The Party Had Just Begun

[iamnotpolaris]

They spend the next couple of days just in Terraria, not exploring new worlds. Sivath builds the new house, with Emily's periodic assistance. Her sister and her sister's new Bonded...do not lack for ways to pass the time. At some point, Tialle's Demon gets around to eating a mana candy, and reports the same confused, undefined but large amount of mana. At some point after that, Emily gets around to warping over to Saravasse to report the information, and in the course of so doing meets some other dragons.

Eventually, the house is finished. It's glorious. Glass and marble and that peculiar, lovely Terrarian granite.

Comments

[not_only]

"So what do you do when you find civilization?"

[whatamithinking]

"Go there. Talk to people. Usually Emily'll make some little sculptures and stuff and we'll pawn them and buy things it's hard to get without civilization."

[not_only]

"Hmm. Okay."

[iamnotpolaris]

Emily steps through the portal, drawing some metal out of her sleeve and fiddling with it. Presumably she is making little sculptures and stuff.

[not_only]

Sivath follows them. His wings, folded down as they are, almost look like part of his coat.

[endragoned]

The demon follows too. He is still wearing his lizardskin pants. His wings aren't hidden at all.

[whatamithinking]

The architecturally-characteristic buildings, when they approach them more closely, turn out to be part of a college campus.

Several students see them even before they reach the campus proper. There are some odd looks and whispers, but no particular reaction beyond that.

[endragoned]

Tialle's Demon considers it a vast improvement over what he could expect from most people in his world. No one here is presently trying to kill him, after all.

[whatamithinking]

Edie reaches for his hand and squeezes it.

[endragoned]

Aw. Edie is delightful.

[maggie_of_the_owls]

Most people continue to give them only intermittent odd looks as they progress towards the campus, but it may become obvious through sheer repetition that most of the whispers contain the name "Daphne" in them.

[themainattraction]

Meanwhile, all-unknowing, a certain biology major is holed up in one of the study rooms in the library, studying for her final exams.

[jumptotheleft]

A sharp knock raps on the door.

[themainattraction]

"Come in," she says absently, still focused on her notes.

[jumptotheleft]

She does so. "Do you know," she asks archly, "anything whatsoever about a group of four persons, one of whom strongly resembles a demon?"

[themainattraction]

"Oh, hi, Jaromira. No, I can't say I do, why?"

[jumptotheleft]

"Because such a group has wandered onto campus, and your reputation being what it is, people are assuming you had something to do with it."

[themainattraction]

"That's weird. I'm hardly the only strangeness magnet on campus, and I've been holed up studying for the past three days."

[jumptotheleft]

"Well, it helps that the demon-looking one--who isn't a demon, by the way, I got close enough to check--is hot and shirtless."

[themainattraction]

"...Ooh. You know, spending too long studying consecutively can burn you out, and I've still got a week..."

[jumptotheleft]

"You go have fun, assuming there is fun to be had. I needed to borrow your calculus notes anyway, I think I made a mistake writing mine down."

[themainattraction]

"You're the best." Daphne kisses her briefly before going to see if she can reap the benefits of peoples' mistaken assumptions.

[maggie_of_the_owls]

One of the other students will gladly direct her to the strangers!

[themainattraction]

Brilliant. Ooh, that is hot and shirtless. Nice. And also holding hands with the pretty brunette in the blue dress. Not something Jaromira mentioned. Oh well, no harm in asking; it's not like she doesn't know how to take no for an answer.

"Hi," she says to the shirtless one. "You're gorgeous, want to do the obvious fun thing?"

[endragoned]

He laughs.

"I very well might," he says.

(The internal calculation is primarily about risk - how likely is it that she plans to harm him; how likely is it that she could succeed in such a plan; how much does he care, on his own behalf or on behalf of people who will be upset if he is harmed - and he cares more than he usually might, but judges her unlikely to be dangerous in either intent or capability.)