[Text; Open] -> [Audio; Seelie] Backdated to the 3rd

[asafp]

Fuck me.

[That's it that's the post.

If you're not a member of the Seelie court, that is. After another moment -- or a few -- the audio and the lock switch on.]

[Audio; Seelie-locked]

[The following is the sound of a Glaswegian who is both exhausted and quietly trying to sustain his brittle grasp on reality.]

Right, this message ought to only be goin' out to members of the, ah, Seelie Court. Hoping there's a friendly soul somewhere in the area of Daonna who can help a poor traveler in gettin' to the castle. Supposedly those fluttery lights were meant to drop me off at it, but I guess they got lost somewhere on the Yellow Brick Fucking Road.

Bargained my way into a room at the inn temporarily, but I don't wanna find out how the pig man's gonna make me pay once I run out of currency. I hear one of their orgasms lasts for half an hour.

[All right, Malc, reign it in for a minute. You've got no clout here, and you want these people to want to help you out, right?

Right.]

Any assistance would be [and here he is trying really hard to be cordial and professional:] greatly appreciated.

Comments

Video

[bondedgryphon]

[The language doesn't catch her off guard as it seems to several others of her court, but she is chortling softly at it.

Howdy, Malcolm... have you met a gryphon yet? Probably not, as hey're not terribly prevalent in modern day Earth, beyond being plastered all over Heraldic insignia. Well, you have a gryphon looking at you right now, through the locket. Perked up ears, big old golden eyes and pointy as fuck beak. You might not be able to tell clearly from the locket's view, but she is also about the size of a small horse... a small horse with wings, talons and that pointy as fuck beak.]

Heyla... I believe I could be of assistance so long as you don't mind heights?

[Oh, and she can talk, too. :) ]

Video

[asafp]

[Well, you have his attention.

People, though -- ordinary humans from ordinary Earth -- often see what they subconsciously want to see, and Malcolm's more than a little overloaded on weird at the moment. So even if part of his brain sees the gryphon's beak moving at the same time as he hears the words, he assumes there has to be a human rider somewhere out of frame.

He's tilting his locket to see if it makes a difference in his view. No dice, but have a temporary view of the ceiling.]

Heights not a problem. Never seen the point of skydiving, but that's only cause I'd never jump out of a perfectly functioning airplane.

[bondedgryphon]

[She had a habit of grabbing attention in just the right way. She watches as the angle of the pocket image tilts and shows her the ceiling for a moment, a feathered brow arching slightly.

God forbid you think her just an oversized parrot, Malcolm... but answers would be his, soon enough.]

I do not know what an airplane is, but I believe I understand your general meaning. [Although she was used to dipping through the air at ridiculous speeds on a daily basis.

She looks away from the locket for a moment, seeming to gauge distance for a moment. Her golden gaze flits back again.]

I can reach the Southwood Ring in perhaps a half hours' time and from there the Daonna Ring... I could be to you in less than an hours' time if the wind remains at my back for the entirety of the flight.

Will that be sufficient to your needs?

[asafp]

Now that's what I'm talkin' about. [Right, no longer concerning himself with whatever the fuck this person or not-person is. He's out of this dreary shithole.] And who would I have the pleasure of flyin' the friendly skies with this evening?

[bondedgryphon]

[Zhaneel has had a fair share of gruff individuals in her life, having lived the entirety of it serving in an army. Far from bothered, there is a certain comfort in the like mindedness of Malcolm to several commanders that treated her well; and there were few enough that managed that.

Amusement colors her tone as we continues.]

I am Zhaneel... and you are?

[asafp]

Malcolm. Malcolm Tucker. Haven't got but the clothes on my back, so I'm ready to pop off A.S.A-fuckin'-P.

[It occurs to him, then, that a giant bird-thing might not be familiar with modern acronyms.]

That's as soon as possible. [But--] But no rush. [Wouldn't want you to think he's ordering you around, or anything.]

Video ---> Action

[bondedgryphon]

[Zhaneel does not, in fact, understand the acronym, but nods her beak once as Malcolm expands the meaning. He'll be treated to a bit of a tilting locket view as she lets it fall back into place around her neck and moves to take to the sky.

It's a lunge upward into the air followed by several hard wing beats and the gryphon is sky bound. She speaks over the rush of wind she kicks up.]

I shall be there in due haste, Malcolm Tucker.

[She closes the connection, uncertain that he wants to follow her path the rest of the trip.

The skies are Zhaneel's first home and the gryfalcon takes to her currents like a duck to water, moving through the breeze with only a slight shift of feathers. She alters her path toward the Southwood Ring, as it is the closer of the fairy rings she'll be using to reach Malcolm.

It's a familiar pattern and she's used to longer scouting flights, so as she approached the Ring she's not even tired. A half hour flying is a small thing compared to a several hour long Circuit. She circles overhead, making certain the Ring is clear before coming in for a landing. She kicks up dirt, leaves and twigs and a dusting of snow as she lands and pads into the Ring itself. She wastes no time speaking her destination and then buckles down for the familiar stomach lurch of Ring travel.

When she arrives at the Daonna Ring, she pauses only long enough to take in her surroundings before taking to the skies again. She is only in the skies for a short time before arriving in Daonna proper, her sharp golden gaze darting at the buildings below. There is, thankfully, but one inn within the town and the Sweet Sow is easily found from above. She slows her approach, not wishing to startle any locals with her arrival and landing. The last thing she wanted was an arrow loosed in her direction because she'd startled a trigger happy local.

She backwings heavily, kicking up snow and ice as she lands in the inn's courtyard. She shakes herself, resettling her feathers and wings before passing toward the door of he inn. With any luck, Malcolm would be ready and waiting in the common room and not in his own.

Opening doors is something made easier when your forefeet have adapted to work similar to a human hand. Her dew claw was more like a thumb and she can easily grip and turn the handle.

Still, swinging the door is the biggest step she takes, she's she in no hurry to squire her horse-sized self into the confines of the inn.

She clears her throat, shifting nervously in the doorway as people look her way.]

Malcolm Tucker?

[asafp]

[His business suit makes him stand out like a sore thumb in the common room, but by now he's been around long enough that nobody's inclined to bother him about it anymore. Besides, he's marked as a shardbearer. Natives know the drill. There's whispers, but few direct addresses.

There's something of a hush when the door opens and the gryphon looks in. Malcolm looks too, of course, and his eyes go wide, but if there's one thing he's keenly aware of, it's of when he's being observed.

So he won't lose his cool. Not even close. He taps the table as if to say, Well, that's my ride, before standing and making his way to the door. Which he is all too happy to shut behind himself.]

Well. The Drabwurld Taxi Service. [There's a reason he refrained from speaking until he got out here: can't quite keep the shock out of his voice.

His first instinct is to shake hands, so he holds his out.] How are ya? Y'all right?