City of Chaldea (Freeform RP Area)

The Devil’s Cocktail

Rory slowly knelt down beside the piglet and reached out a hand. When it pressed its moist snout against her fingers, she let out a little giggle that the piglet seemed to mimic in its little squeal.

"Raise it?" Nena raised an eyebrow at Vayu, then glanced at the two currently becoming acquainted on the floor. "You sure that's a good idea? Your out and about so often..."

"He can always leave him here with us," Rory offered.

"No." Nena pursed her lips. "I have enough to be getting on with taking customers and this one-" Her foot caught Mongo, long and clever fingers preoccupied with fastening together some kind of harness with which to ride the piglet, and catapulted him over Rory's head. "-without having to add pet sitting to the list."

Mongo rolled back onto his feet, still clutching his harness. "I can look after him!" His smile widened. "The ladies love a man with own ride."

Everyone gave him a prolonged stare, then promptly ignored him.

"I can have Ose look after him." Komori chuckled at the thought, then winced as a clawed hand appeared from behind and gripped his shoulder.

"I would first eat the pig, then I would eat you," Ose said flatly. When the piglet squealed, Ose winced. "Only on principal. My pride can only suffer so much."

Rory gave the demon a reproving look, then petted the piglet consolingly.

"What's the little guy's name anyway?" Komori asked. "Don't tell me you haven't named him yet?"

The Devil's Cocktail

- Vayu -

Vayu looked a little insecure at Nena's words. It was true, Catequil had had the same concerns. His eyes fell on the little piglet that was happily getting ear scritches from Rory. No, this was the right way.

He smiled at Rory, appreciating the offer, even though Nena protested it half-heartedly. Even Komori offered to help look after it...well he offered Ose's help, who didn't take too kindly.

Vayu rolled his eyes. "I know another demon who feels like that," he murmured, referring to Catequil.

"I appreciate that offers. In my mind, I would've just taken it with me...it is a demon afterall, but maybe that would be a bit too soon in the beginning," he admitted. Clearly, he hadn't put much thought into HOW to raise it.

So it shouldn't come as a surprise when Komori's question caught him slightly off guard. "Eh....name?" he echoed. "It doesn't have one yet," he added lamely.

The Devil’s Cocktail

Komori sighed. "You can't keep a pet without a name. How will he know when you're calling him?"

"Everyone needs a name," Rory said quietly. "Especially someone you're meant to care for."

Komori nodded along. "But, that doesn't mean we can't help you out! Anyone got suggestions?"

As he glanced around the group, everyone fell into contemplative silence. Except Ose, obviously. He scoffed and poured himself out a drink.

"How about Piggy?" Mongo said.

Nena shook her head. "Very creative. I don't know how you came up with it."

"I don't hear you making a suggestion," he pouted.

"Umm..." She picked at her cheek, then shrugged. "Porkchop?"

Rory shot her a disapproving look. "Maybe... Walnut?" At the questioning looks, she blushed. "Well, he's roundish and brown..."

"How about Hamlet?" Ose snorted from the bar and knocked back his glass. When he opened his eyes, he found everyone staring at him. "W-What?"

"I think it's cute!" Rory beamed at him, causing him to grimace.

"I wasn't..."

"Actually, I kind of like it, too." Komori chuckled. "Good one."

"A little too sophisticated for him... but then, I guess that's the charm." Nena smirked and shrugged.

"Oh, his punny name is okay, but not mine." Mongo folded his arms and sulked.

Nena rolled her eyes. "That wasn't a pun, idiot. You just named it what it is!"

While they bickered, Rory carried the piglet over to Vayu and put him in the Vanguard's arms. "What do you think? Did you come up with one?"

The Devil's Cocktail

- Vayu -

„Okay, okay, we’ll name it,” he said and threw up his hands. But what to name it? He didn’t have to ask for suggestions, the others chipped in with ideas.

He took the little piglet from Rory when she walked up to him and it immediately nuzzled comfortably into his arms. “Mhh…” he pondered, looking at the little brown furball in his arms.

“I liked your Walnut idea, but that sounds a bit harsh for a girl, so how about Maple?” he suggested and then his eyes lit up. “No, I have a better idea…” he said and placed the piglet back in Rory’s arms, much to its protest of being handed back and forth. He grabbed one of his purple scarves and tied it around the piglet’s neck with a bow at the back. “How about Lavender?”

He blushed a little when he looked at their astonished faces. Clearly no one had expected this reaction from him. And truly, it was little out of character. “What?” he asked. “Not everything needs to sound like it will kill you and I think this piglet is cute. So, it deserves a cute name.”

The Devil’s Cocktail

Everyone exchanged looks at Vayu's defensive remark. But as the silence continued, it became obvious no one wanted to say it.

"It is cute," Komori finally said, shrugging. "Just..." He looked to Nena for help.

She bit her lip. "We didn't realize... well..."

"It's a girl?!" Mongo finally blurted out.

The Devil's Cocktail

Now it was Vayu's turn to stare. "Well...it's not obvious upon first look," he murmured. "I gave her a bath yesterday."

For a few moments nobody said anything until the newly named Lavender squealed out of Rory's arms and began to look towards one of the pots with pointed ears, tiltling her head.

When Vayu followed her eyes, he realized his stew was about to boil over. Hastily he ran over to the pot and took off the lid, stirring frantically. With the disaster averted, he turned back around.

"It's settled then, Lavender it is," he declared. "And I'm sure I'll figure the whole "raising her" thing out, afterall, everyone offered their help," he added with a smile.

The Devil’s Cocktail

"After all, everyone offered their help."

"I didn't," Ose muttered.

"I don't recall saying that either," Nena added, folding her arms.

"Only if I get to ride her!" Mongo chirped.

Rory, eyebrow twitching, swatted the air menacingly with her broom. Mongo, Nena, and even Ose looked cowed by this and muttered their agreement.

Komori beamed. "I think it's settled then."

As Rory moved back over to Lavender to pet and congratulate her for helping out, and Ose and Mongo took up residence at the bar, Nena sidled next to Komori and watched Vayu and his piglet for a few moments.

"You really think this is a good idea?" she murmured.

"Yeah, I do." He offered her a sad smile. "These kids need to have something tangible to fight for, and some sense of normalcy to come back to. And what's more normal for a healthy boy than raising a pet?"

As he moved to join Ose and Mongo, she gave one last look at Vayu's smile and decided he might have a point.

Vanguard Barracks – Training Facility

- Vayu –

The piglet in one arm, his weapon in the other, Vayu entered the training facility. One day, just one day he wanted to sleep in but this little rascal in his arm with the lavender bow kept waking him up early.

Just as he entered, he saw someone else on the other side. It took him a moment to recognize him.

“Bastion!” he called out and re-directed his original course to now head straight towards his friend. Maybe there was a benefit to getting up early afterall.

Vanguard Barracks – Training Facility

- Bastion –

Bastion's leg buckled, sending him dropping to one knee. The relentless ailments that the Fiend had hammered him with had taken their toll, exhausting and starving his body, even as it continued to heal and replenish itself from the damage he'd managed to get through.

"Why must man struggle and toil in vain?" Daisoujou asked, its voice almost earnest as its vacant eye sockets seem to stare into his soul. "Death and life cannot be overcome. The only struggle man can overcome is within himself."



"Spare me the sermonizing," Bastion snapped, forcing himself upright with the help of his spear, even as his hands shook. "The only thing I need from you is your Deathstone, not your philosophies."

"If you cannot find enlightenment, perhaps severing your path here would be a kindness." The Fiend raised his bell and prayer beads as it drew maga into its body. "Accept death, oh man."

"For once, we agree. This thing talks way too much."

A bullet punctured straight through the back of the Fiend's head and out its forehead in a splinter of bone and shower of sparks. Daisoujou let out an almost sympathetic groan as its body faded, leaving a black stone hovering where it had been.

Bastion attempted to run for it, but he'd barely made it a step before crashing to the ground. He looked up, groaning, as Asher's hand closed around the Deathstone, a sneer on his face.

"I could put you out of your misery now." The barrel of his gun raised and aimed right at Bastion's own skull, where it lingered a few moments before dropping back to his side. "But that can wait. After all, I'm starting to see a use for you."

"You..." Bastion couldn't even muster the energy to curse the other man.

"Save your strength. You're going to need it to crawl back home with your tail between your legs." Asher turned his back on Bastion and strode off without a backward glance.

Bastion mustered all his will and lashed out with his spear at Asher - no, at the training dummy - hammering it over and over with blow after blow of his spear. How could he have lost another Deathstone to that man - if he was a man? Hellbiker had been bad enough, but he could've chalked that up to being unprepared. He should've been ready for Daisoujou, for Asher by now.

So why? Why had he failed? Why wasn't he strong enough?

"Bastion!"

He whipped around without thinking, spear whizzing through the air. Principality had to manifest from the gauntlet, catching the spear with his own staff, before it could reach Vayu.

"Far be it from me to recommend distractions ordinarily," the angel said primly. "But... perhaps a reprieve might be in order for the time being."

Bastion lowered his spear and wiped his brow, avoiding Vayu's gaze directly. "Sorry about that... caught up in my own head."

Vanguard Barracks – Training Facility

- Vayu -

Clearly he had interrupted Bastion's concentration. He took a quick side step when the spear flew at him only to see it interrupted by the appearance of Prince. Ignoring the more or less stern stare he usually earned from him, he took the last few steps towards Bastion.

Bastion looked...exhausted, was probably the right word, but Vayu decided not to comment on it.

"Look what I got!" he said, excitedly and lifted the boar piglet right up to Bastion's face. The piglet stared at Bastion for a second and then stuck its moist snout against his cheek and began to smell him, slobbering him with piglet saliva.

"Isn't it cute?"

Vanguard Barracks – Training Facility

- Bastion –

Vayu, seemingly unperturbed by the near accident, closed in on Bastion's personal space, excited about something.

"Look what I got!"

"Got-?" Before Bastion finish, he took a started step back at the furry brown object thrust unexpectedly into his face.

For a moment, he stared into another pair of eyes, wide and curious. Wasn't... that...?

And then it's moist snout squished against his cheek, rubbing saliva and slime against his skin. He quickly covered his wince with a smile not wanting to offend Vayu when he looked so pleased.

"It's..." Well, he supposed it was rather cute, in its way. "Where did you get it?"

He stepped back to pet the piglet, if only to keep its attention on his hand, rather than his face.

"On their last mission, I surmise," Prince said, narrowing his eyes at the piglet. "While you were trying to collect Deathstones, they were collecting pets. How nice." At the sight of Bastion's darkening expression, the angel tutted softly. "Ah, never mind that now. As I said, even you need a rest at times." He reached out to clean Bastion's cheek, then vanished into his gauntlet.

Bastion continued to scratch behind the piglet's ears absently, avoiding Vayu's gaze. "Well, I don't envy the responsibility of caring for a pet while doing missions and working the kitchen at Nena's. I hope you can handle it."

Vanguard Barracks - Training Facility

- Vayu -

The piglet squealed happily when Bastion started petting it. It was so easy to make her happy.

Vayu on the other hand scowled at Prince when he commented. That little arrogant… As if he wasn’t taking this job seriously. He decided not to reply to him. He wasn’t in the mood for that discussion.

“Yeah, it was after the last mission we completed,” he explained to Bastion. “And Rory, and even Nena and Komori, offered to look after her when I’m gone,” he added. He set the piglet down and gave her a little pat. “I mean, eventually it’s going to grow into a full demon boar, but for now it’s probably too early to take her on missions.”

“I think it’ll be a fun project.”

There was a pause.

“Hey, I interrupted your training. How about I’ll be your sparring partner?” he offered. “And then afterwards maybe you can help me with a book I found. I think it’s written in some weird dialect, and I can’t understand a thing. Like I see the words, but they don’t make sense,” Vayu looked positively in despair at the thought of it.

OOC: Feel free to skip to any part of this.

Vanguard Barracks – Training Facility

- Bastion –

A fun project.

When was the last time he'd had a thought like that? It seemed so long ago now that he'd wanted to join the Vanguards to access their unparalleled libraries, to drink up all the knowledge of history on the previous world. He hadn't set foot there in a while now, all his time focused on dealing with Mother Harlot and the Fiends.

The weight he'd been ignoring pushed down all the harder in that moment, and he shook his head at Vayu's offer to spar.

"I'd be happy to help you with that book, though." He offered a tired smile. "Sounds intriguing."

Vanguard Barracks - Library

- Vayu -

Vayu was a little surprised, but pleased nonetheless. The thought of books even managed to elicit a smile  from Bastion, albeit tired looking.

"Awesome, thanks."

Picking up Lavender, they headed for the library. At the doors, Vayu stopped, looking at his piglet. Would this be alright? With a shrug, he moved forward.

They entered the library, the dusty smell of books and the coolness of the old halls build of massive stone enveloped them. There was a thick silence the fabric of books absorbing most of the sound. The door closed behind them. Vayu suppressed a shudder. It was still an eerie place. At least for the first moment until you got past the entrance hall.

"Okay, it was along here somewhere..." Vayu lowered his voice and walked down a few ailses. "Here," he finally said and pulled out a large thick book. He couldn't have looked by title. It was long and nearly illegible. Indeed, he had just looked for the right pattern. They moved to a reading table. Vayu set the piglet down on the bench next to him. "You be quiet, okay?" he told her.

Vayu opened the book. It had thick pages that looked as if they were handwritten. "So, after our last mission together, I was researching fiends..." he said, blushing slightly. "Well trying to anyways. I came across this, but didn't get very far," he sounded a little defeated and embarassed.

"A... go-- ... gooodyear is... a ma-le-vo-lent... malevolent su-p'r-na-tural... en-- entity," Vayu's finger slowly followed the line and his voice was stumbling over the words as he sounded them out. "Histo-- Hist'ri...cally, be--lief in demons, 'r... 'r... st'ries about de--mons, oc-- ... occur-- ... occurs in reli--gion,... oc--cultis--m, did... li-- ... light'ra-- ra-ture, my--tho--logy, and folk--... folkl're..." he stopped.

"Who writes like this?" he asked, burying his hands in his hair and pulling it back.


The forgotten realms

Spoiler:

Vanguard Barracks – Archives

- Bastion –

Bastion breathed in the scent of books int he archive, feeling a bit lighter in his step. He followed Vayu back through the stacks, feeling like a trainee again studies for his exams.

When they finally sat down, and Vayu produced the book in question, Bastion blinked when he realized Vayu had been researching Fiends to help him.

“You’ve…” He cut himself off, which Vayu didn’t seem to notice as he tried to recite a passage from the book.

Bastion slid it across the table to peer through the pages, scanning the sentences written there with a frown.

“Well, I can’t say I’m too surprised,” he replied, brow furrowed. “It’s written in a very old style, old even by the standards of the Old World from what I can tell. But I can decipher where the more archaic spelling and terms are used in place of-“

A grey blur shot past them and landed on the table, eyes glowering fiercely down at them. Bastion nearly fell off his table as he leaned back in surprise.

“No animals in the archives!” Thoth chided them, scratching at his back with the paw not holding a large tome.

Bastion stared up at the monkey, struggling for words for a variety of reasons. “That’s… well…”

Thoth appeared to get the gist. “I’m not an animal! I merely resemble one!”

“Yes, of course, Master Thoth,” Bastion replied hastily. “And that’s actually, uh, a shrine guardian.” As Thoth spun around on the table to inspect the piglet, Bastion added under his breath. “Sort of…”

“Hmm.” Thoth peered intently at the piglet, then sniffed the air. “I do sense traces of magatsuhi from it. Hmm…” He pursed his lips. “I suppose it’s all right. But see to it that it doesn’t eat any pages!”

Vanguard Barracks - Archive

- Vayu -

Before he could reply to Bastion's words, Thoth shot by and landed on the table. Instinctively, Vayu grabbed Lavender, who had been sitting patiently on the bench, and pulled her close. Lavender on the other had, piqued with curiosity, put her front hooves on the table, sniffing towards the guardian of the archives. She squealed excitedly and Vayu quickly pulled her back down.

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry," he murmured. "I'll watch her." Seemingly satisfied Thoth left them alone.

"Thanks. That was quick thinking," Vayu said to Bastion. "Let' get --- wait!" he spun towards Bastion looking amused. "Were you about to make a joke when he said no animals in the archive?" Vayu chuckled.

Maybe some of the Bastion he'd known from the beginning was still in there. However, he let the moment go and turned back to the book.

Vanguard Barracks – Archives

- Bastion –

Bastion cleared his throat, cheeks slightly pink as he glanced off into the stacks where Thoth might be lurking. “Me? Make a joke at Master Thoth’s expense? Surely not.”

He sounded… less than convincing.

As they returned their attention to the book, Bastion helped point out the apostrophes littered throughout and how they represented omitted letters where enunciation would ignoring them. While they practiced, he even absently scratched behind Lavender’s ears as she trotted back onto the table to peer at the pages.

After a while, when Vayu started to look fatigued, Bastion set the book aside and suggested they leave it there for the moment.

“I wish I knew who the other Fiends were,” he mused. “It would make it easier to prepare ahead of time. But I never expected Daisoujou or the Dance Macabre. Or, especially, Hell Biker…”

He hadn’t seen Monet since then. How was she doing? Would they ever be paired up for a mission again?

Vanguard Barracks - Archives

- Vayu -

Vayu smiled, but kept his eyes on the book. This felt good. It was good knowing that despite everything that happened, they were still friends and it still felt genuine.

He also turned his attention back to the book and with Bastion's help he was able to make the reading go much more smoothly to the point where he could acutally comprehend the sentences instead of just reading out the words. Still, it was exhasusting to him. This was much harder to practice for him than swordsmanship.

When Bastion suggested a break, Vayu nodded gratefully. He leaned back, stretching his back and rubbed his eyes. "I feel like I will never get this," he commented.

Absentmindedly he watched Bastion scratch behind Lavender's ears, who seemed to enjoy it tremendously, setting her hind legs down and leaning into it. "You think there's so many of those fiends?" he asked. "They are so powerful, I can't image they just pop up. They have to have a history."

"Do you know how they come to be?"

Vanguard Barracks – Archives

- Bastion –

Bastion gave Vayu a reassuring smile. “You’ll get it. No one gets it right away. It just takes time and willpower.”

At Vayu’s questions about the Fiends, his expression darkened.

“No, they don’t just pop up,” he said quietly, glancing at his gauntlet. “I don’t know everything, but from what I understand, they’re manifestations of Death. Something happened in the past, back when the world changed. Something with a powerful concept of Death had its power fractured, and those fractured pieces manifested as Deathstones. If they can all be recombined, the power of Death will be at one’s command. Even someone as powerful - physically and conceptually - as Mother Harlot will be vulnerable to its power.”’

That was their best hope of finally stopping her. Perhaps their only hope, if the angels were right.

“As for how many…” He shook his head. “I believe there are supposed to be nine. Hell Biker, Dance Macabre, and Daisoujou make for three. I expect… that the Four Horsemen might have one each. That would leave two unaccounted for.”

Vanguard Barrack - Archives

- Vayu -

"Well I appreciate your support," he replied.

He listened intently to Bastion's explanation of the fiends and deathstones. Meanwhile Lavender was getting bored and began to nudge Vayu with her nose. "Hey, that means six are still up for grabs," he said enthusiatically. "And as long as we have at least one, we can still foil the other side's plans."

Lavender obviously had had enough and was now attempting to jump off of Vayu's lap. "How about we grab a bite to eat?" Vayu suggested. "Not at the bar. I'll make us something at the barracks."

As they stood up to leave, their gauntlets lit up just as they were leaving through the heavy stone doors. "And there go the plans for rest of my day," he said with a smirk and rolled his eyes, clearly joking. "I didn't want to have any more free time anyways."

Vayu frowned, he could see Bastion wanted to leave right away. "Eh... no no no," he said and grabbed him by the sleeve, tugging slightly towards the communal kitchen. "I'm not letting you leave without grabbing at least a little bite. C'mon, I'll be quick and make it to go."