Autumn Party 03

In the greenhouse, the angel was testing one of the seats and finding it very much to his liking. While he still remembered, he threw the chicken wings (carelessly) into one of the overgrown bushes.

Then he considered the fact that he was without his halo, wings, but that he had a lyre and was wearing white. Thus it occurred to him that even this might not have been an accident. But this time around he was far from irritated. He strummed the lyre a few times before he remembered the tune.



Inside the hall, the gryphon finished choking on something and murred. That had been so close. He was thankful, but not going to say it.

Suddenly the seat and a bit of the ground in front of it folded, dumping the musician in a cavity.

It was a giant variety of buried pitcher-plant with oily walls. On the plus side, it was not filled with acid, at least at the moment.

"My dear. I should have expected this," said a voice from the cavity in a very formal, foppish register. "Lady?"

Nothing.

"Well. Thank you very much."

Apologising to the doorframe, into which it had just knocked with its clunky boots, another figure at last put in its appearance. This one was wearing what looked like exoskeletal armour, brassy with a purplish sheen and a face-concealing helmet. It was currently grateful that this last item included decent ventilation.

"Acknowledged, organic human," it - he, unless it was a she with a good vocoder - said to the doorman.

Meanwhile: "Fank yoooou," the dragon said, batting his eyelids at Azra with a complete lack of remorse. "Want one?" he added to the gryphon.

"No thanks," said the gryph, ogling at the dragon still. Exactly how irresponsible could some people be with their food, anyway?

Arza pushed a platter further back onto the table before turning to the new arrivals.

The tinman was followed by a chatting pair. Well, actually, the smaller one chattered at her companion. She was wearing a rough, lumpy fur kind-of-tunic and carrying a stick which had not so long ago been a young tree, some bits of root were still attached. Her companion was all in black - boots, trousers, shirt, damino mask, bandana - and carrying a rapier. He was not wearing a thin moustache, though. His only reaction to the greeting was a look at his partner. She stopped grinning, and frowned instead for a moment. A shrug later her grin came back, but, just maybe, a bit more subdued.

Well, she hadn't come here to let the decoration take the fun out of it. She took a deep breath, and put all she had into the voice. "So, who are the puny humans standing between a giant and the food?" Tinkling and a cloud of dust issued from the chandelier. The "giant" struck a pose, resting her hands on her club. On closer look, the lumps on her costume were heads of teddy bears.

Her companion calmly watched the company, and waited for things to make sense. They usually didn't, when Nico was in such a mood.

"I have identified no humans other than this doorman," the robot informed the giant. "Query: is your companion a human?" Unfortunately, the man in black wouldn't be able to see a smile or wink through the visor.

As far as the dragon was concerned, he hadn't even begun to test the limits of irresponsibility. That would come after a few drinks. He began to inhale chocolate - or that was almost what it looked like.

"He is not standing in my way, tinman. What are you, then?" Her voice was still somewhat larger-than-life, but at least she wasn't shouting on top of it.

The gryphon, for a very brief moment, wondered if this 'giant' was stupid. Then he decided it was not worth his time, and that it was much better to eat. If she came over to him about this, well, then...

"I prefer the term 'metallic life form'," buzzed the robot cheerfully. "A minor directive of mine is to protect humans. Query: why is your apparel made from ursidae?"

"Because I don't like the smell of mammoth fur, and bears are the next biggest. Apart from that it's traditional. Do you know nothing about giants?"

At least it wasn't dragon skin. The robot had noticed the scarlet-and-blue dragon out of the corner of an eye, and rather wanted to laugh.

"Giants are outside my remit. However, my core systems allow for learning. Query: is either of you a threat to civilisation or the environment?" The robot was trying to include the man in black, who didn't seem delighted to be here.

"Environment, no. Civilisation, only the parts going out of their way trying to give me grief." She tried glaring at the example of high civilisation in front of her which was shredding her mental script. It might have worked better without the look of amusement trying to break through.

The man in black shrugged. "Wouldn't know how to threaten either. They're a bit big."

"Optimal," said the robot, "because I am off duty and besides have no weapons effective against species of large stature."

Granted, the giant in front of him was a comparatively small giant, but the robot wasn't going to make personal remarks!

"Right!" She nodded at the tinman, grinning, and stalked past him towards the table.

The man in black hesitated a moment, then asked, "Off what kind of duty?"

"Why, law enforcement, protection and lost property retrieval. All robots are either security officers or evil. Excluding the comedy relief butlers, of course. It is tradition."

The robot delivered a mental self-kick. Watch it with the repartee!

"Query: how is law enforcement organised and accomplished in your last known residence or place of origin?" the robot added.

Mhelarn edged warily though the door. The tricorner hat was enormous, and he was fairly sure it was going to get caught on both edges of the doorway.

Ah well, beggars couldn't be choosers, unless they knew the venue particularly well.

The red and black diamond hose would certainly have runs by the end of the night. His doublet, which continued the pattern, seemed of sturdier stuff. However, it also promised to be quite warm.

He'd opted out of the mask, so his sharpish features and golden eyes peered out from beneath the hat and above the slightly ruffled collar. Which wouldn't stay down. He rather wondered where the other pertinent openings on the costume. He'd had help dressing, and hadn't particularly marked them at the time.

He had marked the golem's words as he'd entered. And so he answered the question, even though it wasn't meant at all for him.

"I haven't found law enforcement to be particularly organized anywhere."

After making sure nothing was too close to falling off the table, Azra went to join her companions again, a bit reluctantly. She was starting to wonder why the angel had disappeared.

So that was one person less in Nico's way. She grinned and nodded at the gryphon, left the dragon alone without thinking, and picked a few chocolates.

The man in black had been formulating an answer, but after a glance at the new arrival shrugged. He had no interest in a discussion, and left the robot and the checkered weirdo, heading in the general direction of other people.

"A fair point, variegated biped." The robot's helmet turned to look at the part-open door, the one not leading to the indoor greenhouse.

"This venue, on the other manipulator arm, appears to be organised peculiarly. Perhaps I should check it for compliance with fire safety laws."

"Do as it pleases you," said the checkered wierdo.

"I'm fair certain, however, that this hat is incompliant." He handed it over to the golem. It was not quite a tricorner, but it was large, white, bicornered, and gently arched.