Heroes for Hire (Courage Wolf and GargantuaBlarg)

[Tiffanian]

Re: Heroes for Hire (Save the Desert Group!)

With Zahra’s announcement the old cat began to work at the console again, pressing buttons furiously. She was already watching the various moving displays, he didn’t have to tell her to, because she didn’t have anything else to do until he was done with whatever it was he was doing. There were four of them, multicolored and always fluctuating, but all of them stayed pretty consistently between a quarter and a third of the way full, never really approaching the danger zone Verja had warned her about. He was hitting buttons again, slowly now, taking his time with this part. He was silent and focused, and the catgirl wasn’t about to interrupt him if it wasn’t absolutely necessary. It took a matter of minutes, probably no more than ten or fifteen in total, before the mage told her to power down the machine. She slowly pulled orange back down to the bottom, taking her time as he had told her to earlier, and then took a moment to flick off the pain dampers. A few seconds later she had lowered the yellow lever, and began to count in her head. Roughly a minute later she gradually lowered the red and blue levers, powering down the machine… When it was complete, and she hadn’t exploded anything, the archer breathed a sigh of relief, saying "done," though the way he seemed nervous was transferring to her as she waited for her only friend to emerge from the tank, her tail still bushy with stress.

 

[Shrike7]

Re: Heroes for Hire (Save the Desert Group!)

Huldah stood in the cramped tank as the process finally started in earnest. She shifted slightly at the onset of the sensations, moving from foot to foot in the cramped tube and working one of her arms up past her chest to rub at her head when the pain started to migrate there.

Outside the tube, it was hard to tell how uncomfortable the gemini was feeling. She shook lightly, one hand at her temple, the other curled around her stomach, the low groan escaping her not filtering through the thick glass surrounding her. A few moments in, she started rocking in the small space available to her, biting her lip to take her mind off the pain in her mind.

And then it was over, the sensations subsiding, replaced with a soft buzzing. The tube opened with a soft hiss, and she staggered out, feeling dizzy and disoriented. She stayed beside the tube, leaning on it for support until the world around her calmed down and started acting flat again.

 

[GargantuaBlarg]

Re: Heroes for Hire (Save the Desert Group!)

When she'd delivered the last of her second clutch and filled her fairy up, Solidyn allowed herself the luxury of just lying back for awhile. She was satisfied, her little egg-carrier was... well, she was unconscious, which was close enough - and Ragin and the other three were well-fucked and satisfied, too. Good times!

She lay back, each of her legs save one splayed out - the last holding Tilda in place, just in case. Once she'd regained her breath, she bid Ragin and one of the goatmen to come help her pull Tilda off of her so she could flip over, put her shirt back on - it was a silly, considering how her entire spiderhalf was always naked unless she was in armor anyway, but, you know, whatever - and then started ferrying them back to the ground - making sure to go slow and careful, given how she was not only tired, but well exhausted, now, and very much ready for a nap. Each passenger, as she usually did, got a safety line of spidersilk.

When everyone was down safe and sound, Solidyn picked up her egg-filled fairy, and contentedly scuttled back into the tower's first floor, where she wadded up a few little pillows of non-sticky silk for her and Tilda, flopped onto her side, and then settled down, cuddling the faerie's belly as she drifted off - hopefully for a few hours, though there'd been more than one occasion where such rest had come only to the tune of a few minutes.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Heroes for Hire (Save the Desert Group!)

Spoiler

Huldah: HP = 58, PP = 33, EP = 33, Status = Fine

Kor'Ensiloth: HP = 68, PP = 78, EP = 89, Status = Fine

Zahra: HP = 54, PP = 40, EP = 38, Status = Fine

Solidyn-Nolu: HP = 60, PP = 50, EP = 80, Status = Fine

Aurelia Korort: HP = 104, PP = 43, EP = 105, Status = Fine

~~~~Solidyn~~~~​

Righting herself with some effort after Raginhard and the two gruffs carried the limp Tilda off of her abdomen, Solidyn redonned her shirt and then carefully carried the thoroughly satisfied faeries down from the top of the tower and down to the ground. The gruffs, Raginhard, and the faerie that the two goat-men had double teamed all ended up wandering off on their own, and that left Solidyn on her own with the bloated, unconscious Tilda. Carrying her into the cool, shaded tower, Solidyn made an improvised set of silky pillows for herself and her faerie consort and then laid down to rest while cuddling the already unconscious faerie. What followed was a long period of peaceful rest in which they went undisturbed by the fae around them.

~~~~Zahra/Huldah~~~~​

Huldah felt the sensations taking place in the aftermath of her time in the tube rapidly fading, and as the hissing quieted Verja stepped around the console and stared at her. “Well?” he said, “Are you alright? Do you feel any different? Do you remember anything?”

~~~~Aurelia~~~~​

Bob rolled his eyes at the half-vampire’s teasing, “I think I’ll have to pass, thanks. You’re not exactly my type…. Lady Korort.” He spoke her preferred title with a note of mock respect, and after her suggestion that he refer to her as “mistress” he added; “Oh I could think of something that you could blow on all night, doesn’t mean it’s going to happen.” Rather than take offense to her reference to him as a bean counter and all of the varied insults that followed after, Bob merely quirked an eyebrow and offered the occasional chuckle. “I prefer 6’s myself,” he quipped bemusedly, though he seemed at least slightly more sincere as he continued; “And I’ve had plenty of after-battle partners, both before and after I was one of the dumb slobs who put themselves up on the front lines. I’m afraid that you’re gonna have to try harder than that if you want to add me to the tallymarks over your bedpost.”

Giving the death knight a nod, he marked something off on a nearby sheet and, in parting, offered; “Don’t wait up on me! I’d hate to hold you from your fun.”

 

[Hafnium]

Re: Heroes for Hire (Save the Desert Group!)

"I did say your little mind," she noted at the end of Bob's response, entirely unwilling to let that opportunity pass her by. "And after so much time in a bedroll in the desert, I'm past notching beautiful woodwork. I find it's much more fun to leave my mark on the people I share that bed with, anyway. But perhaps I can take up collecting undergarments, though that might be an underwhelming collection among so many faeries and aliens. But I digress, farewell Bob. I will wait in my tent with bated breath for you to finally come to your senses and come make an honest woman out of me," she quipped with a sardonic smirk and straightened. She picked up the morning after potion between her fingers and walked away with a satisfied grin. I like Bob.

She didn't make her way to her tent quite yet, however, thinking it best to let her two new underlings stew in their own fear at what was taking her so long. Besides, she wanted to be out for at least a small part of the night, as she much preferred the chilling cold and dark of the desert to its blazing sun. So, as soon as she was out of Bob's sight she would drink her potion, carelessly drop the emptied glass container to the ground, and find her way up to the walls. Once she was on the walls she would peer out into the distance for a while, entire hours if she went uninterrupted, and would only return to her tent much later to ensure Mittens and Thane were still well bound and then get some sleep.

 

[GargantuaBlarg]

Re: Heroes for Hire (Save the Desert Group!)

Solidyn snored peacefully, snuggling against her little faerie.

 

[Shrike7]

Re: Heroes for Hire (Save the Desert Group!)

Huldah shook her head a little to clear it, looking around the room a little bit before settling on the catpeople in front of her. "Umm... I dunno, maybe? I think... Maybe I remember something. Stuff like sand on the ground, but you could squish it and it stayed like that, and it was all white?" She said slowly, scratching the side of her head. "Is anybody else hungry?"

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Heroes for Hire (Save the Desert Group!)

Spoiler

Huldah: HP = 58, PP = 33, EP = 33, Status = Fine

Kor'Ensiloth: HP = 68, PP = 78, EP = 89, Status = Fine

Zahra: HP = 54, PP = 40, EP = 38, Status = Fine

Solidyn-Nolu: HP = 60, PP = 50, EP = 80, Status = Fine

Aurelia Korort: HP = 104, PP = 43, EP = 105, Status = Fine

~~~~Zahra/Huldah~~~~​

Verja tilted himself back and scowled, "Well.... It's a good start I guess! And I won't have to clean your insides off of the tank!" He seemed to cheer visibly after that little proclamation, and he glanced at Zahra with a wide grin and said; "I'm hungry, how about you? I've got a recipe that I've been meaning to try for ages now, but I haven't had anyone to share it with! What'd you say, trusty assistant?"

~~~~Aurelia~~~~​

Aurelia's journey onto the walls and her stay there went more or less entirely interrupted. At one point a kobold trotting along on patrol paused near her and looked about ready to question her presence there, but he'd simply shook his head and wandered on by. After watching the full moon rise above the mountains to the North and go through much of its nightly journey across the sky, the death knight returned to her tent to find that both Mittens and Thane had fallen into an exhausted sleep while within their bonds, leaving her with the choice on whether to leave them like that until morning or to concoct some other horrible thing to do to her enslaved gemini before bedding down herself.

 

[Tiffanian]

Re: Heroes for Hire (Save the Desert Group!)

Zahra watched intently as her friend made her way out of the tube, staggering a little in an almost drunken way. She seemed like she might have been weakened or hurt, and leaned against the tube to support herself for a while, but the catgirl waited nervously. Hopefully it was just temporary. The old cat asked Huldah how she was feeling, and if she remembered anything… the reply was odd, to say the least. The Gemini thought she remembered some things, but they made no sense. White sand that squished? Wait a minute… "Sand…? Ya tol’ me ‘bout summat ya called ‘snow’ ‘at time we firs’ met. Sounds like ‘at’s wot yer talkin’ ‘bout" the archer replied rapidly, remembering a story she had been told by the former Crolian the night they had first met, when she had been entertaining her for her master. "Yer ‘ome’ad it all overa groun’." The Gemini made the comment that she was hungry, though, and Verja proclaimed that he was too in his usual, overcheeful way. "I’m game" Zahra replied to him, shrugging a little bit. She hadn’t eaten since early morning, but she wasn’t terribly hungry either. Or was she just so used to going hungry over the last couple years that it made no difference to her? Either way, she certainly wouldn’t refuse a meal.

 

[GargantuaBlarg]

Re: Heroes for Hire (Save the Desert Group!)

Solidyn fired her cannon, and the floating behemoth in the sky exploded, showering the dessert with huge chunks of moist strawberry cake. She scuttled over to some and cut out chunks of it with her giant knife fingers, handing it out to her gunners. She saved a particularly big chunk with a huge strawberry - the size of her head! - in it for Ur-Wind, who thanked her politely and kissed her on the cheek (squee!). Bob came over and generously poured them all nice tall glasses of ice-cold mi... lk?

Wait. What the fuck?

Grumbling, Solidyn snuggled against her pillow and the faerie again, going back to sleep. Bob, being generous. Pfff.

 

[Hafnium]

Re: Heroes for Hire (Save the Desert Group!)

Spoiler

I actually forgot that I was the only person who owed a post in this thread. My bad. D:

The death knight didn't bother doing anything to Mittens or Thane, better for them to wake up as they were and panic when they realized how they had fallen asleep. Instead, she took the time to reinforce their bindings, set up her bedroll near the entrance to the tent and between the captive cat-men and her weapons and armor, and prepared to fall asleep and embrace all the dreams that would come with it. Like ones where she slept in comfortable beds in the company of nude servants. Those were much better days, she decided as she tried to shift into a comfortable position before drifting off.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Heroes for Hire (Save the Desert Group!)

Spoiler

Huldah: HP = 58, PP = 33, EP = 33, Status = Fine

Kor'Ensiloth: HP = 68, PP = 78, EP = 89, Status = Fine

Zahra: HP = 54, PP = 40, EP = 38, Status = Fine

Solidyn-Nolu: HP = 60, PP = 50, EP = 80, Status = Fine

Aurelia Korort: HP = 104, PP = 43, EP = 105, Status = Fine

~~~~Zahra/Huldah~~~~​

"Excellent!" Verja said happily as he rubbed his hands together. Starting towards the door they'd taken to reach this floor, he said; "Follow me then! The kitchen's downstairs!" Assuming the two followed him, they'd find that he led them to a counter in the corner of the back room, one with a bunch of assorted machinery on and around it, and started pulling things out of cupboards at an incredibly rapid rate. After about a minute he'd assembled a wide variety of things, some of them fresh and some of them out of cans, a sight that Zahra would find familiar but that Huldah had likely never seen before in her life. He set a fire from one of the devices and set the filled pan over it, magically conjuring water in the same manner that he'd used to spontaneously clean Zahra only a short while ago and pouring some of the clear liquid into the pan. "I've been meaning to try this for ages! I do hope you'll like it," he said brightly as he cooked, leaving Huldah and Zahra to do as they wished, either to wait silently or to speak at their own discretion.

 

[Shrike7]

Re: Heroes for Hire (Save the Desert Group!)

Spoiler

Someone needs to slap me upside the head when Tass posts, just found out today. Sorry for the wait, folks.

Huldah followed their host downstairs, scratching at her head slightly as she looked around, the place somehow feeling new to her. She watched without comment while he cooked, glancing over to Zahra every so often, not having anything to say.

She had seen canned good before, it was some of the only food available to the pair when they scavenged, before meeting up with Ur-Wind and his crew. Some of what they had found was fresher stuff off the active alien force, but finding canned food in abandoned areas was much safer for the pair. There was something she had always wondered, though... "How do they get the food in the can?" She asked in a quiet tone, not wanting to step out too much.

 

[Tiffanian]

Re: Heroes for Hire (Save the Desert Group!)

Zahra followed the old cat down the stairs without a fuss, waiting for Huldah so that she could walk alongside the hulking woman. Ultimately they ended up in a corner of the backmost room, by a counter with a ton of random machinery all around, as seemed to be the case all throughout the tower. Verja went to work quickly, pulling things out of cupboards and off shelves at an incredible speed and with enthusiasm to match. The archer could only watch as he went about things, not knowing really how to cook. She could blacken things over an open fire, and that was about the extent of her skills. It seemed they were in for quite the promising feast, though… He had some fresh food, and even some canned stuff that was obviously from elsewhere. Canned goods were a rare treat, either taken during scavenging runs or given to them with other supplies by the resistance when they managed to get back to the lines. Much of what they had eaten, though, was whatever she had managed to hunt and kill with her bow. Often slim pickings in the desert.

The old cat seemed really happy to be cooking it, which was odd. It seemed likely that he had become quite lonely in his time locked up in this tower, that he was rather enjoying their company, such as it was. Zahra didn’t say much of anything either, she didn’t have anything to add and she was a quiet one anyway. Finally Huldah asked a question, though… something about how canning worked. Of course the catgirl had no idea, she’d never canned food and had never thought much about it either. She took a little step back, as if shrinking from the question, waiting for Verja to answer it.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Heroes for Hire (Save the Desert Group!)

Spoiler

Huldah: HP = 58, PP = 33, EP = 33, Status = Fine

Kor'Ensiloth: HP = 68, PP = 78, EP = 89, Status = Fine

Zahra: HP = 54, PP = 40, EP = 38, Status = Fine

Solidyn-Nolu: HP = 60, PP = 50, EP = 80, Status = Fine

Aurelia Korort: HP = 104, PP = 43, EP = 105, Status = Fine

~~~~Zahra/Huldah~~~~​

"With a machine of course!" Verja replied brightly without even looking away from his cooking. Within only a few moments he was juggling three different things, and as he added more items to their upcoming meal he spoke continuously; "They prepare the food - usually also with machines - and then put it all into a big pile. Then, other machines take a chunk out of the pile, and then drop it into a can. Then it goes down a conveyer belt - that's a machine that moves things - and moves the can over to where yet another machine puts the lid on. Then one last machine seals the top on so that it'll stay fresh forever! They'll usually put the cans over a flame if it was something that was at risk of spoiling, to make sure that it stays viable for as long as possible."

A few minutes later he was apparently finished, and set a steaming plate of the best smelling food that either of them could ever remember in front of each of them. "Well? Go ahead, dig in!" the old mage said brightly, sitting down and chowing down himself. They'd been provided with silverware, and if they tried the food they'd find that it was even better than it smelled. "Well?" their host asked with a full mouth, "What do you think?"

 

[Shrike7]

Re: Heroes for Hire (Save the Desert Group!)

Huldah nodded along with the explanation. "So a machine makes the food, then another machine puts it in a can, a machine moves it around, and another machine closes the can. Wow..." She said slowly, counting off the machines on her fingers as she recapped.

Huldah didn't wait for an invitation, her large hands dwarfing the silverware she held, though she was glad for them anyways, helped kept the slime on her skin off of what she was eating. "It's really good! Thank you!" She answered enthusiastically between bites, hungrily cramming food down as fast as she could.

 

[Tiffanian]

Re: Heroes for Hire (Save the Desert Group!)

Zahra tilted her head as she listened to the old cat’s answer, a little surprised. Granted, she probably shouldn’t have been, since he seemed to have a machine for everything. It only took him a few minutes more to finish up the cooking, and he set a plate of steaming hot food on a table in front of both the archer and Huldah. The catgirl sniffed at it cautiously, and was surprised to find that it smelled quite excellent. Maybe Verja was a good cook? She supposed he had had enough time shut up in this tower to practice. Tentatively picking up the fork she had been given she poked at it a bit and then slowly put some in her mouth, and her ears perked and her tail swished a little behind her. "Mmm, ‘sgood" she said after chewing, and quickly began to put it back. In truth she hadn’t tasted anything nearly this good in a very, very long time, and it was quite welcome. In fact this might have been the best meal she had ever tasted… and she hadn’t realized just how hungry she had been until she had smelled it.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Heroes for Hire (Save the Desert Group!)

Spoiler

Huldah: HP = 58, PP = 33, EP = 33, Status = Fine

Kor'Ensiloth: HP = 68, PP = 78, EP = 89, Status = Fine

Zahra: HP = 54, PP = 40, EP = 38, Status = Fine

Solidyn-Nolu: HP = 60, PP = 50, EP = 80, Status = Fine

Aurelia Korort: HP = 104, PP = 43, EP = 105, Status = Fine

~~~~Zahra/Huldah~~~~​

Verja grinned broadly with a mouth full of food at their compliments to his cooking, but managed to contain his excitement long enough to swallow what he'd started chewing before saying; "Good! I'm glad you like it! I've been meaning to try that recipe for months, but never had anyone to test it on." All too soon the meal was over, having been both delicious and quite filling, and their host took the dishes and piled them all into a sink, which he promptly cleaned with magic in about ten seconds flat. Turning back to them, he furrowed his eyebrows, wriggled his mustache, flicked his ears, and said; "Alright then, that's all for you for today! Questions can wait until morning, when you come back up for a checkup!" He gestured with one hand towards Huldah, and then began ushering the two towards the stairs, "Off with you then! Back to your associates!"

While the old cat had said no questions, there was nothing actually stopping the two of them from asking whatever they liked while he led them toward the stairs. They'd be left to find their own way through the maze, though thankfully the security would remain inactive this time around, and once they were through that it was an easy path back to the bottom floor. Solidyn was resting fitfully their, a faerie bloated with the arachne's eggs cuddled up beside her, and there were several gruffs idling about with nothing of any apparent import to do within the bottom floor of the tower itself. The rest of their mercenary company was likely about as well, with most of them in the assorted tents that had been pitched inside of the fortress. Huldah and Zahra were, at that point, free to do as they liked with the remainder of the evening.

 

[Shrike7]

Re: Heroes for Hire (Save the Desert Group!)

“A checkup?“ Was all Huldah thought to ask as they went downstairs, pausing at the entrance to the maze, a little hesitant to wander through there again. “You said the creatures in there are gone, right?“

Assured the trip would be safe, she followed Zahra through the maze and down to the main floor, giving the sleeping arachne a worried look and a wide berth before finally reaching outside. “What now, Zahra?“ she asked softly, looking around at the now fully-assembled camp, bustling with activity.

 

[Tiffanian]

Re: Heroes for Hire (Save the Desert Group!)

It seemed the old cat was really pleased that the two of them liked the meal he’d made for them, his grin perfectly ridiculous considering that his mouth was stuffed with food. Granted, Zahra didn’t really know that it was poor manners to do such. She didn’t really know what manners were to begin with. She was done with her portion far too soon for her liking, but she felt stuffed to the brim, more full than she’d been in a very long time. "Tankya, was good" she said as Verja gathered up all the dishes and washed them instantly. Magic was a very handy thing, she had never seen it used much for these sorts of everyday things. Apparently this was enough for him, because he basically shooed the archer and Huldah off towards the stairs, telling them they’d be able to ask questions in the morning when he checked up on the Gemini.

Zahra felt none too safe walking around in this tower yet of course, keeping herself on the lookout for any of the place’s security that might get overzealous again… Nothing jumped out at her and Huldah, though, and they managed to get down to the ground floor without any fuss. The first thing the catgirl saw was Solidyn laying with one of her summoned fae helpers, who was quite bloated. With cum or something else she couldn’t tell, but it made her a bit uncomfortable. Some of the gruffs were standing around idle, taking a bit of a rest, but that was all of the company they could see from there. "Dunno" she replied when Huldah asked her what to do, "ya feel any diff’rent? Worried I’d do summin wrong. If ya want we could see ‘bout sleepan."