_Essex_

*sits next to Sef* D:

MOAR

It's like Praetorian Charlie's Angels. @_@

Poor Cobalt. D: I would freak out in her position, too. Crey are gross. <.<

((Awesome, Grey. XP Glad to have your little dimension-hoppers around! XD))

Shiro was soon tapped from behind.

"And just what are you doing?" Essex murmured pleasantly, putting her hands on her hips in mock scorn but still smiling a little. She wasn't speaking loudly enough to disrupt the sleeping children, but wagged her finger. "Don't you think you're a little young for this sort of thing? Oh well. Come on, back to bed, little fellow."

With that, she herded him back towards the boys' room, and returned, quietly, to the girls' room, smiling at Stell.

"Everything okay in here?" she asked quietly, tucking in some of the still-sleeping girls.

This one comes from Nena, my level 20 sainted lycanthrope paladin. @_@ ((And before you accuse me of rolling her that way, I started her as a level 1 human fighter and earned every single one of those levels over a 4-year campaign. :3))

"You know, Mr. [Evil Wizard], it would be a lot nicer if you could admit you're being silly and we could go out for ice cream. That way, I wouldn't have to get my sword messy and you would get to live another day.

*unsheath*

But I guess the curse of being really, really smart is always wanting to do things the hard way."

((Oh yay! We have neighbors. T_T I -do- want to get more neighborhood people. D)

"Well, you're welcome to come in, Kip, Snuffy." Essex said with an amused smile, holding the railing of the staircase. "And sir Archlich, if you're handling these three boys... I will go up and check in on the girls."

The boys and girls could soon hear the android's soft footsteps coming up the stairs.

"Gah, crap!" Rosalind whispered harshly. "Everybody back to bed!!"

The little were-child practically dove back into her own bunk, squeezing her eyes closed in what she hoped was a flawless mockery of sleep.

((I DIED, SOVIET, I DIED))

1097: I will not make a smackdown, awesome witty retort before any action that requires a roll. Studies have SHOWN that you have a 98% chance of rolling a natch 1 when you're trying to prove you're awesome.

"Well, where is your home?" Essex fretted to Kip and Sarah. "Are you far? It's awfully late for you two to be out...."

Just then, she heard new arrivals arguing at the door, and crying coming from upstairs. The young caretaker seemed to sigh, running her bustered hands through her long, blonde hair.

"Where in the world is Archlich..." she sighed. "If these keeps up...I'll have to cancel tomorrow night. I just can't leave everyone..."

Turning back to the children out back, she smiled. "Come in if you like, kids. I'll leave the door open; give me just one moment..."

With that, she dashed to the front door. Essex opened it, glancing down.

A scowling little elf.
A very improperly dressed little fellow.
And.... a child-sized box?

"...What on earth?" she murmured, tilting her head. "Oh dear...Where did you three come from? What in the world are you doing in that box?"

The android pulled the box inside worriedly, and carefully lifted the latch.

"Who would put a child in a box..." she murmured, somewhat scornfully, unaware that Archlich was responsible for doing quite the same thing to Devin upstairs.

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((Also, Hal, the boys sleep in a different room. D: But I'll let you do it remotely, since they could probably hear Vir crying, and...eh, it's Moonscribe. <_&lt)

Virelai's crying stirred Truefeather, who sat up, and looked about rather dreamily through her mostly-closed eyes.

"Ah..." she murmured pleasantly at the wildly flying feathers. Once the window opened and they all whooshed out into the night, she sighed.

Rosie couldn't take it any more.

The were-human quietly sprung out of bed, creeping up to the side of Virelai's.

"Hey, Virelai!" she whispered, her ears perked and her orange eyes glowing slightly over the edge of the bed. "What's wrong?"

1089: I will not use an AoE spell targetted on the square next to the crib of the infant I'm trying to rescue.
1090: Assaulting an enemy from inside is never a good idea.
1091: I will not go one on one vs. a tiger if I have a CON score of 5.
1092: I WILL NOT LET GO OF THE ROPE.

((I get harshed quite regularly for being too drama-whorish in other threads, so I thought I'd balance it out, here. :P))

"Of course, sweetheart." Essex said soothingly. "Come on, I'll show you the room."

Heading up the stairs, she thought about the children outside, frowning slightly. Showing Jarrod to the boys' room, she lowered her voice so as not to disturb them.

"Go ahead and take any open bed." she whispered. "And if you need anything, come and find me, I'll be awake. Good night, Jarrod."

With that, she kissed him on the forehead and hurried back downstairs.

Opening the screen door onto the back, she called out to the children outside.

"Goodness, what are you kids doing out so late? Do you need something?"

"Come now, it's no trouble." Essex said to Jarrod evenly. "I don't need to sleep, and I'm certainly not going to turn you away. I'm glad to have you."

Standing up, she took the now-empty glass with a smile.

"Are you tired?" she asked, tilting her head to the side. "I think the other boys are already sleeping. But there are plenty of beds."

----------------------------------------------

"Good night, Magda..." Truefeather yawned, watching as the fairy flew to the windowsill. The next moment, she was asleep again, looking perfectly content, as if nothing had happened.

Rosalind, however, was less content.

She fidgeted in bed, yanking on her blankets a little with her teeth, playing a game of tug with herself. She had to wait a little longer until Miss Essex came back upstairs...

((Does this mean Archie will be...STAYING?!))

Essex smiled a little after Archlich and shook her head. Retreating to the kitchen momentarily, she returned with a small glass of grape juice. Bending down to offer it to Jarrod, she smiled.

"Don't worry about Archlich." she said with a calm smile. "He's just a teddybear without any stuffing. Don't worry, you aren't bothering anyone."

She sat on the couch, and patted the seat next to her to motion for him to come and sit.

"Are you all right, Jarrod?" she asked the boy, scanning him quickly for injuries. "...You don't need to be frightened any more."

Truefeather giggled good-naturedly, watching the fairy fly around. She seemed calm to a fault, and seemed to zone out watching the bright colors.

"...Miss Essex won't be happy if she finds us awake at this hour, though." True murmured distractedly, still smiling neutrally at the bright colors.

----------------------------------------

The selfsame Miss Essex was startled out of her reading by the loud noise outside. Glancing around distractedly, she caught her breath.

Essex hurried downstairs, her blonde hair down and brushed, and a robe hastily tossed about her over her pyjamas.

"Oh dear...." she murmured from behind Archlich, reaching over to turn down the volume on the boom box. "What in the world are you doing out here? Come inside and I'll get you a glass of juice."

Letting him in, she sighed, looking down at the newest arrival with a smile. With all these new arrivals, she would need more help...

"What's your name, sweetheart?"

((Edited for great cross-posting justice!))

"Oooh..." The girl murmured, looking around appreciatively at the sparkles. "It's so pretty..."

Smiling at Magda, she extended a finger to very carefully pat the fairy on the head.

"...I'm Truefeather..." she said with a little nod, murmuring quietly so as not to disturb the quiet. "I'm glad to meet you, Magda..."

With that, the little fairy had a slightly...off feeling as True tilted her head slightly, just looking at her. After just a moment, though, the girl's smile broadened, warmly.

"I hope we can be friends." she said quietly.

((Seeing you back on the boards was the last straw for me rezzing this, Magda. XD

Oh and Hal -

[ QUOTE ]
equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides

[/ QUOTE ]

^fix get. X3 </math nerd&gt)

As Magda flew over to investigate the sleeping girl, the blankets ruffled a bit. The girl turned over, yawning widely and snuggling a little farther into her blankets.

Now that she was turned over, Magda could see her a little better - she was a fairly pale little girl, but definitely seemed healthy enough, and clung to a little stuffed ostrich. Though she was asleep, her expression was one of relaxed contentment, completely devoid of stress or childish conflict.

At the little fairy's humming, however, she twitched ever so slightly. Her eyes opened - though just barely, Magda couldn't actually see her eyes - and she slowly sat up, regarding her with equal curiosity.

"...Hi..." the girl said softly and curiously, regarding the fairy child with a gentle smile. "...I don't think I have met you..."

The rest of the day progressed pleasantly, if not busily. Children came and went, dinner was had, strawberries were eaten, mashed on faces, and promptly cleaned up.

Finally, it was bedtime, and Essex worked as hard as she could to put all the children to bed - boys in one room, girls in the other.

One of the beds in the girls' room, however...was already occupied. It was the farthest against the back wall, and curious ones could see a bit of long, black hair lying spilled off the edge of the bed.

Essex, however, didn't pay it any more mind than usual, and sighed.

It was late. The next day was going to be busy - she had a date with Mikhail...

<3

YEY.

*The Noticer pokes the Wonderer* ....<.<

[ QUOTE ]
“Why is it always the Circle of Thorns?”

[/ QUOTE ]

QFT. <_<

Great chapter. :3 Poor Mirror Spirit... D:

Essex: I'm partially metal! D:

*stands on tiptoes* <.< Ultralight steel frame and ESD-protective gold wirebonds on my circuitry, to be exact. D:

((Right here, mon capitan!))

Rosalind's ears laid back aggressively against her head, and she twirled a pistol onto her finger - Emry's Spirit Disruptor. Cocking it to the side in a display of gangsta precision, she fired it at the distortion in the air.

If whatever it was had a spirit, it would be hard-pressed to defend itself at this range. Her left hand extended out in front of Richter protectively, the claws on it glowing white in preparation.

"Looks like we have a welcoming committee." she growled, glancing to the side at Bear. "Get ready for some fun."

------------------------------------------

Selene swallowed uneasily as they were all teleported to the ground.

"...Where are we?" she mused, shrinking closer beside Midas. "Um...Where are we going?"

I, also, am in love with Dr. Phillis. <_< *is SO JEALOUS of Cyba* >_> Something about a man who thinks...

Anyway, speaking of villians.

Thoughts on Zealstorm?

...

*sudden urge to draw Essex as a Cabal witch* <.<

And yeah, Grey. X_X It's why I only very occasionally tolerated PuGs. Hey we should team sometime. :3

[ QUOTE ]
8) You treat a Zeus Mecha as your personal transport.

[/ QUOTE ]

D: B-but...The Commander said I could ride on its shoulder.... ;_;

[ QUOTE ]
16) As a healer, you let a tank barge in only to die 5 seconds in and you say, "oops! I forgot to set my autoheal..."

[/ QUOTE ]

*cough* <_< I haven't done this per se, but on one of the very, very few occasions where I've been on a PuG, the main tank started berating me for attacking lieuts. I'm /sonic, and I hit them once for the -def and then get on with life. Anyone who's teamed with me can tell you that I'm pretty good at managing enemies and allies alike.

So when this guy starts in with the "u just heal me, understand? nothing else", I let him charge into the next mob (before the others were ready, no less) and didn't heal him at all. <_< The others in the PuG weren't prepared and I kept them alive, but I let that sucker burn.

I enjoyed these. Thank you.

((As always, comments are welcome. I do hope you enjoy this bit of exposition. :3))

Warburg.

Constantly embattled from both sides - heroes from Paragon City, villains from the Rogue Isles, the area was continuously under siege. People fought, won, and died on the streets every day, endless fodder in the battle between good and evil for even the smallest advantage against one another.

In this place, there was no happiness without pain. There was no victory without defeat. Everything was blood and force; there was no more negotiation here. All smiles came bidden by the tears of fallen opponents...for war is not a place for mirth and foolishness. War was for blood, victory, defeat, sweat, work.

And yet, in Warburg, there was at least one who found it... relaxing.

The Machenschaften laboratories were deep underground. Once a highly confidential Fifth Column laboratory, at the group's dissolution the location quietly faded from all record, and it lay abandoned for years. Now, however, it housed an occupant. A single occupant, who had brought it back online using old security codes and a knack for the technological.

Dr. Gretchen Fleischman. Zealstorm.

The sound of Zealstorm's boots made a soft click along the steel floor of the laboratory. Zeal enjoyed the sound, the way it echoed through the main power bay, step after purposeful step. She was alone, and she liked it that way.

Stepping into her surveillance module, the android scientist relaxed. The S6 unit had recently been reunited with its creator, so defenses were high at Repliforce Paragon. There was no sense in moving against them now and potentially compromising herself.

"Ah.." Zealstorm sighed to herself, pulling the helmet from her head. She tossed the blonde locks of her hair, sending them sweeping down past her shoulders to the middle of her back, and regarded the screens before her with neutral eyes the color of sharp slate. It was not often she had time to relax. But Zeal knew better than to lapse into inattentiveness.

Gretchen had many enemies; countless heroes, the Malta, the governments of various countries... the list went on. A lapse in attention meant an opening for her foes, and if there was one thing Zealstorm would not tolerate it was carelessness.

And so, it was immediately that her eye was drawn to one of her surveillance screens - one of the cameras monitering Warburg itself.

Something was blinking. A small device that Zealstorm couldn't quite identify. It seemed to pulse at a certain frequency, and Zeal narrowed her eyes. Stonily, she watched the surveillance screen as words began to form out of the slight static.

Zdravstvujte, Gretchen.
I know you see this.
It is a special message, written only for you.
Wouldn't you like to see me again?
I would like to see you.
Do novyh vstrech, milaya moya.

"....Ari." came Zeal's voice in a growl at the back of her throat. Her steely eyes narrowed.

There was work to be done.