RP:Something Weird Is Going On

This is a Devout's Guild RP.

Summary: There's frackery afoot when Viera tires of Cire's punishment in the form of an infatuation with Khitti and decides to meddle further with Brand's life.

The Apartment Above The Bakery, Cenril

Brand || When Brand first opened his eyes, it was as if no time had passed. He was standing in the apartment bathroom, hands braced against the sink, staring at his reflection. No, that wasn't quite correct, was it? The last time he'd stood here, he'd seen -her-. Viera. The woman who had brought ruin and chaos into his life -- twice now, if these elusive recollections were more than just a dream. She'd taken over his body, hadn't she? Taken over his life, made some sick imitation of it. The thought nauseated him. He didn't want to believe it was real, but the voice in his head soon left no doubt.

Brand || "I wanted to try something new," she said, her laughter emanating from everywhere and nowhere. "And I had a hunch this would shake off that -dreadful- attachment I had to your wife." An image of Viera appeared behind him in the mirror. She touched a finger to the tip of his nose and laughed again. "Looks like I was right. Why don't you go and see her? Maybe she'll even remember you."

Brand || The illusion ushered him out of the bathroom and into the hall. Brand stopped just shy of the kitchen and lingered in the door frame. He could see Khitti, but she hadn't noticed him just yet. His heart was pounding in his ears. With Viera around, an easy reunion was surely too much to hope for. Surely. But he had to try, didn't he?

Brand || He took a deep breath... and said hello.

Khitti might look like she’s standing there doing something, but she’s really not. Well, sort of. See, she’s been rather busy most nights lately because the entire city was being overrun by undead thanks to a certain jerk demi-god and she’d decided it was up to her to take care of them (when the guards were clearly not doing very well at it, that is). Because of this, she’s been really tired lately. To the point that she’s now fallen asleep standing up, while waiting for some cookies to bake.

Khitti || Brand’s ‘hello’ came floating into the kitchen like a little wake-call butterfly and Khitti blinked a few times, “Huh? What?” She turned to stare at her poor husband blankly as things processed. What’s he doing just standing there staring at her? What was she doing in the kitchen? What’s that burning smell? What’s that… burning... smell...??? “Oh shi--!” The sheet tray filled with now blackened cookies was taken out of the oven and tossed onto the top of the stove with a sigh. “I’m gonna shove these cookies down one of those zombies’ throats later…” She meant it. Probably.

Khitti || The redhead turned back around to eye Brand, “You saw nothing. Got it?” Cue her totally innocent, awkward grin. “I’m going to need coffee before I attempt anymore.” So, she set to work making it. It’s probably safe to say that she recognized him. Otherwise, she’d probably be trying to kill him for being in her apartment.

Brand || "Uh." There were a handful of possible ways Brand had anticipated this going, but this was none of them. "Khitti. I'm... back? I think?" He looked around for Viera, for some kind of confirmation, but she was nowhere to be seen. He'd have taken that as a good sign if he didn't already know she was lurking around somewhere, somehow. "Do you... remember anything? About what happened with Viera?"

Khitti just stared again at Brand. After a moment of waiting to see whether or not this weird joke had a punchline and nothing actually happening to confirm this, Khitti took a few steps forward a knocked on Brand’s head with a fist, “Uh, hello? Hollow to Brand? Viera’s dead. You told me this years ago. Are you okay…? Did you have a weird dream? I -told- you not to listen to Dozla. You shouldn’t have eaten those Venturili Reaper peppers before bed.” A look of concern planted itself on Khitti’s face. Unfortunately for Brand though, it very much had not been a dream, and this was evident by the lack of a certain seashell bracelet on Khitti’s wrist.

Brand || -Did- Brand have a weird dream? He looked over at the counter, where a vision of Viera had recently seated herself. She was perched on one of the barstools, stirring a brightly colored drink with a straw. When she saw him looking at her, she winked. Brand was pretty sure this was not a dream. "Okay, nevermind. Uh, do you know where I could find --"

Brand || Something like an electric pulse shot throughout his body. He staggered, and when he stood aright again Khitti seemed... taller, somehow. He'd always had a few inches on her, but in this moment she looked almost his same height. He held his head, dazed. "A calendar. I need the calendar."

Khitti || There was a lot of staring at Brand going on here. Like, -a lot-. Because he was acting very strangely. Because everything was completely normal, right? Right. Khitti eventually pointed at the wall near the apartment’s front door, where their calendar hung on a tack. “Did you… hit your head maybe? Do I need to go get Lennier? It’s almost Yule, Brand. You know this. We just went shopping for Dominic’s gifts yesterday.” No, they hadn’t. That was just Khitti, of course. She’d also bought Viera a gift too: some new gold hair ornaments. Because she’s fancy and liked to unknowingly drain Khitti’s bank account.

Brand ignored Khitti's words of confusion and headed toward the calendar, even if just to confirm what he already knew. It had been three months since the raid on the Archipelago -- three months Viera had been wreaking havoc on his life. Maybe Khitti not remembering any of it was a kindness, but Brand had a feeling the worst was yet to come. The feeling constricted around his waist and ached in his hips, in fact. And Viera was still staring at him with that mischievous look on her face. Brand deliberately faced away from her as he collapsed into a chair.

Brand || "No, you're right," he said to Khitti. If Viera had changed her memories again, this wasn't an argument worth having. "I think I had... a really disorienting dream, sorry. Better make enough coffee for the both of us."

Khitti watched as Brand slunk away from the calendar and took a seat elsewhere. Something seemed off. She’d had one of those bad feelings of hers recently, when she last met up with Rilla, but she just chalked it up to something small. But right now, her “frakery is afoot” senses were tingling again and she couldn’t quite place it, but it was definitely stronger. Thankfully for Viera, her magic mostly covered it up when things pertained to her and for the moment, it was still covered up enough that Khitti tried to put the feeling out of her mind.

Khitti || “Alright,” she said at length, just staring at the chair where Brand was. She eventually turned away and made that pot of glorious caffeinated bean juice, moving the process along with her magic instead of letting it go on its own. The feeling of hers did not go away. “I think that elemental is back again.” Khitti brought Brand his cup of coffee, then moved to the windows that overlooked the street in front of the bakery. “I’ve got this nagging feeling like I’m being watched again.” She took a sip and squinted at the outside world. Normally, it wouldn’t be out this time of day, thanks to the sunlight and all, but it’d taken to raining all day and it was just dark enough for something to lurk in. “Gonna have to confront that thing soon. Still gotta figure out a safe place to lure it.”

Brand had held the cup of coffee for but an instant when he was startled into fumbling it. The arm he'd outstretched to take the cup -- it was too slender, too sleek to be his own. He was quick enough to catch the cup with his other hand, to avert the crisis that hot liquid everywhere might have caused, but in doing so he discovered that his other arm was much the same. His hands, too, had become dainty and lithe, and one wrist was adorned with Khitti's seashell bracelet.

Brand || "I don't--" His voice cracked, and when it returned to him it was higher than before. "I don't think that's our biggest problem right now." The changes were becoming faster and more obvious by the moment. Behind him, Viera cackled.

Khitti || “Preeeeetty sure a being of pure shadow from the Shadow Plane, that’s more than likely far stronger than Facilier or Amarrah, that’s been consistently stalking me for about two months now, is cause for concern and should be pretty high up there on the list. We’re lucky it’s not interested in anyone else but me at this point,” Khitti said. Huh. That's weird. Did her voice sound somewhat deeper? Maybe the coffee was just messing with her throat. Had she gotten a little taller too? Definitely moreso than what Brand had noticed, though not by too much. "Look. Whatever it is, we'll deal with it. I'll be damned if I miss celebrating Yule like we did our first anniversary." Khitti would likely end up being infinitely more pissed about that when all of this with Viera was over with. She just didn't know it right now.

Brand || Twin aches, small and dull at first, had brought Brand's attention to his chest. While Khitti spoke, Brand was trying in vain to press the flesh back into place, until it became so tender that he could not bear to touch it. Only when the growing ceased did the pain relent, and by that point Brand could not deny knowledge of what was happening to him -- what was happening to them both. And yet, in the exact moment that Brand knew, another pulse of lightning coursed through him and Brand thereafter ceased to know. She rose to meet Khitti at the window, coffee in hand. Khitti was still changing, still becoming, but Brand saw only her wonderful husband. "I'm just... worried. There was an omen when last I prayed at the seaside altar. There is a darkness upon us, and it does not come from your shadow creature." She put a hand to Khitti's muscled arm. Strong. Comforting. If fate allowed it, she could stay snuggled close to him forever. "Please be careful."

Khitti smirked down at Brand as he sat his now empty cup on the windowsill. “I’m -always- careful. Always.” Totally. Yes. Just like you’re carefully being manipulated by someone again and you don’t even know it, Khitti. “Besides, when -isn’t- darkness upon us?” He pulled his wife into a hug and smooched the top of her head. “It’ll be fine. I’ll have you with me when I confront it. Probably Lionel too. I sure as hell am not doing it on my own. It already knocked me out once and that spot on my chest still hasn’t fully gone away yet.” Khitti sighed, with a vague air of defeat. “I did have a bad feeling the other day before I met up with Rilla though… and even now too. I’m sure it’ll show itself eventually. It always does. Even if it’s just Dominic setting something on fire again. Or shadowstepping into the ocean. Or burping up shadow balls. Or freezing his bathwater so he can’t get in the tub.” There’s a long list. That child of theirs might be a little too much like his parents.

Brand laughed into her drink. A second earlier and she would have choked on it, maybe spurted coffee all over her brand new dress. Wait, dress? A fleeting sensation of wrongness crept in, there and gone again so quickly she was certain she must have imagined it. She blamed Khitti. “Don’t make me laugh while I’m drinking, dammit!” She gave her husband a good elbow in the ribs. That’d show him. “But yeah, you’d better take me with you. I still need to show you the magic I’ve been working on. The priestess says I get a little better every day.” She beamed with pride. It was no easy feat, these chaos magicks. Shapeshifting, illusion weaving, arcane mindbending -- far too many who knew these arts turned their uses toward evil, rather than good. Viera had warned her all about them in their most recent lessons, so that Brand would never fall under their sway. She was better than that, smarter than that. That’s why Viera chose her.

Khitti || Ever so carefully, Khitti picked up Brand in his arms and moved the both of them to the couch. “You do indeed need to show me,” he said, settling her onto his lap and stealing her coffee from her. “I suppose if things backfire, you always have the elemental magic to fall back on. I’m hoping it doesn’t come to all that though.” The coffee was sipped carefully, Khitti pretending to be oh so fancy with his pinky out. Thankfully for Brand, it wasn’t all drunk by her husband and was eventually handed back. “Anyway.” He prodded her in the side. “When the heck are you going to join my guild, hm? Or are you too good for it, now that you’ve been having your fancy private lessons with that priestess?” Khitti’d be fine with whatever Brand chose, of course. But, that bad feeling temporarily resurfaced and there’s a fleeting moment of vague confusion written all over his face. Brand? In the Devout’s Guild? That… wasn’t right. Brand hated the gods, even though she knew they existed. It felt weird to say in the moment and he only now realized it, but shrugged it off. “You can help me kill zombies out in the city too until Gevurah figures out what the hell she wants to do about all that Caluss stuff. I pulled one of the new guys from the Warrior’s Guild into it recently, but I probably shouldn’t have. I’m gonna blame Lionel though. He’s the one that thought me training this guy was a good idea.”

Brand wrapped her arms around Khitti’s shoulders and planted a kiss on his stubbly cheek. They’d been married for a while, but she still felt butterflies in her stomach anytime she looked at him. On top of all the deeper reasons she loved him, he was just… so hot. She tried not to tell him -too- often, though. He had enough of an ego already. “I don’t know. I’m nervous about the other people there. What if they don’t like me?” She kissed him a few more times on his neck. They’d had this discussion before, and Brand was trying to distract him before they could have it again. She was running out of excuses not to join the Guild. Sooner or later, she’d have to admit she didn’t want others to know what worship of Cire entailed. The few people who knew, who -really- knew, hadn’t looked at her the same way afterward. And not just because she’d turned them into toads for trespassing hallowed ground.

Khitti || “To be honest, most people keep their beliefs to themselves there,” Khitti said, trying to resist the urge to pick up Brand again, though this time, he’d just take her into the bedroom. “The only person I’ve really had a problem with is Rorin. But it’s -Rorin-. Kid’s been asking for a punch in the face for years now. I just haven’t gotten around to it because I don’t want to see him cry after it’s all said and done.” She just kept kissing him while he talked and well… it got to the point where he couldn’t resist her. Again. She made things so hard. Er, difficult. Yes. Brand made things difficult. Incredibly. “Look, peach,” he said, putting his hand on her shoulders so she’d pay attention for a moment before things got too carried away, “You don’t have to if you don’t want to. I was mostly kidding anyway. If you don’t feel comfortable with it, then that’s fine. You know I’m not gonna force you to join.” To emphasize the fact that he wouldn’t be mad, Khitti started up the kissing again.

Brand knew exactly what she was doing. She was seated on his lap, after all. “I’ll think about it,” was all she said, and knew the conversation would end there. She was already unbuttoning his shirt and was just about to do more when she noticed a figure in the doorway. A very small figure. A very small figure in chicken pajamas. She cleared her throat in such a way as to announce the child’s presence to Khitti, then put on her Mom Voice. “Good morning, sweetheart, can I get you some breakfast?” She didn’t like the way Dominic was staring at her. At both of them. Like something was very wrong. “You look upset. Did you have a bad dream?”

Khitti || Okay yes, good talk. Talking was stupid anyway. Time for something much better--except not. Because there’s a small child staring. Annnnnnnd there goes all of Khitti’s hopes and dreams for the day. Thanks, Dominic. Dominic just continued to stare and Khitti stared back. And stared. And stared. And stared. And all this time that they’re staring at each other and Brand was trying to figure out what their kid wanted for breakfast… something felt off to Khitti. Something was wrong with Dominic and that mama bear instinct that was hidden deep beneath layer upon layer of Viera’s magic bubbled up and Khitti couldn’t resist the urge to get up (and button up his shirt again reaaaal quick-like) and go to pick up Dominic. But, once he got there, just close enough to Dominic, he hesitated. If the kid was already spooked, picking him up might make it worse. Khitti frowned and let Brand deal with it. The mama bear within was not happy about this though.

Brand || Dominic stared, and stared, and stared. Brand stood there and stared back at him, and couldn’t help but start to feel a little nervous. And then, suddenly, Dominic broke into a smile. “Dad’s back! Dad’s back!” Strangely, though, it was his momma’s legs he hugged himself around. Brand’s legs. Brand exchanged a quizzical look with Khitti, but knew better than to argue with a toddler. “Sure, kid, Dad’s back. What do you want for breakfast? Maybe some smiley-face pancakes?” Dominic nodded up at her earnestly. And then he said something very odd. “Why do you look so weird?” From the way his gaze moved, it was clear he was addressing both Brand and Khitti.

Khitti || “That’s my secret, kid. I always look weird,” Khitti said with a shrug as he picked Dominic up to hold him finally. “Are you okay? Not feeling sick or anything are you?” He put a hand to their kid’s forehead, but it didn’t seem to be warm. Dominic was then put in his “big boy” chair, which was really just one of their usual dinner table chairs, with a big stack of thick, wide books on them, for Dominic to sit on. He had repeatedly insisted that this was much better than getting a brand new highchair--and Khitti had not been one to argue, since it saved money.

Brand || Dominic didn’t seem satisfied with this answer, but knew better than to argue with his parents. Instead, another question now plagued his young mind. “Will -I- look weird someday?” Brand, who had already finished making the first of many pancakes, drew a syrupy smile onto the top of it and handed it over to Dominic. She looked at him with brow furrowed. It was hard to know what to make of this line of questioning. “I suppose that depends on whether you -want- to look weird or not.” She addressed Khitti now. “How many am I making for you?” The man could eat like a bear when he wanted to; there was no telling if it was a three-pancake day, a four-pancake day, or even more.

Khitti watched Dominic as he ate, that signature Khitti frown still planted on his face. It took a moment before he realized Brand spoke, to which he just shook his head absently and said, “None for me. I’m not really all that hungry right now…” That’s a lie, of course. He was starving. Brand knew well, of course, that if Khitti turned down food, those gears in his head were turning a little too much to do much else besides thinking about whatever new problem had occurred. “What do you mean that we look weird, sprout? We always look this way.” Dominic shook his head, his mouth full of pancakes, “Nuh uh! You look weird. It’s okay though. I still love you.” And then it was back to the pancakes. Several blinks were given to their son before Khitti finally looked over at Brand, even more blinks given to her now.

Brand sighed. Three pancakes, it would be. She drew a heart on top before handing the heaping plate over to Khitti -- along with a look that said ‘I know you’re hungry, dammit’ -- then set to work making her own batch of pancakes. She cut herself some strawberry pieces, too, and sprinkled a few onto Dominic and Khitti’s plates. When she was finally done with the kitchen, she unpinned her bun and shook her hair out. A long, red braid came tumbling down from the knot, not stopping until it hit the back of her knees. She stood by Khitti with her plate of pancakes, waiting for the inevitable. He always felt the need to ‘fwip’ her braid whenever it made an appearance -- even though he often wore one of his own! -- but most of the time, she was kind enough to give him the satisfaction. And then, finally, -finally-, she’d sit and dig into her own set of pancakes.

Khitti || The inevitable wouldn’t come for Brand, unfortunately, and she’d be left to stand there awkward as Khitti disregarded his pancakes and started questioning Dominic. “So… if we look weird… what do we normally look like?” Dominic opened his mouth reaaaaally wide and looked reaaaaaally excited to tell them… except he’s only like four years old and can’t quite find the words. The toddler closed his mouth again, pouted a little. “OH! I know!”, he exclaimed and haphazardly climbed down his books and ran into his room. The lack of a child in the room brought Khitti back to the present and noticed not only the pancakes, but his dear wife’s really hot braid as well. He fwip’d it, of course, then smooched her cheek in thanks before digging into the pancakes and strawberries while Dominic was off doing who knows what.

Khitti ||Nearly five minutes later, Dominic ran out of the bedroom, waving pieces of paper in the air. “I drew these while Daddy was away because I missed him.” He slid them across the table to Khitti and Brand, and on it was a picture of stick figures on… a brown whale? “Why are these people on a brown whale? … Are there even brown whales?” Khitti looked entirely puzzled by this. “Nooooo!” Dominic sighed exasperatedly and facepalmed. “That’s Daddy’s ship! And that’s Daddy!” He pointed to a tall man with short, rusty blonde hair, then looked at Brand. “And that’s you, Mommy!” He pointed at the woman with long, dark red hair beside him and eyed Khitti. “Okay… Well. Who’s this then?” It was a picture of a very fancy looking blonde woman, except she had a scary monster face. You know the one. With the angry eyes and pointed eyebrows and sharply-angled squiggle mouth. “That’s the Viera-Lady. I don’t like her. She’s like the evil step-mommy from Mommy’s fairytale book.” He paused, remembering how he’s seen Viera and Khitti kissing each other in the past. “Is the Viera-Lady my evil step-mommy?”

Brand didn’t know what to make of these drawings. She looked each of them over carefully, trying to puzzle out some hidden meaning, but none made itself known to her. “Viera is my teacher,” she said to Dominic, carefully measuring her words. “That looks like her, or close enough, but I don’t know you’d even met her.” She cast a concerned glance to Khitti. “I guess she’s come to call a couple of times, when I was running late. You must have seen her then.” She looked more closely at the drawing of the ship. The man with the short hair -did- look familiar -- or as familiar as a stick figure could look, anyway. “I had an older brother with hair like that, but I never really knew him and I haven’t seen him since long before I left Catal.” She shrugged and passed the picture back to Khitti.

Khitti took the pictures from Brand and looked them over again. There were a couple others beneath the first two, one of which was the pair with their respective fireballs out on display(but really, the flames sort of looked like red and purple cabbages), but they still otherwise looked basically the same. Khitti stared at it, that frown of his reappearing. “Something’s wrong. I don’t know what it is… but I’m going to figure it out.” He was rather confident in himself on this matter and went back to stuffing the last remnants of his breakfast in his mouth. “Dominic, why don’t you go play in your room if you’re all done eating,” he said, while the kid played with the leftover syrup on his plate, moving his index finger around in it like he was fingerpaint. “Okay, Mommy!” And then he was off… and the two were left in silence, with a heavy amount of confusion and a serious lack of making out.