity in the first place? Who knows. That was likely done away with when Amarrah came into play. With a shake of her head, she returns to her silence and her thoughts, leaving Linn to do as he pleases and ignoring Brand as best as she could. It didn't last long, however, because unfortunately for Khitti, her thoughts were mostly on him and Dominic.

Brand shrugged coolly at Linn. “Didn’t say it couldn’t be both. Alive and entertained. It’ll make for a good story, however it goes.” But he fell into silence too, and after a time he returned to his pacing. If nothing else, he’d at least get his exercise.