8309/Could This BE More Awkward

Could This BE More Awkward
Date of Scene:	18 October 2021
Location:	The Griffin
Synopsis:	No description
Cast of Characters:	Thomas Blake, Mairin Moran, Satana Hellstrom, Saeko

---

Thomas Blake has posed:
There is something to be said for the petit female. They are imminently portable if they pass out for some reason, say slipping into a hot tub while exhausted and passing blissfully out. They are also easily fished out by their curly hair before they slip under and gag on water.

The downside is hot tubs heat the occupants up. In the case of the diminutive she, well the square cube law of physics works against them. First they heat up very fast and second they lose that heat fast, sometimes causing the body's temperature to bounce.

So they are more maintenance than it seems. So Thomas Blake after making sure a tiny PhD was comfortable, and not dying, fell asleep himself. This might have more to do with him playing big spoon than his sense of relief. In any case, he wakes up, realizes his companion is old enough to rent a car (he may be a bastard, but he has limits). He does cop another cuddle and sighs a very relaxed sigh.

Mairin Moran has posed:
    Mairin briefly wiggles into the snuggle as she's traversing that fuzzy boundery between dreams and wakefullness. She even mutters something too soft to hear, perhaps a memory filtering to the surface. It takes another minute for her eyes to blink open, and another few seconds after that to process what she sees.

    "Where..." She looks... feels... then sits up with a jerk, scooting away from Thomas as she pulls the robe tighter around her.

    "What the HELL are you doing?"

Thomas Blake has posed:
Thomas Blake's eye snap open. He leaps back at the yell and produces a wicked looking blade. ten realizes where he is and looks a little miffed. "I was sleeping, before you screamed like a maniac. That's a hell of a way to wake up. Sheesh. He goes over to the fireplace and grabs a poker and moves around some embers before tossing another log in. The window outside shows it is early evening. "Do you feel better now?"

Mairin Moran has posed:
    She scoots back a little further, trying to get the unnecessarily large robe to cover as much as she can. "Yeah well you try waking up to some stranger assaulting you. I know Satana might not care about consent but *I* do. God..." She takes a deep breath, the worst of the shock passing. "And what the hell is this? A robe or a tent?" You'd think she was naked underneath it for all the fuss she's making.

Thomas Blake has posed:
Thomas Blake ponders drawing the knife again.

"You were obviously exhausted and you were overheated pretty quickly in that tub which is dangerous. You passed out and nearly drowned. I pulled you out. Saeko was gone. I wasn't going to undress you but you were dripping wet. So I put you in my robe, which was by the tube. You didn't even take a towel. Bad form. I'd give you one. I put you, still damp on this rug by the fireplace and you soon got chilly. I built a little fire to keep you warm and stayed by you ncase you needed any further care. I must have zoned out after a while." He processes the rest of her words.

"Assaulted you! I was staying close in case I spotted you in trouble and to watch the fire. And I resent you making fun of my physical dimensions. Also... you snugged up to me and oulled my arm around you! I was entrapped! That's still a thing Dr. Smurfette!"

Mairin Moran has posed:
    Mairin's eyes flash, as numerous things flash through her mind to say. But if there's one things she's learned recently, its to pause. Pause and think. Her cheast heaves as she brings up one finger... then slows... and her hand drops. "Entrapped my ass.." she mutters, but there's no real animosity in it. "And I wasn't making fun of you. I just..." She flails a too-long sleeve to make her point. "Thank you for making sure I didn't drown. Or get sick," And she actually sounds like she means it to. "I'm sorry I fell asleep. I didn't mean to. I've just been--" Her eyes flash to the window and then to her wrist but her watch is gone. "What time is it?!"

Thomas Blake has posed:
Thomas Blake points to the cable box. "7:23 in the pee emm," he says to confirm. The sleeve flapping gets a short laugh. Then he grabs a cuff to begin folding it back. "Everybody loved the robe, till you. Give me the other sleeve please, Gargantua. I can't do much about the length. Watch out when you hit the stairs. It's the builders' fault. They built the floor too close to your butt."

Mairin Moran has posed:
    Blue eyes watch Thomas as she lets his roll up the sleeves. "Who's Everybody?" she asks, and there's maybe, just maybe, a hint of teasing in that tone.

Thomas Blake has posed:
Thomas Blake finishes rolling then adjusts the collar. "Wouldn't you like to know... well Saeko for one. Saeko likes you. She went foxy on you." He adjusts the collar a little officiously and beeps her nose. "Hungry?"

Mairin Moran has posed:
    She shakes her head, but there's a hint of a smile there. "You just can't resist can you?" She tries to stand, nearly trips, catches herself on Thomas, and immediatly backs away a step.

    She looks back over at the time and frowns. "I really shouldn't. I have so much work to do. And I've wasted so much time." She glances around, "Where's my bag? I left it by the tub..."

Thomas Blake has posed:
Thomas Blake points to the sofa. The bag is sitting on it. "I do really good omelettes. Ham and cheese, Denver, Spanish, Greek..." He makes it sound very sensual, in a completely ridiculous sort of way. Come. You'll eat. You are exhausted and little rest will improve your productivity more than enough to justify a couple hours." There was only that one step between them. "I wish you'd slept a little more. You're a good cuddler. That was probably the first real rest you've had in a month."

Mairin Moran has posed:
    Mairin bites her lip and looks at her bag, then at the clock, then sighs. "Fine, I'll stay for dinner. I'd have to get some anyway. But I'm not eating in this. Are my clothes still where I left them? Or did you hide them away for some half-naked game of hide and seek?" There's a tinge of acusation, but her heart isn't in it.

Thomas Blake has posed:
Thomas Blake blinks. "Nice idea... But I need five minutes and you have to promise not to look! Here!" He grabs the collar and pulls the robe up and over her head. That at least gets the hem off the floor. then he walks into the kitchen.

Mairin Moran has posed:
    Mairin rolls her eyes, shakes her head, and readjusts the robe again so it's just trailing on the floor behind her. Then heads off to gt changed. It doesn't take long, and when she finally makes her way back int the kitchen she looks like her ordinary mousy self again. Complete with very modest and non-descript clothing. The only sign that anything might have happened is that her hair is still pulled back into that curly mess of a bun rather than her usual pony-tail.

    She comes in, sets her bag on the table, and immediatly starts rifling through it and pulling out books and notebooks. If she's waiting, might as well get some work done.

Thomas Blake has posed:
Thomas Blake has meanwhile made a gigantic omelette he is shoveling into plates. A couple of extra plates are set nearby. "I thought I was eating alone tonight. I think Satana went to check out Amazon's working conditions for tips... " He sets a plate before the scientist.

Satana Hellstrom has posed:
That's the thing with ritual magic. Sure it saves you burning your own reserves and thus spares the neighbourhood of your sucking their souls to replenish, but they take a long time, they can't be interrupted without risking devastating backlashes (ask the poor souls at Roanoke!), and they leave the caster in a dazed and distant state anyway.

The imps wisely chose not to tell Satana that there was a visitor. Though they were lining up for the opportunity to tell her about Thomas sleeping with the guest, having taken to heart Satana's lessons in how to lie without once stating an untruth.

The ritual finally unfolded and the last bit in the web of Infernal energy she'd carefully wrapped around the house in the little incisions she'd so painstakingly made over the weeks came together at one point, a point she put the old jukebox she'd scrounged on top of, making the jukebox its control panel and alarm system.

She did so enjoy playing silly games like that.

All it took was one more step: pressing the SELECT button.

Almost immediately the gravelly voice spilled out of the speakers, both from the cabinet and from those she'd concealed all over the house (without any physical linkages ... MAGIC!).

    They hung a sign up in our town
    "If you live it up, you won't live it down"
    So she left Monte Rio, son
    Just like a bullet leaves a gun
    With her charcoal eyes and Monroe hips
    She went and took that California trip
    Oh, the moon was gold, her hair like wind
    Said, "don't look back, just come on, Jim"

---

"What the fuck!?" Satana growls as the alarm system fires up, telling her there was unknown magic inside, the whole house sounding with the song she'd selected for that eventuality. "Who's inside here?!" she demanded of the attending imps.

The imp who'd won the dice toss rushed forward. "Master Thomas brought a woman and slept with her!" he proudly declared.

Imps aren't very bright. It should have been the one that lost who delivered the news. They learned, however, as the imp's body flew across the lab from the backhand, breaking against a wall and falling to the floor like a rag doll.

"We'll see about that!" she growls, short fur in a familiar-to-Thomas camouflage scheme starting to sprout over her nude body. Along with the slitted eyes. The retractable claws in her fingers and toes. Oh, and the fangs.

"Bring the tiger."

And thus it was that Rasputin and Satana the Tiger Lady step into the kitchen together, one of them looking very dangerous.

And it's not the tiger.

Mairin Moran has posed:
    Mairin nearly jumps out of her seat as the song bursts over the system, echoing through the kitchen. Her head swivels from side to side as she looks at Thomas, the exits, everything, trying to catch any clue what is going on and what he tricked her into doing.

    Then Satana comes in with a bloody tiger and mairin just scrambles back away from her, knocking over the chair in the process. One hand reaches up to clutch the pendant through her blouse, while the other actually sizzles softly, small arcs of light blue enrgy zipping between fingers that emit a feint scent of ozone.

Thomas Blake has posed:
Thomas Blake sees Satana enter of course and swallows his omelette hard. He says to Mairin, "First lesson dealing with her. Don't run."

He very slowly spoons out more omelette into a plate and slathers Satana's special hot sauce on it. "Hey baby. You look gorgeous but... Rasputin is going into heat. Watch yourself. You remember Dr. Moran? We were using the hot tub with Saeko and the doc kind of fell out, then I fell asleep because hot tub. Come eat. No one told me you were home." He walks over to the tiger lady hugging her with affection. Waiting for a kiss or immolation. That was his life.

Satana Hellstrom has posed:
What's arcing between Satana's finger as Thomas' foolhardy gesture saves Mairin's life is not electrical. Nor does it smell of ozone. It has the stench of burning brimstone instead. And it looks like an acetylene torche's flame in its intensity.

Her aim, and indeed the whole (literal) firing sequence is spoiled by Thomas' gesture. Hence the life saving. Blinking she pauses in her desire for murder, replacing it with a desire for someone else. Her hands wrap around Thomas for a return hug, only at the very last instant remembering to shut off the soulfire.

The pain causing variety. She wasn't going to kill Mairin after all it seems. Just cause her intense agony. The vestiges of which run across Thomas' back as the flames die.

"Thomas, why didn't you warn me you'd brought your little mouse friend home?" she asks, after a long kiss. Complete with one thigh running along Thomas' leg. "I'd almost done something you'd have regretted."

From over Thomas' shoulder Santana's cat eyes, glowing red with the burning embers of distant hellfire, fix on Mairin. "And darling, you've picked up a trick ... or ... two? Because I felt you here before you played with electricity. Congratulations."

Thomas is released, and the murder beast is pushed back behind the Satana-the-kitten facade.

Thomas Blake has posed:
Thomas Blake can't answer for a moment as the flame crawls across his back. The fire which shineth not.

It hurts like fuck. Like Rasputin clawed him. Mix that with the worst day of your life. In his case seeing Sienna Blake fall down those stairs. That was what he felt at that moment stepping into that. It beat the shot out of a taser. He breathes in sharply. His face pales.. His arms lift Satana off the floor in a grip that even she feels, that would snap an ordinary human in half. "Baby... there's... no need. I couldn't've done anything today for this," he whispers. He turns and walks back to a stool, leaning slightly on the counter, breathing deeply.

Mairin Moran has posed:
    Mairin moves just enough to look down at her hand at the vanishing arcs of enery and the look on her face makes it obvious she hadn't known she was doing it.

    She looks back to Satana and raises from her slight crouch, but doesn't release the pendant. "Thank you," she says softly, carefully, then walks back to the table to right the chair she'd knocked over. She looks at her books, her bag, and the omlette, then to Satana's eyes. There's a moment of thought... and then she slowly sits down and pulls the food closer to her. "Thomas, do you have any salsa?" She asks, calmly, even a hint of concern there.

    Thomas told her not to run. And in this case, she believs him. Some predetors you have to face, show them you aren't afraid. Just... witout being stupid about it.

Saeko has posed:
In a world of tension, danger and literal hellfire...a sudden humming voice, sweet tunes of some literal heavenly being...and Saeko was simply there.

Cup of tea held with both her hands, the Tenko was dressed in her usual deep red and rather revealing Yukata as she entered the room...only for her ears atop her head to twitch, her tails to flick and her eyes to blink as she looks about the gathering.

"Did I miss something? I slept in..."

Satana Hellstrom has posed:
Thomas' theatrics get a puzzled glance from Satana, before she glances down at her hands. "Oh! Thomas, I'm so sorry. I hugged you too quickly!" Then Mairin's aplomb gets the first honest smile out of her since the two met. "Oh, that was well-done, little mouse!" she exclaims with an approving nod. "I think we'll have to graduate you to rat. You've got teeth and the courage to use them."

She turns to the fridge, Thomas forgotten for the moment, as she peers inside. "Either Thomas or the imps..." Imps? "...seems to really like salsa. Maybe it's Bloord. Or Saeko." Bloord? "But there's about seven jars here. Mild. Mild with black bean. Medium. Hot. Extra hot. Extra hot with black bean. And one without a label. Which do you prefer?"

Satana turns her head to regard Mairin just in time for Saeko's arrival. "Oh, Foxy! Could you look at Thomas? I accidentally hurt him." Then the eyes lock on Mairin, awaiting an answer. To the question about salsa. While Thomas is suffering.

Thomas Blake has posed:
Thomas Blake gathers himself, and walks out to the living room and the stairs, beckoning for Saeko. "Upstairs please, Lady Saeko. I made enough omelette for you. He turns and grabs the tiger's leash. "Come on Rasputin." The big cat follows faithfully, butting his head against Thomas' thigh. Angry red lines glow on Thomas' back.

Mairin Moran has posed:
    Mairin can barely spare a glance for Saeko. One nerve-wracking thing at a time. "Medium is fine," she answers Satana as she slowly lowers her hand from the pendant and lays both, casually on the table. "Rat... Well," she shrugs. "Who knows. By the time I leave I might be a possom." She takes a deep breath and begins sliding her books and notebooks back into her bag. "I apologize for being here unexpectedly. I really didn't intend to stay this long."

Saeko has posed:
A little shift of her form Saeko smiles, the offer of breakfast apparently enough to fuel her magics given she lifts her hand upwards to stroke her fingers over the man's shoulder.

A light flow of healing energy dancing through Thomas before the kitsune moves to sit herself down at the table and shrug her mostly bare shoulders.

"It is always nice to welcome guests, no?"

A little lift of her hand she beckons to Satana, trying to entice the succubus over and plant a little peck on her cheek.

Satana Hellstrom has posed:
"Medium it is. And thanks for that, Saeko. Thomas doesn't like the salve I use to heal him after we get ... exuberant."

Still sporting the albino tiger striping and a ... slightly more genuine than usual smile (and nothing else), Satana grabs the medium salsa and curls up into a chair on the table, sliding the bottle Mairin's way before leaning to plant a kiss on Saeko's neck. She then hastily claims one of the plates of eggs.

"Mine," she says, pausing before explaining, "If you ate it you'd likely die. Thomas put my special sauce on it." She winks.

"Saeko, this is ... uh ... I didn't catch the name, actually?" Didn't 'remember'. Part of her dominance game, likely. "She is apparently learning magic!"

And those eyes now turn on Mairin again. "That was fast from having a slight whiff of the stuff about you to that electrical show. Either someone's been grossly irresponsible or you've been studying for a while and just had a breakthrough. Which is it?"

The amulet gets a gaze too. One with eyes narrowed.

"I just turned on the thing that will make that not call your friends, incidentally. I didn't tune for having one present, so perhaps you might not want to activate it. I'm not sure if it will just block it or backfire down the spectral passage you'd make..." Hellfire is such a bitch.

Mairin Moran has posed:
    Everything about this encounter has Mairin ready to run out of the door. That primal instinct is just screaming at her. But she ignores it and just dives deeper into her Will, letting it form a bubble around her. A bubble that blocks out that screaming and as well as the other... feelings, that want to flood her. It's not all that different from when she's working. All those distractions... hunger.. thirst... exhaustion they just fade away, blocked out by the sheer will to finish a design or solve an equation.

    Which is why Mairin can sit there, calmly, watching an albino tiger striped naked woman that makes her skin crawl, and a divinely beautiful fox woman that makes her skin... do entirely other things, and still just smile slightly.

    "You might say it was the former. John Constantine got tired of me complaining. And thank you, I'll be sure to remember that." She spoons salsa onto the omlette then looks up at Saeko. "Did you have a good nap, Saeko?"