nexus_crossings | Time for a big ol' Nexus Block party

Time for a big ol' Nexus Block party

On a sleepy summer morning a wonderful smell begins to waft throughout the Nexus. For those familiar with this place there can only be one explanation but for those new faces to the nexus this may be a strange thing: seeing so many people flocking toward the sweet and savory scents perfuming the Nexus.

There are a few tables set out this morning in the Plaza in front of a small cafe loaded with several carafes of coffee, a myriad of pastries from more than a few different worlds and cultures, and a large pan of eggs and sausage kept warm over a chafing dish. On either end of the table are disposable plates, cups, and cutlery as well as a few welcome pamphlets in a small container. Along the front of the tables is a hand made banner.

Meet and Greet

Manning the tables is Katsuya Suou, red apron on and a cup of coffee in hand. He looks far too cheerful for how early in the morning it is. It's always satisfying to put one of these on and see the throngs of different people stuck in line together to get their food and find a place to sit among the tables and couches nearby.

"Right then, is anyone hungry? I've got more than enough here for everyone so please mingle among yourselves or feel free to ask me anything you'd like."

((OOC: This thread is ALL ABOUT threadjacking and hopping. I encourage folks to tag on each other's comments and mingle rather than to reply only to me. This is a huge opportunity to have your characters interact with people they wouldn't have talked to before. Branch out! Meet new people! Scheme new schemes! Steal the last chocolate croissant!))

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You know, it doesn't matter if it's before or after noon yet. A beer sounds more than fine right about now. Not liquored enough to really bother him from just one, but enough to soften the edges on what has been an incredibly stressful mornin--mmmf!

Or he'll just leave the beer there and watch Felix for a while. That's fine too. Everyone likes not ice cold beer, right?

"I only met him once before the other day. He was asking folks about sleeping habits and talking about his betrothed this and the Light that and I just about lost my cool when he said he was engaged to Isidor." He can't really turn his head to look at the woman sitting with them now, but he gestures vaguely at her with one hand to make the point anyway. He's pretty sure Harrowheart and her are still a secret so he doesn't say why he about lost it. That much is pretty self evident to those in the Know.

"All I said was that I found it hard to believe he was engaged to her, and next thing I know he's acting like we're cavorting around in secret every other minute."

Like most things associated with the strong and authoritarian, Isidor found herself naturally acclimatising herself to numerous kinds of alcohol. Beer is not her favourite by a long shot, but it's enjoyable enough and doesn't risk a repeat of Halloween while helping her to de-stress.

She presses her lips tightly when Felix turns to her, but Jim is more than happy to sate the mage's curiosity and Isidor is let off the hook. Besides, it's good for her to hear about Jim's first meeting with him. It's all potential fuel for later.

Hearing someone else talk about Zandros and their engagement makes her feel queasy, though. Her gaze slides off to a far off point and glazes over. "I never pegged him as the jealous type... I'll talk to him. He had a wife before me, after all, he can't be allowed to go throwing punches because of perceived past relationships."

Felix's hands are brisk and sure as he cleans Jim's cuts and washes smears of blood away to find the bruises. Almost like they've done this a dozen times before. Maybe two dozen.

"He's a religious sort?" Felix is pretty hazy on Earth religions besides what he saw at the Durant manor. 'The Light' sounds religious though. And not the fun kind of religion, with masks and heavy drinking. The boring kind, with sermons and repentance.

"Where on N- Earth did your family find him, Isidor?" He can only shoot her the odd look while working on Jim, but she doesn't look nor sound at all enthused by her engagement.

"Most of th'bruises are on my side and chest. He got me there pretty good."

Pretty good enough to knock the captain flat on his ass, more like. Jim's side hurts with every breath but he's had much worse than that before. Still if he doesn't tell Felix the other will poke and probe at him until he's sessed it out and that will make for awkward table conversation very quickly.

When Felix lefts go of Jim's face he does take a sip of his drink before setting it between them so Felix can have some since he's not ordering his own just yet. Gives Isidor a long once over.

"He's not from Earth." And what the hell is up with that, anyway? How does he know Harrowheart? "He's not related to Harrow, is he?" Not some nobleman like that. There's no way.

Edited 2018-08-19 21:14 (UTC)

This time Isidor turns to Felix when he asks his questions. She hadn't realised how reluctant she was to talk about it until now. Talking about it is necessary, of course. If she ignores her situation like Viatorus then she'd end up the same way, halfway down the aisle with a stranger on her arm. A stranger she didn't choose.

Jim's question gets a wrinkled nose and a shake of her head. "Definitely not."

Then, with a sigh, she straightens out her expression and looks to Felix again. "His name is Zandros Alter. He's a knight commander from Azeroth. My family wants to make ties with that world, and to be honest I don't think the Archon wants to have to deal with any of the most eligible families on my world. Too much history, too many ulterior motives."

"By all accounts, Zandros is a perfectly suitable solution," she says with a heavy sigh and then punctuates her explanation with a swig of her drink. Gods she needed that...

Good thing Felix is turned away from Isidor, so she can't see the little face he pulls when Jim asks if Zandros and Harrowheart are related. He gives a 'hmm' in answer to Jim's information, but only when the wipes are set aside does he sit back and lift his eyebrows at Jim. "All right, let me see. I want to know how bad it is."

Sitting back like this he can pay proper attention to Isidor, and her words bring a sudden wave of understanding.

"A knight," he echoes. "Well, that explains it. They're almost all horrible romantics." He considers, and listens, and casts a glance aside at Isidor. "Perfect by everyone's account...?"

"If he's had a wife before now you'd think he'd know how to trust someone a little bit and have some respect for their ability to have friends they're not screwing."

Jim's grumble is quiet and mostly under his breath. He wouldn't have even picked a fight with Zandros if the man hadn't decided all on his own Jim must be fucking Isidor just because he was surprised she'd be giving him the time of day. The captain my not like the knight but he's well versed in keeping his mouth more or less shut in diplomatic situations.

"It's not like they could know about any reason Isidor'd have for them not to match her up with the guy. We've met them." Thought at least one man would burn him at the stake for saying he was a plus one to a man at Viatorus' engagement. "They don't strike me as the open minded type when it comes to personal relationships."

He looks away from his drink and between Felix and Isidor when his fiance asks about his bruises. No way, no how is he taking off his shirt in public after everything that just went down. Oh yeah no. Jim's not seeing Isidor he just walks around half naked all the time. But Felix still looks about half a second away from snapping at Jim again and Isidor isn't turning lethal at the mention of it. God, he's so tired of damage control today. Not to mention other reasons he'd really not do this right now.

"Can it...wait? It's not that bad--" Even as he's saying it Jim knows he's said the wrong thing. Much as it irks him to have people fussing over him he also knows his track record for trying to brush off injuries as not a big deal is kind of on him. He relents and tugs up the left side of his shirt just a little so Felix can take a peek if he insists.

Isidor raises an eyebrow and nails Felix with a Look. Really, he shouldn't need to ask that question.

When she goes to break her gaze and look at Jim only to find him pulling up his shirt, she rolls her eyes all the way back to Felix. "It makes sense. He's a reputable bachelor with land, a title, magical ability, connections to all kinds of people. Elves, dragons... His family isn't so powerful that they can strongarm mine, and we can both help each other."

She sighs and takes another sip of her drink. "And he seems to be nothing but honourable. Apart from this little incident he's been..." Her wrinkling up her nose says everything. "Perfect. Polite, romantic, noble. It's weird, honestly. If he wasn't also entitled I'd think they made him out of plastic."

Felix's expression relents a bit at Jim's pleading - not that he believes Jim about his injuries. But the nagging voice in the back of his head is asking him just what he plans to do after he sees the damage.

He's still quick to lean over and examine what he can see of the bruising, one hand reaching out to prod delicately and check it is just bruising. He seems distracted. More than such a minor injury deserves. He misses Isidor's pointed look completely, and it takes him a few moments to drag himself back to her description.

Zandros does sound perfect. Felix knows that no suitor is a guaranteed bet - sometimes prospective couples simply don't take to each other. Even in aristocratic marriages with all their weighty concerns and traditions, that's sometimes enough to scuttle the entire venture. At least where the families are kind or wise enough to back down. A genuinely poor match tends to sour over time, and that just invites trouble in the long run.

That said, he's sort of at a loss as to why Isidor doesn't like this fellow. Did Zandros approach with too much presumption? An overbearing manner that has the proud Durant's hackles up? He could probably teach the man how to repair that. If he wanted to. After all, for Felix's purposes it doesn't matter what the 'right' thing is. It's what his own friends want. Isidor isn't exactly a friend, but in this situation?

Close enough.

"Hmm. I understand. That's a match I expect your family would be sore to lose." Which makes this marginally more delicate, if only because Felix doesn't want the elder Durants to get the idea he ever interfered with their goals. Oh and Isidor would suffer, too. "He might even be a tolerable ally, if they were to find some fault with him to put them off this marriage business. Who knows? I've known a few perfectly respectable noble boys to get caught drunk and naked in the most inappropriate places."

What, he's probing for without asking, would Isidor like to happen to the man?

Jim hisses a bit at the poking. Grits his teeth when Felix brushes against his bruised rib and grabs for the beer to take a swig so he doesn't end up opening his mouth and saying the wrong thing. This has all gone rather more pear shaped than he'd been planning on. He's absolutely fed up with the day as a whole.

Though he does shoot Felix a look briefly. How is he not aware of why Isidor wouldn't want to be with Zandros? He looks up from his beer and that's when it occurs to Jim that he never really got around to telling Felix for certain Isidor and Harrowheart were together. There wasn't really time and by the time there was he was keeping mum about Isidor altogether because of her frequenting Jim's apartment for a safe space. Which Felix also isn't aware of.

He opts to look down again and let Felix scheme as he will. Isidor might benefit from it, and the captain is increasingly worried anything he says in this moment might make things worse for someone but definitely for himself.

Isidor glances from Felix to Jim, but the captain's attention is elsewhere. Does Felix not know? Or is he simply being discrete? Does it matter? Not right now. Not when Felix is talking about the thing she's been thinking about since she met the paladin.

At first she freezes, green eyes boring a hole into the side of Felix's head while the mage examines his boyf- oh, no, it's fiancé now, isn't it?

"That would be unfortunate for him," she says slowly, without anything in her tone suggesting she'd be disappointed at all. "Truthfully I'm waiting for a truly unavoidable difference to clash. Did you know that humans on Azeroth don't worship gods? Not one, not many, none at all. They think it's... barbaric, I think. The Alters say they're willing to be open minded... but I'm not convinced."

Any subject involving Harrowheart is one Felix has barely let himself think about. He's spent this whole occasion carefully avoiding the death knight in the room, finding himself far, far too conscious of the presence of Harrow's runeblade. So this once, Felix is completely out of the loop. He senses that a little bit, and he doesn't like it at all. Just another reason to try and insert himself back into the situation while he has a chance.

His fingertips pause on Jim's skin- but he looks up, a touch of discomfort in his expression that only the captain will recognize or understand. Very softly he says - pleads, almost: "It can wait?"

He needs to focus now. Healing is a sticking point but revenge is not. And Isidor's words do make him swivel round with genuine surprise. "No gods at all? They hardly seem the type. That's... mm. That might be very disappointing, if they have any qualms about your family's patron gods. Or raising children to worship them. But I thought you said he's pious?" How awfully confusing.

Edited 2018-08-26 22:19 (UTC)

Judging by the squint Felix is giving and the way Jim's looking anywhere but at the two of them it seems like Isidor's secret is safe just like Jim promised her it would be. The captain turns the bottle on the counter without looking up until Felix asks him if he can wait. He's nearly begging. It makes Jim snap his gaze up and turn back to Felix. He nods slowly.

"...It can wait."

Best to let Felix focus on something he never struggles with. Scheming for social gain is the conjurer's first love well and above anything else. Jim tries to relax in his seat and hands the bottle over to Felix when the mage turns his attention to Isidor. Religion isn't something he's all that knowledgeable about either, but he's seen firsthand how other worlds don't follow the same principles his own does.

"Yeah, to something called The Light, whatever that is. Didn't sound like sun gods or anything like that."

Isidor leaves the two men to have their moment between them, waiting until the conversation returns to Zandros before she looks up from her drink again. It still feels uncomfortable to be around him, letting him show Jim affection like this. She might not know the captain well, but her respect for him continues to grow and Felix... Last time she saw Felix she was contemplating having to 'deal' with him. This is a bit dizzying, even for someone as socially practised as her.

"The Light sounds like divine magic without the deities." She rolls her eyes and waves her hand. "Honestly, I don't really get it. They have cathedrals and priests, though. It's a bit like they worship energy? Magic? Life? I'm not sure exactly. I don't know whether asking questions makes it easier or harder to understand."

Little more than a year ago Felix wouldn't have hesitated with his healing spells. Now there's a flash of relief in his eyes before he smooths Jim's shirt back into place. He's grateful for Jim passing the bottle, too. Good to have something to keep his hands occupied.

How Isidor feels about him isn't high in his thoughts, but he could probably take a fair guess - even unaware of how close she and Harrowheart are. Focusing on the scheme they're not-quite-discussing absorbs his focus. Stops him from dwelling on the fact that last they met, he was a gaunt-faced wraith in stained armor and shadowed hood commanding a death knight to cut her down. Stops him from getting conscious of the one streak of white hair he's tried to hide with careful combing.

"How utterly peculiar." Does that even count as worship? Who do you actually pray to? "Alas, when it comes to matters of the divine, even far smaller differences can be... terrible sticking points." His voice takes a drier, perhaps darker tone at that: the voice of experience, perhaps. "I wonder if such a passionate fellow can really set his true feelings aside. He seems..." a pointed glance at Jim's shirt, "to be painfully honest about his feelings."

"Worshiping energy. I'm not sure if that's more or less comforting than the idea of worshiping gods. Energy I understand. I've watched rituals and proof of gods in other worlds firsthand and I don't understand a word of it."

Jim drums his fingers against the counter top while Isidor and Felix talk about their god worship as though it's completely normal and ordinary and to them it is. To them, Jim's world is the strange one. Takes all kinds, even realities. Zandros and Harrowheart's world can't be that much like his own though. Not with all the magic and living undead and goddamned spike armor coming out of every which way.

"Whatever this plan involves, I'm not getting hit for it again."

Listening to Felix puts Isidor back into a comfort zone everyone else tries so hard to get her out of. When he speaks, she knows exactly what he means by what he's not saying and that's an unspoken conversation she can engage in. It doesn't even occur to her to question just how the other mage came across this layered language, it happens so naturally.

She waits a moment after he's finished speaking to consider her reply. "Honest to those around me, but not to me. At least, that's what I suspect. If he really has an issue with god worship I doubt he'll let me know until the last possible moment." Her lips tug upwards, narrowly avoiding wrinkling her nose as her finger touch the 'delicate' necklace she wears.

"Well, your world has its own specialties." Felix takes a swig of beer and passes the bottle back to Jim with a fond look. One that turns faintly amused, eyebrows lifting. Of course you won't get hit again, Jim. That's the point.

"It's likely best if you avoid him a while," he says gently, just to be clear. He can handle this, unknown and unexpected as he ought to be. He looks to Isidor when she speaks, mouth quirking upward before he tuts outright. "Now, that wouldn't be a very honorable way to treat his beloved wife." And he can work with that, he's sure. But speaking of wives...

"You said he's been married before?" He's curious. Tell him everything he can use, dear friends.

"He seems eager to please up to a point. I was getting hella entitled vibes off the guy. He never mentioned another wife to me when we were talking either time. The first time it was sleeping habits and appearances and the second time it was pretty much just trying to get me to admit there was something going on between us that wasn't just we both think Zandros can go jump in a lake."

Jim shakes his head. He'll leave the doublespeak and political talk to those two but he can chip in with whatever it is he does know at least. However brief that might be. And make sure he vetoes anything outright dangerous. He won't have Felix get seriously hurt for this either.

"Won't catch me arguing about avoiding him. The way he was moaning at Harrowheart earlier I think he'll act like I'm the devil incarnate and avoid me like the plague after this. Or, if he's irritating, he'll seek me out specifically to make amends."

That thought Jim outright sulks at. He doesn't want to spend any time soothing poor Zandros' guilty conscience.

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Time for a big ol' Nexus Block party

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