The Bar

"The effect is sort of like tea, except multiplied a lot and the taste is different," Riaa tried to explain. "Usually people have it in the mornings, I think."

 

Raoul narrows his eyes at the cape. It didn't seem to be twitching, or doing anything uncomfortable. "I'll take my chances. Thanks," he says, swinging the cape off the hook and around his shoulders. It looks. . .extremely silly paired with a tank top and cargo shorts, but whatever, it's pretty warm.

"That's what I was tryna get at, yeah," he says, settling at a vacant stool. "I was just startled. Wasn't expecting the interdimensional mysterious pub to be cold as a witch's tit." He glances at the barkeep appraisingly. "Got any vodka?"

((Eta: wrong account, gdi :\ ))

 

Mina goes still for a moment then wanders over to him. "Hy tink hyu meesunderstood me dere. Let me repeat." She drops a hand on his shoulder, very gently. For now. "Der cape dozn´t bite, bot hy do." She takes the cape back and removes a dagger from the inside.
"Hyu iz locky dot deedn´t cut hyu. Iz poisoned. Hyu should leesten ven pipple tellz hyu not to toch dey´re schtoff."

 

Berit's eyes go wide. "Let's.. try to avoid any stabbing, self-inflicted or otherwise."

 

Mina hangs the cape back up.
"Hy em not stebbink ennyvun."

 

"I don't know what you were expecting would happen when a lady at least 75% made of spikes in some way tells you not to touch something," Riaa said. "I mean, really."

 

"That is fair," says Berit, badly hiding a smile.

 

Raoul sits very, very still for the whole procedure, letting Mina remove the cape with nary a twitch. "Well, I 100% took that as a joke. My bad," he says, much, much too casually. "Wasn't my color, anyways. Sorry!" He flashes Mina an apologetic smile and shrugs, a palms-up, open gesture. "Could definitely use that vodka now. Maybe with something warm on the side."

He glances around again, fingers drumming on the bar. "Quite the motley crew assembled here," he comments. "Didn't catch any names on my way in, either. What brings you all hereabouts, wherever 'hereabouts' may be?"

 

"Needed a place to wait out the rain," Katters says. "Among other things."

 

"Berit. Clan Lavellan. 'Inquisitor,' formally." Berit holds up her hand palm-up, so that the bright, shifting light of the mark on her hand is visible. Then she closes her hand over it, mostly blocking out the glow. "I just wanted a drink."

 

"Zo deed hy. Hy´m Mina. Jägerkin."

 

"Riaa'lzhor, technically of Clan Beldrobbaen. I came to get some food and see some colors that aren't grey, black, or very dark blue," Riaa said.

 

"Surname or classification?" Katters asks. "Oh, and 'Katters,' incidentally."

 

"Iz mine kind. Mine surname is Kastellan, bot no vun calls me dot moch. Der fency folk vot like doze chust call me 'Hey hyu!" or 'Sergeant Cosmina' eef hy focked op."

 

Raoul purses his lips thoughtfully, then chuckles. "Interesting. I'm Raoul, and the only boring human here, apparently!"

 

"Probably. I used to be human, until a month or two ago."

 

Raoul makes a noise vaguely reminiscent of a dying possum, visibly restraining himself from leaping into the air like a goddamn gazelle on steroids. "Fuck me dead," he mutters, making a desperate bid for recomposure. "Christ. You almost just killed me, I swear. Sorry." He takes a deep breath and glances to the general area where the disembodied voice had come from. "So what's your story, huh? Toxic waste? Radioactive spider bite?"

 

"What's 'radioactive?'"

 

Riya fixes up another very irish coffee for Mina and pours a mug for Berit with room for additions. "Coffee's pretty bitter, but people add stuff too it to make it sweeter. I take mine halfway to cake unless it's a bad morning- do you want to try it black and work from there? Or if you know you don't like bitter stuff I can add some creamer and sugar so it's already a little sweet when we start. I've got some flavor syrups, too, and some of the creamers are flavored."

She waves to Raoul. "I've got a jacket. You can either take this one-" she gestures to the one she's wearing, "or I can get one from the back. And Remi and I are human, just witch-blooded. Both kinds."

 

"'Radiation' is - well, basically it's energy given off by something. The sun radiates light and heat, for example. But when people say 'radioactive' they're referring to a specific kind of energy, which, among other things, can cause mutations in living beings," Riaa said, trying to remember how to use lies-to-children. "And so in stories it gets used as an excuses for why something is out of the ordinary - it got changed by something to do with radioactivity."