Wiping the floor with our faces

[HecateSkivvy]

Leslie, after a long time of silence, finally chimes in. Each time he was addressed up until this point, he has been wordlessly acknowledging the person doing so. Usually by raising a hand or finger, mindlessly asking for one more moment to think. By the time Sally had the nail out, Leslie was deep in la-la land.

It can't be true, can it?

The last few days have been a little bit of a trial for him; what he initially thought, or hoped, was the purpose of his initiation into this conflict - his brief altercation with the dusk court months ago, seemingly unprovoked - is now something of an afterthought.

The pieces have been falling together for some time now, and at this exact moment, they're starting to click together. For the first time since 4am this morning, Leslie smiles from ear to ear.

Oh, yes it can. Yes. It. Can.

Finally, he chimes in once more. "Alright! So, I'm not going to pretend I know more than I do. Because, if I'm to be frank, I know next to nothing beyond the basics - so that's where I'm going to start.

Two courts, Dawn and Dusk.

The Dawn Court, that is, my apparent patrons, is associated with Summer. Summer carries with it, if my presumptions based on personal observation and certain extrapolations from excerpts of arcane literature are correct, certain associations with Summer, Life, Heat, and Gold. Further connotations include associations with Life, in respect to an extrapolated contrast to the dusk court. From here, I can assume that the dawn court is also in close association with the elemental symbols of Fire and Earth, which are typically connected to Summer and Spring, respectively.

In contrast, we have the Dusk Court - of which I believe we may assume Victor is similarly patroned, considering a bereftitude of attendance on her part on the Dawn side of the battle this morning, is associated with polar opposite aspects to that of the Dawn - Harvest, death, repose, the colors Blue and Black, Silver, and Water, et cetera.

Beyond academic connotations, which I do believe anyone can look up; or further ask me about when I have the time, there's only a few extra things I know about this situation. For one, the throne is called irorsethkevnos. They've been fighting over it for eons, but a source has told me that in the past the conflict has not been so... Extreme.

The courts have taken to mortal involvement in the past, but as of recent years, the tipping of the scale has been more dramatic with each swing. See, normally the transition of power is a natural one, since the strength of each court waxes and wanes with the change of seasons. That is the natural balance of things, but the courts can "cheat" this system by tagging mortals, among others, for service to their cause. If this is done, and an advantage is obtained at an inappropriate point in the cycle, the waning court can maintain power over the season of its opposition. I'm not so sure what the consequences of that are, but Its not a far stretch to assime they're bad for us.

As for my own involvement in this, the fact is I haven't been very involved up until this point. Last spring, I took action against the dusk court - considering their discourteous treatment of me the evening before - and as such, I forged a sort of alliance, an understanding with them. I believed the enemy of my enemy was my friend, but now I see they might have just been my enemies."

He glances pointedly over at Victor,

"Now, that is not to say I am making any declarations against my roommates. This conflict does not belong to us, and I have no intention of bringing it into the realm of the domestic. However, those of us with metal allergies, those of us who are marked as especially attuned to this conflict, should pay special attention to their part in it.

As for me, as I've said I'm going to play their game - for better or for worse. I have apparent allegiances to the dawn, and as such am going to make a concerted effort towards developing a deeper understanding of the situation, so as to establish a good diplomatic report with my own side. I reccomend that the others do the same.

As for the continuation of the cycle, I'm resolved to say that I do hope everyone else is smart enough to either prevent any resulting imbalances, or to avoid direct involvemrnt in the ensuing conflict altogether.

I sincerely hope the former occurs, since we're talking about the balance of the seasons, of all things. I love maple syrup in the spring, and you cannot get maple syrup without a long, cold winter."

[Sally]

As Sally sits back down, he let's out a great guffaw (at what isn't exactly clear) and looks to Eden and Kelsey, "You guys is great, you know that? I just said all of you's is right! Ain't nobody here the bad guy- THEY is the bad guy, an' whether we-" he looks to Eden, "Slam the door in they face," then to Kelsey, "Or Na-palm the shit out of 'em with molten iron," then back to both, "either way, we gotta be solid in what we's doin'. Since ain't nothin' in this town been clear cut since the golldarn stone-age, I'm bettin' issa little bitta both, an' whatever the hell else the other folks is gon' come up with."

He shrugs back to Hartighan, but keeps looking at the women, "Ta make up for my, uh, pri-or trans-gres-sions an' to account fer some balances I owe in that direct-shun, Sally Lautner is off-ic-ially a Carrot Merchant. No sticks 'llowed. Not from me, no ma'am. Ma'ams." He holds up his hands, mimicking Kelsey. Ironically, said hands are covered in the sparkly bits of blood from the Fey he'd managed to punch into whatever afterlife they have. All the same, he looks positively genial as he speaks.

"'Cept fer on the issue of folks wanerin' round wifout no lights on 'em at night," for just a brief moment, the wild-eyed maniac shadow falls over Sally, before evaporating, "On that point, I'mma be a right dick-head."

But, he beams again a moment, right Kelsey and levels a finger at her, "Right you is, Kelsey Grah-am. Right you is," and he calls out, "We all is on the same golldarn team!"

For someone that literally had the drunk slapped out of his face (a face now pretty well along swollen and chewed up), Sally Lautner is positively *chipper*. He reaches for another cookie, and turns to hear what Leslie has to say.

[Nixon]

[PoeticJustice]

Alice disentangled herself from Sally with the grace of someone who has done this many times before and slides out of the diner after Hartighan, jogging a little to keep up.

[vVv]

vic shoots a slightly apologetic glance eden's way as sally makes peace with her - gotta stick up for your buddies though. and don't go thinkin' i'm some dumbso kid who don't notice when people talk about her like she ain't even there. smarter'n half the people in here, i bet. she sighs, shakes her head around again, resolving to be mature about it.

her eyes shine at hartighan's affirmation, "got it! rule number one!" she shoots him a thumbs up as he walks out.

her attentions turn to leslie as he speaks. her eyes widen as he addresses her, and she waits til he's said his piece to speak up, "hey, i think you're real smart! and, y'know, just 'cause we gotta work for opposite sides, and maybe fight some time, and you're funny looking and you don't get my amazing fashion sense too good, like.. maybe that kinda makes us allies even more, 'cause if we both try real hard to understand everything, we can probably do it better than the regular people, and then we can talk to each other too, and understand even better than ever, 'cause only understandin' one side is, like, not the way to be super SUPER smart, you can only do that by listening to EVERYTHING... so.. we can work together, except if we hafta fight, but at least with the understandin' everything part.. if that makes sense." she looks tired, but her eyes are bright and hopeful. something occurs to her belatedly, "i didn't mean FUNNY funny looking. sorry. i'm not used to trying to be nice so much, nobody used to be smart enough to listen to me before. i just mean.. we're cool, man, i mean ok??"

[Merana33]

Bob returns with a portable Amizon terminal tucked under his arm, and claps Hartigan on the shoulder, "Have a good few days off. Drink a beer for me, willya? Something tells me I'm gonna be up to my eyeballs in paperwork soon."

He sets the terminal down on a table by the jukebox and plugs it in.

"Now, I heard a bunch of what 'yall were talkin about, and I've been thinkin some too. I think our best strategy at this point is to look into old myths and figure out which are true and which aint.. I know they has a might hard time lying outright, so pigeonholing them with legalese is a right smart plan. Given what's goin on in the fall, maybe roping them into entering teams into "The Game" might work. But I'm not one to bank on somethin so fragile as someone's word. Iron, Cold iron, now that's something that'll put the fear of whatever they call holy inta 'em. Sally, give Vic that there icepack ya lughead. I'm bettin that hand smarts like the dickens after what she did fer you."

"Their dragons are flesh and scales and blood and bone. Us? we got better things.. like steel and ceramic armor plating. I'm gonna see if I cant get corporate to transfer some heavier firepower up our way. For training purposes of course.. " He trails off and then his face brightens as a thought occurs to him.

" Why didn't I think of it before? Stuff is easy to make, burns hotter than hell, because at it's core when it's burning is a slug of molten iron. Shit, our demo guys use that for blowing up hardware all the time. Can even make it in your kitchen if you know how."

He sits down at the terminal and starts tapping, "Now if I can just get this thing to get a signal.. Damm Chinese peice of.. there we go.."

[Nick Sleet]

Nick Sleet perks up at the word thermite. "That's a fantastic idea! Of course, it's the equivalent of using mustard gas or Sarin, from a diplomatic perspective, so we probably don't want to use it except when we're fucked if we don't."

He moves over to Bob, politely putting himself where he can't see the terminal screen. "You think you can get Corporate to spring some? My sources dried up a long time ago... Or I suppose we could ask our resident chemists, but for volume you need a corporate budget."

[HecateSkivvy]

Leslie smiles at Victor.

"Oh, I think we're more than cool. I think what we've got is a plan. You're pretty smart, yourself. You know that?"

[kimp]

:: Liberty focuses fully on what Leslie says, shifting slightly closer to him to hear better and nodding at the end ::
Well, I heard little bits of some of that regarding the Courts from various people, but no one put it all together with any degree of authority. Although...
:: she stops, goes quiet, her gaze inward, then starts again in a slightly quieter, speculative tone ::
I thought Earth was Autumn, Air Winter, Water Spring. At least in Kabbalist teachings as well as Pagan cults and alchemical studies. Unless you are talking Hippocrates in which case its almost all different. And then Taoists believe in five elements...
:: A quick head shake and she's back on point ::
Not that it probably matters

We were told that the reason that the Dawn Court was able to retain control for longer this time was because of an outside force that tipped the balance.
:: She frowns ::
It was very late and I was quite tired so the exact words elude me, but that was the gist. Something, or I believe it was definitely implied someone, tipped the balance in the Dawn Court's favor. Part of me thinks that is the reason for the escalated conflict. If the Dawn Court hadn't had that advantage might they not have given up control or been unable to retain control of the throne?

It might be interesting to know who it was that tipped this balance and what they did to do so. Just in case similar circumstances arrive at the time of the next change. Because if it is someone that was set on keeping Dawn in power...?
:: A slight shrug ::
Then no issue. But if it was someone set on pure mayhem...?
:: Another shrug ::
Might they not do something similar again - allowing the Dusk the advantage and causing greater conflict which will pour over on to us?

I realize it is tangential, in a sense, but it might also be a different angle on the issue.
:: She starts to go quiet, then says "Oh" and focuses on Leslie intently ::
You've called it a game. Is that something you've heard it called or is it just a term you are applying? I have some thoughts on that, but I'd need to know if its just your terminology or something more
:: Air quotes ::
Official.

[Taranis]

After half considering dropping that nail down the back of Leslie's collar, Alex turns his attention towards Bob, having heard him loudly exclaim "THERMITE" as a possible weapon to be used against the Fae.

"I believe that thermite would be great for melting some annoying-ass fairies. That is a notion I can stand behind. The Dragons are far more than simple flesh and bone though. I highly doubt that thermite or anything of the like is going to be much of a weapon against them. (at least not one that is attuned to fire) Keep in mind that they do not share the same "allergies" that the Fae do. I AM doing a little research in that department however, so I'll see what I come up with. I can say at this point, having communed with the Great One first hand, that they are far more honorable than any of the Fae and should be treated as such."