Bedside Tales 1: A braid with death

[Dracos]

Sep 27 16:55:10 *   Mari is sitting on the captain's bed, warding off any potential bed thieves with an evil eye, and trying to sort out the tangled mess that her hair has become after two days out in the winds. "I'll tell you one thing," she says to no one in particular, "the next time we go flying, I'm tying this mess back." She winces as she encounters an especially stubborn knot. "Though at least the storm washed out most of the ashes."
Sep 27 16:57:23 *   Nikkolai has pocketed the scroll and is in the process of unrolling his small bedroll in the far corner of the room, which is only a few feet from the bed. "Why not cut your hair then? Long hair is a nuisance, both in battle and every day care."
Sep 27 16:58:02 <Eva>   "Her, here..."  Eva smiled, sitting behind Mari.  "Don't be so rough with your hair or it'll punish you later, Mari.  May I?" She asked, subtly offering to help Mari out.  Her own hair looking like she could use it as well.  "Cut it?  Nikkolai, you must not go out much."
Sep 27 16:59:01 <Mari>   "If you were a woman, you wouldn't ask that question," Mari says. She nods to Eva, after considering for a moment. "Very well."
Sep 27 17:01:07 *   Nikkolai runs a hand through his short black hair. "Gods forbid a woman be practical instead of vain." He toes off his boots and lays down on the floor, the bedroll softening the hard wood only slightly. "My hair was long once, I'll have you know. I was rather proud of it."
Sep 27 17:04:30 <Mari>   "Vain? No. Question, Nik: All other things being equal, would you be more attracted to the woman with short hair or the one with the luxurious mane?"
Sep 27 17:04:45 <Eva>   Eva pulled out a small comb, gently and carefully working over Mari's long white hair, her motions bespeaking years of practice at taking care of long hair as she worked slowly down her strands.  "You know, you have a very interesting hair color.  It's not often you see a natural white," Eva ignored Nikkolai herself as she noticed Mari's roots.
Sep 27 17:08:06 *   Nikkolai shrugs, lacing his hands behind his head. "I have neither the time nor the inclination to look at a woman so much as to comment on her looks. I'd much rather have an intelligent conversation, myself."
Sep 27 17:09:34 <Mari>   "It's different, surely. It tends to make people think I'm older than I am, which is sometimes useful and a lot of other times not so much. I couldn't tell you where I got it from, though. I came from a, uh, varied lineage." To Nik: "Someone will have to teach you about the fine art of flattery."
Sep 27 17:11:07 <Nikkolai>   "I can talk with a honeyed tongue as much as any noble our courtier in court. I daresay that between the Bard and myself, we could talk the very dragons from their lairs."
Sep 27 17:11:30 <Mari>   "Next time we find one, you can talk to him first."
Sep 27 17:11:30 *   Nikkolai grins.
Sep 27 17:12:13 <Eva>   "Varied lineage," Eva laughed at Nikkolai's line, stroking through Mari's hair as most the knots had been loosened and released.  "And when will we meet this Nikkolai fair, or do you wear your sharp tongue as a sword?"
Sep 27 17:16:08 <Nikkolai>   "Ladies first."
Sep 27 17:16:08 *   Nikkolai rolls over on his side. "So tell me, what will you two do when we reach the town? There is safety in numbers, to be sure, but I have no pressing need to stay in our little company."
Sep 27 17:18:17 *   Mari shrugs. "Oh, I don't know. I don't often make plans. It's just too easy for armed bands to blunder through and disrupt them all."
Sep 27 17:19:30 *   Nikkolai laughs lightly at Eva's joke. "My tongue has availed me where sword and sorcery has not. It's second nature to me by now." Nikkolai tilts his head in a considering manner. "So you're a wanderer then, Mari? Do you drift through life as the leaf on the breeze?"
Sep 27 17:20:18 <Eva>   "Why rush?  Groups join and fall apart all too easily.  For now our roads are one.  I'll check on the local guild," Her craft leaving no real confusion which she might mean. "And see how the rumors go.  Are you in a hurry to get away from something?" Her silver eyes piinned Nikkolai.   "All done," She gently weaved the sides of Mari's hair into slight braids.  "Mind returning the favor?"
Sep 27 17:22:34 <Mari>   It would be rude of Mari not to comply, so she sits behind Eva and goes to work. She's probably not as gentle about it as the bard, but she does try. "That's probably not the worst metaphor I've heard, no."
Sep 27 17:24:15 <Eva>   "Surprising then we've stayed so long, a group of drifters usually doesn't hold together well.  Would you consider yourself the same, Nikkolai?  A leaf floating in the breeze?" Eva's blue hair was fairly long and more than a bit shaken from the storms they'd traveled through.
Sep 27 17:25:08 *   Nikkolai tenses slightly at Eva's probe. "I don't like staying in one place for too long, if that's what you mean." He forces another grin on his face. "Unlike Mari, I've a purpose to my wandering. My aim is to learn and grow beyond what I am now."
Sep 27 17:26:17 <Eva>   "And what are you now?" The few conflicts hadn't given much of a gaze into Nikkolai's abilities...or any of theirs really, excepting Knight's amazing lancework.
Sep 27 17:26:37 *   Mari can't help but take some offense at this, as indicated by an accidental tug on Eva's hair. "And you think I'm not doing the same?"
Sep 27 17:29:07 <Eva>   Eva's eyes didn't wince at the tug, letting Mari continue to work on her hair.
Sep 27 17:29:10 <Nikkolai>   "A leaf upon the breeze is not the most purposeful of existences, wouldn't you agree? And what I am now is...a student. Of life, if you will." He shrugs again. "I learn all that I can and hope to amass power as well as knowledge."
Sep 27 17:32:08 <Eva>   "Purposeful of existances?"  Eva started to giggle at that, getting worse as Nikkolai continued.
Sep 27 17:32:49 <Mari>   "Ah," is seemingly all that Mari can think to say, aptly summing up the perceived triteness of Nik's response.
Sep 27 17:35:52 *   Nikkolai frowns at Eva. "And what exactly is so amusing?"
Sep 27 17:40:24 <Eva>   "A man journeyed far and wide, over the planes and under them.  To each god and demon he asked a single question before moving on.  It was important to him, after all, so he kept asking, finding no one who could answer."  She deepened her voice, miming a noble warrior, "What is my purpose?""  She waggled a finger, leaning forward a bit suddenly, "But each one gave him a different answer and eventually he came back to his homeland alone."
Sep 27 17:46:53 <Nikkolai>   "Pray tell, songmaster, what purpose did that man choose upon arriving at his homeland? No man should rely on another to show him his purpose." He frowned, his eyes going distant. "He must choose it and then seek it out on his own. Neither gods, nor demons, nor men have the power to steer the course of a man's life if he does not so wish it."
Sep 27 17:48:22 <Mari>   "How about a woman's?" Mari mutters, tying braids in Eva's hair just to keep herself entertained.
Sep 27 17:49:36 <Nikkolai>   "Or a woman's, of course. Your pardon."
Sep 27 17:49:54 *   Nikkolai nods genially at Mari.
Sep 27 17:50:19 <Eva>   "Well, he came back to an empty hearth, of course," She leaned back a bit.  "Braids...it has been a while, why not," She encouraged Mari, feeling her work.  "And you seem to have picked your own moral from it, but that is what songs are for."
Sep 27 17:55:49 *   Mari isn't actually that good at this domestic stuff. Indulge her at your own risk. "So, what was everyone actually doing in Ysgard?" Mari asks, apparently less than enthusiastic about conversations about the meaning of life. "Before they burned the village down around us, I mean."
Sep 27 17:57:56 <Eva>   "Performing the Triad of North Falgar across that plane," Eva smiled.
Sep 27 18:01:49 <Nikkolai>   "No doubt that is some glorious rendition of an even more glorious battle." Nikkolai noted wryly. "I was simply passing through, truth be told. I'd only been in Ysgard for a week or so before...well, you know."
Sep 27 18:02:00 <Nikkolai>   "How about yourself, Mari?"
Sep 27 18:06:14 <Mari>   "At least you got to see more of it than I did." Another shrug. She seems fond of them this evening. "Oh, you know. Walking around. Looking at things. I'd heard of the den of Olidammara? It's apparently just nonstop drinking and revelry, which sounds like the kind of place I could stand to spend some time, but someone burned down my inn almost as soon as I arrived on the plane. Maybe I'll go back some day, but waking up to a fire t
Sep 27 18:07:10 <Mari>    Maybe I'll go back some day, but waking up to a fire the first night puts a bad twist on a place."
Sep 27 18:07:52 <Eva>   "A little too much war, definitely.  But you can find that on all the planes, including Prime.  If there's one uniting fact...people like to fight."
Sep 27 18:09:39 <Mari>   "It's the easiest way to get you want," Mari observes without judgement. She's busy tying the end of two braids together. The longer she's allowed to do this, the more elaborate it's going to get.
Sep 27 18:10:14 <Nikkolai>   "I fight when I must, but I have no taste for war." He rolls back onto his back. "Easiest? Perhaps. Is it the best way, though?"
Sep 27 18:10:47 <Mari>   "Think that matters to most people?"
Sep 27 18:11:23 <Eva>   "Fish swim, birds fly, mortals and immortals fight and quarrel.  At the end of the day, who can really judge?  Let she with the must curls throw the first pillow," Eva nodded.
Sep 27 18:13:25 <Mari>   "I'd better stop, then," Mari says, leaving Eva's hair alone for now. "Unless you're going to throw it at Nik."
Sep 27 18:14:21 <Nikkolai>   "I shall curse that bed to feel like ice if I even *see* a pillow in either of your hands." He narrows his eyes at Eva and Mari.
Sep 27 18:16:43 <Eva>   "Nikki does look like he'd earn the first  pillow," Eva smirked. "And clearly from his words, he'd feel it,"  She shook her hair, letting the fancy braids sway back and forth.  A little crudely done, but plenty of time to do it.  "You know, pillows belong on beds."
Sep 27 18:20:21 *   Mari flops on her back to emphasize her local monopoly on beds. "Right, just like I do."
Sep 27 18:21:46 <Nikkolai>   "I'm tempted to dump both of you in the floor and take that bed for myself. This floor isn't exactly comfortable, you know." Eyes the bed with longing.
Sep 27 18:22:55 <Eva>   "You've studied hard in the school of how to win friends and influence people," Eva smiled.  "The bed is pretty large...mind if I take half of it, Mari?"
Sep 27 18:27:22 <Mari>   "The next time we find an abandoned ship, Nik, I promise you can take the bed." She looks at Eva, uncertain. "Eh, I...This is really the real you, right? I mean, you were pretending to be a man earlier. I just want to be sure you're not really a man pretending to be a woman pretending to be a man. Because you could be planning anything if that was true."
Sep 27 18:30:23 <Nikkolai>   "Oh sweet ladies! Surely you won't begrudge a poor, cold man a night's sleep on a comfortable bed? The more bodies between us, the warmer we'll be through this storm." Nikkolai smiles dashingly, hoping to convince the ladies of his sincere and honorable intentions.
Sep 27 18:31:40 <Eva>   "You know, I'm certain there's a play in that concept.  Wearing a costume over a costume over a costume tends to be a little too hot to move around in though,' She smiled.  "And a guy would look kind of weird with braids in his hair."
Sep 27 18:34:01 <Mari>   "It takes a little more work than that to earn my body heat, Nik. Keep trying, though!" She turns back to Eva. "But can't you, you know, change things? I mean, your hair wasn't that color when we met, was it?"
Sep 27 18:37:18 <Eva>   "Well, yes... that's magic, and a few tricks,"  She shimmered, her braids growing far more elaborate as she seemed like a pink clad victorian princess with long blonde hair.  "So I could be lying to you about my real gender.  But I'm an actor, not a liar generally.  I'm not a man trying to sneak into your bed."  She turned.  "You know, Nikkolai, there may be others though.  Though those words could go for me as well."
Sep 27 18:40:49 *   Mari still looks skeptical, but: "Well...alright. But if you try anything, I'm yelling for Knight. Because you know what knights do? They smite evildoers. So mind your hands." She scoots over to one side.
Sep 27 18:43:59 <Eva>   "A knight named Knight worried a bout her name.  And so uptight.  You'd be an odd goose in a theater," She smiled, lounging aside and gazing over at Nikkolai.
Sep 27 18:46:37 *   Nikkolai grumbles at the sight of the two ladies enjoying the comfortable bed. "Are you sure I can't convice either one of you of my sincere intention of doing nothing but *sleeping*?" He slaps his hand on the floor for emphasis on his plight. "Surely one of you has a dirk to slip between my ribs should I try something."
Sep 27 18:47:36 <Mari>   "Think of it as a learning experience?"
Sep 27 18:48:08 <Nikkolai>   "I fail to see how sleeping on the cold, hard wooden floor could be a learning experience."
Sep 27 18:48:33 <Mari>   "Surely you could learn a great deal about floors?"
Sep 27 18:48:34 <Eva>   "Then you're not serious about learning," Eva teased, Nikkolai's pouting face too easy a target.
Sep 27 18:50:06 <Nikkolai>   "Bah. I see that nothing short of turning myself into a girl would change your minds." Nikkolai mutters, slightly sulky.
Sep 27 18:50:58 <Mari>   "See? Now you have a goal to study towards."
Sep 27 18:51:32 <Nikkolai>   "Oh for--" Nikkolai's eyes twitch in annoyance.
Sep 27 18:52:24 <Mari>   "What? What's wrong now?" Mari is the very picture of wounded innocence.
Sep 27 18:52:36 <Eva>   "It really isn't that hard.  I could try and teach you later," Eva offered, leaning over the side.  She'd probably be quite cute if she hadn't been picking on nikkolai for a bit.
Sep 27 18:57:33 *   Nikkolai sighs in a mournful manner. "Now see, if I were a woman in bed with two other cute women, that would take all the fun out of it. And I'll have you know, Mari, that I know everything there is to know about floors. They're hard and uncomfortable. My head has been introduced to enough of them for me to obtain a Mastery in Floors."
Sep 27 18:57:47 *   Nikkolai laughs at his own horrible jests.
Sep 27 18:58:30 <Eva>   "Ah, so those are your skills.  A Master of Floors, wooden and otherwise, used to dank and cold sleeping conditions and never bothered by them," Eva giggled as she teased the poor fellow.
Sep 27 18:59:22 <Mari>   "But do you know what it's like to BE a floor? Until you do, you're understanding is clearly incomplete."
Sep 27 18:59:22 <Mari>   *your
Sep 27 19:00:22 *   Mari seems to notice something. "'That would take all the fun out of it'? So you admit you're after something more than just warmth? I'm definitely not letting you up here now."
Sep 27 19:02:35 <Nikkolai>   "Beds were a rare occurence in my childhood, ladies. You have the truth of it more than you know." Nikkolai chuckles good naturedly. "There is more than one kind of warmth. One of them is shared amongst friends. But your callous demeanor denied me that much, so I'm forced to seek another kind of warmth."
Sep 27 19:02:51 *   Nikkolai grins, enjoying the verbal byplay.
Sep 27 19:03:53 <Mari>   "Well, I think we still have that book around here somewhere..."
Sep 27 19:05:16 <Eva>   "You know, if you played off your cuteness, you might go further, Nikki," Eva teased, rolling over.  "Ah, soft pillows," She took one, etching out her side of the bed.
Sep 27 19:09:48 *   Nikkolai throws his hands up in mock exasperation. "I give up! Sleep seems a much preferable option to this endless torture."
Sep 27 19:11:56 <Mari>   "Talking with two attractive young women is a chore, isn't it?" Mari says with mock sympathy. "Well, if you insist, I'll curl up in my bed and leave to go to sleep and, maybe, dream of somewhere nicer. The Abyss, perhaps?"
Sep 27 19:12:07 <Mari>   *leave you to
Sep 27 19:13:19 <Eva>   "Well, maybe Nikkolai prefers...adail's company?" Eva started snickering shortly after saying it, hiding her giggles against a pillow though.
Sep 27 19:15:24 *   Nikkolai smiles pleasantly. "The mouse is nice enough, but no replacement for the fairer sex, I must confess."
Sep 27 19:17:00 <Mari>   "Oh yeah? Did you have a sweetheart back wherever-you-came-from?"
Sep 27 19:20:39 <Nikkolai>   "My master would not hear of me going around with a girl, thief. And since I took my leave of her a year ago, there have been few women whose company I've enjoyed enough to pursue them."
Sep 27 19:20:48 <Nikkolai>   "So no, no sweethearts to speak of."
Sep 27 19:23:08 <Mari>   "So, did she keep you alone for the sake of discipline, or did she just not want to share your charms with anyone else?" Mari prods.
Sep 27 19:23:35 <Eva>   "Oh, that's terrible," Eva sounded quite honest...at least to their ears.  "That's a lonely way to go.  Perhaps you should take a break at this city and learn a bit of life."
Sep 27 19:29:06 *   Nikkolai tightens his lips into a grim line. "My master was a horrible, wretched old hag who loved nothing more than to dangle her power and knowledge over my head like an enticing treat. She took great delight in my every misery and laughed at my failures. I learned nothing of how to live from her but I learned something of better worth in return: hatred." All joy fled Nikkolai's face and his eye bore into the ceiling, peering into some unhappy past.
Sep 27 19:30:28 <Mari>   "Oh. Alright." It's not exactly an apology, but it's clear she won't push any more.
Sep 27 19:33:22 <Eva>   "Sounds like a dark...and traditional past.  What happened to her?  You said you only walked your own path for a few months," Eva leaned over Mari, actually giving Nikkolai a bit of focus.  "But that'd be even more reason to learn about how to have fun."
Sep 27 19:38:53 <Nikkolai>   "You're right about my past being dark. I don't know about traditional, exactly. When my old master comes to mind, I tend to overreact." Nikkolai sighs. "It's...a long story. Not a happy one and certainly not a unique one, I suspect."
Sep 27 19:41:58 <Mari>   "Well, you know, if you have trouble falling asleep, what with being on that hard floor and all, you could always try talking about things until you're tired enough. And maybe other people in the room would just happen to listen." She nods. "By sheer coincidence."
Sep 27 19:44:32 <Eva>   "Coincidence or soft bed convincing them not to leave the room."  Eva pragmatically(?) suggested.
Sep 27 19:45:07 <Mari>   "It's a coincidence that the bed is in the room," Mari clarifies.
Sep 27 19:47:53 <Eva>   "Nonsense.  Any good stagehand would be sure that if a soliliquay was happening, they'red be good props to help keep the audience interested," Now she was just having fun at them.
Sep 27 19:49:10 *   Nikkolai has been thinking, not really sure if he should trust this small group, despite Adail's friendship and the (mostly) warm demeanor of the two girls.
Sep 27 19:50:19 <Nikkolai>   "I suppose...that I could talk until I tire. If neither of you object." Nikkolai decides to take a chance. If he should gain some solid allies through this gesture of trust, all the better.
Sep 27 19:51:09 <Mari>   "Well? Your call, Nik. Those of us on the warm, comfy bed are like to fall asleep without something to keep them distracted, so go ahead."
Sep 27 19:51:53 <Nikkolai>   "Very well."
Sep 27 19:54:01 <Nikkolai>   "My earliest memory is of that of my parents' house burning. My powers showed quite early and in a surprising manner for my young age. I was prone to...accidental magic, I suppose you could call it. My favorite trick was calling fire, though I couldn't control it once I had."
Sep 27 19:54:57 *   Nikkolai pauses. "My apologies. I did say that it would be a *long* story. You have to understand my origins before my current plight makes sense."
Sep 27 19:55:28 <Mari>   "That's alright. As long as your accidental-house-burning days are done with, at least."
Sep 27 19:55:55 <Eva>   "Along with any other accidental incineration," Eva chirped after Mari.
Sep 27 19:56:39 <Mari>   "Yes. I couldn't sleep with a boat-burner in the room, for one."
Sep 27 19:57:58 <Nikkolai>   "They are, I assure you. In any case, my parents were neither tolerant nor patient with such a magically finicky toddler and foisted me off on the local sorceress, a fairly renowned old lady who went by the name of the Lady of the Green Kirtle. Most just referred to her as the Lady."
Sep 27 19:59:56 *   Mari nods along and listens. She doesn't have anything to add just yet, and it's always a good idea to know what kind of people she's traveling with, so no interruptions right now.
Sep 27 20:00:31 <Nikkolai>   "She was a powerful sorceress and many respected and feared her. She was known for her cold and cruel demeanor and she charged exorbitant prices for her services. No doubt she charged my parents a hefty fee for taking me on as her..."apprentice." Nikkolai's mouth twisted at the word.
Sep 27 20:02:00 <Nikkolai>   "She placed a spelled chain about my neck to ensure my obedience to her every command." He fingered something through his tunic absentmindedly as he spoke. "While she grudgingly taught me control, it was never beyond what I needed. In truth, I was little more than her slave."
Sep 27 20:03:54 <Nikkolai>   "Years passed and they lay more heavily upon her wrinkled face. Her powers slowly began to wane and she feared her encroaching demise. Nine years into my servitude, after I had turned 20, she deemed me sufficiently tied to her to reveal her true reason for taking me from my parents."
Sep 27 20:05:53 <Nikkolai>   "She planned on transforming herself into a Lich, but her powers would have grown too weak for her to perform the ritual by the time she was ready. She taught me only enough to control my power and aid her." His mouth drew into a thin line. "I was to be her slave until the day I died while she lived on through eternity."
Sep 27 20:07:27 <Mari>   "Terrible thing to work for someone else and get nothing in return," Mari says, notably devoid of the previous joking tone.
Sep 27 20:08:10 <Nikkolai>   "A year passed while she amassed her ingredients and readied herself to perform the ritual. On my twenty first summer, she called upon the Dark Powers and became one of the undead, nearly draining me of my own life." Nikkolai glances at Mari. "She was a selfish old hag, to be sure."
Sep 27 20:10:03 <Nikkolai>   "My only chance lay in the hours immediately after her transformation. While she was weakened, I stole her phlyactery, burned down her house, and fled to the nearest city, eventually finding a portal to the planes. I hid the phylactery somewhere on the planes, for I could not bring myself to destroy it."
Sep 27 20:10:47 *   Nikkolai smiles grimly. "I hate her with every fiber of my being and I curse her to wander the planes for eternity, in fear of the life she used me to gain."
Sep 27 20:13:05 <Mari>   "So," Mari starts, speaking slowly and with carefully flat inflection, because it does no one any good to let on that it's mostly her own well-being she's concerned about here, "is there any chance she chose to follow you instead of just look for the object?"
Sep 27 20:14:00 <Eva>   Eva was a bit quiet, taking the tale in, assuming for a moment it really was his.  "...so this all happened eight or nine months ago?"
Sep 27 20:14:25 <Eva>   Her thoughts strangely mirrored Mari, her own words about not being too traceable coming to mind.
Sep 27 20:17:34 <Nikkolai>   "It was near to a year ago, yes. I've been running since, travelling from plane to plane to be sure that she can't find me." Nikkolai is quietly apphrehensive, gauging their reaction closely. "Liches are eternal, but I doubt very much that a newly awakened Lich can track a single individual through hundreds of portals. I'd decided to make the next plane my home, as a matter of fact."
Sep 27 20:20:44 <Mari>   "Well, I--" Mari's honestly a little uncomfortable just being in the room with someone who has such an enemy, but, as is often the case, something else grabs her attention. "Wait, no matter which plane it is? Who knows where you could end up, given what happened this time?"
Sep 27 20:24:19 <Nikkolai>   "I suppose I didn't say that clearly enough. I meant to say, the next time I travelled to a plane, it would be to a specific one. There was a nice island on the plane of water and I remember it fondly. It seems like a nice enough place to settle down as any."
Sep 27 20:24:25 *   Nikkolai shrugs nonchalantly.
Sep 27 20:24:50 <Nikkolai>   "I've never had a home before. It would be something wondrous, I think."
Sep 27 20:25:45 *   Mari can only nod at that.
Sep 27 20:29:19 <Eva>   "You're not a prime?" Eva wondered, having guessed Nikki was.
Sep 27 20:32:00 <Nikkolai>   "Why limit yourself to one world when there are hundreds, even thousands more out there? It seems silly, to me."
Sep 27 20:32:59 <Nikkolai>   "No, I'm not a prime. I have no strong connection to my homeworld."
Sep 27 20:33:25 <Mari>   "I think she was asking if that was where you born," Mari asks, not caring for evasiveness in others. It's perfectly alright when she does it, of course.
Sep 27 20:34:25 <Nikkolai>   "Ah, my apologies. I misunderstood. I was born there, yes."
Sep 27 20:37:09 <Eva>   "You really haven't gotten out much," Eva sounded a touch pitying.  "No wonder you got in a fight with that celestial," She rolled onto her back, musing.
Sep 27 20:39:47 *   Nikkolai stiffens at the pitying tone. He doesn't care for nor need anyone's pity. "Perhaps. In any case, I'm rather tired. All of that talking seemed to do the trick. Good night." Without another word, he rolls over and faces the wall, hoping to dream of warmer climes. He desperately hopes he hasn't made a mistake by telling these two of his past.
Sep 27 20:41:27 *   Mari is looking pretty sleepy by this point. She yawns, truly putting the final nail in the coffin. "Good story, but yes, I'm for sleeping now. Which means you both need to shut up." She grabs a pillow and settles under the sheets. "Nik? Don't cling too tight to that hate of yours. Think about living women more. They're more fun." Another yawn, and she drifts off.
Sep 27 20:41:47 <Eva>   Eva laughed at that. "Definitely," She rolled over going to sleep herself.