9038/Bubble Bubble Toil and Trouble

Bubble Bubble Toil and Trouble
Date of Scene:	11 December 2021
Location:	The Griffin
Synopsis:	Alexander is summoned by accident by Saeko and Satana. Also I know about the title, I'm quoting Duck Tales!
Cast of Characters:	Satana Hellstrom, Alexander Aaron, Saeko

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Satana Hellstrom has posed:
The summoning was a hard one. The demonic spirit she needed to give the Griffin a vague aura of dread to drive off the annoying door-to-door sales types, and, worse, the Mormons, needed very specific things to summon. Very specific timings. Satana focused on the task at hand in one of the larger guest rooms, set up her circle to keep the demon contained, set up her offerings to keep the demon fed and prepared to be bound, and started the enchantment. She left nothing to chance at all. Even all her imps had been banished from the floor, and the floors above and below, to avoid any distraction.

Then she caught the movement of a certain nine-tailed frequent visitor out of the corner of her eye and her concentration lapsed.

"Oh, hey foxy babe!" she said, turning her head and smiling at Saeko. "Busy for a bit, but let's ... ah ... 'talk' later, OK?" She winked salaciously and turned back to ...

It was only a momentary distraction, but that was all it took. The magical forces that were homing in on her targeted demon miss the target by a dimension or two and home in on the strongest source of fear they could find where they wound up. A source of fear that found itself being pulled by strong, demanding forces into the circle before Satana and her friend.

"Shit!"

Satana tried to disguise the panic in her voice, but ... let's face it. A summoning of this power going wrong? That's panic-inducing.

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    For Alexander his perception of the last few moments was so very different. The hour was late, sleep did not beckon for fatigue weighs little on him. It had been a peaceful tableau before him of snow-dusted trees swaying faintly in the wind that crept along the streets through Greenwich. Just that one small dog park that was closer to Empire State than the village itself.
    He had been there in his heavy coat, relaxing and scrolling and reading whatever flitted over his cellphone, messages from friends and comrades that he had been catching up with. Enough to bring a faint smile to his face that was slightly more than that slight smirk that is otherwise ever-present.
    But then there was a twist upon that wind, a subtle feeling of a pull, like delicate fingers tensing along the line of the young man's shoulders. Insistent, but gentle. Though the gentleness faded when the young Olympian's brow furrowed and he resisted. Then it became all the more intent.
    For him it was a shift from the calm to the abrupt to the chaotic. Suddenly the world flickered and faded around him, sharp deep resonant notes like a foghorn shouting its warning into the night so very near him. Roiling spinning of reality that slashed the world asunder and set him into a rush of ethereal energy.
    With all the delicacy of a boar smashing its way to a meal of grubs, Alexander's form is torn, facade of normalcy /ripped/ apart as his very flesh seems to give away. Mundane clothing gone, pale features lost, as he swirled through reality to crash abruptly into the summoning circle as if out of nowhere it was not the form of a man. But a golden skinned glowing creature radiant in glory and yet somehow thrumming with a radiation of /palpable/ terror. Foreboding that can turn the hair of a superstitious man white in an instant, severity that is clear in the handsome features of the... beautiful being that rises up.
    He is a being of something other, and standing there tall in that circle his features are dark with displeasure.

Saeko has posed:
Well, if anyone was ever going to be distracting, it should probably be the beauty of a Tenko of Inari. With her form wrapped in her usual deep red and 'somewhat' revealing yukata, her tails behind her. Drifting into the space, the fox-spirit was lazily making through her way into the Griffin when the sudden tingle of magic and demonic influence surges up her spine and has the woman's hair and tails standing on end for a moment.

It had been a relatively productive day, offerings and blessings dispensed...there was even a rather cute little bottle of sake clutched between a hand and a smile on her lips -right- before the golden-skinned beind game crashing into the summoning circle.

Tails flare, eyes come aglow with a ghostly blue flame of divine magic that dances across her digits, whisker marks adorning her cheeks. A Tenko wasn't a god themself, the Kitsune was a conduit for things bigger than herself, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to leap to the defense of the demoness who'd...muddled things a little.

Satana Hellstrom has posed:
Have you ever watched an episode of the old Star Trek series? The one where Scotty always looks frazzled and panicked as things happen to his precious "bairns" while they explode from the Threat of the Week<tm>'s machinations and he tries to keep them intact long enough to not have everybody die?

That's the very demeanour of Satana. All hints of lasciviousness leave her face, body language, and even thoughts as the summoning goes VERY wrong VERY quickly. What she's got is a spirit of fear, but ...

... Well the good news is that while it's not demonic, it's not angelic either. She's not vulnerable to it. But this is going to hurt!

Arcane syllables fall from her lips as she taps into the Wurlitzer in the basement for the mana she's stored from her various 'experiments'. Yes this was usually used to power the house's defences, but now it's got a more immediate need and she can't afford to drain personal stores. The expended mana links the local ley convergence to the circle to bolster its strength while she tries to buy time to work out what it is she's brought into her world.

And deep down, leaking through the barrier designed to capture the demonic, not the godly, fear grows. Fear that she's not good enough. Not strong enough. Fear that she can't contain the force she just summoned.

"Foxy babe, this is going pear-shaped. If you've got enough clout in your wa to get help, I think help is gonna get needed soon. Whatever I caught here is ..."

And this is about the point, likely, that something completely unknown to Saeko is seen in Satana's face. Her fear. Raw terror, in fact.

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    It was like a bomb exploding, the appearance, the glow, that feeling of rapt terror that washed across the room. Perhaps even muted by the power of that summoning circle which speaks to the strength that is bound within, for without that filter...
    Yet then the roaring screams of the dark voices held in the corners of shadow, they begin to ease. The world slowly loses those wicked edges that seem to offer only so much misery to those that have the gall to exist. That feeling of impending doom, the hatred from a being that one can barely understand. It eases...
    Lower as the being in that cirlce looks from one... to the other. Its golden skin seems to ripple with that illusion of heat though the room maintains its chill. Slowly it raises a hand, fingertip lifting...
    Then reaches forward just enough to extend slightly. Oh so slightly over the edge of the circle.
    And there is a bright flash, a cascade of small sparks that falls to the floor, spattering and hissing and disappearing, leaving that circle intact. What resources they have drawn upon, what power they have gathered, it is enough to hold the being within. For now at the least.
    And then. It smiled. Seemingly graven face turning with those lips curling up. A smile that spoke of such pleasure and happiness and wry wonderment, a smile that shared some kinship with the one that the sorceress' father might well wear. The one that was his own, but also was the downfall of so many saints.
    A voice was heard from him, echoing with hollow reverberation, "You summoned. Am I to be petitioned?"

Saeko has posed:
Divine magics filling the the air, a swirling crackle of bright light dancing against the circle, intricate dancing lights of seals swirling to try and interlace the profane magics of Satana's own teaching. The pair of them have worked together, to say they were close was...kinda understating it.
     The glowing figure before her's smile had the hair on her tails standing on end...and yet it was familier enough, like another language from the same origin.
     A spark of divinity, even if it wasn't her 'own' pantheons. A tinge of it, a 'taste' was enough to have both curiousity and caution in the spirit considered a lesser deity in her own right.

"I am going to assume Satana," she speaks softly, her form still revealed in all its vixen-like glory, "That you didn't intend this meeting."

Satana Hellstrom has posed:
"No. No I didn't. I was bringing up a fear demon from ... ah ... a rival's domain." She won't name Mephistopheles. For reasons. "But it went astray and..."

She helplessly gestures to the summoning circle. "Shit happened."

"Would you mind hanging on a moment?" she then asked the being in the circle. "Or, perhaps, if you're so inclined, sharing your Name so I don't just call you 'hey you'?" The easing aura of terror from both Saeko's assistance and the being's dialing down of the effect have brought back her usual irreverence, if shaky. "I was trying for someone else and ... distraction happened."

It's a problem when you think with your nethers sometimes.

"It's not demonic," she says to Saeko, then. "And it's not angelic. It's a flavour I've encountered before, though. As traces. Elder god? Do you have anything like this in your part of the world?"

Back to the creature. "Look, the summoning was accidental and we really do not have any particular petition or binding or such for you. Do you have the capacity to go back to where you came on your own power, or do I have to figure out how to do it for you?"

Pause.

"Where did I pull you from anyway?"

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    Without irises it wasn't easy telling which way the golden being was looking. Though it did tilt its head left subtly, then right, perhaps sparing attention for either being on the outside of the protective circle. But then it lifts its chin slightly and turns to consider the room around them, beyond, perhaps granting a moment of respite.
    Turning slowly, they could see its form was an almost idealized one, like the classical efforts of ancient sculptors gifted divine awareness to create some sort of Platonian ideal. But the expressiveness of the features seems to be unreal, as marble or metal should not move so easily.
    Yet he had been listening to her words and let them just flow over him like water, several questions offered and no answers given. Though when she suggests he offers his name that smile curls up a little more at the corners of his mouth. "I... do not feel compelled to give you my Name?"
    The tone in which it is said, though still with that ethereal sound to the words... it is not combative. More as if he were offering advice for her next summoning to insure that part worked for her subject.
    Then another slight touch causes a shower of sparks against the circle, limning the youthful figure as he seems to ponder. Only then does he offer more words. "Call me Alexander, if you would please. I think I can most likely find my way home if you... let me out."
    Only then does he look down at his current state of undress as well as the manifestation. He tilts his head to the side slightly and quirks an eyebrow. Then looks back up at them unabashed. "I may need some clothes."

Saeko has posed:
Compulsion or not, Saeko knew enough to know the power of true names for most beings...and she was certain Satana knew the same. Still, her own 'kitsunebi' flames and energy seem to fade down just that little bit more. Of course, she was a being of magic, chance and fate incarnate...not really something that was bread for a more physical battle, so grappling with dangerous summons in a more direct sense? That'd probably fall on Satana, and the demoness didn't look particularly eager for that.
     "It is...almost like me," Saeko speaks, tilting her head to the side. "Wine from grapes rather than rice, if that makes sense..."

Apparently unphased by the lack of clothing (which might not be suprising given current company), Saeko actually steps forwards, amber eyes of her true form scanning the being before her. "But there is something...else."

Satana Hellstrom has posed:
Shit.

Neither weak enough to be compelled, nor stupid enough to blurt. This is worrisome.

Affecting insouciance, however, though body language reading will spot more than a few signs of tension, Satana says, "Very well, Alexander will have to do. Now Alexander, you may have gathered by now that your summoning was accidental. So I'd appreciate it if you'd..." Laughter as false as her goodwill escapes her throat. "...not take this as grounds for, like, open warfare. Whatever I look like, I'm not really a pushover. A human. I think a fight would do neither of us any good, so if we could take this as a little 'Oopsie' and perhaps negotiate a small settlement for your inconvenience, I'm perfectly fine with ..."

Her train of thought derails at Alexander's last comment.

"Why on Earth would you need cloth..."

It dawns on her.

"You're hiding among the mortals too?! Aren't their morals SO annoying? Having to wear clothing in public! Ugh!"

Seems she's found a point in common to bond over.

From out of nowhere she brings out a roll of parchment and a pen.

"Why don't we hammer out a little contract of non-agression and recompense and then I'll be more than happy to bring down the circle. I mean I don't bear any particular ill-will toward you that I don't bear to, well, everything, so...?"

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    The golden being turns slightly, weight shifting to the other foot as it looks and listens to the words offered by Saeko. Its smile remains set and at ease, though its brow rises as she gives her insight when she speaks of there being something aught else to the creature in the circle.
    Unfortunately Alexander offers no insight, instead he takes a moment to look between the two of them. Yet when Satana starts to speak his regard falls heavily upon her.
    "I hold no ill will, I would appreciate this performance not be repeated, but..." He again touches the barrier that surrounds him, creating a faint burst of sparks with a sound not unlike, /ZARCH!/ "You have added an element of curiosity to a dull evening."
    She then keys on the need for clothes and his smile twists his lips around, a hint sardonic or amused though he again offers little insight. Yet when a contract is produced he says, "I am fine with a verbal agreement. You have paid me in coin of amusement, I will return in tolerance? Acceptance."
    A beat and then the ethereal voice adds, "And I'll wash and return whatever clothes you loan me."
    As he says that last the golden figure takes a deep breath, holds it, and then with a sizzle of energy sliding almost wickedly over his skin the golden sheen fades, replaced with pale flesh albeit firm and muscular. An athlete's form, though perhaps with the scar upon his right shoulder a warrior's.
    But suddenly seemingly all so human.

Saeko has posed:
The contract was with Satana, not Saeko, so the kitsune woman turned her gaze to Satanna and the question of her acceptance.

After all, she was technically a guest herself, albeit a more expected and welcome one.

The 'reduction' in form wasn't echoed by the vixen, at least not yet, instead there was a quirk of Saeko's lips and a finger brought to her chin in amused consideration. "I believe you do not have the curves for most things we would loan you, fun as that may be."

Satana Hellstrom has posed:
Seeming to be ready to resist the notion of an oral contract, when Alexander shows his mortal form Satana relents (likely from the reduction in the fear effect that was paired with this). "You seem ... trustworthy." She doesn't, mind. "And ... if you don't mind being our guest for a short time, I'm sure somewhere among Thomas' clothes there is something that will fit you."

OK, who the Hell is Thomas?

"Failing that, perhaps some of my looser outfits?"

It's hard to picture any outfit she might wear with that figure she's bearing that would ever fit Alexander's form. "Though certain parts may ... ah ... bulge out the sides or over the top." Ah.

Satana shakes her head, putting one hand behind her back in which an intense ball of soul fire starts to form.

"I think we can trust him, don't you agree, Saeko?" she asks the foxier of the pair. "If you agree, I'll just drop mine and you drop yours and Alexander here can come out from behind the salt barrier and join us."

As the opulence of the place she chose to do the summoning seems to dawn on her, albeit opulence that has had the furniture stacked to one side, she adds, "If you need rest or sleep or ..." A wicked grin crosses her face. "... entertainments of various sorts, I'm sure we can arrange a room for you, or you can just lounge in the living room. Food. Drink. Services. Petting the tiger. All available while we hunt down appropriate clothing."

And, soul fire behind, fingers up front ready to dispel her protection, Satana awaits Saeko's word.

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    Arms folding over his chest, Alexander's half-smirk turns to a slight crinkling of his nose as he gives Saeko a look of moderate condemnation. Though, to be fair, there is no apparent malice in his manner nor features. And that terrible feeling of terror and fear and disquiet... had almost entirely vanished.
    As his fate is discussed, Alexander's expression shifts back to that easy-going smile that is so often there on his lips. Curious hazel eyes now shift from one to the other, at the mention of a Thomas he offers in reply to both of them. "I am sure I can make do with what you have to spare."
    For Alexander there had been a steady feeling of power pressing against him, like a hint of displaced air that tells him this far and no further, but as they spoke and the energies flared, as Satana made those deft movements, he could feel that shift of power.
    It was only when Saeko joined in the dispelling of what binds him that he feels the freedom gifted back, no longer that hint of pressure and simply the warmth of the evening and the subtle scents of that room. He extends a fingertip again. No sparks, and then with a step he advances forward. No sudden moves, no hurried gestures, all such calm. Such control. Even in his current state.
    "I do not often feel fatigue overly much," He answers Satana's wicked grin with that self-same smile. Far from innocence, but free of malevolence.
    "Though if you are feeling generous, I am curious about where I am. Who you both are? This is a... rarity for me." You think?

Saeko has posed:
The fire fades, divinity channeled against divinity no longer a clash in the space and the Kitsune steps back with a bow of her head.

Glowing eyes fade, a little shift of her form and a smirk on her lips following a giggle to talk of fatigue.

"Impressive a creature though you may be, some things can be more...intense than expected."

The vibe having shifted to more hospitable, Saeko moves now, stepping up beside Satana as one of her tails lazily gives a fond brush to the wicked summoner. "I will leave introductions to her."

Satana Hellstrom has posed:
Acid test passed. Alexander proves civil, despite the uncivil way in which he was accidentally summoned. Appreciative eyes flow over his form. Eyes with black irises and a pupil like a cigarette slowly smouldering behind the eyes. Her hand with the soul fire prepared comes out from behind, the flames in it fading out as she does so.

And very clearly displaying the facts: a) she had a weapon, and b) she was putting it away.

"My, and taken already. What a pity," she purrs to nobody in particular. "What an incubus I could make out of you!"

She shakes her head and blushes artfully, like an ingenue of the stage feigning embarrasment.

"I'm terribly sorry. In all the excitement I completely forgot my manners."

That giggle. It's as artful and as false as her smiles or as Pamela Anderson's ... let's not go all the way there.

"I'm Satana Hellstrom, and my drop dead gorgeous friend here is Saeko. You are in the Griffin Hotel which is the home of Thomas Blake and myself, and Saeko is such a frequent guest she has her own room at her disposal for any time she wants to sleep over and doesn't want to sleep in my room."

Beat.

"With me."

Beat.

"Without sleeping. If you catch my drift."

The languid wink communicates more of her truth than did any of the false giggles and flushes.

"Saeko is from Japan," she adds, unnecessarily to anybody who has even an iota of knowledge of world mythology. Like, say, a mythological figure might. "She loves to play jokes too. Uh ... oh, and you'll find a scattering of imps about the place. Feel free to do anything you want with or to them, but if you damage them too much I might get a bit waxy since summoning their replacements is such a chore. The maitre d'hotel is Bloord, a former imp I elevated to fiend for services rendered." Wicked grin. "And servicing rendered." There's that wink again. "I would not recommend trying to mistreat him. He may not be at our level, but he can get in a few good hits that would hurt."

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    No longer with his arms folded, Alexander makes no pretense at not looking the place over, his eyes wandering from point to point to point. No hint as to his thoughts is shown on his features, save perhaps a slight incline of a blond eyebrow here or there. Then he looks back to the pair of enchantresses and lets his smile grow a little more friendly.
    Saeko offers that matters could be more intense, his reply is light, "As I am sure my arrival must have been if it was made so in error." A casual brush and redirect so at ease from the young... man? Being? Creature?
    Then his curious gaze wends its way back to Satana and remains there. There is no hint of color to his features, no blush from embarrassment, no discomfort at all as if the state of him mattered little. Though when the daughter of the Devil relates to him the facts of the household she might see the smile only then finally reaches those green and blueish eyes. "Satana."
    A step forward as he extends a hand and should she offer hers in a suitably courtly manner he will accept and offer an easily given half-bow, bringing the hand not quite to his lips, and in turn making the same motion to Saeko. His touch, his nearness, however, is warm. Warmer than mortals most, as if whatever mythical power stoked his foundry ran at a higher flame than others. "Saeko."
    He rests his hands upon his hips and murmurs, "You make a lovely pairing," The word 'couple' not used for whatever reason.
    "I would not trouble you overly much, though I am sure any amenities you offer are exceptional."
    Then he clears his throat slightly. Smiles a smile that is tempered only a touch as he lightly nibbles his lower lip. "Now if I may. The... clothes?"

Saeko has posed:
Clothing to summon will be a paultry challenge...but there's also no game to be had or offering that had been made to do so.

The fox bows her head in return, a soft giggle given to Satana's little clarification before she steps back.

"If you want us to select something for you, I'm sure we'd be delighted to..."

Saeko's own presence was...vibrant, sweet, almost undescribably full of life and potential even behind that little grin. If the aura of that 'heat'? She seemed unbothered, but then she was hanging around a succubus.

Satana Hellstrom has posed:
After Alexander's hot kiss, Satana stretches out an arm and pulls it back in a showy flourish with a hell creature in it. Well, more accurately, with a hell beast's neck clutched in her hand.

A literal hell beast. An imp of some form.

"Look at our new guest, then go into Thomas' closet and pick out a set of clothes for him that will fit."

She pauses a moment while the imp struggles mightily to breathe, though its claws don't seem to do anything to her skin.

"Take a team. I'm not sure what traps Thomas might have in his closet, so some of you may die. Get to it!"

She throws the imp toward the door where it finally manages to get air in and gasp something out that sounds like "Yes, mistress" but as of spoken by the recently strangled.

Which, of course, it was.

"I think, my darling," she then says to Saeko, snaking her arm around the kitsune's waist to cinch her in closer, "that we'll leave the menial work to the menials while we entertain our guest."

Her gaze shifts to Alexander on 'entertain'.

"So while the imps die to get your clothing for you, is there anything you'd care to partake of? Beer? Wine? Spirits? Other fluids?"

Her face deadpan on the final two words.

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    At that playfulness from Saeko, Alexander's composure remains that calm controlled way, yet his tone echoes a hint of a return as he tilts his head to the side, "There is a certain appeal, a curiousity what you might choose." As if it was almost as much a test of her as it might well be of him. Yet she will likely feel that subtle 'otherness' to him, the slim tendril of some connection he holds that would be familiar to one so at ease with the powers of those so gifted by the will of the Shinto pantheon.
    But then his eyes narrow ever so slightly as his head turns back toward Satana to witness her management skills as she hauls the poor devil creature around like so much subservient luggage. His head tilts as he looks between mistress and servant, then follows the path it takes after impact against the door and its quick departure.
    Satana has such a polite way of phrasing things, even in her offer of refreshment. For a brief moment the smile disappears and he says shortly, simply, with an edge to the words as he holds the Devil woman's gaze.
    "I don't know, Satana. Is there?" As if there was so much promise in that tone, and her answer might well decide.

Saeko has posed:
There was a pout, a chance at mischief stolen by the imp being sent away. Saeko moves, clicking her tongue as she steps forward and walks a slow, appraising circle around the figure that was Alexander before giving a sigh.

"I suppose we will never know, or at least...not tonight."

Satana's offer? Hadly suprising, certainly amusing. She was all too aware that the demoness couldn't feed from the divine...but that never meant the attempt was boring. Besides, Saeko herself had never tried such a thing...

Her circle complete, she moves up to stand behind Satana, a lazy lounge of her head against the other woman's shoulder in an embrace from behind, tails lazily wavering in the moment of expectation.

Well...Satana was the host...