May 22 10:43:24 107 PA - A mind is a terrible thing to waste

From Chronicles

Kingsdale - The Alibi

Ash is sitting at the bar, relaxing and having a few drinks. He doesn't seem to be doing much other than enjoying the ambience and enjoying the alcohol in his drinks. For once, he's not trying to chat someone up.

Enjoying the alcohol sounds like a really good idea, and that's probably why Bridget is here. She's not dressed up for anything else, and heads straight for the bar after passing the security check. "Whiskey. Alot." Her order gets called out on the way.

Ash looks over towards the sound of the familiar voice calling out the order and he raises an eyebrow, "What's up Warrior Goddess? You seem on a mission to get yourself inebriated tonight." He notices.

Bridget didn't even notice Ash until he says something, and blinks a little. "Oh. Hi. Yeah, a drink sounds like a damned good idea..." She drops herself onto a seat and waits anxiously for her booze.

That causes Ash to frown a bit and he moves down the bar so that he's closer to her. "Anything I can help with hon?" He asks with some concern in his tone as he looks over the woman, perhaps checking to see if she got knifed again on her way through the Dregs.

Bridget eyes him a minute and shakes her head. "No, it's nothing." She's wearing a sweatshirt and a jacket, so if she was knifed again, it isn't visible. When her glass gets there and gets filled, she grabs it up to tip it back.

With a shrug Ash turns and starts to head back to his original position at the bar, "Suit yourself." He says simply without any venom or pleasure in his tone. Instead he just sits back down and takes a drink from his glass, returning his attention to the music.

Bridget waits until she gets the whole thing down before putting the glass on the bar and waving for another. There's another look to Ash, alot softer, and she sighs. "You ever trust people, anymore? In the Dregs, I mean."

"Try not to." Ash says simply, "Sometimes you can't help yourself though. I can count the amount of people I trust on one hand." He shrugs and takes a drink from his glass, "But it's not just the Dregs. It's everywhere. Nothing special about the Dregs for that, if anything it's easier to see people for what they really are. Over on the other side of the wall... people pretend to be something they're not."

"Me, too." Bridget nods as she watches her glass refill. "Now I'm wondering if I should, at all. Even the ones that aren't trying to mess with your head... maybe they're the ones getting messed with. It doesn't even take smooth talking to do it, either."

"So what brought this on Bridget?" Ash asks as he looks over at her, "To my knowledge not done anything that would make you think that about me." He studies the taller blonde woman a few moments before he takes another drink from his glass and empties it. A flick of two fingers to the bartender showing he'd like a couple more follows after pushing the empty towards that side of the bar. "Maybe if I knew more, I could help yeah?"

Bridget takes up her refilled glass, but only drains half of it, this time. "Weird shit." That should explain everything, right? Now Ash gets another long look, somewhere between suspicious and... not as suspicious. "You have any friends try to get you into any secret little clubs, lately?"

"Nope." Ash says simply, "Other than the rusty club we both were a part of. Got that job offer from Vix, the usual shit from the gangs telling me I need to pick a side. That's about it." He looks at her with an upraised eyebrow, "Little secret club? That's wierd as all hell." He then thanks the bartender for his drinks when they arrive, taking a sip from one.

"That's not even the weird part..." Bridget nurses her drink, now. "It's something to ask Nemain about, I think. People smiling alot is weird, but big slimy things with teeth are more her kind of weird... right? I just shoot things like that, or get the hell away."

"Depends really." Ash says simply, "Big slimy things with teeth aren't all bad. Some of 'em can be regular sorts. Not every d-bee is a monster bent on death and destruction." He notes, "As for smiles..." He shrugs, "You've got tits, that generates a lot of smiles." He chuckles, "So tell me about this slimy thing and these people trying to get you involved in some sort of secret club shit?"

Bridget can't help it, and has to grin. Well, smirk, at least. "Gee, thanks. At least I know why you're grinning all the time." It doesn't last long, and then she's frowning. "A guy I thought I could trust just -had- to show me something. Ended up showing me a warehouse full of happy people, and a suit that invited us to meet his boss. Of course, some of those happy people had ropes and nets, to help with the inviting..."

Ash frowns, "Sounds like some sort of slave ring... there's a couple in the Dregs operating at one time or another..." He shrugs a little, "You got away I assume since you're not all happy smiles. Do I know this guy who tried to set you up?" He asks curiously, "Give me a name, might be able to find something out."

"Something like that," Bridget shakes her head, "but I think it's worse." The last of her whiskey goes down the hatch and her frown goes to scowl. "She... -it-..." Her eyes glance down the bar and she leans towards him, lowering her voice. "..got in my head, Ash, and that's all I've got left. One minute everything seemed like it might be a good idea, and then it was a great idea. It was still great until after I left, then it started being less and less so great. If everyone else thought everything was great... There were lots of people there, and probably had more friends coming..."

"Can you describe it? There's on a few things that can get into your head like a mind melter really... I mean that I know of." Ash says seriously, "If you could describe it, give me a name it's using... might be able to get some wheels turning. Sounds like whatever this thing is it's trying to build up a cult. You're probably lucky you still don't think like that, maybe because that's all you've got left hon. Sounds like the other people couldn't break free at all."

Bridget doesn't look to feel all that lucky. "I didn't get any names. I just walked into it," she sighs, "and walked right back out. The guy that brought me there, I know, or thought I did, but he probably doesn't even use his real name, either. More of a business contact than a friend, but he's never let me down, before." She eyes her glass and decides to get one more. "The only other one I knew was Erica. She got suckered in there with me, and a guy I don't think I've seen before." There's a sheepish shrug. "Don't know what happened with her, but the guy was grinning like as big an idiot as I was."

Ash stands up and walks over towards Bridget, setting his glass down to place a hand on her shoulder and give a squeeze, "C'mon. Now you know that guys a total waste, and you know to not believe a word he says right? I'll see if I can't find Erica, see if we can't work something out alright? No reason to beat yourself up over it, coulda been magic, or psionics, or some strange D-Bee power yeah?" He smiles a little at her, "No reason to beat yourself up over."

"Still getting tired of people pulling strings," Bridget doesn't reach for the glass just yet, "and this is probably worse." She pats the hand on her shoulder, frowns a little more, then shrugs her shoulder in a little shrug. "Be careful if you go talk to her. I don't know if you'd want to believe anything she says, either. Not worth -getting- yourself beat up, too."

Ash chuckles, "Oh I'm not worried about that. Be surprised if she could beat me up without that big ass rifle of hers, and those still aren't allowed on the streets so." He shrugs a bit, "Come on... drinking isn't going to help your mood any. Lets get out of here, go find someone to beat up or some place to chill out and relax... what about the garden in the library? Or we can go hunt down Nemain."

Bridget eyes the whiskey again, but winds up just paying for it, and the ones before it. "Alright. Beating somebody up sounds pretty damned fun right now, but I'd like to figure out what was chewing on me, too. She's probably in the shop."

"There we go, that's my warrior goddess." Ash says with a grin and another squeeze of her shoulder before he lowers his hand and drains the rest of his glass to set the empty on the bar, "We should probably check the shop, she spends entirely to much time there..." He waits for Bridget to stand up so he can make his way to the door with her, retrieving his pistols from the locking barrel and holstering them before heading outside.

Bridget is up after she pays and walks with him. "Yeah, it'd be nice if this was an excuse for her to et out, but ...probably not." She's not carrying, though she wonders if she should be, now, so getting out is just waiting for him.

Kingsdale - Draconic Secrets

Heading into the shop with Bridget comes Ash, though he does hold the door open for the woman so she can enter first, "Nemmy?" He calls after making sure there's not a ton of clients around or the like, "Need to talk to you hon." He shuts the door behind him and Bridget as he looks for the pretty techno-wizard.

Bridget wanders in first, since Ash is being a gentleman. "Thanks." With thrown on clothes and no smile, she could've just woken up. Or she's thinking a nap would be good. "Nemmy?" Ok, that makes her grin a little. "Here, Nemmy, Nemmy?"

Nemain is in the midst of wiring a gauntlet of some kind. A small scattering of jems rests on her work pad as she unspools wiring and measures it for the proper fitting. She glances over after the 'Here, Nemmy-Nemmy.' "I'm not a pup to be called to heel. Waht's the matter?"

"What do you know about slimy things with teeth being able to masquerade as women and convince people of all sorts of crazyness through magic, psionics, or strange d-bee powers?" Ash asks as he can't help but smile faintly at the interplay between the two. He heads over towards the workbench, careful to not touch anything as he looks to see what she's doing with the gauntlet.

"Sorry.." Bridget apologizes as she walks towards Nemain and her working. "Well, 'she' didn't look like a woman, but everyone was talking about her like she was." She gets a little smirk that she points at Ash. "No tits, so you wouldn't like her."

Nemain's lips quirk slightly at the appologuy and description of the what-ever. "Really no familiar with anything like that. No breasts would be a bad thing, nothing to nuzzle."

"No tits?" Ash asks, frowning, "Well, that's wierd. Way you were talking I thought it looked like a woman then changed." He says to Bridget, "Well, tell us what 'she' looked like then so we can find out what it was?" He looks over towards Nemain, "Really? Figured you'd know about monsters, d-bee's, and stuff like that." He sounds a little surprised.

Bridget's smirk gets milder when she looks to Nemain. "Well... she, it, whatever was hidden off in an office, and had good reason to. Big, slimy-looking thing with teeth. Looked more like something you'd dump salt on or step on... with really big boots. Likes to bite with all those teeth, too."

Nemain hmms softly and frowns. "I'm not a walking dictionary of all things D-Bee or mystical." She glances over to Bri as she starts describing the thing. "Mmm.. I could maybe do some research. But it's not something I've met before."

Ash shrugs, "Figured you'd know more than me." He says simply, "What color was it? How big? Did it bite you anywhere?" He asks Bridget, "The more you can tell us, the more details, the easier it will be to find out about it. Also, where was it? This warehouse?" He asks curiously. "Can you remember any particular smells?"

"More than me, too." Bridget shrugs a little and looks to Ash. Well, towards him, since she's not really looking at anything as she tries to remember. "It was probably longer than me, but was kind of curled up, I think. Grayish, with just a big mouth and a bunch of little... arms? tentacles?" Her brows knit. "I could probably find the warehouse again, if we went looking." She skips over the biting part, this time.

Nemain hmms softly, "Did it bite you, Bri? Some things like that can infest you with a bite."

Ash grows a little quiet, especially at Nemain's question and since he's trying to recall what it is she's saying. He pulls out his pocket computer and starts typing in notes so he doesn't forget for later.

Bridget waves away the question. "I'm fine. More worried about what it was doing to my head, and whoever else's. Thing had me freaking out, then it was my best fucking buddy..." She grumbles through a scowl. "That ain't right."

Nemain hmms softly and nods. "As long as it wasn't your bed buddy, you should be safe." She offers a small grin and shrugs. "Who else was effected?"

Ash shudders at that thought, "Bridget..." He says simply, looking over at her, "If it bit you, or did anything else... you know you can trust us. We aren't going to tell anyone, but you might need some sort of special treatment... assuming we can find out what this thing is. I mean, seems strange it just made you go all 'best buddy' and then did nothing at all."

"No, I didn't fuck the thing." Bridget snorts, but her annoyance is short-lived. She then sighs and nods. "It bit me, a couple times, but I'm fine. Already took care of it, see?" Her sweatshirt sleeve gets pulled up, showing off her wrapped up arm. Just elbow to wrist, so it couldn't be that bad. "Only person I saw that I knew was Erica, but she was ...invited, or whatever, the same time I was. I don't know what happened with her and the thing."

Nemain grumps at that. "She probably fucked it." She reaches out to grip Bri's wrist to pull her arm over for a closer look. "What did you do for cleansing the wounds?"

Ash looks relieved at Bridget's first words then concerned when he see's how much of her arm is bandaged up. "Don't want it to get infected." He says seriously but he shoots Bridget a small smile then looks towards Nemain, "Ewww, that's pretty bad... course it was a 'she' and that seems to be how Erica swings." He notes with some amusement, trying to lighten up the atmosphere some.

Bridget doesn't fight Nemain, and steps herself and her arm over to be looked at. "Alot of most everything, just in case. Alcohol, peroxide... I think there was some betadine in there, too." Her arm is wrapped well, and nothing is seeping through. The both of them get her to grin again, too. "She got tired of what'shername already?"

Nemain nods slightly as she examines the arm. Then lets it loose again. "Looks good to me. But if you start getting anything odd happening with it. As for her, I don't think she even really cares who's playing with her as long as she's getting action."

Ash shrugs, "Don't really know. Don't really care." He says with a smile, "What the two of them do, that's their business as far as I'm concerned. All I know is she must like a whole -lot- of pussy considering how big a cat whatshername turns into." He seems to be a lot more relieved when Nemain says the arm is ok though. "So, on to better topics... how hard are you going to resist us dragging you out of here Nemain?"

"I'll keep an eye on it." Bridget grins, but she's a little quick to pull the arm in and the sleeve down. Her grin gets bigger when Ash speaks up. She only touches on the last part of it, though. "Yeah, we ought to drag you out, since we're here."

Nemain glances between you both, then down to the work spread out on her workpad. A soft near-whimper escapes as she glances up then back again. "B-b-but..."

"C'mon Nemmy." Ash says, "Put the tools away and lets get some fresh air. How long's it been since you left the office hmmm? Bet you haven't had a decent meal or fresh air in days." He smiles at the smaller of the two women, "Don't make us carry you out."

Nemain snorts softly, "Actualy I was home just hours ago. Had a lovely long bath. Shaved my legs and even had a good sleep." A grin showing as she shakes her head. "So the rest and meal were not that long ago."

Bridget grins a little more. "I don't know... I think it'd be fun to throw her over my shoulder and carry her out." Nothing like these two to get her cheered up. Now she reaches out for Nemain's wrist. Turnabout is fair play. "Come on, I'm sure none of the wires and things will run away if you're not there to watch them..."

"Well good," Ash says with a wicked grin, though playful in tone, "That means you'll have smooth legs and lots of energy for all sorts of wickedness to get that rust smoothed off." He waggles his eyebrows at her and then mmm's, "Well, if you want the honor Bridget, far be it from me to stop you from doing so. Might actually get away with it easier than if I tried it."

Nemain chuckles softly, "That would be a bad thing. Not sure how I'd like to be tossed over soemone's shoulder and carted off."

"I'll spring for the coffee..." Bridget backs from dragging to bribbery, and just in case that's not enough... Her lips juts out in a pout, her eyes open wider, and lashes bat. "Please? I'm ...blah, and you always make things anything but blah."

Ash smiles, "Even if it was us?" He asks innocently, "Couldn't think of a better pair of people to be carried away by." He says with a grin and then looks at Bridget, "See," He says in a stage whisper to Nemain, "How can you resist a goddess when she needs you? Come on..." He smiles, "I'll even promise not to flirt, if that makes it easier to stomach."

Nemain groans softly as she still resists. "I have to at least tidy up the area. I can't leave that much sitting out un attended. Would be too easy for some idiot to walk off with a part on me. Or worse, filtch a gem. Those puppies are getting a bit harder to come by."

Bridget finally stops with the lashes and the large eyes. "Alright... We can wait for you to straighten things up. Wouldn't want anything to walk out of here." She grins again. "Well, just you." Ash then gets a nudge. "I didn't know it was that easy to get you not to flirt. I'll have to remember that."

"Shhh, you'll blow my cover." Ash says to Bridget with a smile, he stands with Bridget on one side of the counter, Nemain is on the other side with a bunch of tools and a gauntlet of some sort on a work mat. "Alright then, clean it up and we'll go get some coffee or something." He says with a wry grin, leaning against the counter lightly, "Besides," He looks over towards Bridget again, "I thought you liked it when I flirted withy ou."

Would you weant anyone to walk in here though? Regardless Tirzah does with a casual gait. SHe'll walk right past the other pair with a familiar air and look to Nemain. "Hey hon, how are you doing? Busy night?" She asks the white haired woman, slowly looking the pair over one at a time. "Hello Bridget." She greets, remembering Bridget from the range. Not recognizing the noseless one she just smiles at him calmly.

Nemain snorts softly as she pulls out a lock-box from under the counter. "You two are horrible. You think I'm caged too much into here. Perhaps I should take that other offer I had. It would certinaly be more adventerous. Thogh I'm really not certain if Mort would be happy to loose me here." At Tirzah's entry she offers a small grin, "I am doing well, Tirzah. I think they want to drag me out for fun. Did you come add more design needs to the armor rebuild?"

"Of course I do... sometimes." Bridget gives Ash a smirk and then nods to Tirzah. "Hi." She nods to Nemain, too, but is nice enough to let her to do her work without interrupting her more than that. Since Ash is leaning on the counter, she leans some on him.

Ash doesn't seem to mind being leaned on by the woman, "Pfft well, if ever you don't want me to, just tell me." He says with a bit of a shrug to Bridget then looks over towards Tirzah, studying her for a few moments before he offers back a polite nod in return. He doesn't go about interrupting the business though, since that would only delay the possibility of dragging Nemain off. Instead he turns to whisper something to Bridget and loop an arm around the woman's waist as he does so.

Ash whispers "Seriously... you just tell me... otherwise I'm gonna keep flirting to see if I can't lure you to my bed as much as humanly possible."

Tirzah almost tries to look offended, but not really. "Is all I come here for things I want from you??" She accuses before shaking her head to herself. "Well I guess that is all I have come here for so far.. but not tonight. I think geting out and intro some sort of trouble is an excellent idea. Can I come?" She asks, giving Nemain the most enticing smile she can manage.

You whisper "You're fine. If I want you to stop, I'd tell you." to Ash.

Bridget leans in a little more to make a quiet reply to Ash. After that, her grin grows until she's beaming. He caught part, and some goes to Tirzah. "Sure. More trouble the merrier, right?" Most of her big grin is for Nemain, though. "You're -way- outnumbered, Nemmy. I think you should hurry up so we can drag you out of here."

Nemain hmmms softly as she mulls over the whole being outnumbered, then figures in the weapons she can power just in the display next to her station. A slow smile speading as she quirks a brow up at the lot of you. "Why is it that everyone assumes that I need to get out all the time?" Her hands lifting after she lays the gauntlet into the box, "Not that I'm objecting over much. Just curious."

Ash shrugs towards Tirzah, "Sure, not sure how much trouble we're going to get into but... I don't mind." He smiles wryly, "I'm Ash." He introduces himself to the woman then looks towards Nemain, "Because you're almost always here? This is where we find you? Hardly ever run into you at a restaurant or a club, or even the gym." He says with a roguish grin, "So, it's only natural to think we need to get you out of here if we want your attention instead of whatever device it is you're building at the time."

Tirzah smiles to Ash. "Tirzah, warlock and entrepreneure." She greets before deciding to speak in Nemain's defense. "She does go out to the bars actually, I've have a few drinks with her. But, other activities i have not spied in my stalking. Perhaps you'd like to join me at the gym in the mornings to further dispel their notion Nemain." Tirzah offers with a sly smile. "But back to the now, where is the intended destination?"

"We miss you, and we're greedy, and... what he said." Bridget tries to make it sound a little less like Nemain is always here, but that only goes so far. "It sounds like you have a whole pack of stalkers. Look on the bright side. None of us are hiding in the bushes. I think." She has to glance to Ash and quirk a brow, just in case. Or just to tease, judging by her little smile.

Nemain seems to be packing up some sort of gauntlet and gems into a lock box at the counter. She glances up and laughs, "I do so get out. I've been to bars and the gym and even went skinny dipping." She glances over to Tirzah and hmms, "Depends on what sort of gym you're after."

"Well I wasn't there for any of that... cept the like, two whole times I've seen you in the Alibi over the months I've known you Nemain. Wish it was the skinny dipping though." Ash says with a smile but then he sticks his tongue out at Bridget, "I do not hide in bushes... I bring chocolate pie and coffee." Then he looks over towards Tirzah, "Nice to meet you." He keeps his one arm wrapped around Bridget's waist as she leans against him lightly where they stand over by the counter.

Tirzah looks out at the strong afternoon light with a nod. "Well I could use a sparring partener that is not an elemental at can outmatch me without the slightest effort." She suggests to Nemain before looking to Ash and Bridget. "Where are we looking for trouble? I'm gonna run to my apartment to get a thing or two first. Its just down the road so i wont be long."

Rasputin enters the shop, with a small *ring* *ring* of the bell attached to the door. He makes sure the door doesn't slam behind him. He has a broad smile upon his face, as he begins to look around the shop. Inspecting the items here and there. Do his best not to touch with his hands, but look with his eyes. He knows how expensive things can be. He doesn't acknowledge anyone in the room just yet, as his focus is on browsing at the moment.

Bridget hrms and thinks on her usual places to find trouble. "Usually, I'd say dancing, but..." She's not dressed for it, for one. Instead, she takes the idea that's out there and looks to Ash. "...that's not a bad idea. You said something about beating somebody up, before. That means you were volunteering, right?"

Ash chuckles and shrugs, "I guess, though I don't think it's exactly fair. I'm not exactly the easily squishable type after all." He considers, "If you -really- wanted to get in a fight, we could go pick on some of the Clash or something, but they tend to shoot lasers. I'm sure we could find a fight at Moe's Tavern too, but, there you might get a juicer and I'm not sure how well the rest of you would stack up to a juicer." He grins amusedly at that. "We could just go find some random chump too I guess."

Nemain laughs as she tucks away the lock box. At the chime she glances over. "Hello, welcome to the Draconic Secrets. How can we help you today?" She makes faces at the trio of trouble makers.

Tirzah blinks at Ash, a little surpirsed by his brazen list of options. "None of those sound overly challenging to me, but are you sure you are up to them? Or their consquences? How about we head out to the part for more friendly competition? I'll gladly test myself against each of you, or all of you, depending on the terms.." Tirzah offers, putting herself in the spot to avert gitting arrested, or worse..

Rasputin doesn't notice that Nemain is speaking to him at first. He notices an stash of TW Flares and begins to examine them closely. Then his focus is broken by something, and he looks up with a grin. "Da, are you speakink to me?" He smiles and sets down the TW Storm Flare which was in his hand and walks towards Nemain, now recognizing Bridget and Tirzah in the shop. He grins and tugs his beard a bit, "Are you havink any TW Revolvers for sale?"

Bridget thumps Ash with her hip and points a finger at him. "You don't need to get stupid. Don't care how quick you are. I was talking about a little sparring, or maybe a wrestle, or something. Not getting shot full of holes or thrown in jail." She turns and nods to Tirzah, accidentally on purpose swatting at the back of Ash's head when she turns. "That sounds likes fun, and a little safer." Now she notices Rasputin and smiles to him.

Nemain nods slightly as she gestures towards the display of about six different revolvers of the TW adaptation. "We have a small selection of them, yes. What were you looking for in them?" She slips into sales mode as one hand smooths down her shirt as she starts towards the display holding them.

Tirzah nods in agreement to Bridget and makes for the door. "Meet you there then, I'll just head out now to grab some things from my apartment." Tirzah confirms, and then she's gone out the door.

Ash shrugs, "Suit yourself." He says to the others before he chuckles and looks back over towards Nemain and Rasputin just in time to get swatted in the back of the head, "Hey..." He says, "Not cool." Reaching up to rub the back of his head with one hand. He hip bumps Bridget right back and squeezes her waist tighter to him with his arm around it.

Rasputin nods to Nemain, "Da, da. I was lookink to see if you were havink a TW Thundergun. Dis a larger cailber pistol, da." He looks over the pistols displayed as he asks his questions. His eyes flip up to the *thwack* sound and then grins and looks to Nemain again. "Are you havink anythink such as dhis?"

"Come, tough guy," Bridget takes hold of the hand around her and unhooks Ash's arm so she can step away, "let's try and make some trouble without getting in too much." She keeps hold of the hand as she starts for the door. Hopefully, Nemain can catch up.

Nemain hmms softly, then shakes herh ad. "We do not in stock at the moment. How soon would you be wanting to get your hands on one?" She pulls out the order book to see about pricing out the custom job again.

Ash allows himself to be lead away, "Sure thing." He looks back to Nemain, mouths the word 'park' to her just in case she didn't hear before then he is heading out of the shop with Bridget and heading out onto the street.