Roadhouse Blues

===> COH <===> 1/26/2020, 10:11:11 AM <===
Lucky Cat Roadhouse - Bar(#14304RM)

	The Lucky Cat Roadhouse - a small intimate honkytonk type of a dive bar joint!

	The lighting in the roadhouse is low and dim, and the the air is kept perpetually cool. There's a jukebox in one corner of the long rectangular room. A small parquet dance floor anchors the center of the space. Towards the back, opposite the entrance, is a long bar. Behind the bar are bottles of cheap booze, along with a tap for a few select local craft brews. Off to the side of the bar opposite the jukebox is a small raised wooden stage for live music performances. Over on the other end of the bar opposite the stage are a few billiards tables, and storage for the cue sticks and balls.

	 A door behind the bar leads to a small kitchen that prepares snacks and basic bar food meals to accompany the drinks. Another door behind the bar is marked "PRIVATE" that when opened reveals a set of stairs leading up.


	Mo had invited Xiu up to his sanctum sanctorum, his super secret HQ, his place where he hung his hat! It was up in Fern Valley, just outside Idyllwyld, at the Lucky Cat roadhouse.

	When Xiu enters the roadhouse, the witch is fully decked out. Baggy cagopants, worn out dark hoodie, a jacket over that and a small backpack slung over her shoulder. She peers into the joint with a certain waryness as she lets her eyes wander over the interior and the guests gathered - but hey. Mo summoned her here. She steps inside and lets her gaze wander over the back of the bar and the menu above that, humming softly to herself...

	The bar is sparsely populated. Its not really a place for tourists, but rather the hardscrabble locals like Mo that eke out a living out here. The stage has a lone performer - a woman, with an acoustic guitar. She plays mournful, neo-country ballads on a stool. Mo is at the bar, working on his fourth beer, facing the door. Spying Xiu, he waves her over! "Hey!"

	Xiu hums..and listens to the woman's song for a moment, before Mo's shout gets her out of her drifting through. Her eyes flick over towards him, and she begins to silently shuffle there. "'ey". she says, dropping the backpack down next to a barstool before she slips onto it. A handwave flags down the bartender. "'m havin' what he's havin'." she simply orders and nods towards Mo, before she glances at him from beneath that hood, lightly smiling "'m still havin' problems placin' you, I swear."

	Mo looks to the bartender, and has him put Xiu on his tab. Then he looks back over. "How do you mean? And thanks for coming all the way out here."

	The girl chuckles. "I can still not place what kind of places are 'Mo' places." she remarks, before she lightly nods. "Thanks." That was for the tab thing. She straightens a bit and lets her eyes glances around again for a moment. "A regular spot?"

	Mo leans in and whispers conspiratorially, "Yeah. /My/ spot, but don't tell no one." A grin. "C'mon, grab your beer and let's go upstairs, I want you to meet someone."

	Xiu lifts her chin a bit, grinning. "'Your'" she echoes, her own voice low - else she'd hardly be speaking clearly. "So, you own this place? Your business?" she wonders, before she huhs..and then grabs her beer, followed by her backpack after slipping off the barstool. She shoulders it and follows along.

	"Yes, and no. I'll explain more upstairs," says Mo and he heads for the door marked PRIVATE, opening it for Xiu.

Lucky Cat Roadhouse - Loft(#14336RU)

	A simple loft style apartment. The space is one single open floor plan. There's an area that serves as a kitchen. A bathroom. A bed that is neatly made and a wardrobe. The windows are large, floor to ceiling affairs. Heavy drapes serve to keep out the sunlight when drawn. Exercise equipment is arrayed off to a corner of the room - a set of free weights including a bench, a barbell, a pair of dumbbells and various weight plates on a rack.

Obvious Exits:
  Fire Escape <FE>   Roadhouse <Ro>

	Xiu slips inside, and makes her way up the stairs. Before the entrance to the loft, she removes her sneakers, and steps in the rest on the way barefoot, quietly glancing around. A light smile moves her lips again, before she unshoulders her backpack. "Cozy. And somebody seems to be keeping in shape."

	Mo looks over at his equipment. "Gotta stay sharp." He kicks out a chair at a small table and motions for Xiu to sit. Then he looks around, "Mr. Fu - we have company!"

	"Oh, I definitely agree. It is hard at times to find the right equipment in the woods.." Xiu says, as she shrugs off her jacket and places it onto the backpack. Her hands move to the zipper of her hoodie, and she slightly pulls it down. "May I?" she asks - though then cocks her head a bit as Mo indicates that somebody else is here.

Mr. Fu comes out from ... somewhere ... when Mo calls out his name. The little bygone gives the air a sniff, then eyes Xiu thoughtfully. And clears his throat, as if awaiting an introduction.

	Mo nods, "Yeah, man, make yourself comfortable, sister. My casa es su casa, as the Ouroboros used to say." A pause as he shudders. "But when she said it, it was creepy AF. That maw of hers. All those sharp teeth."

	"Ouroboros...snake that eats its own tail?" Xiu wonders, still looking at Mo as she unzips the hoodie, and shrugs it off her shoulders. Only as she places it onto the jacket and hears the clearing of throats, she lifts her eyes...and blinks at what she sees. The eyes widen slightly, and she smiles as she straightens - but wastes no time unbuttoning those cargopants. She lets them slip down, crouches and neatly places them onto the hoodie before she finally straightens, naked as the days she was born, and faces the miniature dragon before she lightly bows. "Nin hao." she greets him formally, before she straightens, and then crouches down, smiling at the being. "Tong Xiu."

Mr. Fu smiles when Xiu makes her introduction. "Fan Feng Fu," he rumbles out with the voice of a beast a hundred times larger. "in the tongue of mortals. One of the last of the Great Dragons of the Middle Kingdom." A pause as lightning arcs between his eyes and down along his snout. "Have you accepted Thomas's offer, then?" Then he looks to Mo expectantly.

	Mo makes a small eep of a sound, "Well, yes, that was her nickname - but she was a ... ah, I forget what the Captain called her - a nagah. No, a nagahraja." And then he looks to Fu, "We haven't got to that part yet," he says sheepishly.

	"'Thomas' Xiu echoes, as if she has to remember *that* name. As she does though, she moves forward in her crouch, crawling over to the bygone - and then Fu gets something that he probably has never gotten before! She nuzzles the side of the bring, before she pushes back into a straight crouch. "What offer do you mean, exactly?" she wonders and looks at Mo.

	Mo ughs, "Don't call me that," he mutters. "Its Mo. Or MoGui." Then he looks to Xiu. "I wanna invite to to join the Irregulars," he says, then he reaches to the table and grabs an old beat up looking leather bound scrapbook, tossing it over at Xiu.

Mr. Fu makes a pleased sound at the nuzzle from Xiu. He smells vaguely of ozone, and makes the hair stand up on her head slightly when she draws near, a low thrum of an electrical field heard when she nears.

	The witch chuckles as she hears the sound. Dragon approves. Everyone approves nuzzles. Sadly, it's not like those braids of hers can stand up, but oh she feels it all over.
	She catches the book, before she gets back onto her feet properly and approaches the table. "Ah, got a blanket or towel?" she wonders as she arrives next to the chair and nods towards it, though is already busy opening up that notebook in curiosity.

	Mo nods, and grabs a clean bar towel and tosses it over at the woman.

	That one lands on the notebook! But that seems fine with Xiu as she places the book onto the table, and then spreads the towel onto the chair before she sits down on it. With the book open on the table, she peers down at it.

Mr. Fu eyes Mo. "Thomas is the name your mother gave you, you shouldn't run from your past." He hnfs. "MoGui - you've walked the earth over a century and still cling to juvenile flights of fancy. I'm sure the Captain didn't intend for you to keep that name forever."

	The scrapbook contains many things - newspaper clippings, maps, drawing and sketches, daguerreotypes, and then photographs. An assorted cast of very odd characters populate the collection of memories. A man wearing a set of strange looking goggles. A blonde man with a phoenix tattoo on his back. A dark haired pale woman, with eyes of complete night and a fanged maw full of razor sharp teeth, illuminated by moonlight. A zeppelin soaring in the night sky on a cloudy night.

	Xiu arches an eyebrow at *that*. Well, the 'century' part. And it's, really, less about the actual century part for the Lifeweaver, and more the part that somebody over a century old shouts 'OLLY OLLY OXEN FREE' at every opportunity. She lightly smirks, eyeing Mo, before she glances down again at the book. "Oh man, I am getting Etherite vibes here.." she murmurs and lightly grins.

	"The Captain was one of the ah, um... Electrodyne Engineers." Mo peers over Xiu's shoulder, smiling wistfully at the man in the pilots uniform with the goggles. Then he points at the blonde farmboy with the phoenix tattoo. "That's Orson. He and her," he says, pointing at the woman with the deadly maw and dark hair, "Were ah ...sweethearts."

	Fu frowns, "They were starcrossed," he corrects. "And they both paid the price for daring to defy the stars." Then he makes his way closer to Xiu and Mo, "But for a time, they both shined brightly in defiance of it all." Fu speaks as if it was only yesterday, and in truth, for the small dragon, perhaps it /was/. "But everyone from those time sis /gone/. We need new Irregulars. The Conflict of Celestial Cities approaches." He nudges Mo, murmuring. "/Ask/ her."

	"She must have been an amazing kisser." Xiu remarks and chuckles. Given that he has seen her with sharp teeth, she might have some experience there. Of the weird kind. She flips another page, and lifts her eyes a bit as she listens to the words exchange between Mo and the Dragon. "So, two questions here..." she murmurs. "What were the 'Irregulars' doing, and what is this conflict of celestial cities?"

	Mo smiles, as the conversation turns to happier memories. "We were protecting the middle kingdom! From akumas and marauds and Shoggoths!" A pause, "And ah, Nazis, too. But those were some of the darkest times. It was real hard on the Captain. We almost lost him afterwards. He just ... it was real sad." Mo reaches down to flip through the pages.

	Xiu pulls her hands back as Mo reaches for the pages, thoguh she keeps her eyes on them. "Yeah, definitely sounds like something the Etherite came up with..." she muses and lightly smirks. Though, given that none of the people except Mo seems to be around anymore...well. She lifts her eyes a bit, watching him. "I'm sorry."

Mr. Fu says, "The Conflict of Celestial Cities is a convergence that happens once an age. For a time, the cities share a single plane of existence, and compete to determine ... " A pause, "Guardianship over the All-Nexus."

	Mo sighs, "The group." A shrug. "Things happened. The end came slowly, then very fast. But now I have a chance to keep the idea alive. The Irregulars need to come together again." He looks to Xiu, "I ah, I was wondering if you'd sign up. I was just the sidekick. And I don't really know how to do all this stuff, but. Dire times and all that."

	Xiu lets out a soft snort, and chuckles. "You expect me to know how to do 'all that'." she remarks, amused, before her eyes flick down to the pages She idly lifts her right hand and reaches it out - for Mr. Fu, beckoning him over. "I don't even know what 'All that' is supposed to be."

Mr. Fu makes his way over and flies up to dance up in her hand, lifting up to look her in the eyes. "We Great Dragons are forbidden from direct conflict. So as to ensure that things don't get out of hand. We need champions. The Irregulars, they were my champions. Captain Levinbolt was the first. He recruited the Phoenix, who was one of the Akashayana Sangha. The Ouroboros, well, we needed death magics, and she had those." A pause as he looks back to Mo before looking to Xiu. "Thomas is the son of an akuma. His mother entrusted him unto my care. The akuma was a champion from the Thousand Hells."
Mr. Fu says, "If the All-nexus falls into the wrong hands. Well, those hands shape the face of the next age."

	Xiu gently runs her thumbs over along the dragon's back as he sits on her hand. "Ah, so that's who the Ouroboros was..." Xiu muses and lightly smirks, eyeing Mo there for a moment as she recalls his comment regarding the 'Mi cases es su casa' comment. Her eyes flick down to the book again, before she lightly smirks. "So that's why Thosmas is a Mogui, eh?" she asks, eyes flicking towards Mo for a moment. "You got that nickname from somebody?"

	Mo smiles, "The Captain gave it to me!" Its clear that Mo idolizes the Etherite, from the warmth in his voice. "No one had ever given me anything ever in my life. The Captain, he gave me a home. A code. A ... a life."

	Fu sighs, "It was important to keep Thomas safe from his father. The streets in Hong Kong were the best option at the time. I sent the Captain for him as soon as it was safe."

	"Hmmh. That's a place I sometime wish to go." Xiu admits. "Hong Kong that is. Though it's not like the political climate over there is good right now.." she murmurs. She keeps on gently stroking the little dragon with that thumb, absent-mindedly. "I get the whole 'We need a group of special people to do some important things' part, really. That was obvious from the start. But...what, exactly, are you talking about?"

	"I've hidden away many artifacts and relics that need recovering in advance of the Contest. The Eighth City is cheating. They're after them as well, when they have no right to walk our plane. Not yet, at least," says Fu.

	Mo looks to Xiu, "The Celestial Order of the Si-Fan. That's their front here on our plane." A pause. "Well, one of them anyway." MoGui produces his luopan. "My compass, it can guide us to them. The artifacts, I mean."

===> Log ended by user <===> 1/26/2020, 12:12:29 PM <===