[log] rivers and mountains she creates but you'll never know the next move she'll make

[apostatised]

[14:37] * Maria is +1 babby today. She has Nouria in a sling, but with that little carrier basket, too. ...Maria uses the nexus as a cheat so she doesn't have to go outside in the cold, by the way.
[14:58] * Martel should probably not spend so much time drinking alone. He offers a vague wave when Maria comes in, from over his notes.
[14:58] Maria: "Hi!" She meanders over, babby in arms. "Nouria says hi, too."
[14:59] Martel: "Hello, then."
[15:01] * Maria sits down next to him. "How're you, honey?"
[15:02] Martel: "Busy, per usual. And you?"
[15:05] Maria: "I am fantastic, thank you very much." She pats Nouria affectionately. "Guess who turned three months old yesterday!"
[15:06] Martel: "I can't /possibly/ imagine," he says, dryly, because he is asking for it at all times.
[15:07] * Maria casually punches him in the arm and resumes conversation as if that never happened. "Tell her happy almost-birthday!"
[15:08] Martel: "Happy sort of birthday, Nouria. Don't hit me, Maria."
[15:08] Maria: "It's not like I hurt you, you're made of man-bricks."
[15:09] Martel: "Plenty of things that don't actually hurt manage to somehow still be irritating, you know."
[15:09] * Martel has experience ALL ACROSS THE BOARD with that.
[15:13] * Maria sticks her tongue out. "Fiiine. Baby. I'd tell you you can hit me back but you wouldn't."
[15:14] Martel: "I probably wouldn't, you're right."
[15:14] Maria: "Aloysius would be upset," she predicts, "He's gonna get fussy if I come home with battle scars."
[15:15] * Martel looks about as thrilled to hear about Aloysius as one might predict. "Of course."
[15:16] * Maria notices that. "Still mad about that, huh?"
[15:17] Martel: "I'm not going to unjustifiably break him over my knee. That is as much as it needs discussed."
[15:17] Maria: "...unjustifiably." She eyes him. "He's not gonna justify it!"
[15:17] Maria: She hopes.
[15:17] Martel: "Then it doesn't need to be discussed any more, does it?"
[15:19] Maria: "God, you're in a mood today," she sighs, dropping it. Maria and her babby go to sit on the sofa.
[15:20] Martel: "I'm attempting to prevent a conversation that'd annoy both of us," he says, trying for reasonable. "Not attempting to run you off."
[15:24] Maria: "Well. Okay." She plays with Nouria's tiny baby feet a little. "I found out some funny stuff--it's not really about Aloysius, but he's tangentially related."
[15:24] * Martel affects great weariness, raising his eyebrow. "Oh?"
[15:25] Maria: "He has this friend named Alya who's like--a businesswoman, I guess, some big shot. And she hired my friend Nick to be the psychiatrist for her little flunkies, right?" >:3
[15:25] Martel: "Nick," Martel says, thoughtfully, like he's trying to place the name.
[15:27] Maria: "Mmmhm. He's...early forties, I guess? Cute. Looks kinda like you, actually, but...short hair. Very zen guy."
[15:28] * Martel doesn't actually snap his fingers, but the sentiment is there. "Candice's friend with my face." The differences - height, hair, eye colour - would be easier to notice if they were ever in the same place at the same time. "He stayed in her hotel. Sorry, continue."
[15:32] Maria: "Oh, does she--huh. Anyway, they're hitting it." She pauses. "Alya and Nick, not...Candice and Nick, obviously."
[15:32] * Martel ... takes out a notebook what the fuck Martel.
[15:32] Maria: "...what are you DOING." She's almost laughing.
[15:33] Martel: "I've met Alya," he says, correcting something in his notes. "I wasn't aware she and Candice had been talking about the same person. It simplifies my list."
[15:35] Maria: "Oh! Wait, what list?"
[15:35] Martel: "People like myself," he clarifies, looking up from it.
[15:36] Maria: "...You know, I'm sure you don't mean alternates or people who just happen to have your face but you could totally have a list of that, too."
[15:37] Martel: "People who've died and been resurrected in the nexus." He has a list of his own alternates, but that is something they are /never discussing/.
[15:38] Maria: "Oh. Is it long?"
[15:38] Martel: "About half a dozen."
[15:43] Maria: "I didn't realize Nick was...you know, one of them."
[15:44] Martel: "Ah." ...oops.
[15:57] * Maria shakes her head. "I can keep it quiet. I should've guessed, but I was distracted by the mind reading."
[15:58] Martel: "...mind-reading?"
[15:59] Maria: "Oh--yeah. He's psychic. Reads minds." :>
[16:02] Martel: "Ah, I wasn't aware." But now he's kind of curious.
[16:05] Maria: "When I met him," she explains, "I felt him poking around in there...so I threw some really great imagery at him. You know, so he wouldn't be bored."
[16:09] Martel: "Of course," Martel says, dryly, trying not to think about what that might've been.
[16:11] Maria: "He probably read Candice's too." JUST SAYIN'.
[16:11] Martel: "Charming." That'd explain why she didn't mention it, though.
[16:12] Maria: "Telepaths always are."
[16:13] * Martel grimaces slightly. "I don't care for the concept, personally."
[16:13] Maria: "It's invasive, yeah."
[16:15] Martel: "Useful, though."
[16:15] * Maria eyes him. "Well...yes, but still."
[16:17] * Martel drifts off into his own thoughts (aptly) for a moment, then shrugs it off. "Interesting."
[16:32] * Maria wonders just where THAT went, but figures she doesn't want to know. "Well, yeah." She resettles Nouria in her arms. "But you know, he's pretty careful with it, I think. Discreet."
[16:34] Martel: "Being a telepath or being dead? Either way, I expect."
[16:34] Maria: "Oddly, the latter more than the former."
[16:35] Martel: "I wouldn't call that odd."
[16:36] * Maria frowns a little. "You could make an argument either way. Both are exploitable."
[16:37] Martel: "I would have kept it to myself if it'd been practical."
[16:44] * Maria pauses. "Because you needed things, or...?" Poking at Martel's motivations: occasionally a bad idea, but she's going ahead anyway.
[16:46] Martel: "If I don't have a reputation to damage, there's very little anyone from Eosia can use to sabotage me here," he says, almost clinically. "It's another thing in Arum, but the nexus could make life very difficult if I was found to be 'deceiving' people about my history."
[16:58] Maria: "...that's /smart/," she says, half-admiringly, "and calculating."
[17:03] Martel: "It is, isn't it?"
[17:09] Maria: "Does it freak your girl out?" Maria doesn't think she'd be bothered, personally, but Maria is special in the head like that.
[17:09] Martel: "What happened in Eosia?"
[17:11] * Maria nods.
[17:12] Martel: "Probably."
[17:25] Maria: "You haven't /asked/?"
[17:26] Martel: "Would-" Martel rethinks that, he's pretty sure Maria /would/ ask if she frightened someone. Never mind. He shakes his head. "No, I haven't /asked/."
[17:27] Maria: "You should. I mean, it's the kind of thing couples should, you know, try to work through." She tilts her head at him. "Unless that's what gets her off, I mean, being scared of you." :>
[17:28] * Martel 's expression flattens unpleasantly. "Noted."
[17:28] * Maria raises her eyebrows. Oh, great.
[17:29] * Martel possibly did not mean for that reaction to be quite so obvious. He turns his attention back to his notes.
[17:31] * Tucker chooses this moment to walk into a bar, which ends up...not being the bar he intended to walk into. His expression of dismay and horror, particularly when seeing who is in this bar, are surely comical. "Mother/fuck/-" and of course the door is locked behind him.
[17:32] * Martel glances up, and...no, Tucker doesn't look like the usual sort of person he inspires that reaction in, so: "I take it you know Maria."
[17:32] * Maria ignores Martel. "Tucker?"
[17:33] * Martel rests comfortably in the knowledge he can usually get attention back when he decides he wants it.
[17:34] Tucker: "...'sup." He's nervous, and pale, but he almost looks like his usual self. Minus his piercings, make-up, and hair.
[17:35] * Maria indicates Nouria. "She says hi." She smiles a little at Tucker--ordinarily she'd go to him, but babby on board makes that difficult. "I'm just bugging Martel, he's cranky and needs a puppy or something. 'Sup with you?"
[17:36] Martel: "I have cats," Martel points out, although Maria might not have met the four horsecats of the apocalypse yet, and, "Hello," for Tucker.
[17:37] Tucker: "Not much. Road tripping- and hey, Nouria? Hey." He waves at her, smiling a little in return. "Hey, guy." That's for Martel.
[17:39] Maria: "Road tripping? Where'd you go? Aloysius--" she glances at Martel, slightly wary for a second. "--and I went to Oregon not too long ago."
[17:40] * Martel corrects to 'Martel', half-idly, and ignores being glanced at.
[17:44] Tucker: "Just around." Surely not towards Mexico, for example. Tucker glances at Martel over there and decides not to speak freely. "Oregon, huh? Sounds..."
[17:49] Maria: "It was fun," she says, firmly, "You should check it out, it's really pretty there. Portland's chill, not like New York."
[17:52] * Tucker finds himself a seat, shrugging (but keeping an eye on both other parties in the room, as much as he can). "I like the desert."
[17:53] Maria: "You could go to Vegas," she suggests, "I always wanted to."
[17:54] * Martel is apparently not paying them all that much attention (it is a mistake to assume that this is actually /true/), wine glass next to his work.
[17:57] Tucker: "Maybe. What have you been doing, besides Oregon?" He stretches out, draping his arms around the back of the couch he's taken up. Yes let's just have small-talk.
[18:09] Maria: "Harassing this guy--who is being mysteriously silent, that means he's /plotting/--and working, taking care of the kid..." She shrugs. "Boyfriend on weekends, I stay with him then."
[18:10] Martel: "Consciousness means I'm plotting, Maria," Martel comments, not looking up.
[18:12] * Tucker laughs, slightly awkwardly, at that exchange. "How's, uh, work been?" He gestures vaguely, sleeves slipping to briefly reveal new circlets of scar tissue, and it's possible he means both kinds of work.
[18:17] Maria: "It's--" She considers talking about meeting the Prince, but elects to...leave that for now. "--well, it's the same as it always is, I guess. I'm trying to focus mostly on the stuff at Penthouse." So that's what she's doing with the /other/ kind of work. "The Executive Club--ritzy as hell, I've met some interesting people. Lot of fucking werewolves around, I dunno what that's about."
[18:20] Tucker: ...well, if they get to talk about werewolves- but there sits this unknown, and maybe paranoia's in his blood now. He wouldn't be surprised. "That's solid- hey, would you mind if I-" He has the pack of cigarettes half out of his pocket when he remembers there's a baby in the room "-nevermind."
[18:23] * Martel advocates paranoia, for the record, and probably would also advocate not trusting him either.
[18:25] * Maria winces a little. "Yeah, sorry. I should take her home soonish so people can go back to...barlike things."
[18:26] Martel: "You should bring her to the castle soon," Martel contributes. "You haven't seen the lights finished yet, have you?" When he does look up, too, he examines Tucker thoughtfully. This may or may not be slightly unsettling, sry.
[18:28] * Tucker is unsettled. In fact, part of him is ready to GTFO Dodge immediately. "Maria, don't- worry about it. Kids first."
[18:28] * Martel is an unsettling kind of dude.
[18:34] Maria: "Mmm, speaking of! How's your boy, huh?"
[18:36] * Maria also pokes Martel. "I will, in fact, do this. Just me and Nouria?" No Aloysius. She figures.
[18:37] * Martel gives her a politely blank look.
[18:38] Tucker: "Navin?" Tucker looks at some other interesting thing in the room. "He's fine. Better. He's with a babysitter right now."
[18:39] * Maria expected as much, Martel. She's watching Tucker. "He's getting big. Soon he's going to be into everything."
[18:41] * Tucker laughs, very carefully. "Yeah. He's talking a lot more now, it's crazy."
[18:44] Maria: "Awww! He'll give you all the opinions ever. Every idea he ever had before he learned to talk."
[18:52] Tucker: That'd surely be the greatest thing of all time. "...maybe." He's looking at her again, expression distinctly colder this time around.
[18:58] * Maria looks back, mild.
[19:01] Tucker: "I should probably go check on that babysitter," Tucker says, abruptly, getting to his feet and going to check on his door.
[19:02] Maria: "Okay. Call me sometime soon? We should hang out and be--" Like they used to. Right? "I don't know, weirdos at the Nexus or something."
[19:05] * Tucker pauses, and turns his head. He's smiling. Not much, but it's a lot like he used to. "Sure thing. I'll bring Navin, maybe they could hang out too."
[19:10] Maria: "Ohhh my God, playdate. Definitely." Plotty teen parents. "Cool." >:3!
[19:11] Tucker: "You," Tucker points "You scare me sometimes. FYI. But yeah. Cool." :] And he's off, and his mun goes to rinse herself clean and sleep maybe.
[19:15] * Maria settles back in her chair and looks over at Martel. "Hi."
[19:15] Martel: "Hello. That was fascinating."
[19:18] Maria: "Yeah. I worry about him. But he'll be okay." She says this like he Has To Be, there is no other option. "Whatcha thinking about?"
[19:19] Martel: "Kidnapping your child," he says, blandly. "Can I hold her?"
[19:20] Maria: "She'd find her way back to me, you don't know how to breastfeed. And you don't have breasts. Two big pluses. Yes, you may!" She will hand him a child now, carefully.
[19:22] * Martel chooses not to respond to that, because it is horrifying, and will be extremely careful with Nouria, very idly murmuring...in Styric, what is that he's doing.
[19:22] * Maria watches this, smiling a little.
[19:22] * Martel has Nouria in his arm so she can see the paper in front of them. >_>
[19:23] * Maria leans forward to see too >___>!!
[19:24] * Martel has animated a picture of a dragon chasing a troll backwards and forwards across the page. Look, shut up.
[19:27] * Maria thinks this is THE CUTEST THING IN THE UNIVERSE. Nouria loves it and goes :D
[19:31] * Martel has never seen a dragon, but he HAS seen a troll. That would probably be why the troll in his picture has little pictures of flies attracted to its stench. (Awesome, Martel.)
[19:32] * Maria laaaughs. "Classic."
[19:33] Martel: "Troll," he says, mildly.
[19:40] Maria: "Looks charming."
[19:41] Martel: "In terms of lifespan, I'm effectively a troll, which is an equally charming thought."
[19:45] Maria: "You're much prettier. Obviously. So really you could just say a Troll's lifespan is like /yours/." :>?
[19:46] Martel: "/Prettier/?"
[19:51] Maria: "Nicer-looking," she corrects, giggling.
[19:56] * Martel grimaces at her and ends his spell, feigning a lack of amusement.